MATERNITY PHOTOGRAPHY - Dreamy, Elegant, Timeless. Feat. April
What an honor to be able to witness and capture the happiness, hope and excitement in a woman expecting her first child. April is an amazing makeup artist, expert eyebrow stylist and on top of being absolutely adorable she is a beautiful soul inside and out. Since the first time I met April I knew her shoot was going to be amazing! I love how open she was to try everything I suggested and I appreciate the trust she had in me. There is something magical that happens in this stage of a woman’s life, pregnancy provides a real sense of self acceptance and empowerment that makes the maternity shoots in the studio real fun for my sitters and me. The liberty to tell a story, to witness that soft and warm energy that produces the connection with her little one and still being able to see how confident, powerful and feminine they feel without apologies….. IT IS PURE MAGIC!!!
Here are some of the many beautiful maternity portraits I produced for gorgeous April, glowing from the inside out.
Here are April’s thoughts about her experience of being photographed in this season of her life and one of the many reasons why a woman should embrace and document her pregnancy:
“ One of the manyyyy changes I’ve experienced during pregnancy is how I view my body! I’ve always been more of a modest, even self conscious person when it comes to my body. Due to trauma I’ve always had to work on feeling safe in my skin and comfortable in my sexual expression. Since becoming pregnant it’s like my brain flipped a switch and I’m now, for the first time, completely comfortable in my skin and in actual awe of my body, even with all of the weird changes that come with being pregnant 😅. I don’t view my body as just something being sexualized or something that is being judged or compared to anyone else’s. It’s like none of that even matters anymore now that I’ve realized it’s no longer just mine, I’m literally sharing it with another living being and I’m responsible for loving and protecting them. My body has such a huge purpose now and that purpose is soooo much bigger, so much more magical and more potent than any of those other things. When I went through this gallery reveal with Mayumi I was so emotional and a big part of that was because I was looking at myself with these revealing garments on that I’d usually never even consider wearing and not once did I pick apart anything or have a negative thought about my body. Instead, I was looking at myself with what felt like a fresh pair of eyes and felt so proud and so beautiful! It’s so weird! I hope this switch stays flipped and I can continue to look at my body as something so much more than how I used to view it. I’m so proud of what it’s doing and how intuitive it is and how powerful it is to grow a human and to soon bring that human into the world! What a cool season of life. I wish we could all celebrate our bodies without judgement like this, pregnant or not ”.
- April Lopes-Hara
I love that April let me play with a total different mood, a painterly look set inspired by the old masters…..yes, that is another of my obsessions, I’m a lover of classic art and there are honestly no words for how stunning April looks in these portraits.
A change in mood for this next set…..VANITY FAIR inspired…Oh how I love these images!!!! April you rock!!!
And of course, let’s not forget our infamous dancing series…. there is always time for a little bit of fun in our shoots!!
If you are expecting a baby and want to have a day of celebration feeling like a queen you are, I’d love to have you in the studio for a life-changing portrait experience. CONTACT ME and don’t forget to visit the MATERNITY gallery for some inspiration.