Pregnancy is weird, beautiful, exhausting, exciting, uncomfortable, incredible β and somehow it goes by ridiculously fast! As a Hood River maternity photographer, I absolutely LOVE creating portraits that celebrate this wild, beautiful chapter of your life!
Your body is doing something absolutely AMAZING.
You’re growing a whole damn human!!!
I mean, seriously. That’s pretty freaking incredible!
And whether you feel like a glowing goddess every day or you’re wondering who the hell decided pregnancy was supposed to be glamorous, this chapter of your life deserves to be photographed!
Not just with a quick phone picture in the bathroom mirror.
I mean REALLY photographed!
The belly.
The curves.
The connection.
The anticipation.
The way your partner looks at you.
And most importantly, YOU β right in the middle of one of the biggest transformations of your life!
When Is the Best Time for Maternity Photos?
One of the first questions people ask about maternity photography is:
When should we actually do it?!
For most pregnant mamas, I LOVE photographing maternity sessions at around seven months!
That’s usually the magical little sweet spot.
Your bump is nice and round and beautiful. It’s big enough to really photograph, but you’re generally not so far along that moving around, changing positions, walking to different locations, or simply being on your feet becomes a whole production.
Not too small.
Not too big.
Just right!
But every pregnancy is different!
If this is your second or third pregnancy, you may start showing MUCH earlier than you did the first time.
In that case, we might photograph your maternity session around five or six months instead!
I’m not interested in forcing every pregnant mama into the exact same timeline.
We’ll look at how you’re carrying, how you’re feeling, what kind of session we’re creating, and choose the timing that makes the most sense for YOU!
I Photographed My Own Pregnancies Every Single Month!
When I was pregnant with Mia and Mason, I took photographs of myself every single month!
I wanted ALL of it!
I wanted to see the progression.
My changing body.
My growing belly.
Month one… month two… month three…
All the way through!
And I absolutely LOVED being pregnant!
Seriously, I loved every damn second of it…
Until about month eight or nine. π
That’s when I swelled up like a freaking balloon, my ankles completely disappeared, the cankles arrived, and all that other wonderfully glamorous late-pregnancy stuff started happening!
Apparently my body eventually decided, Okay lady, this has been fun. We’re done now. π
But even then, I am SO glad I documented it!
What I didn’t do was have professional maternity portraits taken.
And I really wish I had!
Instead, photographer that I am, I basically trained my mother-in-law how to use my camera and had her photograph me at home. π
And I’m incredibly grateful I have those photographs.
But looking back now?
I REALLY wish I had professional maternity portraits!
And knowing me now, there’s one thing I wish I had done more than anything…
I wish I had gone underwater!!!
Because I’m a water girl!
Always have been.
And if underwater maternity photography had been part of my world back then, you better believe I would have wanted photographs of myself floating through the water with that big beautiful belly!
Flowing fabric.
Floating hair.
That gorgeous pregnant body completely weightless.
HELL YES!
I can’t go back and create those photographs for myself now.
But I CAN create them for somebody else!
And honestly, maybe that’s part of why I love photographing pregnancy so much today.
You Don’t Need to Know How to Pose!
Please don’t show up worrying about what you’re supposed to do with your hands. I got you boo! π
That’s my job!
You don’t need modeling experience.
You don’t need to practice poses in the mirror.
And you definitely don’t need to spend your session wondering whether you’re standing the βrightβ way!
I’ll guide you through the whole thing.
We’ll use movement, angles, light, fabric and posing to show off that gorgeous belly and photograph your changing body beautifully!
Sometimes you’ll look at the camera.
Sometimes you won’t.
Sometimes we’ll make something soft and beautiful.
Sometimes we’ll make something BIG and dramatic!
And sometimes the best photograph happens somewhere in between when you stop thinking about the camera altogether!
What Do I Wear?
Here’s the really good news:
You don’t necessarily have to bring a damn thing!
I have a GIGANTIC client closet with tons of maternity outfits specifically for photography sessions!
Some are fitted and designed to hug your belly and show off all those beautiful pregnancy curves.
Some are soft, loose and incredibly flowy.
Some are romantic.
Some are sexy.
Some are dramatic.
And then…
There’s THE RED DRESS!!!
Ohhhhh, this dress!
I have one incredible red maternity gown with a train that feels like it’s about a freaking mile long! π
Put that dress on a beautiful pregnant mama…
Take her somewhere spectacular in the Columbia River Gorge…
And then let that famous Gorge wind grab that enormous train?!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
That’s when the magic happens!
The fabric flies.
The dress comes alive.
The wind does half my job for me. π
And suddenly we’re not just taking a maternity photograph.
We’re making ART!
The kind of photograph that deserves to be HUGE on your wall! Like an acrylic or metal art piece!
Visiting Tom McCall Preserve at Rowena Crest during wildflower season gives us one incredible Columbia River Gorge backdrop for a dramatic maternity portrait β and it’s only about a half-hour drive from my home in Hood River!
And that’s exactly why I have so many different options in my client closet!
You don’t need to go spend a bunch of money buying a special maternity dress that you’ll probably wear exactly once.
I’ve got you!
We’ll go through the closet together and find something that fits your body, your personality and the kind of photographs YOU want!
And of course, if you already own something you absolutely love, bring it!
Your maternity session can be romantic and feminine.
Simple and natural.
Dark and moody.
Bare belly.
Lingerie.
Wrapped fabric.
Huge flowing dresses.
Or something completely unexpected!
Your maternity photographs do NOT have to look like everybody else’s maternity photographs!
Bring Your Person!
Your maternity session can absolutely be about YOU β and trust me, I want plenty of photographs of Mama all by herself!
But your partner can jump in too!
There’s something pretty damn special about photographing the two of you together right before your entire world changes!
Hands on the belly.
Foreheads together.
Laughing.
Kissing.
Quiet moments.
Ridiculous moments.
All those little things that might feel ordinary right now become part of the story later!
And if this isn’t Baby Number One and you’ve already got little humans running around…
Bring them too!
They don’t need to behave perfectly.
Actually, I don’t particularly WANT perfect. π
Let’s photograph your family as it really is while you’re waiting for its newest little member to arrive!
And If You Want to Get REALLY Freaking Cool With It… Go Underwater!
Okay.
THIS is where we can have some serious fun!!!
Take that beautiful pregnant belly…
UNDERWATER!
Pregnancy underwater is freaking GORGEOUS!
Everything changes the second we go below the surface.
Your hair floats.
The fabric comes alive.
Your body becomes almost weightless.
The water slows everything down.
And suddenly you’re floating in this soft, dreamy little world with that gorgeous belly right in the middle of it all!
And we can create completely different looks underwater too!
Dark.
Dramatic.
Fine-art.
Black backdrop with beautiful white flowing fabric.
Or light, soft and dreamy in that gorgeous blue water!
And no β you do NOT need to be some amazing swimmer!
You don’t need to hold your breath for two minutes.
You don’t need to know how to pose underwater.
That’s what I’m there for!
We work slowly.
We take our time.
The actual photographs happen in short little bursts, and then you come right back up!
There is absolutely no prize for staying underwater longer.
The goal is to create something incredible while keeping you comfortable and safe!
And for the right mama, underwater maternity photography becomes something completely different from a traditional pregnancy portrait.
It becomes ART!
And maybe there’s a little piece of me in these photographs too…
Because these are exactly the maternity photographs I wish I had created for myself!
Pregnancy Doesn’t Have to Look Perfect to Be Worth Remembering!
You may not feel like yourself right now.
Your clothes don’t fit.
Your body seems to change every five minutes.
You’re tired.
Your feet may hate you.
You may even have officially entered the:
WHERE THE HELL DID MY ANKLES GO?! stage. π
Trust me.
I remember the cankles!
And somebody has probably already tried to touch your belly without asking.
But here’s the thing…
Someday this particular version of you won’t exist anymore.
That belly will be gone.
That baby will be here.
And life will start moving at about a million miles an hour!
These photographs aren’t only for the person you are today.
They’re for the woman you’ll be ten, twenty or thirty years from now.
They’re for your child someday looking at a photograph and realizing:
That’s ME in there!
They’re part of your family’s history.
And I think that’s pretty freaking cool!
Let’s Make Maternity Photos That Actually Feel Like YOU!
You don’t need to go shopping for a maternity photography wardrobe.
You don’t need modeling experience.
You don’t need to know how to pose.
And you definitely don’t need to become somebody you’re not just because you’re pregnant!
Come as you are!
I’ll bring the dresses!
We’ll figure out the rest together!
We can create something soft and romantic.
Wild and windswept.
Dark and moody.
Big and dramatic.
We can head somewhere gorgeous in the Columbia River Gorge and let the wind do its thing…
Or we can take the whole damn adventure UNDERWATER!
Because you’re not just taking maternity pictures.
You’re growing a whole human!!!
And that deserves to be remembered!
Let’s make some ART out of it!
https://tobirose.com
Hood River, Oregon
THE Columbia River Gorge, Windsurfing Capital Of The World!
Maternity β’ Underwater Portraits β’ Boudoir β’ Weddings β’ Elopements
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Want to make your maternity portraits even more unforgettable? See what an underwater portrait session is actually like.
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