A couple years ago I saw a picture of a pregnant woman in a purple wrap and it stuck in my mind. I filed it away in my “someday session” folder. I knew it had to be the right person with the right features and coloring for the images to turn out like what I was envisioning. My sweet friend Sabrina has 3 daughters and when she was surprised by a 4th pregnancy, I immediately thought that she was the perfect model for this special little session.
Sabrina’s oldest daughter goes to school with Noa, so we dropped the kids off to school and scooted down to the river to get these pictures before the morning sun got to high in the sky. I have said in the past that doing sessions in the evening is ideal. I still stand by that, but it’s worth saying here that, if an evening session doesn’t work for some reason, morning sessions can have really great lighting too. We shot these pictures around 8 am (that time will change as the days get shorter), and I am pretty happy overall with the lighting. One of the hard things about shooting near the river is that the sun reflects off the sky and the water, so there is really a lot of light coming into the camera and exposing for that kind of situation can be difficult (at least for me).
I really enjoy doing “out-of-the-box” sessions, and especially when shooting maternity stuff. I feel like a lot of maternity sessions look the same, and while there is something to be said about traditional portraiture, doing sessions like this totally fuel my creative fire. I have to give mad props to Sabrina for being brave enough to wade into the water (it’s so dark in the Pasquotank river, we couldn’t even see our knees) and for even being up to getting totally submerged. She’s a trooper for sure!
This special mamma is due with her 4th (!!!!) daughter in just a few weeks, and if her past is any indicator of the future, this little girl is going to be a creative, intelligent, passionate woman like her mamma and sisters. I am so blessed to call this mamma one of my dearest friends. I can’t wait to meet her newest arrival and get some precious newborn shots of her too! I think we’ll have to wrap the baby in that purple cloth for continuity.
Annette Tate - I LOVE these!! Sabrina, you are a sport! Sheena, again, you’ve done such an awesome job!
Heather - Love these! So excited for my maternity shoot this winter!
Jamie Rogers - Beautiful!!
julie - I love this!! The model is beautiful!!
Sarah Sandusky - She looks great! The colors really lured me in.
Amy Walsh - These are so awesome! What a beautiful vision Sheena!