Tiffany Burke Washington, USA
Rewards Of It
The Story of Life: Maternity, Birth and Babies
Keeping a human being inside the womb and giving it a chance to grow is a fascinating journey in the life of any woman and any woman would be blessed to have given birth to another human. And documenting that journey is the new trend that has literally taken the world by storm.
A lot of couples these days try to get their entire journey documented. This involves clicking pictures during pregnancy and moving on to capture the birth of the child and then the newborn shoots as well.
Yes, we agree, maternity shoots are not a new concept. A lot of women have already got their baby bumps captured on film by professionals. But because of the growing trend in this genre, photographers are being challenged to look for new ways of conceptualized shots that can really stand out.
As a photographer, it is a challenging task to conclude the shoot without any
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Urshita Saini
urshita @ chiiz. com
Photography is her passion, wedding shoots is her forte. She is a lawyer turned photographer turned businesswoman. The transition was quick but it was what the camera ordered. uncomfortable situations being faced. So, the mental and physical comfort of the mother is the first priority during such shoots.
Although there are certain clichéd shots that every mother-to-be wants, but it is the photographer’ s responsibility to make sure that each client gets a unique take on her pregnancy shoot. Being creative and incorporating people or elements in the pictures that mean something to the couple and the family is a great way of ensuring such uniqueness.
Involvement of the siblings in the pictures, or maybe the family dog can also help. Instead of having an outdoor shoot, taking pictures at the couple’ s house can be considered as well. It will be a better backdrop for the pictures because of the emotional connection and it will also be cozier to the expecting parents. Maternity shoots are a great way to announce a pregnancy or even the gender of the child. More and more photographers are coming up with unique ideas to capture this magical journey of the expecting couple. Coming on to it, birth is considered as the most beautiful and rewarding moment for any woman. Also at the same time, it is exhausting, gory and, extremely graphic, yet women around the world are now embracing the idea of getting their baby’ s birth journey captured by professional photographers.
Though the world is slowly warming up to the idea of birth photography, it is still a sensitive topic for the majority of people. It is, after all, capturing a woman when she is at her most vulnerable state. It also involves her privacy and the medical implications of having another person in the room when things tend to go in any direction. And no, it is not always about photographing the private parts of the woman, but that is what people generally conceive of this genre. In many countries, there are still some restrictions on any person other than the father to be present during birth. Although the couple can request the doctors and get due permissions for the photographer to be present during the birth, but it is not always guaranteed that the doctors will allow it. From the medical point of view, a third person can be a disturbance in the procedure and the doctor’ s word is final. Despite a lot of questions and controversies, couples are really eager to get a photographer to capture the process. Nicole Hoschke, a family and fine art photographer, says that it is very important for the parents to feel comfortable with