My first real reason to get the shot right.

[Naois]

Up until this point, taking pictures has just been a hobbie, nothing that I took seriously, it was more for entertainment. Things have changed a bit. My wife is having a baby!

I need to get these shots right. I know I can do it, I just need a little (or a lot) of help along the way and I thought this forum would be a perfect place to get started.

Once a week we are going to do a mini photo shoot to document the changes she is experiencing. Today was our first attempt. About 3 of the 20 shots came out okay. I think this one was the best, but she's looking at something out of the frame and I'm not sure if thats the feel I should be going for.

I was having trouble figuring out what poses will be good now, and moving forward as her belly starts to grow. I've glanced at a few different poses, but I'm not sure what will work with her. She doesn't think she looks good in any pictures and I want to proove her wrong to boost her self-confidence at bit to make her feel better about her body.

Please review the attached photo. It gives you an idea of her body type so a more experienced eye might have some suggestions based on that.

Other than the pose question, does the photo seem too washed out? Shoud I get some kind of background instead of using our closet door?

I shot this with 2 SB-800s. One on my D40x acting as the commander, not adding light and the second on a light stand, camera left, pointing down towards her, set for correct exposure using the CLS. Then metered for the available light -1, and used a remote to take the picuters.

EXIF
Manual Mode
Aperture: F/5.6
Shutter: 1/160
ISO: 100
Focal: 60mm (90 on 35mm)

[Wooglah]

She does not look relaxed, that's for sure... You did not make your pregnant wife stand there for half an hour while setting up lights and lenses, did you?
Maybe if she sit down on her legs and put an arm on her belly, while watching it gently, like trying to see imagined baby? (I have no idea if she is allowed to do this, is it safe, Im just talking...)

[jcoyle]

Congratulations!!

She must be very early on because you can't tell that she is pregnant at all. I'm not the most experienced person to be commenting on the posing aspect as I am learning the same as you are. There are quite a few Flickr groups that cater to maternity poses and such as this one http://www.flickr.com/groups/maternity-posing-inspiration/

The only thing I don't like about the photo is your wife holding her hair the way she is. I find it distracting.

Good luck!

[Naois]

@ Wooglah

I was trying to get her to act relaxed, but telling her to relax didn't work. She wasn't sure where to put her arms and she always hates the way she looks in pictures so she was reluctant to get in front of my camera to begin with.

I set everything up for the shot while she was in the shower, so she wasn't waiting around for me to set stuff up, it was ready to go when she was.

Since my wife just found out she is pregnant, she doesn't really have a belly to put her arm on for the "standard" pregnancy shot. I want to document her progress every week so in the begining they will be normal shots, not really specific to pregnancy until she starts to show.

I'm sure I'll give your pose idea a shot once she has a belly to rest her arm on.

Thanx!

@ jcoyle

Thanks for the congrats! She's at about 6 weeks now.

I've looked at the maternity shots of flicker and google search, so when she has a belly I will try out some of those.

We were trying to figure out how to get her arms away from her belly, yet still look natural. Messing with her hair was the only thing that came to mind. Do you have a suggestion for a good pose to use that will expose her belly (before she's showing) without her arms in the way and look natural?