First Photoshoot: Theresa's Maternity

So, right around the time that I was thinking about starting a photography business, my cousin's wife Theresa asked me if I would take some maternity pictures of her.  I was super excited and a little nervous because I had never really had a "real" photo shoot before.  So, I looked at lots of maternity pictures for inspiration, did a lot of practicing, and refreshing my memory on aperture, iso, white balance, and all that.  We decided to shoot at Greenlake in Seattle, since that is where I was living and also, it is a wonderful place to take pictures.  I had recently shot some fall pictures there and they turned out nicely.  I started shooting, and was nervous at first, but Theresa and my cousin Chris were so great and easy to work with, and fun, that they calmed my nerves right away.  In fact, the shoot took twice as long as usual because we were having so much fun.  At least, I was, hopefully they were enjoying it, too.  We also snuck in some family pictures with their little cutie, their first son.  From that shoot, I gained a little more confidence, with shooting, and posing but also with photo editing software.  And my cousins were really happy with the pictures, which is always the best outcome.  Here are some of my favorites from that shoot:

I love the lighting in this photo, and T's face, it is all so natural.

How cute is this?  In reality, my cousin was whispering some pretty crazy stuff in T's ear to make her laugh. 

Sweet family pic.

T was a sport as far as bare belly pics and I had seen a version of this before, with mama's belly and baby's feet, so was itching to try it.  I love it!

I like how moody this one is, the muted grays and desaturated color, and T just chilling. 

I wanted the fall leaves on the ground in this one so my cousin grabbed a bunch and sprinkled them on the grass for me.

I'm a big fan of the very candid, natural shots, and this one is that.  T was just doing one of those things you do when you have a pregnant belly, tapping it, and I just snapped the picture.  I love the serene, content look on her face.

This is a very accurate picture of my cousin, he is cheesing it up to be funny, he does not smile that cheesily in real life.  He is hilarious.

Sweet little Topher and his super blue eyes.

So, that's it for this post.  It's fun to go back and reminisce.  I'm so glad I had such an easy time for my first actual photo shoot, and Chris and Theresa were very encouraging.