Waterfall Maternity Photoshoot in Cedar Park, Texas
Meet Alyxis! She found me on Instagram and we chatted for a bit before she booked her Bump to Baby package with me. We talked about some location ideas for her maternity photoshoot and she was really excited about the waterfall sessions that I offer. That made ME really excited because some of my favorite sessions are done at that waterfall!
In the week before her maternity photoshoot, there had been so much rainfall in the Cedar Park area and I was nervous that there would be too much water at the waterfall, which would make it unsafe for Alyxis. Luckily, the town had cleared out a bunch of brush in front of the falls so we were able to use the waterfalls and I could shoot from a different direction than I usually do! YES, we are winning!
She told me her favorite colors to wear were purple and teal and she was really excited when I sent over the gallery with my available maternity gowns in my client closet.
I have to say, these dress colors were PERFECT on her!
Seriously, doesn’t she look FANTASTIC?
Her sister came along for the shoot and I might just need to hire her to be my assistant. She was right there, fixing stray hairs, fluffing the train on the dress and tossing it in the most perfect way when it was time for those photos. Since we are still in the middle of the pandemic, it was important for me to keep my distance to avoid spreading the virus. That is SUPER weird for me because I’m totally a hands-on photographer and really like making hair look perfect for the shot so I don’t have to go in and fix it later. Yes, I go in and fix it later. 🙂
Then we moved onto the teal dress. She liked this open belly style and I happened to have it in both the teal and the purple. YES, still winning!
I loved this next image so much- her belly looks amazing and that sunlight coming down on her out of the trees is truly breathtaking. Also, her hair looks freaking fabulous. I’m obsessed!
This next image is what we call in the photo world- a composite. It is several different images taken during the session and different parts of each images are chosen and perfectly placed into one base image. Also, there’s a little behind the scenes magic applied which I’ll explain in a sec. One of my favorite things about doing maternity sessions is the creativity that goes into it. You can take a beautiful image and edit it and send that to the client which is fine and can be absolutely beautiful. But I want to create more for my clients. You see, you are hiring me because you love my work, and hopefully after talking to me you’ll love me too. 🙂 But there’s a lot of behind the scenes magic that happens. I think about your session ahead of time and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this image when I took it. I’m sure there were a lot of strange glances between Alyxis and her sister- “what in the world is she doing?” “Why am I throwing this dress in the air from all kinds of different angles?” Well… this next picture is why…
I love how she is holding her belly and looking down at her own reflection with this big, beautiful dress thrown beautifully around her. Kind of like a flower with her belly being at the center. I knew when I had her look down in this way that I was going to incorporate some sort of reflection. How do you get a reflection? Well, you use water. But what if there isn’t any water? I guess you’ve got to add some! And that’s exactly what I did. I love the resulting piece of art and I really hope this one gets hung on the wall of her house.
She typically wears glasses and was worried her husband wouldn’t recognize her without them so it was important to her to have some photos with her glasses on as well. And I love them. She really looks fantastic no matter what!
Since we are Instagram friends, I looked back through some of her old posts to learn a little more about her. I found out that she had lost a baby prior to getting pregnant with this one so this baby is what is known as a Rainbow Baby- a baby born subsequent to a miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of an infant from natural causes. These stories really hit home for me as I’ve also experienced a miscarriage and I always want to create something extra special for them. Something from my own grieving momma heart to hers, a special little rainbow to honor her loss.
And finally, every session I do comes with the matching black and white images. Here are a few of my favorites…
I cannot wait to meet Baby Lincoln in just a few weeks for his newborn photoshoot!
Cedar Park Maternity Photographer
Are you pregnant and looking for some beautiful photos to document this special occasion? I would love to talk with you about scheduling a session. The best time to book a maternity photoshoot is when you enter your second trimester to ensure availability. Call me at 860-904-8423 or you can email me at jen@hellophotographyaustin. Check out some maternity and baby photoshoots from past clients HERE.
