This past weekend I had the honor to guide and direct an in-home maternity session via FaceTime for my good friends. We had an (in person) in-home maternity session scheduled for the end of March, but the Coronavirus and stay at home orders for New Jersey, unfortunately, changed those plans. I started feeling terrible for them and everyone else who was going through such special times in their lives and were not able to get those precious moments (ones they may never get back) captured. I felt like I HAD to do something. I HAD to find some way to get these photos taken for them.
Prior to their session, I advised them to wear soft, natural tones such as whites, creams, greys etc. Magdalena really wanted to have a relaxed, comfy in-home vibe which I thought was PERFECT. Well, see for yourself…they nailed the wardrobe!
Sunday morning was going to be the nicest day of the weekend, so we decided to hop on a FaceTime call and get to work. I knew that this was going to be a completely different experience conducting and directing a session virtually, but I also knew it would be totally worth it. Magdalena and David borrowed an iPhone tripod from David’s dad and we used that for their “couple shots” as well as a self timer on David’s Apple watch (CRAZY!!). If he didn’t have the Apple Watch we definitely could have used the self timer on the camera. I told them where to position the tripod and frame the shot based on the best lighting in their home. Next, they set me up next to the tripod, so that I could tell them exactly how to pose, whether or not to smile, nuzzle in, kiss, where to position their hands etc. For Magdalena’s solo shots, David was AMAZING at taking direction and capturing the exact shots I was guiding him through. He stood over her on the bed and shot directly down at her, made sure he zoomed in with his body and camera for close ups (instead of using the zoom slider on the camera) and shot from all different angles. Once we were done shooting, they sent me their iPhone photos, I edited them and sent them back!
Their reactions made my day. All of a sudden, they had photos of the two of them loving on an adorable baby bump…photos they didn’t think they were going to have before their son entered the world. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as they did!!
