I put an ad on Craigslist about a month ago looking for a photographer to take some maternity photos in exchange for being able to use the photos for their portfolio/advertising, etc. I had a lot of responses from male photographers whose entire portfolios were composed of half naked porn women. Why someone like that was interested in branching out into maternity photography is beyond me. Eventually I had a response from a woman in Largo who had up until that point been doing pet photography and wanted to start doing maternity and newborn photos. She was happy to take my photos in exchange for having the right to use them on her site and promotional material. After having shown Michael some of the portfolios with half naked girls in the jungle, etc I asked him at some point to mark the calendar for Saturday the 1st at 7pm. I told him to just write “Mat. Photos”. He misunderstood and asked “Are you sure you want some guy named Matt taking these?” I thought that was so funny! “No honey, mat as in short for maternity.”She wasn't what I expected, but I think she had the same feeling about me. I did send her my picture and describe my tiny build to her in an email so she'd know what she was getting herself into. One of her first comments was "Boy you are tiny. How can we make you look bigger?" She was a very petite blonde herself and at one point remarked "I've never seen anyone my size pregnant before." We met at a park and got some great last light of the day shots. Not to worry I took the wheelchair and didn't walk a single step. Michael played photographers’ assistant and held the reflector most of the time we were at the park, but he did join me in a couple shots too.
When we started really losing the light and the humidity was too much we headed to her nearby air conditioned studio. That part was really fun too. We did some lying on my side, some with a message on my belly and a couple with Mike holding my belly. She was good, but definitely new to working with people. Mike was watching and interjecting "move your hair out of your face" or "unfurrow your brow", etc which not only didn't seem to annoy her but actually emboldened her a bit.
She'll be editing for a few days, but I should be able to see them midweek. She's going to send me a cd of all the images and a postcard featuring my photo (one of the ones where I'm wearing a shirt I've been assured) to give to my pregnant friends. I'm so grateful I got to do it. I wanted something special to remember my one and only pregnancy and besides the bedrest limitations I was really nervous I wouldn't make it this far in my pregnancy or have the means to make it happen (those sessions range from $300-600). Hurray, resourcefulness! Hurray, having my picture taken! Hurray for my big old belly!
Also, I was just looking at one of my countdowns today and the baby will be here in 60 days at the most! Can you believe it? It's almost over. Talk about mixed emotions.
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