July 17, 2023 • 33 mins
This episode is your golden ticket to understanding the art and science of planning a successful maternity photoshoot. I'm your host, Maria B, and I'll be pulling back the curtain to reveal the meticulous steps, from striking the right business balance to building the foundations for your creativity, all in service of a smooth and enjoyable client experience.
Get ready to step into my shoes as we navigate the intricate process of setting dates, securing makeup artists, and handling contracts with ease using Studio Ninja, our client relationship management software. I'll share my personal tips on choosing the perfect materials to celebrate and accentuate the miracle of pregnancy, while keeping the client's interests at heart. Along the way, you'll hear stories from my journey and learnings from past photoshoots, sparking inspiration for your next maternity shoot. So, buckle up for an enlightening and engaging behind-the-scenes that will enhance your approach to maternity photography.
- LaClef Strapless Side Ruche Bodycon Tube Top Maternity Dress
- Sioro Women's Silk Satin Lace Trim Embroidery Bathrobe
- Before and Ever
- Mood Fabric (Shop Sales Section First)
- Etsy Elastic Webbing Cloth
- Lola Melani Academy
- Lola Melani
Questions or Comments? Reach out at MariaB@CluedUpBTS.com and I'll be in touch* directly or address your comment on the podcast.
*By submitting a question or statement, you agree that your submission can be discussed publicly on the podcast, website, or other platforms owned by or affiliated with CluedUpBTS and its parent company, HeadshotNJ, and affiliate company Maria B Photography Studio. while retaining your anonymity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maria Baptiste (00:00):
Hi everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Clued Up, the behind thescenes photography podcast.
You know, when I started thispodcast, the original goal, one
of the primary goals, was to, ofcourse, take you behind the
scenes and familiarize you withall the things that have to go
(00:21):
on in order to make a productive, well-organized, less stressful
photo shoot, and I know we'vecovered a number of topics all
related to that goal, but everyonce in a while I like to take
you with me on the journey ofplanning a photo shoot, and
(00:42):
today's one of those episodes.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to Clued Up with MariaB, the behind the scenes
photography podcast.
Clued Up is your insider's viewto building successful magazine
style photo shoots.
We talk design and concept,fashion and style, tech, social
media and, of course, business,plus so much more, including how
(01:05):
to avoid common photographypitfalls.
You'll also meet some specialguests who work behind the
camera and in front of the lens.
Whether you're an aspiringphotographer, a portrait
photographer, thinking aboutstarting your own business, or
you just have an interest inwhat it takes to plan and
execute professional shoots,you've come to the right place.
I'm your host, maria B.
(01:26):
Now let's get you Clued Up.
So I'd like to start with thebackstory as to how this shoot
came about.
In the beginning of 2020,someone who I work with very
nice woman, young woman, she's aphysical therapist she asked me
(01:48):
to do a maternity shoot for afriend of hers.
I was gifting this to herfriend and at that time I had
not done a maternity shoot.
I was I wouldn't say I was newto doing portraits, but I didn't
have the handle on it that Ihave now.
I didn't have a studio.
(02:10):
I had equipment.
I had, you know, soft boxes,umbrellas, I had speed lights.
I had.
I had a strobe it was prettybig strobe to take on location,
but I did.
But even before that, when sheasked me to do this, I hesitated
(02:30):
.
Actually, I more than hesitated, I kind of turned her down.
You know, thank you for theoffer, but I don't think I'm
there yet and she absolutelyrefused to take no for an answer
and she's one of those peoplewhere just given because she's
never giving up the fight.
So I agreed and at that time Ihad watched some videos on
(02:55):
maternity shoots, doingmaternity shoots and I wouldn't
say I necessarily, again, had ahandle on it.
But she convinced me that I hadthe ability and so we made the
arrangements.
I did the shoot.
I actually did it in thewoman's home, which is in I
(03:19):
believe it was Fort Lee, whichis right across the water from
New York City, and her, she,lived in this high rise
apartment complex.
So, you know, you had thesebeautiful views of New York City
in the background and I broughtalong a V flat and so we, we
(03:39):
really made a go of it.
Unfortunately, a couple of weeksafter we did the shoot we went
into lockdown so I never had theopportunity to go back and sit
with her to go through herphotos and we knew it would be a
long time before we gottogether.
And you know, with herpregnancy, who in the right mind
(04:00):
would take a chance on lettinga relative stranger into their
home?
So I essentially gave thedigital to her.
You know, during that time wewere all doing things that were
kind of ordinary out of theordinary.
So I gladly gave her thedigital and she loved the phone.
So I gladly gave her thedigital and she loved the photos
.
She really did.
(04:20):
She loved them so much that Ithink a year later, when she and
her fiance decided to finallyget married, they asked me to do
the wedding photos and that Idid turn down because I had not
(04:42):
ever photographed a wedding, andeven though it would just be
the two of them, his family,their family, just you know,
immediate family, probably lessthan I don't know, eight people
or so, I still wasn'tcomfortable.
In retrospect I should havedone it, but decision was made
(05:03):
and I stuck to it.
Anyway, all that to say what?
Three years later, the woman whoasked me to do the photo shoot,
the woman who gifted the photoshoot to her friend, has gotten
married and she is now having ababy.
And she, she texted me theother day, or she DMs me the
(05:26):
other day and asked me to do hermaternity shoot, and she was
like it was never in questionthat you weren't going to do it,
I just haven't had the chanceto reach out to you.
So that's the backstory of howthis came to be.
So now I'm going to kind oftake you through the steps,
rather casually, of planningthis, and I cannot emphasize the
(05:51):
importance of planning andplanning well.
So what you're planning for issomething that's really
important to someone and, asmuch as possible, you want to do
all the heavy lifting.
You want this to go as smoothlyas possible for them.
You want them to totally enjoythe experience.
(06:13):
So among her first questions tome, like all clients, is what
was my cost?
And I went over that with her.
I gave her the cost of mysession fee, which in my case is
$200, and the important thingto know about this is much the
way she had gifted a maternityshoot to a friend of hers.
(06:36):
A friend of this woman I'mgonna call her Carol, just to
make it easier from now on.
A friend of Carol wanted togift a maternity shoot to her,
so once Carol reached out to meand asked me the cost, she then
provided the information for herfriend who was actually paying
(06:56):
for it, and I told her I neededcare.
I needed her friends Emailaddress, phone number, just the,
the contact info that I need toput into my client relations
management software, just so Icould begin organizing things.
I sent a brochure to Carol justto let her know that these are
(07:24):
my print products that areavailable after the photo shoot.
So the long and short of it isafter the shoot.
When she comes back and shedecides on the photos that she
wants, she gets to choosewhether she wants wall art or an
album or those sorts of things,and I'll talk more about that
in a moment.
(07:44):
So once we established that, yes, we are going to do this, we
are going to do this inmaternity shoot, then we went
into some immediate planning asfar as narrowing down a date and
a time and, of course, ensuringthat I had a makeup artist who
was available.
And once we had all of thosethings set, I Then went about
(08:07):
drawing up the invoice and thecontract for the maternity shoot
.
So that, of course, brings usto the business part of this.
I mean all of its business, butthese are really important
specific points.
The first thing was, of course,to create an invoice for the
original session fee.
(08:28):
That invoice includes thedetails, such as the date and
the time and Specific to thefact that this, the the invoice,
covers the session fee and onlythe session fee.
It does not cover prints oreven digital.
So that has to be clear andthat's made clear in the
(08:53):
contract that is attached to theinvoice.
So I use Software or clientrelation management software,
called studio ninja.
Now there are a bunch of thesedifferent software programs,
online programs that areavailable.
There's studio ninja, there'shoney book, there's 17 hats.
(09:15):
There are a bunch of them.
The trick is to find the onethat works for you, because some
of them seem to be morecumbersome than others.
But that's a personal thing,that's.
You know, if you listen to myepisode on Photography education
, where I talk about, you haveto find someone who's teaching
methods Work specifically foryou.
(09:36):
Well, it's this.
It's kind of the same thingwith this type of software you
need to find the one that worksfor you, and I've been through a
few and it took me a while tofind one that really works or
works for me, and studio ninjadoes that.
So into studio ninja I input theclient, carol, the name of the
person who is receiving theinvoice, who is gifting her the
(10:00):
shoot, the date of the shoot,the time of the shoot and
Whatever necessary details,specifically the date the
payment for the session is due,because in business, until you
make a deposit, nothing isreally set in stone, and I let
it be known it's in that in theinvoice that once that Session
(10:25):
fee is paid, the client is onfor the day.
No other client will be offeredthat date or time, and then it
proceeds to list out theservices that will be provided.
So just to give you a littlebit more detail about this Into
this program it's actuallyonline software I input the
client's name in this case Carolthe name of the person who is
(10:49):
the primary provider of thefinancial transaction, and I
input that person's name, theirContact info, email and
telephone number.
Obviously I do the same withCarol because, you know, should
those details need to be on thedocuments as well.
Um, so this initially presentsto the client or the person
(11:17):
paying as a quote.
It can also, as in this case,go to them as a direct invoice,
and because in this case a quotewas not necessary, but
typically what happens is Iprovide a quote, I send the
quote to the client.
Once the client agrees withthat quote, once they indicate
(11:39):
their agreement, the quotetransitions into an invoice.
On that invoice is the datethat the payment is due and also
the program then creates aportal for the client.
So in that portal the clientcan find the contract, which
they are obligated to readthrough in its entirety, because
(12:02):
it contains specific detailsabout copyright, about liability
, about a number of differentfactors and it.
You know, in the future I maygo into that um somewhat deeper
in a separate episode, a part ofan episode, but, uh, so we have
the contract, we have theinvoice and you can attach a
(12:28):
survey and in this case I did.
And specifically, I needed tohave certain questions answered
related to how far along in thepregnancy is Carol Um.
Does she expect, uh, to use acolor theme or would she like a
color theme throughout her photoshoot?
(12:48):
Does she know the gender of thebaby and does that?
Is that a factor?
Does she need or want for thatto be a factor in her photo
shoot?
A bunch of other questions.
You can go online and justGoogle you know questions from
eternity photo shoot and you'llget a nice long list of people
(13:09):
who provide um.
You know what they use and youjust sort of tailor it to your
specific use and the informationthat you need to provide a
superior experience for yourclient.
You don't want to burden theclient with a lot of questions,
(13:29):
but you need to draw outspecific information.
So one of the questions I umincluded and I did it in terms
of a checkbox is are they, arethey okay with implied nudity,
partial nudity?
Um, are they okay with showingthe pregnant belly?
(13:49):
You know just questions likethat, so that on the day of the
shoot.
You're not going to take themdown a road that they're
uncomfortable with, if you knowwhat I mean.
So those are some points that Imade sure I included.
I specifically asked about umlikes or dislikes of certain
(14:11):
types of foods, if there's aparticular snack that she favors
.
Um, I asked about the type ofmusic she favors, you know, and
she, I think within 24 hours ofsending the survey she had
provided answers, all thenecessary answers.
Um, that really helped me interms of knowing what will work
(14:34):
best for her.
So she told me things like, youknow, blues and purples are
some colors that she tends tofavor.
She does know the gender of thebaby, but it didn't really, she
didn't really want that to playinto her photo shoot, which you
know.
That's wonderful because Ithink it gives me more room to
(14:57):
experiment with different thingsand different colors.
She specifically told me thatshe wanted at least a few poses
with that very light, airy,flowing material.
Um, you know that like the useof silk or silk chiffon or that
type of thing.
So that's something that Ireally enjoy doing.
So I know to do thatspecifically with her maternity
(15:24):
shoot.
But these are all things thatyou know.
We're not going to talk aboutthem a week before and we're not
going to talk about them theday of the photo shoot.
We're learning about all ofthis right now so that I can get
what I need and set upappropriately for her.
So once I had that back and Ihad an idea of what she's
(15:46):
looking for, I went to work onreviewing maternity poses and
because I hadn't done this in awhile, I wanted I really wanted
to refamiliarize myself with thewhole process.
Now I had material from before,you know, on my computer for
maternity shoots, particularposes, particular lighting, but
(16:11):
again, it had been sometimessince I'd done a shoot like this
and I wanted to beginrefamiliarizing myself.
So I pulled those things outand I went over them.
I also went to the website ofLola Milani, who I know I've
mentioned before in some olderepisodes.
(16:32):
Lola Milani is I hate to sayshe's the godmother of maternity
photo shoots, but she really is.
Her method of teaching aboutthis is so simple and so
beautiful and relaxed and youcan tell she has a passion for
this.
I mean, she not only doesmaternity, she does boudoir, she
(16:53):
does fine nude, she does beauty, but her, her mainstay is
maternity photo shoots and shedoes a magnificent job, and so I
actually purchased one of hernewer classes on doing maternity
(17:14):
shoots and I've actually satdown and watched the entire
thing already and it's actuallyfrom a workshop that she did, so
it was all recorded live, sothere wasn't as much.
There was a lot of prep work,but it's not like as though it
was a video production.
It was a live workshop that sherecorded.
(17:37):
So you get to see threedifferent setups you know I
think they listed three, butsomehow it seems as though it's
more than that and she goes overlighting and posing and
everything that you would needto incorporate into your work if
you are doing a maternity shoot.
In addition, you get thelighting diagrams and then you
(18:00):
get a list of the products thatshe uses and really for most
photographers, it's things thatthey already have.
It's not like you've got to goout and purchase things.
It's simply, it's simple.
It's probably the best way tosay it.
It's done simply and absolutelybeautifully.
And again, her website is LolaMilani Photography and then
(18:25):
there's Lola Milani Academy forphotographers, so you may just
want to look there if you areinterested in maternity.
A touch of boudoir, fine artnude.
You can't go wrong, and theprice is very reasonable,
particularly when there's adiscount.
(18:46):
So, again, if this is somethingyou're interested in, I strongly
suggest that you start withLola Milani, because you will be
starting with the absolute bestand so because I have the
combination of what the clientwants, along with having
(19:07):
reviewed and watched newmaterial on doing this type of
photo shoot.
All of that allowed me toreally begin my prep work in
terms of having the thingsnecessary to make the photos
that I believe will make thisclient extremely happy.
(19:29):
So part of my prep, as I said alittle while ago, is
familiarizing or refamiliarizing myself with things
like the lighting, theappropriate lighting for
maternity shoots, specifically,you know, the maternity
silhouette, be it backlit orshort lit or even broad lighting
(19:53):
, just re familiarizing myselfwith the best way to photograph
the pregnant form.
The next thing becomes whatexactly will show that form in
the most beautiful way If youare putting that pregnant form
(20:18):
out there, if that is theemphasis of your photos, what
types of outfits, what clothingbest accentuates the pregnancy?
So that brought me to lookingat, you know, the different
types of materials that would dothat.
Obviously, we want to go tworoutes with this.
(20:41):
We want material that is light,airy, flowy, as I said before,
and for that we have, like thesilk charmous, silk chiffon,
some of which I already have inthe studio.
There is a website called Ithink it's before and forever it
.
I'll provide the link to it andthey provide silk chiffon, silk
(21:07):
charmous, either in solidcolors or with graphic prints.
The prices are quite reasonable.
Depending on where you are,prices of fabric varies
significantly.
The other thing is that you canalways go to a fabric store and
(21:31):
look in their ends department,and what fabric stores call ends
could be yards upon yards ofmaterial, and that's a good
place to start, particularly ifyou live in an area where fabric
is high priced.
So I'm in Northern New Jerseyand I may have mentioned this
before in another episode.
(21:51):
There are some local fabricstores where the prices are
quite reasonable.
In addition to the prices beingreasonable, they may not have
the exact type of materialyou're looking for.
So if I there's a fabric storein the town or a few towns over
(22:12):
over for me and I went in thereone day and I said do you have
silk shamosies?
Like no, that's really, reallypricey, I don't carry it, he
said, but I do have such andsuch.
I forgot the material.
If you to the naked eye youcan't tell the difference
between the expensive silkshamosies and this material and
it works just as well.
(22:32):
So you don't always have to gowith the high end product.
I am across from New York City.
Mood is the fabric store ofchoice.
They sell almost everything youcan ever wish for in terms of
fabric.
You can walk in there and askfor any type of silk, anything
and they'll have it, but youknow it can be a little bit
(22:56):
costly.
And the thing about maternityshoots if you are going for that
flowy type of look, you need atleast five yards of material.
So that can be a lot dependingon you know your budget and what
your goals are in terms of thepresentation of your photography
(23:17):
, how you want this to appear.
The other look is that, thatlook that really emphasizes the
pregnant belly, and for thatthere's jersey or some other
type of I'm not sure if knit isthe right fabric, but something
(23:41):
that really cuts close to thebody.
What I am trying to avoid andI'm not a seamstress and I don't
deal in fabric that much, butyou know I can figure what I
want and what I don't want.
What I'm trying to avoid isputting the client into some
type of a dress that makes herlook bigger than she is, because
(24:06):
she's a very tiny person and,whether you're tiny or not, it's
a maternity shoot and we areemphasizing the maternity part
of it.
We don't need for a woman tolook larger than her true size.
So, for those types of photosphotos that would be, you know,
(24:29):
either implied nude or reallyemphasizing nothing but the
structure of the body, thepregnant body we would go for
something that really sticks tothe body, as opposed to
something that is bigger andjust flows, where it might just
look like a big dress, versusemphasizing the maternity factor
(24:51):
in the photos.
Get material that does this.
I used two sources.
One was Amazon, and in the caseof Amazon, I simply ordered
maternity dresses that were, youknow, that did exactly that
they emphasize the pregnantbelly.
I made sure that I did notorder anything that had sleeves,
(25:14):
because that would take awayfrom just concentrating on the
pregnant form.
The other place that I gotmaterial to do this with is, as
I said before, mood, and what Idid was I went to, I made the
purchases online versus goinginto New York City, and I went
(25:38):
to their discount section oftheir online store and I looked
for the colors and the type ofmaterial that I know can really
emphasize the pregnant form onceit is wrapped around the client
.
The client likes blues andpurples, which I think I
(26:01):
mentioned before, and you cansay blue and purple, but that's
a really wide range to deal with.
So I went for the more jeweltone colors, both in terms of
the flowy material that I talkedabout a little bit ago, and for
the, the Jersey type materialthat emphasizes the pregnant
(26:23):
form.
I also purchased from the onlinestore before and forever,
graphic printed silk material orsilk chiffon material, and in
my mind, I know exactly where Iam going with, which is because
(26:44):
I asked the client what herinterests were as far as print
products, to which she respondedwall art and an album.
In my mind, I can see theprogression of an album, meaning
first photographing her, or atleast in the presentation of the
(27:05):
album, the photos that willcome first will be the more
plain type of photos in thejersey material and then working
towards the more graphic,elaborate, flowy type material
across, let's say, a spread.
(27:26):
You know what I mean.
So instead of it just being onepage, it'll be like a two page
spread of the client in thismassive silk, chiffon graphic
print Because, as I said, she'stold me she's interested in an
album.
(27:46):
It allows me to develop amental picture of what that
album should look like and, ifall goes well, I think this will
be outstanding.
I think it will be reallysomething that she's going to
love.
Just a few more points.
This is going to be a bigproduction, big in terms of I
(28:08):
don't think it's something thatI can do by myself and just the
client.
So supposedly her husband isgoing to accompany her to the
photo shoot, but that's also upin the air because of working,
responsive, of workresponsibilities.
So if he is not with her, thenI'm sure our friend or I'll ask
(28:34):
her as the date approaches If heis not able to come with her.
If a friend can certainly comealong and in the interest of
fairness and in the interest ofyou know this great occasion in
their lives.
What I said to her was, if yourhusband does have to work, the
two of you can just pop inanother time and we'll do a
(28:56):
really casual shoot and it'll becovered by the same session fee
, which I think is perfectlyreasonable and fair to them.
But just going back, you knowthis is going to be hard to do
if it's just the two of us, soI'm hoping she will bring
someone along if her husbandcannot accompany her, and then
(29:20):
one of my assistants one of myphotography assistants is also
going to help out, and my planis simply to have everything set
up by the time she arrives andhave this be a really nice
Saturday that we spend doingthis.
I want it to be efficientbecause you know it's the summer
(29:43):
, it's hot, she's pregnant, Ihave air conditioning in the
studio, but still, my goal isnot to take a ton of pictures,
but just to take some highquality photos.
That crosses the span betweenthe different colors that she
loves, the different poses, thedifferent structures of the
(30:07):
outfits that she'll be wearing,in the hope of producing an
album or wall art that she'sgoing to treasure for the rest
of her life, along with herhusband and other members of her
family.
So I would call this part oneof talking about this photo
shoot and I will continue untilthe end.
(30:32):
So, whatever the next phase is,I will keep you guys up to date
on that and then certainly Iwill let you know all of the
details of how the shoot went.
It actually is not scheduleduntil August, the 12th, so you
know there's some more intricateplanning that needs to go on
(30:54):
just to make sure thateverything goes as smoothly as
possible.
And after we do the shoot, youknow I will let you know how
things went along and hopefullyit'll be successful.
And you know, depending on howthis goes, I may start offering
(31:16):
maternity shoots.
I think I'm very excited to dothis because, unlike the
previous two shoots that I'vedone, I'm putting more time and
energy and effort into this andI think it's like anything else
If you know, if you put the workin, it's usually reflected back
(31:36):
at you and if all goes well, Ireally think I may want to start
offering maternity shoots.
All of the maternity shootsI've done and this will be the
third or fourth, I think I'vebeen asked to do them by people
who know that I do portraitphotography.
(31:56):
It's not as though I offered orI have it out there that I do
maternity shoots, but people whoknow I do portraits have come
to me and asked me to do theirmaternity shoots or have asked
me to do maternity shoots forfriends of theirs.
(32:18):
So I think, if this goes well,this may become, you know,
another type of portraiture inmy arsenal, and I think it'll go
well.
I'm optimistic, but I will letyou know.
All right, you guys?
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode.
(32:40):
I really appreciate it, asalways, and I look forward to
our next episode together.
Thank you, stay well Until nexttime.
Hi everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Clued Up, the behind thescenes photography podcast.
You know, when I started thispodcast, the original goal, one
of the primary goals, was to, ofcourse, take you behind the
scenes and familiarize you withall the things that have to go
(00:21):
on in order to make a productive, well-organized, less stressful
photo shoot, and I know we'vecovered a number of topics all
related to that goal, but everyonce in a while I like to take
you with me on the journey ofplanning a photo shoot, and
(00:42):
today's one of those episodes.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to Clued Up with MariaB, the behind the scenes
photography podcast.
Clued Up is your insider's viewto building successful magazine
style photo shoots.
We talk design and concept,fashion and style, tech, social
media and, of course, business,plus so much more, including how
(01:05):
to avoid common photographypitfalls.
You'll also meet some specialguests who work behind the
camera and in front of the lens.
Whether you're an aspiringphotographer, a portrait
photographer, thinking aboutstarting your own business, or
you just have an interest inwhat it takes to plan and
execute professional shoots,you've come to the right place.
I'm your host, maria B.
(01:26):
Now let's get you Clued Up.
So I'd like to start with thebackstory as to how this shoot
came about.
In the beginning of 2020,someone who I work with very
nice woman, young woman, she's aphysical therapist she asked me
(01:48):
to do a maternity shoot for afriend of hers.
I was gifting this to herfriend and at that time I had
not done a maternity shoot.
I was I wouldn't say I was newto doing portraits, but I didn't
have the handle on it that Ihave now.
I didn't have a studio.
(02:10):
I had equipment.
I had, you know, soft boxes,umbrellas, I had speed lights.
I had.
I had a strobe it was prettybig strobe to take on location,
but I did.
But even before that, when sheasked me to do this, I hesitated
(02:30):
.
Actually, I more than hesitated, I kind of turned her down.
You know, thank you for theoffer, but I don't think I'm
there yet and she absolutelyrefused to take no for an answer
and she's one of those peoplewhere just given because she's
never giving up the fight.
So I agreed and at that time Ihad watched some videos on
(02:55):
maternity shoots, doingmaternity shoots and I wouldn't
say I necessarily, again, had ahandle on it.
But she convinced me that I hadthe ability and so we made the
arrangements.
I did the shoot.
I actually did it in thewoman's home, which is in I
(03:19):
believe it was Fort Lee, whichis right across the water from
New York City, and her, she,lived in this high rise
apartment complex.
So, you know, you had thesebeautiful views of New York City
in the background and I broughtalong a V flat and so we, we
(03:39):
really made a go of it.
Unfortunately, a couple of weeksafter we did the shoot we went
into lockdown so I never had theopportunity to go back and sit
with her to go through herphotos and we knew it would be a
long time before we gottogether.
And you know, with herpregnancy, who in the right mind
(04:00):
would take a chance on lettinga relative stranger into their
home?
So I essentially gave thedigital to her.
You know, during that time wewere all doing things that were
kind of ordinary out of theordinary.
So I gladly gave her thedigital and she loved the phone.
So I gladly gave her thedigital and she loved the photos
.
She really did.
(04:20):
She loved them so much that Ithink a year later, when she and
her fiance decided to finallyget married, they asked me to do
the wedding photos and that Idid turn down because I had not
(04:42):
ever photographed a wedding, andeven though it would just be
the two of them, his family,their family, just you know,
immediate family, probably lessthan I don't know, eight people
or so, I still wasn'tcomfortable.
In retrospect I should havedone it, but decision was made
(05:03):
and I stuck to it.
Anyway, all that to say what?
Three years later, the woman whoasked me to do the photo shoot,
the woman who gifted the photoshoot to her friend, has gotten
married and she is now having ababy.
And she, she texted me theother day, or she DMs me the
(05:26):
other day and asked me to do hermaternity shoot, and she was
like it was never in questionthat you weren't going to do it,
I just haven't had the chanceto reach out to you.
So that's the backstory of howthis came to be.
So now I'm going to kind oftake you through the steps,
rather casually, of planningthis, and I cannot emphasize the
(05:51):
importance of planning andplanning well.
So what you're planning for issomething that's really
important to someone and, asmuch as possible, you want to do
all the heavy lifting.
You want this to go as smoothlyas possible for them.
You want them to totally enjoythe experience.
(06:13):
So among her first questions tome, like all clients, is what
was my cost?
And I went over that with her.
I gave her the cost of mysession fee, which in my case is
$200, and the important thingto know about this is much the
way she had gifted a maternityshoot to a friend of hers.
(06:36):
A friend of this woman I'mgonna call her Carol, just to
make it easier from now on.
A friend of Carol wanted togift a maternity shoot to her,
so once Carol reached out to meand asked me the cost, she then
provided the information for herfriend who was actually paying
(06:56):
for it, and I told her I neededcare.
I needed her friends Emailaddress, phone number, just the,
the contact info that I need toput into my client relations
management software, just so Icould begin organizing things.
I sent a brochure to Carol justto let her know that these are
(07:24):
my print products that areavailable after the photo shoot.
So the long and short of it isafter the shoot.
When she comes back and shedecides on the photos that she
wants, she gets to choosewhether she wants wall art or an
album or those sorts of things,and I'll talk more about that
in a moment.
(07:44):
So once we established that, yes, we are going to do this, we
are going to do this inmaternity shoot, then we went
into some immediate planning asfar as narrowing down a date and
a time and, of course, ensuringthat I had a makeup artist who
was available.
And once we had all of thosethings set, I Then went about
(08:07):
drawing up the invoice and thecontract for the maternity shoot
.
So that, of course, brings usto the business part of this.
I mean all of its business, butthese are really important
specific points.
The first thing was, of course,to create an invoice for the
original session fee.
(08:28):
That invoice includes thedetails, such as the date and
the time and Specific to thefact that this, the the invoice,
covers the session fee and onlythe session fee.
It does not cover prints oreven digital.
So that has to be clear andthat's made clear in the
(08:53):
contract that is attached to theinvoice.
So I use Software or clientrelation management software,
called studio ninja.
Now there are a bunch of thesedifferent software programs,
online programs that areavailable.
There's studio ninja, there'shoney book, there's 17 hats.
(09:15):
There are a bunch of them.
The trick is to find the onethat works for you, because some
of them seem to be morecumbersome than others.
But that's a personal thing,that's.
You know, if you listen to myepisode on Photography education
, where I talk about, you haveto find someone who's teaching
methods Work specifically foryou.
(09:36):
Well, it's this.
It's kind of the same thingwith this type of software you
need to find the one that worksfor you, and I've been through a
few and it took me a while tofind one that really works or
works for me, and studio ninjadoes that.
So into studio ninja I input theclient, carol, the name of the
person who is receiving theinvoice, who is gifting her the
(10:00):
shoot, the date of the shoot,the time of the shoot and
Whatever necessary details,specifically the date the
payment for the session is due,because in business, until you
make a deposit, nothing isreally set in stone, and I let
it be known it's in that in theinvoice that once that Session
(10:25):
fee is paid, the client is onfor the day.
No other client will be offeredthat date or time, and then it
proceeds to list out theservices that will be provided.
So just to give you a littlebit more detail about this Into
this program it's actuallyonline software I input the
client's name in this case Carolthe name of the person who is
(10:49):
the primary provider of thefinancial transaction, and I
input that person's name, theirContact info, email and
telephone number.
Obviously I do the same withCarol because, you know, should
those details need to be on thedocuments as well.
Um, so this initially presentsto the client or the person
(11:17):
paying as a quote.
It can also, as in this case,go to them as a direct invoice,
and because in this case a quotewas not necessary, but
typically what happens is Iprovide a quote, I send the
quote to the client.
Once the client agrees withthat quote, once they indicate
(11:39):
their agreement, the quotetransitions into an invoice.
On that invoice is the datethat the payment is due and also
the program then creates aportal for the client.
So in that portal the clientcan find the contract, which
they are obligated to readthrough in its entirety, because
(12:02):
it contains specific detailsabout copyright, about liability
, about a number of differentfactors and it.
You know, in the future I maygo into that um somewhat deeper
in a separate episode, a part ofan episode, but, uh, so we have
the contract, we have theinvoice and you can attach a
(12:28):
survey and in this case I did.
And specifically, I needed tohave certain questions answered
related to how far along in thepregnancy is Carol Um.
Does she expect, uh, to use acolor theme or would she like a
color theme throughout her photoshoot?
(12:48):
Does she know the gender of thebaby and does that?
Is that a factor?
Does she need or want for thatto be a factor in her photo
shoot?
A bunch of other questions.
You can go online and justGoogle you know questions from
eternity photo shoot and you'llget a nice long list of people
(13:09):
who provide um.
You know what they use and youjust sort of tailor it to your
specific use and the informationthat you need to provide a
superior experience for yourclient.
You don't want to burden theclient with a lot of questions,
(13:29):
but you need to draw outspecific information.
So one of the questions I umincluded and I did it in terms
of a checkbox is are they, arethey okay with implied nudity,
partial nudity?
Um, are they okay with showingthe pregnant belly?
(13:49):
You know just questions likethat, so that on the day of the
shoot.
You're not going to take themdown a road that they're
uncomfortable with, if you knowwhat I mean.
So those are some points that Imade sure I included.
I specifically asked about umlikes or dislikes of certain
(14:11):
types of foods, if there's aparticular snack that she favors
.
Um, I asked about the type ofmusic she favors, you know, and
she, I think within 24 hours ofsending the survey she had
provided answers, all thenecessary answers.
Um, that really helped me interms of knowing what will work
(14:34):
best for her.
So she told me things like, youknow, blues and purples are
some colors that she tends tofavor.
She does know the gender of thebaby, but it didn't really, she
didn't really want that to playinto her photo shoot, which you
know.
That's wonderful because Ithink it gives me more room to
(14:57):
experiment with different thingsand different colors.
She specifically told me thatshe wanted at least a few poses
with that very light, airy,flowing material.
Um, you know that like the useof silk or silk chiffon or that
type of thing.
So that's something that Ireally enjoy doing.
So I know to do thatspecifically with her maternity
(15:24):
shoot.
But these are all things thatyou know.
We're not going to talk aboutthem a week before and we're not
going to talk about them theday of the photo shoot.
We're learning about all ofthis right now so that I can get
what I need and set upappropriately for her.
So once I had that back and Ihad an idea of what she's
(15:46):
looking for, I went to work onreviewing maternity poses and
because I hadn't done this in awhile, I wanted I really wanted
to refamiliarize myself with thewhole process.
Now I had material from before,you know, on my computer for
maternity shoots, particularposes, particular lighting, but
(16:11):
again, it had been sometimessince I'd done a shoot like this
and I wanted to beginrefamiliarizing myself.
So I pulled those things outand I went over them.
I also went to the website ofLola Milani, who I know I've
mentioned before in some olderepisodes.
(16:32):
Lola Milani is I hate to sayshe's the godmother of maternity
photo shoots, but she really is.
Her method of teaching aboutthis is so simple and so
beautiful and relaxed and youcan tell she has a passion for
this.
I mean, she not only doesmaternity, she does boudoir, she
(16:53):
does fine nude, she does beauty, but her, her mainstay is
maternity photo shoots and shedoes a magnificent job, and so I
actually purchased one of hernewer classes on doing maternity
(17:14):
shoots and I've actually satdown and watched the entire
thing already and it's actuallyfrom a workshop that she did, so
it was all recorded live, sothere wasn't as much.
There was a lot of prep work,but it's not like as though it
was a video production.
It was a live workshop that sherecorded.
(17:37):
So you get to see threedifferent setups you know I
think they listed three, butsomehow it seems as though it's
more than that and she goes overlighting and posing and
everything that you would needto incorporate into your work if
you are doing a maternity shoot.
In addition, you get thelighting diagrams and then you
(18:00):
get a list of the products thatshe uses and really for most
photographers, it's things thatthey already have.
It's not like you've got to goout and purchase things.
It's simply, it's simple.
It's probably the best way tosay it.
It's done simply and absolutelybeautifully.
And again, her website is LolaMilani Photography and then
(18:25):
there's Lola Milani Academy forphotographers, so you may just
want to look there if you areinterested in maternity.
A touch of boudoir, fine artnude.
You can't go wrong, and theprice is very reasonable,
particularly when there's adiscount.
(18:46):
So, again, if this is somethingyou're interested in, I strongly
suggest that you start withLola Milani, because you will be
starting with the absolute bestand so because I have the
combination of what the clientwants, along with having
(19:07):
reviewed and watched newmaterial on doing this type of
photo shoot.
All of that allowed me toreally begin my prep work in
terms of having the thingsnecessary to make the photos
that I believe will make thisclient extremely happy.
(19:29):
So part of my prep, as I said alittle while ago, is
familiarizing or refamiliarizing myself with things
like the lighting, theappropriate lighting for
maternity shoots, specifically,you know, the maternity
silhouette, be it backlit orshort lit or even broad lighting
(19:53):
, just re familiarizing myselfwith the best way to photograph
the pregnant form.
The next thing becomes whatexactly will show that form in
the most beautiful way If youare putting that pregnant form
(20:18):
out there, if that is theemphasis of your photos, what
types of outfits, what clothingbest accentuates the pregnancy?
So that brought me to lookingat, you know, the different
types of materials that would dothat.
Obviously, we want to go tworoutes with this.
(20:41):
We want material that is light,airy, flowy, as I said before,
and for that we have, like thesilk charmous, silk chiffon,
some of which I already have inthe studio.
There is a website called Ithink it's before and forever it
.
I'll provide the link to it andthey provide silk chiffon, silk
(21:07):
charmous, either in solidcolors or with graphic prints.
The prices are quite reasonable.
Depending on where you are,prices of fabric varies
significantly.
The other thing is that you canalways go to a fabric store and
(21:31):
look in their ends department,and what fabric stores call ends
could be yards upon yards ofmaterial, and that's a good
place to start, particularly ifyou live in an area where fabric
is high priced.
So I'm in Northern New Jerseyand I may have mentioned this
before in another episode.
(21:51):
There are some local fabricstores where the prices are
quite reasonable.
In addition to the prices beingreasonable, they may not have
the exact type of materialyou're looking for.
So if I there's a fabric storein the town or a few towns over
(22:12):
over for me and I went in thereone day and I said do you have
silk shamosies?
Like no, that's really, reallypricey, I don't carry it, he
said, but I do have such andsuch.
I forgot the material.
If you to the naked eye youcan't tell the difference
between the expensive silkshamosies and this material and
it works just as well.
(22:32):
So you don't always have to gowith the high end product.
I am across from New York City.
Mood is the fabric store ofchoice.
They sell almost everything youcan ever wish for in terms of
fabric.
You can walk in there and askfor any type of silk, anything
and they'll have it, but youknow it can be a little bit
(22:56):
costly.
And the thing about maternityshoots if you are going for that
flowy type of look, you need atleast five yards of material.
So that can be a lot dependingon you know your budget and what
your goals are in terms of thepresentation of your photography
(23:17):
, how you want this to appear.
The other look is that, thatlook that really emphasizes the
pregnant belly, and for thatthere's jersey or some other
type of I'm not sure if knit isthe right fabric, but something
(23:41):
that really cuts close to thebody.
What I am trying to avoid andI'm not a seamstress and I don't
deal in fabric that much, butyou know I can figure what I
want and what I don't want.
What I'm trying to avoid isputting the client into some
type of a dress that makes herlook bigger than she is, because
(24:06):
she's a very tiny person and,whether you're tiny or not, it's
a maternity shoot and we areemphasizing the maternity part
of it.
We don't need for a woman tolook larger than her true size.
So, for those types of photosphotos that would be, you know,
(24:29):
either implied nude or reallyemphasizing nothing but the
structure of the body, thepregnant body we would go for
something that really sticks tothe body, as opposed to
something that is bigger andjust flows, where it might just
look like a big dress, versusemphasizing the maternity factor
(24:51):
in the photos.
Get material that does this.
I used two sources.
One was Amazon, and in the caseof Amazon, I simply ordered
maternity dresses that were, youknow, that did exactly that
they emphasize the pregnantbelly.
I made sure that I did notorder anything that had sleeves,
(25:14):
because that would take awayfrom just concentrating on the
pregnant form.
The other place that I gotmaterial to do this with is, as
I said before, mood, and what Idid was I went to, I made the
purchases online versus goinginto New York City, and I went
(25:38):
to their discount section oftheir online store and I looked
for the colors and the type ofmaterial that I know can really
emphasize the pregnant form onceit is wrapped around the client
.
The client likes blues andpurples, which I think I
(26:01):
mentioned before, and you cansay blue and purple, but that's
a really wide range to deal with.
So I went for the more jeweltone colors, both in terms of
the flowy material that I talkedabout a little bit ago, and for
the, the Jersey type materialthat emphasizes the pregnant
(26:23):
form.
I also purchased from the onlinestore before and forever,
graphic printed silk material orsilk chiffon material, and in
my mind, I know exactly where Iam going with, which is because
(26:44):
I asked the client what herinterests were as far as print
products, to which she respondedwall art and an album.
In my mind, I can see theprogression of an album, meaning
first photographing her, or atleast in the presentation of the
(27:05):
album, the photos that willcome first will be the more
plain type of photos in thejersey material and then working
towards the more graphic,elaborate, flowy type material
across, let's say, a spread.
(27:26):
You know what I mean.
So instead of it just being onepage, it'll be like a two page
spread of the client in thismassive silk, chiffon graphic
print Because, as I said, she'stold me she's interested in an
album.
(27:46):
It allows me to develop amental picture of what that
album should look like and, ifall goes well, I think this will
be outstanding.
I think it will be reallysomething that she's going to
love.
Just a few more points.
This is going to be a bigproduction, big in terms of I
(28:08):
don't think it's something thatI can do by myself and just the
client.
So supposedly her husband isgoing to accompany her to the
photo shoot, but that's also upin the air because of working,
responsive, of workresponsibilities.
So if he is not with her, thenI'm sure our friend or I'll ask
(28:34):
her as the date approaches If heis not able to come with her.
If a friend can certainly comealong and in the interest of
fairness and in the interest ofyou know this great occasion in
their lives.
What I said to her was, if yourhusband does have to work, the
two of you can just pop inanother time and we'll do a
(28:56):
really casual shoot and it'll becovered by the same session fee
, which I think is perfectlyreasonable and fair to them.
But just going back, you knowthis is going to be hard to do
if it's just the two of us, soI'm hoping she will bring
someone along if her husbandcannot accompany her, and then
(29:20):
one of my assistants one of myphotography assistants is also
going to help out, and my planis simply to have everything set
up by the time she arrives andhave this be a really nice
Saturday that we spend doingthis.
I want it to be efficientbecause you know it's the summer
(29:43):
, it's hot, she's pregnant, Ihave air conditioning in the
studio, but still, my goal isnot to take a ton of pictures,
but just to take some highquality photos.
That crosses the span betweenthe different colors that she
loves, the different poses, thedifferent structures of the
(30:07):
outfits that she'll be wearing,in the hope of producing an
album or wall art that she'sgoing to treasure for the rest
of her life, along with herhusband and other members of her
family.
So I would call this part oneof talking about this photo
shoot and I will continue untilthe end.
(30:32):
So, whatever the next phase is,I will keep you guys up to date
on that and then certainly Iwill let you know all of the
details of how the shoot went.
It actually is not scheduleduntil August, the 12th, so you
know there's some more intricateplanning that needs to go on
(30:54):
just to make sure thateverything goes as smoothly as
possible.
And after we do the shoot, youknow I will let you know how
things went along and hopefullyit'll be successful.
And you know, depending on howthis goes, I may start offering
(31:16):
maternity shoots.
I think I'm very excited to dothis because, unlike the
previous two shoots that I'vedone, I'm putting more time and
energy and effort into this andI think it's like anything else
If you know, if you put the workin, it's usually reflected back
(31:36):
at you and if all goes well, Ireally think I may want to start
offering maternity shoots.
All of the maternity shootsI've done and this will be the
third or fourth, I think I'vebeen asked to do them by people
who know that I do portraitphotography.
(31:56):
It's not as though I offered orI have it out there that I do
maternity shoots, but people whoknow I do portraits have come
to me and asked me to do theirmaternity shoots or have asked
me to do maternity shoots forfriends of theirs.
(32:18):
So I think, if this goes well,this may become, you know,
another type of portraiture inmy arsenal, and I think it'll go
well.
I'm optimistic, but I will letyou know.
All right, you guys?
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode.
(32:40):
I really appreciate it, asalways, and I look forward to
our next episode together.
Thank you, stay well Until nexttime.
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