tricky maternity posing question.

DJane

Here's the quick and dirty question:
What would you use as a generally flattering, clothed, one-off maternity pose that would work in an on-site (i.e. a birth/baby expo kind of situation) porta-studio?

The specifics are these- I've been approached by a non-profit to do a sort-of photo booth, maternity style. I don't know if I will accept, and I can decline with no hard feelings, as I've worked with them in the past and will again in the future, so it's not a make or break anything.
There are a few places where I see friction (like the likelihood of women wanting a quickie mat. portrait in whatever street clothes they hapen to be wearing, for instance, or the lack of time for post processing), and I'm waiting to hear more detail from my contact person, but right off the top I'm wondering about posing.

I have a few ideas, but a lot of what I tend do with maternity doesn't translate to this venue. The less screwing around with lights and props the better- I'm thinking that I need to have a chair/stool/bench/whatever and work around that fairly exclusively.
Keep in mind that I got my start doing preschool portraits for a national school photo company... the 'sit here, look here, snap' technique. Thankfully I've grown since then, and granted, pregnant women are not toddlers, but I'm leaning towards the same kind of approach for simplicity's sake.

Any opinions would be helpful.
Thanks!

Travis

I'm sure that there will be many that will disagree with me here but this an assignment that I would decline. More so than standard portraits, maternity portraits have a really elevated level of artsiness to make them truly special and I don't think that you will get that in a quickie, one-size fits all photo booth.

Think about your reaction to images when you visit someone's house. Everyone has the straightforward, school-style portraits of their kids and that is okay - they're expected. As photographers, we look at them with a more critical eye but the customer sees a better-than-snapshot photo of a loved one. Now with the maternity shot, the person who will be the most critical of the image will be the mother as she is one of the subjects (the baby to be is the other).

Also consider the impact to your reputation. You can shoot hundreds of school portraits and upon seeing some of your higher-level portraits, people will forget about the former. People are so used to seeing the "be static and smile" photos, they often forget who even took them (actually I think that Olan Mills gets all of the credit ). On the other hand, I don't believe that there is (or should be) a run of the mill maternity shot. IMO, they beat out engagement photos in terms of importance and mothers-to-be (potential new clients) will remember who took them. Do you really want sit and smile maternity shots to represent your work to a particularly lucrative yet sensitive market? If you're good, 1 great maternity shoot can probably exceed whatever profit you would make on the photo booth shoot with no negative impact to your rep as a great photographer.

DJane

Travis, normally I would agree with you wholeheartedly, but this wouldn't be for potential lucrative market gain. It's an on-site day of birth classes and the like, for women who would not normally be able to do a series of classes, condensed into a couple of hours long one time shot. The agency putting it together is hoping that I will be able to give them something, printable right there, that can be taken home immediately. Their target audience for this event is the migrant farm worker population that we have this time of the year.
The shoot would be offered at the time of their signing up for the class/es, which answers one of my questions. The women would know that it was happening, so it wouldn't be a surprise as far as what they chose to wear or bring along. One of my other questions to my contact person was the expected turnout, and she's indicated that it would be max 50.

Thanks for your response!

sweet caroline

It sounds like a group of women who would otherwise no have maternity photos taken at all. It could really be something special for them to cherish, even if you don't have time to get very artsy. I think if you look around, you'll find some poses you could replicate pretty quickly and easily. Are you planning to focus in on the belly or whole mama?

It sounds like a lot of work, but only you can decide whether it feels worthwhile to you. I've done the mass portrait thing for the school where I work, and the school my kids attend. I do it on my terms- outdoors, and they don't all look the same. It's possible to provide quality in a short amount of time. However, I'd never want to do this kind of work full time though, because it's rushed and does put some constraints on creativity. To give you an idea, it still takes several hours to get through the 60 kids at my children's school, even only spending 2-5 minutes per kid. The only reason I do those schools is because of love all the kids so much and want their families to have great photos:) It's turned out to be some good advertising, too.

Caroline

Travis

DJane wrote:

It's an on-site day of birth classes and the like, for women who would not normally be able to do a series of classes, condensed into a couple of hours long one time shot. The agency putting it together is hoping that I will be able to give them something, printable right there, that can be taken home immediately. Their target audience for this event is the migrant farm worker population that we have this time of the year.

Okay I see now. I didn't get that from the original post and that really changes how I would approach the event. I was thinking it was something along the lines of a baby expo but in this case, I can definitely see the benefit to the mothers as well as yourself (at a a much deeper level than monetary). It will be a lot of work; however, understanding what you are doing, I say go for it.

As for the setup, I think a chaise lounge as the posing stool would work great. It can offer a variety of poses for women of different heights/sizes with minimal need to adjust light placement. If you don't have one, you can probably pick one up at a consignment or Salvation Army store for cheap. Google "maternity photos" and you'll get a ton of photographer sites for posing ideas. Good luck if you give it a go!

DJane

Travis, thanks! I was initially thinking chaise, too, and then got sidetracked and was thinking of one of those cube ottoman/table doohickeys. Figured it was more portable, but the chaise would offer more variety.
I'll swing by some of our local consignments today (gramma has spring break, and is available for whenever babysitting... love it!).
I'm sorry I wasn't more clear in the original post, it was sort of vague.

I've been trolling flickr and google images (smug's search was down yesterday while I was looking) and getting some ideas.
I appreciate the assistance!

Travis

Just make sure you post some of the results!!!! :ivar

Art Scott

figure on doing some full or 3/4 length silhouettes those are really nice for expectant mothers......use colored gels for moodiness

Ed911

Art Scott wrote:

figure on doing some full or 3/4 length silhouettes those are really nice for expectant mothers......use colored gels for moodiness

Lots of good advice here...do you have any idea how far along they are. It is suggested that for maternity photographs they be somewhere around the 7th month for the best results.

DJane

I'm willing to bet it's going to be all over the map as far as 'how pregnant'. I'm going to have to play that bit by ear, and just stick to a regular girl type pose for those that aren't showing yet.