How I customize maternity styling for every body

There is no single best maternity look for a particular body type. I choose wardrobe, lighting and posing based on your proportions, your comfort level and the way you want to see yourself.

That is not a diplomatic way of avoiding the question. It is the actual method, and it works better than sorting women by size, because two women with the same measurements often want completely different photographs.

So I ask what you want, not what you are

Before your session I want to know which of these sounds like you. Most women recognize themselves in two or three.

• You want the belly emphasized and unmistakable
• You want more coverage and less skin
• You want the silhouette emphasized rather than the belly alone
• You need real support for a fuller bust
• You want the figure to look longer
• You want to show your legs, or your shoulders
• You want something soft and feminine
• You want a bold editorial look

Every one of those has a different answer in wardrobe, light and pose, and none of them depends on your size.

What changes in the wardrobe

Fabric that is wrapped on the day can be shaped to open or close as much as you want, which is why it suits both the most covered and the most sculptural requests. A bodysuit makes the belly the subject. A gown with structure gives support where a soft one does not. A long line and a raised waist lengthen the figure; a cropped shape does the opposite.

What changes in the light

Even light describes skin and expression. Directional light describes shape — it carves the belly out of the background and deepens everything it does not touch. If you want the belly to be the subject, the light does more of that work than the dress does.

What changes in the pose

Posing is where most of it actually happens. Where your weight sits, what your hands do, how far your shoulders turn from the camera and where your chin goes will change a photograph more than any garment. You do not need to know any of this — I direct all of it throughout the session.

Nothing here needs fixing

None of this is about correcting anything. It is about aiming the tools at what you actually want, so that you recognize yourself in the photographs and see yourself with a confidence you may not have noticed before.

Retouching follows the same rule. It completes a photograph without erasing the person in it.