For my maternity shoot this time round, I chose to have it outdoors. Because the last round was taken indoors (see post here on the considerations), I thought I should do something different this time round. Mind you, this time round I also have a toddler in tow. But I also bought a helper along so that made things a lot more manageable.
For those who are also on the fence about doing an outdoor maternity shoot, GO FOR IT! Sure, it is exhausting. But the effect of natural light and just being in a non-confined space makes everyone more relax and the photos, in my opinion, comes out more natural.
- Note that the shoot is subject to weather conditions. To be honest, the weather forecast was not in our favour. That week was supposed to be raining for 5 days a week. But I took a bet on it partially because time wasn't on my side and our workplace is around that area and it seems to have avoided the showers.
- And speaking of time, take your maternity shoot early (from 32 week onwards). I took mine in 36 weeks because the Hubs was busy and I felt like I might be popping anytime that week. I was easily exhausted too. This was the first series so you can't really see the exhaustion on my face yet.
- To help counter the exhaustion, I actually hunted down a place - National Museum of Singapore that has quite a bit of variations in the scenary so that I didn't have to run around too much. Still, the clothes change took quite a while and drained me quite a bit LOL!
- Expect lots of sweat. I don't actually wear make-up so I don't have the problem of "melting makeup" but my son was drenched. The photographer was sharing that we should have brought along some powder for him so that he could freshen up. Tip for other Mummies.
- Bring Water. I only brought water for my kid and I regretted cos the Hubs and I were so parched halfway into the shoot.
- Toddlers love the outdoors. If you have a toddler, an outdoor shoot might be better because they have a huge space to run about. They are more natural. We had so many good photos!
- Be open to photobombs by your toddlers. Basically, at this age, they can't be directed for the shoots. So we just had to accomodate him. Having said that, the effect was really good and the smiles captured were so genuine. <3
- Bring a helper or helping hand if you have a toddler. Not all the shoots will be of the family, so you would need someone to keep an eye of the little one as you do a clothes change or take a shoot with your signficant other.
- Take control of your own shoot. In my last maternity shoot, I conceptualised one of the shoot and I realised that I love that series the most. This time, I actually conceptualised from location, wardrobe, theme for all 3 shoots (Perankan, Flower Fairy and Regal Royal) and I absolutely love the outcome!
