7 Tips for DIY maternity photos

Over the past few months, there has been a huge boom of babies in our little group of friends and family. It’s such a beautiful time when you’re preparing for a baby.

But with the upcoming expense of a child coming into your lives paying top dollar for maternity photos becomes just another worry.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in paying for photography. Professional photographers work so hard and invest so much into making memories last forever. But sometimes you just can’t afford them.

Already had your baby? Check out our other post, 8 tips for DIY newborn photos! 

There are affiliate links in this post, they cost you nothing, but help This Crafty Home out when you make a purchase! 

While I’ve been in charge of professional shoots in my past life I was never actually the photographer. But I picked up some things along the way and taken many a maternity photo for friends. There are definitely things I’ve done wrong, and learned from it!

Tips for DIY maternity photography

Find a friend with a DSLR camera or the best actual camera you can find
While you can shoot your own photos with a point and shoot camera very easily, they will not look as clear or as professionally done as a DSLR.

The beauty of them is you can stick that baby on automatic and click away. You’ll end up with good quality photos, which is half the battle!

Do your research
Make a Pinterest board of all your favorite poses that you like (you can follow my Pinterest board of maternity poses here, I’m always pinning new poses and ideas).

This will be immensely helpful during the awkward moments of a photo shoot that you don’t quite know what to do. Make sure to share this with your would be photographer friend as well, they need to know what you’re looking for!

This is definitely one of those things where it is SO nice to have a professional photographer. They can make you feel comfortable and they know what poses really work. But with a little bit of research, you will be taking steps towards making your maternity photos the best.

Pick the right time of day
Want to do photos outside? Make sure to do them in the morning or in the afternoon so you can avoid the sun when it is harsh.

Use natural light
Want to do photos in your house? Don’t take pictures with your lights on, use natural light! Buy a huge white foam board. Seriously though, especially when you are doing photos inside this is a huge help.

Use the board to reflect the light coming in from your windows to brighten up your photos. You might need a second person to make this work, or just try and wing it without one.

Give yourself options
Take lots of options of each pose, and from different angles. Have your pseudo photographer take them from different heights, this can be achieved simply by squatting lower to the ground or standing on their tippy toes!

Try different backgrounds too, just be cognizant of what is in the background of your photos.

Edit minimally
After all your photos are taken it’s time to edit! My advice would be to crop first then brighten photos as needed. I use actions in Photoshop or Lightroom to edit my photos but that’s not very DIY friendly if you don’t already have those programs.

There are a lot of great editing programs out there for free, just try it! My best advice for editing would be don’t overdo it. Keep it natural literally brighten or darken your photo as needed and leave it at that unless you are feeling adventurous.

If you want to have a leg up on editing, Craftsy has great classes to get you started! Plus they have a free trial so you can check out all their classes for free.

When in doubt go classic
Have a photo that you love but it just doesn’t have the greatest light? That is a great opportunity for a black and white photo. You don’t have to worry about messing up the colors when you add light or take it away, and you end up with a classy look.

I hope this helps you to capture some of those special moments of pregnancy! Do you have any tips of your own? Leave them in the comments below!

Need ideas for what to wear for your photos? We did a whole post rounding up our favorite maternity dresses from Amazon Prime here! 

Related Posts: 

7 Easy ways to save money with a newborn

Best and worst new baby products

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