Jessica's Pregnancy Portrait Story
"Well, lets see……… I had never thought about having pregnancy pictures done until I was pregnant with my second baby. I kept thinking that I wanted something more than just home photos to make the pregnancy even more beautiful, as I have found being pregnant has been one of the greatest things to ever happen in my life. Being a scrapbooker and picture taker myself, I really had a very clear idea of what I wanted out of the photo shoot. I just didn't know how to go about getting it. Since Robin had done such wonderful pictures of my son Jayden as a baby, I had no doubts that he would be able to help me accomplish exactly what I wanted.
My biggest fears were of course stretch marks, a few flaws in my skin like scars from my belly button ring that became 
impossible to wear after half way through the pregnancy. We set up a meeting to go over what I wanted and when I expressed my fears about my imperfections, he assured me that he would take care of everything, while always keeping the natural beauty of my pregnancy in the photos.
I did some research on other photos that had been taken by other photographers and by the time I came in to have my session, Robin was completely prepared as I had emailed images to him and told him exactly what I wanted. He rented the fan to get the perfect “sheet blowing” images that I suggested, and let me try all my ideas while giving advice at the same time.
Some of the poses I was very drawn to involved clothing less clothing than I was used to wearing around other people. So, one of my other 
worries about the session was being naked, or almost naked in front of someone other than my husband. But Tanya helped me when needed, and Robin took the photos. They always made sure I had all the privacy I needed. It was a very professional, comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.
I could hardly control myself to wait for the viewing session, but when I finally saw the photos I was blown away by the beauty and elegance. I couldn’t believe that was actually me up on the screen. I was HOT and VERY pregnant at the same time. It was amazing. Robin had captured exactly what I wanted in my pregnancy. The elegance was very evident as was the love in the pictures of both my husband and I.
I would love to do another pregnancy photo session, as I have had nothing except wonderful comments about my pictures. My biggest fear is trying to outdo the amount of love I have for this session of photos. I know these photos have inspired some to leave their fears behind and go for it as it really is a wonderful time in a woman’s life. A woman is never more beautiful than when she is pregnant, and I feel Robin made me beautiful, even when I had an enormous belly."
Jessica Sumner
Bozeman, MT
- the artist's comments -
I want to personally thank Jessica for sharing her story and images with others. I believe that many women share her concerns and uncertainty about this process. In particular, many women may worry about feeling exposed during a session of this type. As Jessica pointed out we work hard to make our clients comfortable and relaxed during the session, while creating the images that they really want.
First, we offer a large variety of poses, and every session it seems brings something new, either coming from Tanya's or my creativity, or our client's specific desires.
Many of these show little or no skin, others are nearly nude, although very carefully and tastefully done. While we offer our guidance, it is entirely up to the clients to choose the poses that fit their desires and comfort level. Second, either my wife or another female assistant is always present and available to help in any way needed, including posing, draping etc. We also like to involve the fathers as much as possible in the entire session. The most common scenario in poses where little clothing is involved is that I give specific direction for how I want a pose set up, then step out of the room until everything is ready. Then I return to do final tweaking of the pose and lighting, then take the photographs before stepping out again while the next pose is prepared. Third, occasionally we will encounter a client who wants a certain degree of nudity in her portraits, but is uncomfortable with the idea of a male photographer being present at all. 
In these case Tanya steps in as the actual person behind the camera. Tanya is extremely creative in these types of sessions, and is gaining expertise as a photographer. My role then becomes that of creative and technical consultant, arranging lighting and props and taking care of necessary camera adjustments before any posing is done and leaving the rest to Tanya. As she becomes more experienced, my role becomes less and less. While this is the least common type of session, when we have used it our clients have been very pleased with the results.
This is just one of many ways that we take care of our clients in such a way that they get exactly what they want and enjoy the process as well as the final result.
Robin