I met pregnant Miss S in her cosy cottage surrounded by woods in Sheffield. When we were planning the maternity photo shoot over the phone, Miss S told me she loves printed fabrics with a hippy feel. So we decided to incorporate this idea in her pregnancy portrait. The cosiness and quietness of the house really comes through in the pictures. The nearby woods where we took some couple photos with the lovely Mister J also offers a beautiful background. If you leave nearby a par

My latest Maternity photo shoot was with very pregnant Miss B. Her Californian background came through in her cosy home and relaxed attitude. Up for anything, we even did a completely nude pregnancy shot 'Demi Moore style'. She looked stunning in that shot but for obvious reasons, we'll keep this one private. Even if the idea of nude pregnant photo shoot makes you cringe, I often advise my client, not to rule it out completely for two reasons: When you are pregnant, the relat

The French house where Miss B's maternity photo shoot took place was full of wonders. from last century heaters to a 70s pink bath tub, this gave us more pregnancy photo shoot ideas that we could handle! Instead of the usual two hours session, this pregnancy photo shoot lasted more than 3 hours. Sometimes a house has so much character that the possibilities are endless. Miss B brought her late grand-mother's shawl which she wanted featured in the pictures and one of her frien

How wonderful to follow up a pregnancy photo shoot with a baby photography session. You remember Miss L.? Well here's her adorable baby G. We photographed baby G at 12 days old. He was full of energy and very much awake. A real poser, although he was just a few days too old to put him in the cute sleeping curled up position (Newborn favourite poses!), we still got some really lovely baby shots. Remember to book your baby photo shoot in the first 10 days after birth to get the

It's always up to the client to decide how much skin they want to show on a shoot. For Miss L. shoot, we worked around nudity, soft pinks, and black and whites. It was all about expressing the soft and delicate side of her pregnancy. We even got her partner to jump in at the end of the shoot. #body #breasts #newshoot #mmaternityphotography #realbodies #realwomen #pregnancy #pregnant #maternity #nude #love #photography

The shocking thing about Laura Dodsworth's pictures of 100 women's breasts isn't the flesh on show, or the many shapes and sizes, but the realisation that images of unairbrushed, non-uniform breasts seem to be so rare. "We see images of breasts everywhere," says the 41-year-old photographer, "but they're unreal. They create an unflattering comparison but also an unobtainable ideal. I wanted to rehumanise women through honest photography." Dodsworth interviewed each woman at l

Alexis: "Some of my friends had babies around the same time, and I adored their bodies whether or not they looked the same as they did before having children or not. I loved their soft tummies and their new marks. I thought they were absolutely beautiful. I had set this unrealistic standard for myself, and myself only. It was really emotionally damaging. I was still comparing myself to the women I saw on T.V. when I was 10. The small box of women society deemed beautiful. Aft

Therapist Susie Orbach on body image, the commercialisation of happiness and her 'Endangered Species' campaign. From The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2011/mar/14/susie-orbach-comment-is-free #video #susieorbach #pregnant #pregnancy #body #love #photography #endangeredspecies

Shape Your Culture works to challenge the limited physical representation of women and girls (and increasingly men and boys) in contemporary society. SYC began as a project with young women in schools and youth groups, asking them what they wanted to see, hear, say and do. From this starting point they encouraged and facilitated projects projects where participants expressed their frustration, honed their messages and creatively used their voices. The results were truly excel