Baseball and Babies: Maternity Photos in DallasI had no idea who I was photographing until the end of this photoshoot and I am so thankful for that, I am sure I would have gotten extremely nervous. They had contacted me and we had gone through all the talk of where and when and what kind of shoot. We met at Arbor Hills in Plano, a beautiful preserve filled with hills, walking trails, biking trails, creeks, beautiful bridges and even a lookout point if you feel like making your way up the "mountain"! Before they arrived I went in search of the perfect spot. We were shooting at sunset and I wanted that glorious golden light coming through the trees. I had found my spot when another photographer came in and started shooting where I had set up... this did not sit well with me, I became territorial... even asking him when he planned to move... he knew I was there, I heard his clients mention me, he ignored them.
Anyways, I hiked back up and waited for my clients. I knew she was expecting and I knew he was very tall so it was super easy to spot them as they arrived. We did our introductions and hand shakes then set out on our journey. These two were so easy to talk to, so friendly and so very in love which made for a super easy shoot. After we were done, we walked back up and I introduced them to my family, our boys had been playing with daddy at the playground. They had mentioned they were only here for 4 months then Jared had to go back to work. I said, "oh, what do you do?" He said, "I am a Professional Baseball Player, I am a relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates!" I was like, NO WAY!!!!! I was on cloud 9. I had just photographed a pro baseball player...and of course...all my boys including daddy were wearing Cubs shirts and hats, lol Anyways, it was a super cool moment for me, one I will never forget. Thank you again Jared and Kelly and I wish you all the very best with your precious baby!
Before and After Maternity PhotosI don't do this very often but I thought this photo would be fun! I just wanted you to see the Before and After I did for this particular maternity photo. I will take this photo or one like it and edit it in several different ways with different color and artistic variations. The before photo is a great photo out of the camera but I wanted to create an entirely different look to it so I took that photo and put a matte filter on it then added lots of different touches to it to create my personal vision or the story I was trying to tell. For this photo, I was going for a vintage, mystical look. I added touches of yellow, green and plum to the bushes and added some haze to parts of the photo. I blurred some parts while adding clarity to others to create the look. I wanted the sky to have a slight pink tone to get that vintage look and to enhance the sunset appearance of the photo. I wanted her features to stay soft and lovely so I upped the luminance and used very little sharpening and clarity on her. It was also important to me that mama and sweet baby stayed the focal point so you will see that parts of her dress are blurred and the haze leads to baby. This method took me a very long time to learn simply because I needed more education and because I was on the path to learning who I am as an artist and the style of photos I wanted to create for my clients.
Once you find your style and the type of sessions you prefer to shoot, it all clicks and you start to find freedom and confidence in your art and creations and your clients get so much more out of their photoshoot and galleries. The photos become not just something taken so you do not forget... they become a piece of art.
Blessings, Emily Mariani
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