The Art of Pregnancy Photography (25 page)

Carl notes that as a pregnancy photographer, you are creating the first images of a new generation, and as those babies grow, you can create their children’s portraits, family portraits, senior portraits, weddings, etc. He says, “It can’t help but grow your business.”

GIGI CLARK

Background
. With four college degrees, Gigi has a varied background including multimedia, instructional design, graphic design, and conceptual art. She brings all of her multi-disciplined talents to her upscale wedding and creative portrait photography business, Rituals by Design, located in Southern California.

Photo by John Clark.

Gigi has received numerous awards and honors, including several First Place Awards in PPA and WPPI competitions and the first-ever FujiFilm Setting New Trends Award. In addition, she has recently won the highly coveted Kodak Award of Distinction. Her work and writings also appear in numerous journals, magazines, and books. She has also earned PPA’s Master Photographer, Photographic Craftsman, Certified Professional Photographer, and Approved Photographic Instructor designations.

This portrait, entitled,
In the Manner of Gauguin, Unfinished Work
, was inspired by Gauguin’s memorable painting,
Nevermore,
a portrayal of this thirteen-year-old mistress shortly after the birth of their child. Gigi was captivated by the lyrical, colorful, and symbolic meanings found in the painting. In her version, she also took into consideration the personality of the pregnant mom and focused on her love of the sea and related elements. Her final presentation is three dimensional, with the image “floating” on top of the frieze layer, much as you would when floating in the sea. Gigi believes that an image should explore and illustrate the psychological depths of the subject. Photo by Gigi Clark.

Gigi specializes in black & white photography. The fine-art quality of her images goes far beyond mere documentation. She is highly respected by other photographers who appreciate her style and sensitivity. Legendary portrait photographer Monte Zucker once said, “Then there’s Gigi Clark, who’s stopped everyone cold in their tracks. Her images are more creative than one could imagine. With no ‘rules’ to keep her down, she consistently comes up with great photographs!” (
Shutterbug,
January 2000). That review is certainly well deserved.

Personal Satisfaction
. “To say pregnancy portraits changed me for the better is an understatement,” Gigi shares. She sees capturing pregnancy images as the new frontier in portrait photography and finds it exciting that all of the options haven’t been explored yet. Because of his “uncharted territory,” she is constantly challenged as an artist, and she lives for the ongoing artistic challenge.

Gigi loves the challenge, however. She notes that because of the nature of the mother’s condition, there will be cancellations and a need to reschedule appointments, and you will need to be patient and accommodating of your clients. Gigi has even scheduled sessions late in the game when a pregnant mommy was due to deliver in less than two weeks!

Gigi is willing to give up some private time to take care of her expectant clients and work with them on odd schedules. Her reasoning is practical: “It’s
not
all about business at hand, but future work that follows, especially after the baby is born,” she says. The key to her success is to preplan the session, allowing some extra time (unbeknownst to the mother until the session time) to take away any stress of being “on the clock.” “‘Work hard, give extra time; the business will follow,’ has always been my philosophy,” states Gigi.

Gigi uses “quick-sets,” that is, short bursts of intense shooting with frequent breaks for the new moms, as you only have a short time before the weight of baby’s body on the mother’s organs begins to make the subject uncomfortable. Gigi also recommends having a restroom nearby and a cooler or mini fridge filled with chilled juices to give mom energy when things starts to flag. Juice is sugar water to the body and boosts the electrolyte levels quickly, giving the tired mom-to-be a quick energy boost. It is simply good business to provide customer service—costs are minimal, and the returns are worth it.

Gigi also finds it rewarding to be able to document the “life cycle” of a family and solicit their involvement in conceptualizing meaningful, highly artistic portraits. For example, she photographed a client’s wedding, then created the ultimate portrait of the client’s late pregnancy with her twins, and finally continued the series with portraits of the woman and her husband holding each twin. The images, which were painted and gilded in the manner of Art Deco painter Gustav Klimt, were featured in a triptych entitled
Ode to Joy
.

Gigi doesn’t find any part of creating pregnancy portraits difficult. From customer courtesies, to posing comfortably, to planning flexible schedules and expressing unique artistic approaches, “it’s magic beyond words” to Gigi.

Technical Tips
. Gigi prefers to use portrait length lenses (150mm for Hasselblad work and 105mm for 35mm work) to separate her subjects from the background. She also feels that using such a focal length caresses the subject’s face, making her features look great. Many of her lighting setups consist of an oversized softbox (or softboxes) and reflectors.

Gigi feels it’s important to design a portrait
with
her clients, tying in external elements that can tell you more about them to create a portrait with an enduring quality that will be cherished beyond the subject’s lifetime. Her decision to create a black & white or color image depends on her objective for the portrait. “Black & white clarifies the viewers’ impression of the portrait and focuses the eyes on the compositional elements of the image. Color, on the other hand, dazzles the eye but allows for emotional symbolism to be found in portraiture,” she says. For example, Gigi created a portrait called
Heart and Soul: The Story of Eros and Psyche
for a couple’s tenth wedding anniversary. Considering that since the Roman times, the color orange has symbolized passion and a butterfly has symbolized the soul, she employed these symbols and much more to create a portrait that tells the story of who they really are and what they do for each other.

PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION

“To say pregnancy portraits changed me for the better is an understatement.”
—Gigi Clark

Marketing
. Gigi discovered that a great way to reach mothers-to-be is to network with “parallel” markets (i.e., stores where pregnant moms shop, OB-GYN offices, etc.). She often displays “mini art shows” in obstetricians’ and gynecologists’ offices that are visually rewarding for both the doctor and the patients. A discretely placed information “pocket” is also included with the display. The fine-art quality of her portraits lends them to be displayed in the doctors’ permanent collection, and the works speak for themselves over time. This type of marketing reaches the public in a way that is better suited to the visual nature of our art than are bulk mailings, print ads, and in-studio displays. “The key is to restrain yourself to show only a few, highly specialized pieces, to gain the attention of potential clients,” Gigi says.

KATHLEEN AND JEFF HAWKINS

Kathleen Hawkins and her husband and partner Jeff Hawkins operate Jeff Hawkins Photography, a successful, fully digital high-end wedding and portrait photography studio in Longwood, FL. Kathleen holds her Photographic Craftsman degree and earned a masters in business administration. She previously taught business courses for a Florida university. She has also served as president of the Wedding Professionals of Central Florida.

Photo by Jeff Hawkins.

Kathleen and Jeff are coauthors of
Professional Marketing & Selling Techniques for Digital Wedding Photographers
(2nd ed.; 2006) and
Professional Techniques for Digital Wedding Photography
(2nd ed., 2004), both published by Amherst Media. Kathleen is the author of
The Bride’s Guide to Wedding Photography
(2003),
Marketing & Selling Techniques for Digital Portrait Photography
(2005), and
Digital Photography for Children’s and Family Portraiture
(2nd ed., 2008), all from Amherst Media. Kathleen and Jeff are both very active in the photography speaking circuit and take pride in their impact in the industry and in the community.

Personal Satisfaction
. To Kathleen, pregnancy is beautiful, and capturing that moment in time is priceless. She says many clients feel self-conscious about their swollen ankles and stretch marks, and that seeing the joyful expression on their faces when they realize how Kathleen and Jeff have captured their inner and outer beauty and their joy about their pregnancy is the most satisfying aspect of pregnancy photography. “It is more rewarding than words can express,” states Kathleen.

Technical Tips
. Kathleen and Jeff always work with an assistant or make certain someone else (husband or family member) is present during a maternity session. They feel that maternity sessions are intimate, and you should never photograph the client alone.

Like many of the other photographers profiled, Kathleen and Jeff also use a large softbox—the Larson 4x6 Soffbox—for their studio maternity sessions. They favor using a 70–200L f/2.8 lens or the 85L f/1.2 lens set at f/8 with their Canon 5D.

Kathleen and Jeff use sheer fabrics from
www.coleandcompany.com
to wrap around the mom-to-be and create an elegant, soft background. They also suggest that you analyze the mother’s comfort level to determine what poses you will be able to do, and try creating a series of signature poses to brand your portrait style and look.