Black and white portrait of a mother holding her daughter on her pregnant belly by Nicole Hawkins Photography. pregnant momma with sibling big sister with baby bump #NicoleHawkinsPhotography #NicoleHawkinsMaternity #MaternityStudioPortraits #FamilyMa

Nora is a Bergen County, NJ, native who is very good friends with another client of mine. Their two-year-old daughters are best friends, just like their mamas. When Nora found out that she was expecting her second baby, she knew exactly which photography studio she wanted to use.

Nora had a beautiful, specific vision for her maternity session. She did not want the ethereal, belly-holding, gazing-into-the-distance vibe. While some of her inspiration images were serious, she leaned more towards a fun, joyful, and authentic style for this shoot, with the occasional belly hold, which, when done well can be very classic.

We had several outfit changes during the session, but my favorite look was the simple jeans and white top for the whole family. Nora brought all of their outfits from home except the last dress that her daughter wore to twirl around in (which was part of the studio wardrobe). Little Penelope loves dresses, so it was fun to pick out a dress from my studio wardrobe for her to play in. We had a pre-session planning appointment, and Nora brought several clothing options to the studio for us to go through. I helped her narrow it down to our top favorites and decide which looks went best with each of the different image styles we discussed.

It was so fun to incorporate big sister Penelope into the maternity session. Mom really only wanted a few images by herself. She wanted to focus on fun family portraits, images of her with her first baby, and even some nice portraits of just Penelope.

Nora signed up for our Portrait Membership so that we could document all of the new baby’s first-year milestones. Instead of doing a newborn session, I will meet baby around 3 months. This is becoming more popular lately as clients want their babies to have a little more personality in their images, and I am all for it! While I do adore the sweetness of welcoming a new baby home with those teeny, tiny details, it is very fun to document the genuine social smiles as baby gets a little older. There really is no wrong time to photograph your new baby and your growing family.