Beginners Luck..

Hi, Shaun here… and this is the story of my first shoot all by myself.

Last weekend, Jenn had a pregnancy shoot with a friend of ours (Rachel) but about 2-3 hours before she got a migraine.  She was really going to have to reschedule but did not know where she was going to fit it in before Rachel’s due date (14th).  After seeing her struggle with the idea of shooting with a migraine, I said “well, I could shoot it for you”  and Jenn said “Really??, that would be great!?  Are you sure?”  “Sure” I said and that’s when it hit me… that terror… you know… that adrenaline rush like when you just got pulled over by the cops or when you have that nightmare that you left your kid at home sleeping and went to the grocery store.

You see I have assisted Jenn at weddings and shoots.  It is easy to sit back and shoot when your only responsibility is to get a good shot here and there or to make sure the light is working.  To be in charge of a session when you have spent more time reading about photography then actually shooting is TERRIFYING!

Once I got the camera in my hand it was sink or swim and (Thankfully) with the help of Sarah (Jenn and Rachel’s best friend), patience from Rachel and Darren, some great natural light and a bit of good luck…. I swam.

Now the only thing left is the pics….

So, I was told that Rachel has only gained 21lbs in her entire pregnancy… I think I gained more than that watching Jenn be pregnant. She is all Belly!

Darren is an excited dad to be.

The one above and the one below are my personal fav’s of Rachel alone.  The natural light was perfect peeking just over the top of the barns.

Rachel is very dedicated to yoga and wanted some pics with her performing some poses.  For the strobist’s out there.. the natural light died down so I tried bring Rachel out of the background using a bare SB-800 to add some hard light to this striking pose.

Another Yoga pose…used a shoot through umbrella to add some directional light while underexposing the background.

Thanks again to Rachel and Darren letting me shoot your pregnancy session and I hope you enjoy the pics.