I took a silhouette maternity photo every 4 weeks when I was pregnant and I am so happy that I have those photos now to look back on. Pregnancy is such a special time and it’s wonderful to have the memories of that time in print! I love how the photos show my belly growing and I also love that they show the major milestones too. The third photo (20 weeks) is when I really “popped” and started to have a baby bump. The seventh photo (36 weeks) is when the baby dropped! There is an extra spot in the frame for a photo because I never took the 40 week photo! Little Miss Rosie came at 39 weeks! I kind of really love that that memory is captured on here too.
I’ve had some questions on how I was able to create these silhouette maternity photos. Here are some helpful tips for how to create silhouette maternity photos.
How To Take the Photos
Here is an unedited photo so you can see what you need to achieve when you are actually taking the photo.
Where to Take the Photos
The most important aspect of this photo is where you take it. You need a window with lots of natural light. Try to take the photos at around the same time each day so that the photos have consistent lighting. The window needs to have sheer curtains to get this look. My mom has this exact setup, so I went to her house every four weeks to take it.
What to Wear
I wore the same tight fitting black tank top in every photo and black leggings. I had to switch the leggings from regular to maternity halfway through the pregnancy. You don’t need to wear exactly the same thing, but the clothing needs to be very tight and black. I also recommend that you wear your hair up. With your hair up you can see the silhouette of your face and neck. I tried to do my hair very similar each time, but I think as long as it is pulled back from your face you will achieve that look.
Tips on Posing
The very first time taking the photos, I figured out how to pose to make my body look best.
- Pop your knee (leg closest to camera) and stick your butt out to get that shape
- Don’t have your arm hang straight down because you won’t be able to see your back as well (I chose on my belly).
- Pick a spot on the wall to look at so that your face is always at the same angle.
- Stand the same distance from the window every time.
Tips for the Photographer
My mom took all of the photos and she did an amazing job! The first photo at 12 weeks was super easy because it was first! The second one was the hardest because we had to try and duplicate it! My mom would make sure that certain body parts lined up with certain parts of the window. For example, my chin should always be across that middle bar of the window. The bottom of the belly should always line up with the bottom of the window. This way we knew that the photos would be really similar. My mom also made sure that I didn’t have a ton of hair flyaways, wrinkles in my shirt, etc.
How to Edit the Photos
As you can see below, editing makes all the difference. You will still have beautiful photos without editing, but they will be gorgeous with a few quick edits! To do these edits, I used the Lightroom app on my phone. It is free to use and I highly recommend it.
First make edits to the light (see below). Increase the exposure, contrast, and highlights, and decrease the shadows until you see the desired look. You can see my exact edits below.
Next, adjust the color mix. What needs to be adjusted will depend on what is in the background of the window. For this photo, I only adjusted the saturation of the yellow down. You can see my edits below. For the first several months of my photos, there was a blue tarp on the neighbor’s house, so I needed to decrease the saturation of the blue.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have other questions!