What to Expect From Your First Maternity Session with Harper Young Photography in Louisville

Maternity photoshoots are a wonderful way to celebrate the growing life you're creating. At Harper Young Photography, I specialize in creating elegant, beautiful, and bold portraits that capture your pregnancy. My fashion-inspired, fine art style of photography will empower you to feel as amazing as you truly are. I will help you embrace your changing body and document it in photographs that you and your family will cherish forever. I provide a stress-free studio experience for expecting mothers in Louisville, Kentucky and the surrounding areas.

It is ideal to schedule maternity sessions between 29-34 weeks to best show off your baby bump without getting too close to your due date.

Here’s what you can expect from your first maternity session with Harper Young Photography:

1. Planning the Looks
Once you book a maternity session with me, I’ll email a questionnaire for you to fill out. This will help to give me a sense of your overall vision for the session so I can plan the looks to suit your aesthetic. You will answer questions that inform me of your color preferences, what styles of wardrobe you love, whether family will be included, etc. I’ll also link you to my curated Pinterest board for inspiration, where you can get ideas for looks you might want. Once I’ve gotten the information I need for planning, I’ll design your custom session to feel true to you.

About a week before the session, I’ll send an email with helpful information about how to prepare for the session as well as how to get to the studio. I’ll also provide a mood board (based on your questionnaire and any discussion we’ve had) to confirm the looks.

2. Client Closet
When you book a session with Harper Young Photography, you won’t have to worry about spending a lot of money on a dress you’ll only wear once or trying on endless options before you find something that feels flattering. I take away the stress of finding wardrobe by providing a client closet filled with a variety of luxurious silk fabrics, designer maternity gowns with flexible sizing (which can be also be used for motherhood sessions), and some lovely accessories to complete the look. I offer a range of styles to choose from, including form-fitting dresses that emphasize your bump while keeping you covered, full tulle gowns that allow you to expose your growing bump, and fabrics that can be styled to look like a chic dress, tossed for a stunning visual effect, or gently held over you for an intimately elegant look. You're welcome to choose a few looks from my closet to wear during your session or bring your own pieces if you prefer.

3. The Photoshoot
I provide a thoughtful and stress-free experience in studio. I do not have strict timelines that make my clients feel rushed - pregnancy often requires women to take breaks to sit and snack between looks, and I’m happy to give you the time you need to stay comfortable. During your session, I’ll guide you through poses that flatter your bump, highlight your connection with your baby, and make you feel confident. Using studio lighting allows me to create lighting setups that help capture the mood of the photos - whether that’s soft and romantic, glamorous and chic, or dramatic and bold. And with sessions taking place in a studio, we have a private space to work, free from distractions and unpredictable weather.

4. Including Your Partner and Children
You are welcome to bring your partner, children, and even well-behaved dogs to join in some photos if you’d like. I always emphasize the mama and her growing belly and focus on those individual portraits, but it’s great to incorporate some beautiful couple and family shots too. Having some images that capture your child happily hugging your belly or you and your partner looking deeply at each other while cradling your baby bump can add to the emotion you feel looking back at this special time.

5. Proofing Gallery & Image Delivery
Within 1-2 weeks of the session date, I will send a link to a private, on-line proofing gallery. This will contain low-resolution proofs of all the best images from the session with only light color and tone adjustments rather than fully retouched images. This allows me to deliver more images to you faster and gives you the option to choose between variances (such as facial expressions & poses) that you may prefer. You will create a favorites list of all the images you want to keep (you may purchase additional images at this point as well), and then I will fully retouch those to my usual standards - including skin retouching, blemish removal, background fixes, body contouring/refining, and fixing any other unwanted imperfections. All final images will be delivered no later than 3 weeks after your favorites list is complete. If you’d like to order any prints or products, the gallery has a store attached where you can browse and purchase products. The store is there for your convenience lenience, but you may also purchase directly through me if you’d like me to handle that process. Some specialty items, such as albums, folio boxes, and accordion minis require purchasing through me, so you don’t have to worry about the design process.

Now that you know what you get when you book a studio maternity session with Harper Young Photography, what are you waiting for? Contact me now to get your session scheduled!