The Art of Pregnancy Photography (18 page)

This screen shot shows the two images that will be composited and finessed to create the fantasy image.

This screen shot shows the image of the baby positioned on the mother’s tummy.

A layer mask was created, and the Brush tool, set to black and an opacity setting of 73%, was used to reveal the image of the baby.

Adding a vignette with the Edge Burner action was the final step required in producing this fantasy portrait.

The final composite image.

Twins

The maternity portrait showcased in this section was captured late in the pregnancy. Given the size of the mom’s belly from carrying twins, it was necessary to cover her tummy with fabric. After investigating several positions, she was photographed from above with light coming from a window directly in front of her.

The twins were photographed in their home less than three weeks after they were born. Some babies can become very fussy during the session. Having their mother hold them can be a problem, as they may want to nurse if they sense that Mom is nearby. Faced with this situation during this session, we had their grandmother sit down near a large window in the home and covered her with a white backdrop. When the babies were asleep, they were positioned very close together and photographed on grandma’s lap.

Both images were imported into Photoshop, and the following steps were taken to produce the composite fantasy image.

1. Both images were opened in Photoshop.
   
2. The image of the babies was cropped, dragged over the pregnancy portrait, and positioned on the mother’s belly. The edges of the fabric around the babies was erased using different opacity settings to create a realistic transition from the fabric under the babies to the mother’s skin.
   

First, both images were opened in Photoshop.

The image of the twins was dragged onto the photo of the mom, and the babies were positioned on their mom’s tummy.

This screen shot shows the appearance of the Layers palette, illustrating the steps applied in step 3.

(Left) This screen shot shows the Protect Highlights and Protect Shadows values selected in the filter’s Advanced palette. (Right) This screen shot shows the Grain, Brightness, Smear, and color values assigned in the filter’s Basic palette to create the final filter effect.

3. The layers were renamed, and the layer containing the image of the babies was dragged below the pregnancy portrait layer. A layer mask was applied, and the Eraser tool, set to various opacity settings, was used to reveal the image of the twins and to blend the areas where the two images met to create a realistic transition.

4. Next, the image was darkened slightly in Levels, and hot spots were retouched with the Clone tool.

5. The Monday Morning filter was opened. In the Advanced palette, Protect Highlights was set to 100% and Protect Shadows was set to about 50%. In the Basic palette, the slider settings for this filter were Grain = 0%, Brightness = 30%, Smear = 38% (this falls within the highlighted area of the slider, indicating the range of values that will produce the best effects for the selected image), and Color = 100%. With these settings in place, clicking OK applied the filter.

6. Next, the image was flattened (Layer>Flatten Image). To finish the portrait, Kubota Artistic Actions Vol. Two Edge Burner action was used. To apply the effect, we simply selected the action in the Actions palette and hit Play.

The Kubota Edge Burner plug-in was used to create a vignette around the subject, which helps to draw the viewer’s gaze to the focal point of the image.

The final image.

9. MARKETING AND SALES

M
any photographers have a tendency to get so caught up in the art of creating their images that they neglect to devote their time and energy to marketing their unique brand of portraiture and enhancing their sales. This chapter will provide some easy-to-implement strategies to help you meet those goals.

MARKETING IS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS

With a limited audience of expectant mothers, marketing is essential to your success as a pregnancy portrait photographer. Reaching that audience and enticing them to purchase your products and services is key. Just having beautiful images of pregnant mothers will not be enough to draw business. In the article “Power Selling,” Mitche Graf seconds that notion, saying, “Many photographers are incredible at creating stunning images for their clients and win all sorts of awards from their peers for their technical and artistic expertise. But without the ability to sell themselves or promote their business, failure is not far behind. Long gone are the days when you could hang out a shingle and people would flood to your studio simply because you were good. In today’s fiercely competitive field of professional photography, only the strong will survive and the weak shall perish. Which will you be?” (
Rangefinder,
March 2004).