Tag: pregnant portrait

Pregnancy Portrait: This is Ursula

Post author By Leah
Post date September 18, 2015
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I met Ursula a number of years ago and was thrilled to be commissioned to shoot a series of pregnancy portraits of her as well as capture some family moments afterwards with herself, her daughter and her husband.

Ursula was pregnant with her second child, and in her third trimester when we worked together. The pregnancy portraits we shot were very simple but bold. I lit her with one light, set back, to just highlight her silhouette plus a little bit more detail created by a poly board on her other side.

There is a decadence in the profile of a pregnant women which I love. The shapes are so beautifully abundant. Every line of the female body becomes enhanced so that a series of interconnected spheres take over the body.

Heavily pregnant women, especially when shot in this style, remind me of the Venus of Willendorf, a paleolithic sculpture associated with fertility and childbearing (picture below).

Ursula and I also shot a few images with her young daughter in an embrace, the resulting image I find to be a special reflection of motherhood.
Together their bodies become a knot of warmth, love and nurturing.

Tags B&W nudes, B&W photography, cape town photographer, cape town photography, cape town pregnancy photo, cape town studio photography, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, nude photography, pregnancy, Pregnancy photoshoot, pregnant portrait

Women I've Shot

Pregnancy: This is Lynette

Post author By Leah
Post date September 2, 2014
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I photographed dear friend and fellow artist Lynette with her fiancé Stephen early one morning on Camps Bay beach. She was eight months into a difficult pregnancy and these images seemed to come like a ray of sunshine before their tiny son Liam would arrive. We spent an hour or so in the sun and sand, it was a perfect morning, the beginning of Spring and felt to me like a positive premonition of what was soon to come.

We had discussed a playful and sweet, 50’s inspired feel and Lynette brought along some simple single coloured items which leant themselves to the look perfectly. The images come across like happy treasures, nostalgic and warm.

I love the simplicity of the approach we had on this shoot; the linear elements of the background contrasted with the round, organic shapes of her body. We left the beach feeling happy and inspired and headed to my studio in Woodstock for the second half of the shoot which was intended to be more of a nude portrait of Lynette on a bed of white linen, photographed from above. More on these images later.

Tags 1950s inspired, beach shoot, camps Bay Beach photo shoot, cape town photography, cape town pregnancy photo, colour blocking, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, Pregnancy photoshoot, pregnant portrait

Women I've Shot

Pregnancy: This is Katja

Katja was on holiday in Cape Town when I met her in 2012, she was 6.5 months pregnant with Tim. Our idea was to take some natural light portraits of her and her partner and a few images of her alone.

We shot at the reservoir near Rhodes Memorial. I had planned to have her in the water but there were two eco-officers lying on the far side wagging their fingers at me when we started to wade in to the water so instead I worked with her at the waters edge.

It improves a shoot when your subject is comfortable or at least feels she can say when she isn’t. I asked Katja if she was alright posing totally nude for a few shots at this location, knowing the two officers were likely watching from the far side in-between napping. She agreed, and this image below is by far my favourite from the day. It is feminine, magical and has a soft, dreamy vulnerability about it which reflects Katja’s shy beauty.

I used a light colour filter on the background of the image in post production to enhance it a bit bit otherwise the image remains natural.

Tags cape town photographer, cape town photography, cape town pregnancy photo, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, natural light photoshoot, pregnancy, Pregnancy photoshoot, pregnant portrait

Women I've Shot

Pregnancy: This is Elloise

Post author By Leah
Post date August 11, 2014
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I photographed Elloise at 8.5 months pregnant which was approximately two and a half weeks before her son Daniel was born. She arrived in the studio just as Sabian Ransome, one of my Playboy Playmates and also a fitness model was changing to leave from a shoot with me. The comparison at that moment, Elloise pointed out, of their two bodies was quite something.

The shoot was very simple and natural. I shot some images of her in her clothes with the natural light that was coming into our studio and then this series (shown here) which I lit to highlight her shape. It’s a lighting style I’ve used before with pregnant women but I positioned the lights on both sides of her and not so far back as I wanted to capture more detail in her face and on her body as apposed to just a very fine line of silhouette.

Just a few weeks later and about 9 hours after her natural home birth I photographed this portrait which I find very special… Daniel, just a few hours old with his Mother on the left and Grandmother on the right. Three generations, so much love and pride… Photographing women at this changing point in their lives is repeatedly inspirational and moving.

Tags cape town maternity photography, cape town photography, cape town pregnancy photography, leah hawker, Leah Hawker cape town photographer, Leah Hawker photography, maternity, newborn, newborn photography cape town, pregnancy, Pregnancy photoshoot, pregnant portrait, sepia, studio shoot