Review: maternity shoot with Lee Orchard Photography

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Pregnant women are said to have a certain ‘glow’ about them. While it’s lovely to be told this, the bloating, stretch marks and, er, extra wind, that comes with having an enormous bump out front has always made me feel less attractive. However, I’ve recently had reason to change my mind.

We exchanged emails about what this might involve and we arranged to visit him for a shoot when I was nearly eight months pregnant. This is what happened.

The maternity shoot

Lee works from his family home in Farnham. His studio is brimming with interesting props like antique chairs, suitcases and picture frames to add a quirky element to your snaps if that is the look you are after. There’s also various lighting equipment and a changing/seating area.

Before we began Lee talked to us about the type of shots we could try out ranging from family portraits to more creative pictures with floating wraps. I had already warned him that I didn’t want to do anything too sexy – grabbing my boobs in the style of Demi Moore’s 1991 maternity shoot wasn’t what I had in mind! Lee reassured me that we wouldn’t do anything that made me feel uncomfortable.

We worked through a variety of poses involving me, my bump, Tin Box Tot and Mr Tin Box. Lee used lighting and wraps to create different moods and compositions. Here are some of our favourites, but you can see even more of me and Lee’s other bump models on his website.

Despite the fact that I was stood there in my undies for much of the time, I felt really comfortable and secretly enjoyed being the centre of attention. TBT was also in her element – running around and making faces in between the odd tantrum and halt for a snack.

The shoot took about two hours.

The viewing

A week later we visited Lee again for a viewing of the best pictures from our maternity shoot.

Lee had shown me a lot of the snaps on his camera as he was taking them, so I knew there were some lovely shots. However, I wasn’t sure how many of the family pictures would have come out because TBT was so non-stop during the shoot.

So I was delighted when Lee was able to show us around 90 photos including lots of all three of us looking relaxed and happy.

I was also really pleased with the shots focusing on me and bump, which are stunning. Maybe pregnant me can be attractive after all!

Overall verdict

I am thrilled with the results! Lee has captured some wonderful bump and family moments that we will cherish. Check out his maternity gallery and family gallery to see more of his portrait photography.

A maternity shoot with Lee starts at £70, which if you have a look around some other photographer’s websites is a real bargain. Full details of what you get for your money is on Lee’s price list.

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Disclaimer: Lee offered us a free maternity shoot while he was building up his portfolio of maternity photography. All opinions are my own.

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