One of my ultimate favourite baby bump photos is the silhouette portrait! Although I will admit that I still struggle to spell silhouette without a little auto correct help! This is one of my favourite images to capture during a maternity photoshoot simply because it is so striking. It’s a fabulous way to show of the wonderful curves of a Mum to be, capturing her blooming bump in all it’s gorgeousness! I love these images so much that I want ALL Mums to have them, even if I’m not the one creating them! So please let me share with you how you can create this image for yourself using just your phone!
Here's a little series created with one of my clients where we used silhouette portraits to document her daughter from bump to one year old!
First thing to do is to wear something tight, or nothing at all if you’re feeling a bit daring! Don’t overthink this too much as what you wear (or don’t wear) won’t really be viable anyone. For these baby bump photos we’re looking to really accentuate your curves. Loose clothing will hide those lovely lines so this tip is very important.
Next get yourself in front of a window or an open door, somewhere with lots of light coming in from behind you. We want plenty of light flooding, we’ll be exposing the image to this light which will make you and everything else in the room appear very dark and shadowy…more on that in a second.
Now I’m not usually one for posing, preferring a much more natural approach but this time we’ll let it slide. When posing for these baby bump photos, I want you to stand side on from the person taking the photo, stand with your weight on one leg, the other leg bent slightly, this will really emphasise your lovely bump. Then have a play with your hand placement, maybe both hands cradling bump, hands placed on your waist, to help further push bump out. Take some with you looking down to baby and some with your head held high as if you’re looking ahead to a time when baby is here for you to cuddle!
Of course when I’m creating these silhouette images during my maternity photoshoots I’m using my professional camera but you can absolutely create this style image with just your phone. I’m going to explain how!
Here are two silhouette images created on my phone, no baby bumps in these though I’m afraid!
Now we’re going to get a lil’ techy but don’t run away, it’s easy! Here’s the step by step to show your camera man be it your partner on your Mum!
Open the camera on your phone.
Frame the image how you would like, for these baby bump photos I usually like to have Mum right in the middle of the frame.
Tap on the light source behind Mum to be, this will make everything else in the image seem really dark, great!
Then press again on the light this time holding your finger down till you see “AE/AF LOCK”. This will stop the light conditions changing on your phone.
Snap away! I suggest taking quite a few then pick your favourites to edit.
F.Y.I these steps work for an iPhone but I’m sure they’ll work fine on any camera phone.
Now we can edit those baby bump photos! There’s lots of great apps out there but my favourite is one called Afterlight and it’s free to use.
Open up your image on your chosen app.
I think these images work best in black and white, much more striking. So I would suggest turning the saturation right down or using a black and white filter.
Then play around with the sliders for your contrast, highlights and shadows, till you are happy with your baby bump photos!
The last thing for you to do now is get sharing your photos! Please please please tag me on insta when you share these, I’d love to see how you get on creating these stunning baby bump photos! You can find me on Instagram here! And if you loved this post I know you’re going to love this blog about images you HAVE to capture during your pregnancy!
If you would like to document your pregnancy and new baby with a relaxed at home photoshoot. Then drop me a message and let’s get chatting!