Christie + Matt maternity photoshoot

Matt + Christie | Riley Trails

Photographing the most beautiful form of live in Mother Nature.

Maternity fun in the sun at Riley Trails

Christie and Matt were so much fun to work with! They were ready to take on any pose because their chemistry was so unmatched. It was extremely sunny during this day, so we battled those challenging rays by finding spots with either direct sunlight, shade or unique lighting pockets.

Direct sunlights shots

Shooting directly in sunlight can be a headache if you don’t have the right tools to do so. Here are a few things I did during the shoot and post-editing.

1. To create an intimate moment with Christie and her baby, I asked her to look down at her belly. This makes it so she doesn’t have to strain her eyes to look directly into the sun.
   

2. I bumped my ISO all the way down to 100 and increased my shutter speed slightly to decrease the amount of light coming through my lens. I liked where my aperture was, so I didn’t toggle that feature.
   

3. The RAW image was still relatively bright in some areas, so I did selective light manipulation on her face and skin so it contrasted nicely with the deep, green tones in the background of the photo.

Playing with shadows

Shadows naturally add a sense of moodiness or mystery to a photo, so because the sun was coming at us from the side I decided to go with the flow! Here’s a few things I thought about while capturing this photo:

1. Shooting them directly in the middle of the bridge creates a nice focal point to take your eye directly to Christie and Matt engaging with each other.
   

2. I positioned Christie on the left so the sun could hit her face the most, considering I asked Matt to tell her his funniest joke he had up his sleeve.
   

3. I love how Matt’s shadow slightly covers Christie because it represents how, as a husband, he’s her protector and always looking over her.

Using the background

Vast backgrounds can sometimes overpower the subject.. Here’s a few methods behind the madness for a picture-perfect moment amongst an overwhelming background:

1. Made Christie and Matt take up 2/3 of the frame so they’re the focal point. Total there are three quadrants to this photo — the sky, the trees and Christie and Matt. I wanted to highlight the background without having it overpower the two love birds.
   

2. Captured the shot at eye-level to represent a more intimate moment, compared to shooting low and up or down.
   

3. I love the ratio of the trees vs the sky. The trees come up just far enough above their heads so it doesn’t compete with their moment, and the peek of blue sky ties in the colors of their outfits.