Skip to main content

Shoot: Studio Lighting

Lesson 15 from: Pregnancy and Newborn Photography

Ana Brandt

Shoot: Studio Lighting

Lesson 15 from: Pregnancy and Newborn Photography

Ana Brandt

buy this class

$00

$00
Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2200+ more >

Lesson Info

15. Shoot: Studio Lighting

Continue working with maternity photography by mixing that transitional posing with studio lighting. Start with a simple lighting set-up, then move to more dramatic studio lighting.

Lesson Info

Shoot: Studio Lighting

um so we're doing a woman mom I've given up on that word pregnant mama and alone because she's going to bring it she's going to bring it to the table this is transitional posing but for riel before that was fine it was slow it's like dating pregnancy taking pregnancy photos were like dating you gotta warm up we got to get to know each other we got to see what our limits are where our boundaries our personal space and warm that client up when that client first is coming in we're not starting new just like we don't throw a naked baby in a bean back we want to warm them up we want them to get to know me get to know them then by the end you know get to first base second base by the end of the session were nude sweaty happy it's all good and then we have a baby see sis like dating so yasmin mason had asked what would you do for women who must be modest due to personal or religious reasons and they want dramatic shots but cannot get undressed and yasmin's from england she's somewhere england...

okay I actually have had very modest women from many different cultures that they are forbidden to show skin so I have had that happen and um where you can get dramatic is in your posing in your lighting and if they're allowed to wear more snug materials like I had a woman who was extremely modest and could not show any skin but she could still wear tighter fitter tighter fitter really speaking right now tighter fitting clothing she was allowed teo and so we just emphasis emphasized on the movement keeping an intimate focusing doing one light we are going to do one light today we're going to start with two and then we are going to go into more dramatic um if they I've had women in saris before so I think that's where the lighting where you just really adjust the lighting in the posing I think you really gotta work on that and it's not easy hey pregnancy sessions are not easy they're not I'm not here to tell you there I'm just going to tell you we can still have fun hi julie so seeing as I'm inviting your clothes I'm like I'm getting to know julie I love it okay so we're on a bone paper and so julie what I want to do is we're going to start moving you standing up and then I am going to sit you down this is going to kind of be mine last hire keys set for now this is not really high key like he would be white and bright bright lights but it is a higher key set words a bone paper and I'm going to because I have studio lighting I have to remember my recycling time I'd like to pull the lights back more to me a little bit um and I go actually a little higher and came just kind of get in the groove a little bit here and um how are we looking at okay so julie I'm gonna get you warmed up while we're getting light's going so we gotta watch these legs so when we're moving one leg is really really bent so I love your posture so what if you just have one leg a little bit closer even closer it should be like overlapping yeah but I like this this this shirt I like the material so what if we even I'm button and we just holds good what you're holding up a little bit higher yes and kind of becoming a little bit closer look atyou eleven see what she's doing see how fun this is this is you just want to be open I'm going to kind of get her hair out of her face I will I really want to use the fan on her but I'm gonna wait a minute so you can hear what I'm saying and I'm gonna try my hardest to not use the fan right awakes I know it drives the audio guys crazy so let's just check what we're doing here you put me in one hundred I'm going to go back to one sixty is the same speed not once a good on one sixty one he's talking oh stop stop it the cow good she looks it looks um she looks she looks good right we haven't even done anything just standing there I even have a fanny look good okay so I let's let's shoot that again I'm going to try really hard to be straight and bring your head a little this way this way just like testing stay there a minute looks a little brighter on there but look how awesome that monitors and this looks good looks really good let's work it here we go julie so we're right there beautiful little bit straight ahead and we're going to move the hands oh I ee I gotta slow down I can't slow down all right I'll try and slow down have to fan sorry audio sorry yeah I'm gonna check julie come on now you're beautiful oh my gosh a little straight ahead good and just softer hands and kind of put one a little bit lower than the other yeah beautiful look right down to your valley just gently do you notice what I'm doing when I'm shooting whether it was a loss that light when she did that do that again what they lose that light I shouldn't have let go a little bit in here on the left one but it's it's gorgeous um so I'm gonna ask my question again uh uh look at that no I love it I love it are you kidding I love it okay but we're going to do it again to stay there so what what are we doing what are we doing small movements is there anything you noticed that I'm doing smile julie now I'm gonna ask you to move for a minute is there anything you guys noticed them doing what I'm shooting yes changing horizontal and vertical right and you're seeing everything right then what are you going to say you know why aren't you shooting in closer wearing you getting closer I'm gonna crop in light room I don't want to be this close because if I'm doing a double page spread in a book I can't I can't get it okay so I did a video for the baby that's for the courts download I'll probably do a video for the pregnancy to reproduce is going to like don't brahmins and evening I'm not promising I'm saying maybe but my point is I'm shooting horizontal I'm shooting vertical I'm shooting wide and I'm a getting closer I'm gonna just so here's what I want you to do so in this transition movement so I liked you like this then we're going to kind of slide hands here I want you looking at me looking down looking away and looking to the camera we're moving the shoulders we can even move the bottom okay all right here we go and I'm gonna try not to shoot lightning fast with this energy that she's bringing in I would be like like that's how fast I would be shooting I would be like let's just bring it let's go with it all right here we dont heiress were smiling the weekend some serious so you can be a little serious tio it isthe I love it beautiful good let's work those hands too let's get this hands on the bali how well she's doing in there I'll take that good and now let's work with the hands on the belly as well let that shirt go I love the bra you're wearing it goes perfectly with the clothing and so when we're doing the hands I wanted to do that same thing I want to keep in the movement we're gonna head is this way head is that way and then we're gonna turn and we're gonna kind of stretch this way but let's finish the set this way keeping in mind that I want these legs okay all right good oh julie I love it good good keep straight I'd like the head where you were straighter on more of this sway but watch that here you had it where you were doing something and then yeah keep their forward bring those bangs back a little bit I like the hair forward now I like the window bangs were blowing yes yes good good all right let's keep moving go a little bit more straighter on bring that head move that head a little bit to the life and smile good I like her yes think you move those hands to not forget to move the hands good we have a big smile good now watch that hair let's really get that hair out I can blow it let's go a little more sideways so you're gonna cheer yeah I like your hair yeah you know your hair good good even just like that see yes just like that but bring this straight ahead when you do it and shin down good bring the here more forward yes both sides yes there we go good key moving keep smiling good yes work those shoulders put that left hand on the back yes right they're beautiful get that here behind when you when you did that because I like how you're moving your shoulders so let's work with that yes yes now look down look away look uh perfect good that was good I like it did you like it yes come sit down for a minute right there you're gonna indian style how are we feeling she looked good yeah she like it good how's the internet feelings you guys like it they're loving it yeah what did they love are you ready for a question yeah so fashion tv would like to know are there any cliche aid maternity poses that they should avoid uh ah that's a personal preference e think e I don't I don't think I can answer that for that because I don't want to offend anybody if I say it people back I just did that last week I don't know it has to go by your personal style people are going to be drawn to your personal style and if you're attacking cheesy I there's probably another attacking cheesy person out there with you you know I mean I mean people are drawn tio what you're bringing this is totally I love it I mean there is out of all that I'm only gonna call like five or six winners but like that one zooming in on that I just love it the shadows are a little harsh because of the room that we're in because of this production room but like I mean come on now just beautiful any other questions have a couple a couple comments let's see daniel foster creation said and I have always been afraid to shoot inside plane without props you have completely restored my belief in less is more okay so that's very cool and then photons says wow this mamma is really pretty she's just glowing she is glowing and nina says yea beautiful anna hey I went in the room and I said to her I need you to be open and I need you to be amazing and she said okay so you have to do you just have to ask them just have to ask them so thank you very very very grateful that was you inspired me I did things there that I haven't even shot and I could shoot you all day it was perfect let's just do a couple classic sitting so here's the challenge because talk about plane I'm playing girl we've got nothing but mom and a backdrop and I think people are afraid of that because what does that mean means you but it's all you and that's that's hard right if you could you we could take that too that's a dr phill and oprah moment it's all you you gotta bring it you let's bring it she's bringing it but many clients don't know how to bring it so you've got to step up the game and allow them and ask them I asked her to be open and she wass so here's the trick with sitting down you have a nice tall torso and so your baby give harper good because your baby's pretty up there but you're really holding this baby very well I think john we need to angle these lights down a little bit I mean I'll test it you stay there but I want to make sure I can see you're pregnant because between you and me if I just look at you like that I'm like you could be so I want hands in the belly yes and can you blow ah can you bow and smile and look good so I want laughing and playful and then I want just a little more subtle serious more demure so we're going to do laughing a playful first and we're goingto when we're ready keep those shoulders down but you can play with the arms you could be here you could be here you gotta blow that belly out and you can look up at me you can look down you can look this way you could look that way and we can't even get the arms up but we just have to watch the legs okay so here we go let's do a test let's just look right down to your belly stay down to your belly and put one hand above him when him below little smile look right up at me stay right there there it isthe now move a little bit but you can't get out yes yes ah good where you were just about to do it when you were doing that do that and then you can kind of hug you complete your hair back and if you're kind of hugging in and that's we kind of just be like I love this baby so just kind of get in and it's okay to just feel it and put the fan on one more time you just did something that I like I think I'm gonna go with it we'll shoot this and I'll show you ok so now fan your your shirt was falling off so I was like what if we just let it fall off a little bit on your shoulders yes get up I'm just saying I'm just saying keep doing what you're doing but the fan on get the shoulders down tall in the torso and way stay there let's see arms what would happen if we're too much oh what a fur like here yes what's that hair yes uh there we go way good now let's just you're just a little bit more demure we're just a little bit softer and you're just it's still going off the shoulder what if we just do one more thing where we're going to swing the legs to the side how comfortable are you in doing that uh there it is and so if it's stiff it's still off to the side and just let it hang yeah and we're just lean yet just do what you're doing and I'll be over here taking pictures watch that hair good don't forget belly my hand yes watch this hair and I like you kind of looked up to the shoulder a little bit that children and down fan a watch that here when you do that that here and I love that but let's let the hair go in the back and tuck this a little bit more and just keep it really soft and we'll just spend like just a couple seconds just being a little bit more pensive more soft more thoughtful back up to me little more taller and down to the belly little soft smile take this hands that's just something with hands get back up a little bit more let's just finish off this segment with the hands keep the hair back so the hair is back let me see you with hands was a shirt stick this shit off simon says hands they were just gonna move move move and move and work our way down so we're gonna start up here and they were just gonna work our way down to the belly okay ready no fan little soft make sure to keep that yes thank you milly hold that relax the shoulders bring the hair forward and let's put the fan on I like that a lot but both here forward and let's work with that I love that but that soft hand on the bottom and just hold below that belly out on lean a little bit more forward stay tall on look down yeah keep that body moving their heads so then you're gonna come back up this way back that with back up not too much back up with the body there they must be stopped in the mirror bring this hair out let it out now it's closely here there yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yeah ice my uh good lovett look away get that hair out of his shoulder when you look away and go up more this way good uh straight ahead and you're in more there and eyes down back to the booth more head back on my back this way and hands just on the belly keep moving that's good that's good okay we're gonna let her get dressed into a different outfit and you get a little break in some water while we bring on our couple how we doing fantastic you're ready for a question okay this is from fashion tv like so many great questions from him is there a time limit as faras how pregnant the lady is when you don't do the sitting down poses anymore because she's just too rolled or is it a matter of just what they're comfortable with what they're comfortable with I ask them can they sit down because I actually need a nice big belly usually I need a nice big belly to show because you saw that I asked her to blow out because in the beginning I wasn't really seeing it notice how she's arching her back she's resting and bringing that belly out so you definitely want to ask them if they can get down to some people can't I asked them if they can't sit criss cross because some people can't so you ask him but I think that some women I mean I I was a photographer I shot right up until I gave birth so I was squatting and bending the whole time so it's definitely the activity level of the client some people are you know say I'm doing swimming I'm yoga I'm ask him if what their activity level is if they've been couch potatoes may not want to do that if they're like yeah I'm flexible and limber let's do it we definitely have to ask this you know it's a blurry shot ignore that one but see how what did I say before when you're stuck in a pose what did I say you move you move right and notice how I am closer in here but I have my safe shots already where I'm pulled out more and that's that that little piece was more for you just zoom in and show you what I know you're really gonna want to see which is that fun close up it's just a lot of fun with that and that's a shot that if you just crop it you know so we crops you know like let's say here in here I've had women make big canvases in a bedroom or nursery because it's just gorgeous doesn't matter how much weight you've gained that perfect thank you have a question from photog and we did cover this yesterday as far as the newborns but in respect teo the pregnant women photog says anna sure captures a lot of really nice images during her shoot hammond how many does she usually come out with and what does she actually show to her clients so is that the same as the newborns or can we talk about the different it's it is a little different it is the same in is different honestly I julie I'd shoot a lot I would shoot very fast and shoot a lot because she was just so open without playing for five hours so I can easily shoot let's say on average I would shoot maybe one hundred and fifty images and shows like sixty a shoot that I'm with all your just it's all happening I could shoot two three four five hundred images if I shot five hundred I probably only showed like eighty I don't show duplicate poses ever and I don't need like this is me standing up this is me standing up with a leg bent you know I mean like which do I like the leg straight of the leg bent I also don't show black and white color cp of every image I will if I decide to make some black and white or some color I'll do that for the client letting them know they have the option to do both I used to shoot a lot of monochrome black and white which I still kind of d'oh but I mean I edit I added a cz well as I can maybe and it depends when you add a husband and child it could be sixty eighty images but keep in mind that most of my clients buy books and they put about forty images in their bus books are our number one seller so in a couple questions one from brianna and also from terror evelyn and they're asking about they were feeling like this is getting almost boudoir ask so and they love that do you is that dependent on your clients and how do you work to keep it classy on not having going to like risque okay it's a very good question a very good observation because uh I feel that pregnancy sessions are very much like boudoir um as far as keeping it classy again who's doing the shooting you are so who are you I like things that are clean simple classic I don't want things to be x rated it's not who I am I do want women to feel comfortable showing the kids their photos um so if somebody said I won this over the top sexed out pregnancy session and be like I don't know if I'm the photographer for you I think it's drawn from the photographer people are going to be drawn to the work you're showing and I'll tell you in the beginning I didn't feel like I was getting the work that I wanted and so I brought in models and tested and played and brought in people that let me go to places that I didn't even know where I was going so you've gotta push your own creativity and say I want to go there I don't know how to go there I look I'm in I'm a preacher's kid I'm pretty modest you know I I don't walk around like this but I think women are beautiful and they're it could be so classy and timeless and I love the the body I studied the body several times in school and so I think that if you can keep it artistic and clean and classy and know the intent war is the same thing you could've very classy glamorous boudoir and you could have like whoa you know like x rated but it's who are you and then your work reflects on that so how do you want well you know the role the boundaries you d'oh cool on let me ask what percentage of your work do you do you do black and white you know I used to do a lot of used to be one hundred percent and then it went down and went down and went down and went down and then cause it just depends on the phase theirs I used to specialize in black and white film I was known for my black and white work people used to come to me if you want to black and white nude image goto anna and then we'd be delighted more color it just it really depends on the client sometimes it's fifty fifty I'd say fifty fifty easily because I do love it and and we're actually going to do some I'm going to shoot in monochrome for you guys today okay and I'm sorry I got one more question to attend him to that because now that you're not doing film anymore how are you processing your black and white are you doing in a photo shop are using nick that is the best question ever I'm a cannon user I put it in monochrome and I shoot in black and white wow you nothing now knowing that if I have a session like this where I've just shot only color and I'm in the post and I have extra time on my hands I'll make some black and white but if a client comes in and they go I definitely want a good portion black and white I'm a monochrome I make sure I have very good exposure and I do nothing cool fine every time we do that in the workshop people are like whoa yeah that and the internet's going whoa wow if you shoot and rob plus shaping you're wrong will be color in your black and white will be j j peg will be black and white this's for canon nikon is different so when I post in light room I'm pulling the j pegs not the raw she didn't even put it around we'll put it right here right now why should iran j peg we're using the j peg for proofing not the raw I only go to the rock if I screwed myself and I need to fix myself I get it I get it right I get my eye now my exposures it's kind of freaking me out save a lot of shadows of all that I can get over it but when I'm in my studio I'm on location I nail my exposure's I do very little post

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Pregnancy Guide.zip
Baby Love Guide.zip
Ana Brandt Product Guide.zip
Baby Pose Sample Guide.pdf
Kaynote Day 2.pdf
Keynote Day 1.pdf
Keynote Day 3.pdf
Additional Discount Codes.pdf
Transitional Pregnancy Posing Poster.jpg
Nursing Food Guide.jpg

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I enrolled in your course because I was wanting to expand my photography business to something other than weddings. I never knew just how amazing and important pregnancy and newborn photography would be. I am feeling so much joy, love, inspiration and the need to do this now; all because of you and this course. You have captured me and led me to believe I was meant to do this type of photography. Thank you for your amazing course, your talents in what you do are unmeasurable! I look forward to learning more from you in the future while watching your course over and over. I can't wait to start this new journey of imagery. Thank you!

Mindy St Onge
 

I cant believe I got this on sale! So happy with this purchase. The one thing I feel I would have changed is I feel she rushed through the newborn sessions really quickly and spent ALOT of time on maternity. I would have liked to see a lot more of the newborn posing and info versus a dozen maternity. But all in all its full of a lot of great info and I love that its not voice over....it is true time so I can see how she is interacting with the clients. Thankyou Anna I love love love your work always!!

Kate Marsh
 

I loved this class! I learnt SO much and I have actually gained confidence with my work from watching Anna. She is a great teacher and I absolutely love her work. This is definitely the best class I have purchased on Creative Live. Thank you! :)

Student Work

RELATED ARTICLES

RELATED ARTICLES