Intimate motherhood sessions: tips for bringing the mood

Intimate motherhood sessions are some of my absolute favorite things to photograph. I think there is something really special about focusing on the intimacy of the relationship between mother and child. I like having these sessions really amplify the bond they share. Here’s a look inside how I plan these moody, dreamy sessions that are just so full of love and connection.

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The first thing I consider when planning is color. To achieve the intimate, moody vibe I think color choice is critical. Some colors I prefer are browns, creams, deep olive, and dusty pink. Think renaissance painting, think hazy, almost muddy. I. like to think about the colors in their muggiest form almost. If you like whites, think cream not bright. If blues are your jam, go dusty rather than bold. You really want to muddy the waters a bit with your colors to get that edgy, moody vibe. Color applies not only to the outfit, but the background. If you’re outside greens will work (we all know how tricky they can be though, so keep that in consideration) but you’ll probably want to down the saturation a bit and mess with the color grading post processing. If you had something in a hayfield, or a somewhere where the background is more neutral (white flowers? a white or cream blanket to lay on the grass? sand?), that’s really going to help get you closer to the mood I’m talking about. If you’re in studio you could use a shade of brown seamless paper, or just make sure that your backdrop and props are really neutral in the color palette.

Another important factor to manipulate is of course, the posing. Skin to skin as much as possible just really brings out that sensual side. If they aren’t comfortable with the illusion of nudity/stripping down, you can still achieve that intimacy all the same. If it’s a younger child that could go shirtless or show off their bare buns, do that and leave momma dressed. Honestly, who can ever get enough baby buns? If both are completely clothed then nailing your direction and posing is what’s going to take your photos to that moody place. One trick, think of poses that don’t require eye contact with the camera. Have the mom facing away, eyes closed, or looking at the baby. Get in to the fine details of making your model think about the way they embrace their child like having tension in their hands when they hug them, or stroking their hair softly. Little details will make an impact with these. I also think guiding them into an authentic interaction vs. setting up a specific pose is more effective in evoking the emotion I’m looking for.

Think about ways you can get creative with these kinds of sessions. I love incorporating flowers or pampas. Using a ziploc bag to get that dreamy, hazy feeling over some of your images is fun to mess with. You could also try tinkering with other techniques like double exposure, holding different objects in front of your lens to add texture or haze, free lensing, slowing down your shutter speed, using a lens baby or fractals. If you haven’t tried any of these techniques before don’t be afraid to explain that to your client and just incorporate them even if it’s just for a shot or two.

I think the last piece in getting nailing these moody motherhood sessions take place during editing. If you use presets, there are definitely some that I think would work well. Archipelago, Erika Brooke, Phil Chester, Dirty boots (but it can be a bit bright in my opinion). I do think it’s really important though to not just slap a preset on something, dig deeper and study them a bit. Mess around with color grading and curves. I like adding warmth and using the graduated filter or the radial filter to create softness or haziness in parts of the image. Don’t be afraid to edit the same photo different ways to experiment with these things.

There’s something about motherhood sessions that always leave me wanting to do more. The way there’s such a raw connection between mom and babe leaves so much room for creativity, let’s face it, it makes it fun to create AND you know your momma clients are just going to swoon when they see their photos!