Photographer Emma O’Brien from Lumiere Vrai writes:

Pregnancy photography has grown in popularity ever since Demi Moore graced the cover of Vanity Fair magazine in 1991 at eight months pregnant, naked except for a pair of earrings!  The photograph, taken by Annie Leibovitz, was deemed to be scandalous and morally offensive (to some people) at the time, thankfully things have moved on as a result of her ground breaking image.

Pregnancy is an interesting time in a woman’s life.  I adored being pregnant and I know lots of women who feel really happy and comfortable with their bodies when they’re expecting.  I also know of an equal number of women who would happily have their offspring delivered by the Ocado man to save on the discomfort factor!!!

Either way, creating a photographic record of your pregnancy by having professional “bump” photos taken is a wonderful way of remembering the last few months of calm before little feet pad onto the scene. The ideal time to have a pregnancy shoot is around 34 weeks, late on enough to have a beautifully defined bump, but not so late as to miss the shoot if baby arrives earlier than expected!

I feel privileged to be able to photograph women and couples at such a special time in their lives, I can then look forward to photographing the new baby which is a whole different challenge!!

Emma has a studio at Silverstone, near to Milton Keynes and also shoots on location.  She has photographed me, and although I hate having my photograph taken I can testify that Emma is brilliant and made the whole experience a pleasure.