I don’t see why mothers-to-be should fly solo at a maternity portrait session. Let’s get the father-to-be in there too.

You might recognize Sarah and Kisung. They were one of my lovely 2009 couples, and I’m so thrilled that they will be giving birth to their first child, Lani, next month.

Chris was held up at work, so we got a bit of a late start on the shoot — we only had about 45 minutes of light before it was completely gone, but I’ve gotten used to working under pressure as a wedding photographer. I’d say that the lack of time worked in our favor in this instance by forcing creativity rather quickly. Towards the end, I was shooting between 1600 – 3200 iso, @ f/1.2 – 1.4, 1/5 – 1/30 exposure — really maxing out my gear.

This was my first official maternity session — it’s also my favorite portrait session of my career thus far.

(You’ll notice, Mary and Chris, that you are not nearly as awkward in front of the camera as you suspect!)

(For those of you who follow the Voltron himself, you’ll notice a few nods in his direction. Thanks for the inspiration, dude.)