In Bloom: Lifestyle Maternity Photography

Capturing a maternity photography session surrounded by flowers was such a joy to photograph!

Pregnancy in general is such a sweet time of eager anticipation for the birth of one’s precious little baby <3 It is one of my absolute favorite seasons of life to capture because as a Mama of many kids, I remember the aches and pains but also the sheer joy and excitement that that this time brought to my own life. Documenting this huge life milestone savors the memories for years to come.

I had the opportunity to capture my neighbor’s forth and final pregnancy. As a Mama of three, she had never done a maternity session before and with this being her last, she wanted to capture it. She decided to do the session alone (without the hubby and kids) because this is something she wanted to do for her and also because she plans to incorporate them into the newborn session. She found the most amazing spot, which was filled with so many variations of flowers. It was all just gorgeous. The entire session was a dream and we had way too much fun exploring the area and taking tons of photos but mainly laughing and enjoy the moment.

Check out the sneak peeks below <3

On-Location Maternity Photography

Pregnancy is a wonderful major life event worth capturing professionally. It’s a time filled with a growing belly, aches and pains, a glowing Mama and eager anticipation for that precious bundle of joy that grows by leaps and bounds each and every day <3

Having been pregnant six times, it’s no surprise that I absolutely love capturing pregnancy! It’s even more exciting when other children the older siblings are involved in the photo shoot.

I captured this new client family a few weeks back. It was a windy day but we were so grateful that we had some sunshine and no rain. We had an amazing location that highlighted the lighthouse. The little sisters were bubbly and fun, they were super loving with each other and their parents. We walked all around the area and captured their sweet smiles and cute moments. Fun photo session memories were made :-)

Check out some sneak peeks from our time together below <3

Lifestyle Maternity Session at the Beach

South Florida is the perfect place to capture a lifestyle maternity session at the beach in the Fall. The weather is still warm but not as humid as in the summer.

This particular beach is one of my favorite spots to photograph families! It’s an extremely popular location and I almost always see other photographers there. I love that it has many different spots to photograph around the entire area. There’s a sea grape tunnel, a lifeguard station next to a cement walkway, a wooden walkway and staircase and the actual beach is stunning with its turquoise ocean water, rock formations that the kids love to climb, tall sea grass and palm trees. It’s a very beautiful and tropical location for my style of photography.

I have been photographing this darling family for years so I was excited to receive the news that they were expecting and looking to schedule a maternity and newborn session. I first photographed them when little Shawn was an adorable three-month-old baby boy and now he’s a super tall six-year-old. It’s been great getting to see and photograph them each year for their annual family photo sessions since he was a baby. The Mama decided on this beach location for her maternity session and we had a fun time exploring the area and little Shawn was all about the adventure. He was smiley & affectionate with his Mama but loved exploring and playing in the water too.

Check out their sneak peeks below ~

Mini Maternity Session

Mini sessions are a great way to quickly & affordably capture your lifetime milestones.

Maternity, baby, kids & family photo shoots can all work for this type of session. It moves fast but we’re able to get some great images in a short period of time (if you'd prefer a more relaxed experience, definitely opt for our regular session).

*A typical mini session with Athena Leila Photography includes:

-Travel to any South Tampa location only

-Photographer’s style & experience

-No props included

-30 minutes of time

-Private web gallery for viewing and selecting your favorite photos

-10 high resolution digital images included (add-on more for an extra fee)

*Session Highlight: In this family’s case, they opted to capture their pregnancy & highlight baby girl turning one! We headed over to one of my favorite locations and had a blast capturing all of these sweet moments. We were able to work the small area around the tall grasses, oak trees with Spanish moss & also incorporated the winding road. Scroll down to see some of our favorite images.

Frequently Asked Questions: Lifestyle Newborn Photography

Lifestyle newborn photography is a unique niche that is up there among my favorites to capture!

What is lifestyle newborn photography: Lifestyle newborn photography captures the essence of newborns in a natural, candid way, focusing on portraying the authentic moments and emotions of those precious early days. Unlike traditional posed newborn sessions, lifestyle newborn photography aims to document the real-life interactions and connections between the baby, family members, and their environment.

Where does lifestyle newborn photography take place: This style of photography often takes place in the comfort of the family's home (or surrounding home environment) and aim to capture the organic dynamic and excitement that a brand new baby brings to a family. The nursery, living room, bedroom or any area that has good light, are all good spots to capture some of the love and all of those sweet little details.

When does a lifestyle newborn photography session happen: The best time of day to capture a session is in the mid to late morning (Starting around 10a) because babies are usually sleepy and content in the morning. It is also a great time of time day for using natural light and surroundings to create intimate and meaningful images that reflect the joy, love, and tenderness of welcoming a new member into the family.

What source of light is used for lifestyle newborn photography: Window light is a wonderful source of light when indoors because it's soft, even and bright when there's sunshine outside. On rainy days its harder to use window light, but still possible to achieve great photos with a little bit of grain & added character.

What does lifestyle newborn photography create: Lifestyle newborn photography seeks to create timeless and genuine images that tell a story and evoke emotions for years to come.

So why do I love this form of photography? Because it's natural, it conveys emotion & evokes feelings of pure love and joy. It is just beautiful. Babies have a way of making us happy, so being on the other end of the lens is sort of a magical place to be because you can almost feel what they are feeling and rejoice with them in their new blessing from God, all while aiming to capture the most flattering angles, maximizing the use of light, capturing the atmosphere but also getting in close to vicariously bask in their delight. 

I had the privilege of documenting this family below. We were able to capture a variety of shots in the nursery, living area and their neighborhood.  amazing time. Check out some of my favorites below.