Belly Aesthetics: Do you / did you find a heavily pregnant bump beautiful or a bit ewww ?

[hub2dee]

Related to my preparations to launch a child photography business, I've started doing some bump shots and pg portraits for friends / relatives etc. Speaking to women about being photographed at 36+ weeks, I am surprised by how many don't really feel the need / have a strong aversion to a photograph recording this period in their lives.

I don't know whether this is just 'normal' British Reserve or reflects very common feelings regarding the pregnant belly.

Anyone care to reflect on how they feel / felt they looked very late in their pregnancy ? Is the idea of having some photos done in the last month simply too terrible to contemplate lol ?

FWIW - pg shots can be fully clothed, bare belly, shadowy abstracts of just the bump, shots of the whole person, images with present children / dp etc - a very wide range of styles.

I dont think it's because the women dislikes her body necessarily- probably more like she feels protective to her baby/bump and also vulnerable and doesnt want to show her belly off!

I agree with what Honeyapple said, many women feel protective over thier bump.

At 36+ weeks most women are exhausted and really can't be bothered to have portrait sittings.

I'm a bit sad not to have more photographs of me when I was pregnant. I've no particular aversion to heavily pregnant bumps. I'm not sure I would want to display a photo of myself for everyone to see but it would be nice to have some decent photos to look at or show the children in future years.

I don't know that I ever would have got round to booking a professional photos session during the last weeks of pregnancy but that's probably just me.

I'd have gone for it at 32 weeks but by 37 plus weeks I looked hideous and felt even worse!!

wrt protectiveness over the baby / bump, can I clarify how having a photograph might impact this ? Is it the sex of the photographer (me, bloke) or some other factor (taking away the mystery / it's private / personal / others ? Sorry if I'm being dim).

Traditionally, the shots are done around 36+ weeks to get a really rounded bump, but perhaps slightly earlier would be easier ?

Thank you for your feedback. I am not 100% sure, but do think this might be a cultural thing, from what I can gather the Americans are big into this, but then again they have the whole baby shower thang going on...

had pics done at 37 weeks, by DH who is a photographer

so glad i did as i wanted to remember forever the way i looked and felt at that time, which was so womanly, curvacoues and bountiful!

unlike the saggy mess i am now !!

i think it is one of those things that in retrospect, you will wish you had done !

I wouldn't do it because my bump's have always been very personal and private, but I found it really hard to let people other than my partner, children and mum hold my baby so I probably don't have a typical view.

I always love the look of heavily pregnant women - they conjure up images of fertility, health, beauty, earth mother, etc.

But when I was heavily pregnant, I felt like an absolute bloated cow. Of my 4 pregnancies, I only have a picture of me heavily pregnant for no. 3 (fully dressed, wearing a large jumper) and, this may or may not be significant, but she was my littlest baby by far!

So I am not sure how successful you would be at offering portraits of women at this time.

Currently 38 weeks I stood in front of my mirror looking at my bump, the other night and just thought it looks plain weird (not ugly nor beautiful).

Good luck with your business BTW H2D

Share the same visual / mental images as you dg, but can also understand the 'bloated cow' feeling.

FWIW, I imagine this is the sort of thing that when you see how the shots can turn out you think 'wow, that would be great' but if you don't have exposure to pg images outside mainstream magazines, and the sight of your own tum from above, the slightly more arty side to what is possible is not necessarily always to the fore IYSWIM.

lulu - if dh is interested I can deffo confirm my wireless flash triggers (at £17 !!!) work fine. Glad you obliged for some shots !

megandsoph - lol @ weird - it is certainly somehow 'other worldly' in some respects ! But this is almost precisely why it's worth creating some images - you will only probably ever be this shape for a few months of your life - and it will be a sleep-deprived memory blur before you know it ! Get your dp to take a shot of you looking in the mirror - don't look at the camera, and get him behind and to one side of you so you get both an outline of you and bump and a glimspe of you contemplating your new baby (move the mirror so you have a load of natural light to one side. Depending on the exposure you could be fully visible or just silhouetted ! PS - Am in process of buying fluffy wool rugs and giant flat bowls etc. for the newborn shots !

thing is, if you mention pregnant pics,

you think demi moore, which is so out of date

so you are struggling against those preconceptions

thanks for the tip Hub !

I had some taken at home, you know just normal ones. I love them, but was too broke to have any professional ones done, or would have.
Wasn't as broke with dd2 but still couldn't warrant spending 50 quid or so.
Wish I had now tho.
DH LOVED me pg

There are some beautiful ones on Flickr, these for example . I find them quite addictive. Never think 'ew' (though I do at some real life pregnant women, if they're letting it all hang out too much and really shouldn't be) but do sometimes think 'ow'!

I've certainly got no aversion to my heavily pregnant bump - the size 14 (several sizes larger than what I 'usuaully' am) elasticated trousers I bought a few months back are now getting a bit tight - and there's no way I'm spending any more money this close to my EDD so when I'm not out and about I've got the waist of them tucked under my bump and as a lot of my tops only come down to waist level that means I've got a 'bare bump' - love it (as does DS2 who pulls my top up to the top of the bump and sits and pats it/rests his head on it LOL.

Hey Hub, how's it going

I've got loads of shots of my bumps. I had the ones with DD1 and DD2 blown up hugely, in b&w and framed! I'm not wearing anything but all you can see is the top of the bump and a teeny bit of the bottom of my boob and I've got my leg nearest the camera, up a bit and in front and that's just visable at the bottom of the frame.

I love my bumps and am proud of them. I also love seeing pregnant women, i think it's beautiful and exciting. The same with breastfeeding.

I didn't mean to leave it up but on my profile is a pic of me (clothed this time though!) pregnant with DD2. I love it, because it's not a pic of me it's a pic of me heavily pregnant and happy and i love to be reminded of how good I felt etc.

If DP is taking pics I always say 'gt the bump in' or 'take a pic of the bump'. My fav pics of me are pics of me pregnant. Because I'm pregnant!

So to answer you with regard to reflecting on how I felt / feel - I feel whole. I feel complete. Sexy, powerful, magical, special and so, so happy

There are several sets of flickr pools of child / pg photography, great for inspiration !

Find a photographer who's building their portfolio, fannyannie and I'm sure you could organise some shots at a good price.

hey TC, gald to hear you're so happy with those shots. It is indeed a magical time. Hadn't seen the one on your profile either - fab shape ! Looking forward to June (please make it not rain lo).

I find the whole soft focus and swathed in tulle shots of pregnant stomachs too naff for words.

Not yuck just cringe inducing.

god I love pregnant bellies - I get so excited which shows that I am in the right job I think.
but I think lots of women have terrible body issues and can be very hung up about getting bigger and bigger.

I have a book called "pregnant goddesses" boght for me by a friend when I was pregnant because I feel like a goddess

shall I bring it over when I come and stay monndog?

It's definitely not for me.

But I don't like being photographed at any point.

Not very comfortable with my body pregnant or not.

No aversion to seeing a pregnant belly on someone else.

I shall blow fag smoke over it Harpsi,neck beer and play AC/DC very loud indeed....

I had some photos taken when I was 40 weeks, just to show how utterly massive I was (everyone thought it was twins, but it was just 1!!). Anyway, my belly was all discoloured and I was covered in stretchmarks, but I wanted it 'for the record'. And to show that I could balance a dinner plate on it!

I think I felt fab and sexy till about 36 weeks, but then it just seemed very heavy and I wanted it over with. But I do love pregnant bellies and get jealous every time I see one, even the massive ones. I think they are beautiful and I def felt more beautiful when I was pregnant. Got all the typical 'radiant' comments, but I think that was more down to how I felt about my body than about the hormones making me radiant.

Thanks again for all this input. Certainly interesting.

hey did you ever see morningpaper's pendulous bump (technical term)
it was amazing

Wha-????
Eh Hub???
Dunno what you mean. Have been out since crack of dawn earning a living.