.png)
A Munich Maternity Session with Gina & Collin
Some photography sessions feel especially meaningful because of the people in front of the camera. This one was particularly special to me because my sister-in-law, Gina, was visiting us in Germany with her boyfriend, Collin, and I had the opportunity to spend the day exploring Munich with them and documenting this season of their lives.
Gina is expecting their first child, a little one arriving this January. We spent the day talking about their trip, enjoying the unusually beautiful early-October sunshine, and making the most of a day together before they headed home.
We started near Erding, where we wandered through the fields and took some portraits in the warm late morning light. The yellow and white fields created a fun and vibrant backdrop where we could loosen up and shake off any nerves (or Oktoberfest hangovers). It was relaxed and easy, with plenty of time to talk and catch up between photographs.
As we drove toward our second location, Collin mentioned that he wanted to stop at a flower stand to pick up some sunflowers. His late mother loved sunflowers, and he thought bringing them along would be a meaningful way to include her in the session.
Then, almost immediately after we said it, we drove past a sunflower field.
It was completely unexpected. After such a hot summer, when so many flowers around Germany had struggled in the heat, we were not expecting to find a field still full of blooms in early October. But there it was, and it could not have been more perfect.
We stopped and spent some time photographing among the sunflowers, incorporating something that held personal meaning for Collin and Gina into a day that was already full of anticipation for their growing family. It ended up being one of those moments that could never have been planned quite the same way.
From there, we continued into Munich and walked from the Munich Residence toward the English Garden. The city gave us an entirely different backdrop from the open fields, and we embraced the variety of the day rather than trying to keep everything within one setting.
Eventually, Gina did something I am not sure every expecting mother would volunteer to do: she got in the water.
The result was some of my favorite maternity work I have ever photographed.
There was something incredible about seeing her surrounded by the water, the city, and the changing autumn landscape while carrying her first child. The images felt both peaceful and powerful, and completely fitting for this particular season of her life.
What made this session so special was not just the photographs themselves. It was getting to spend an entire day with Gina and Collin, hear about their trip, explore places together, stumble upon a sunflower field at exactly the right moment, and document this brief chapter before their family changes forever.
As a photographer, I am often invited into important moments in other people's lives. Getting to do that for my own family is something I never take for granted.
Gina and Collin, I am so grateful I got to spend this day with you and capture a little piece of the story before you meet your little one this January. I cannot wait to see where this next chapter takes you.
Comments