There are sessions I look forward to for weeks. And then there are the ones I’ve been looking forward to for years.

This is one of those.

When I say I’ve had the honor of photographing this family almost every single year — I mean it. I was there for their engagement. I photographed their wedding. I documented their first maternity session over Zoom during the strange, suspended season of COVID. I’ve watched their babies become toddlers, watched this couple grow deeper into each other, and now — here we are again. A studio maternity session in Annapolis, Maryland, welcoming baby number three. Take a look at their first family session we did here.

I don’t have words for what it means to be trusted with a story this long. But I have photographs. And I think they say it better than I ever could.

 

A Studio Maternity Session in Annapolis, Maryland — The Vision

From the moment we started planning this session, I knew exactly what I wanted it to feel like: warm, intentional, and timeless. Studio sessions have this quality that outdoor shoots sometimes can’t quite capture — a quietness. We worked in soft, creamy neutrals (camel, ivory, black) against a clean, light-washed backdrop. The palette was intentional. Because of this careful attention to palette and mood, every image from this session feels cohesive. It doesn’t look like a collection of photos — it looks like a chapter.

What Film Does That Digital Simply Cannot

I photograph on film. Not as an aesthetic choice — as a philosophy.

Film reads skin tone with a warmth and depth that is genuinely unmatched. In a studio setting flooded with soft window light, shooting on film means the shadows are creamy rather than harsh, the highlights roll off gently, and the overall image has this beautiful, analog quality that feels less like a photograph and more like a memory.

That’s exactly why I always recommend film for maternity sessions. Your body is doing something extraordinary. The images should enhance that softness. In fact, some of my favorite frames from this entire session are the quiet ones. Mom looking down. A quiet hand on her belly. Their daughter pressing her head gently to the bump. These moments lasted maybe three seconds in real time. On film, they’ll last forever.

The Kids Stole the Show (Obviously)

I have to talk about these two.

Their little boy in his plaid shirt and green cords — tiny, determined, bouncing with energy. Their daughter in her cream ruffle dress, grinning like she already knows she’s the funniest person in the room (she is). Watching them interact with their mom, with each other, and with the idea of a new baby on the way — I could have photographed just the two of them for hours.

That’s something I always tell families before a session: your kids don’t need to be perfectly behaved. They need to be themselves. That realness — that chaos and tenderness and silliness — is exactly what makes family photography worth doing.

More than that, it’s what your children will want to see someday. Not stiff poses. Not forced smiles. The real thing — the way they were, at this exact age, in this exact season.

What It Means to Photograph a Family Year After Year

This is, honestly, my favorite part of what I do.

The first time I photographed this family, we were at the beginning of their story. They were newly engaged, full of anticipation, the whole arc of their life together still ahead of them. And now I’ve watched that arc unfold in real time — through a wedding, through babies, through a global pandemic, and now through the final and most tender chapter of growing their family.

There is something deeply sacred about that kind of trust. When a family chooses the same photographer year after year, they’re not just hiring someone to take pictures. They’re inviting someone into their story. And I don’t take that lightly — not even a little bit.

This session is one of my favorites I’ve ever photographed. Not because the light was perfect (it was) or because everyone wore the right colors (they absolutely did). But because of the feeling in that room. The love between them. The fullness of a family that is complete.

A Final Note

To this family — thank you. Thank you for trusting me with your engagement, your wedding, your babies, your belly, and every beautiful ordinary season in between. It has been one of the greatest honors of my career.

And to anyone reading this who’s expecting and wondering if a film session is worth it, it is. And it always will be. Thirty years from now, these are the photos your kids reach for. If you’re looking for a studio maternity photographer in Annapolis, Maryland — or planning a destination session anywhere — I’d love to hear about it. Let’s talk. 

 

See It Moving

Still photographs capture the moment. Super 8 captures the feeling between the moments.

I also filmed this session on a Canon 310XL with Kodak 50D — developed and scanned by Pro 8mm — and the result is exactly what I hoped for. Two kids dancing. A family laughing. A belly that holds the whole future of this family inside it.

Press play. I think you’ll feel it too.

 

 

Contax 645 • Kodak Portra 400 • Nikon Z6ii

Photographer: Renee Hollingshead

Film Lab: The Find Lab

Super 8 Lab: Pro8mm

Studio: The Lightbox 209