Kara Cooper's Minimalist Maternity Portraits at Cobalt Studios

Kara Cooper is a fellow Portland photographer and a friend. For her maternity portraits, she stepped in front of my camera at Cobalt Studios PDX, and we made a set that lets her take up the frame without a lot of scenery competing for attention.

The wardrobe changes give the photographs different energy while the simple studio backdrop holds them together. An open denim shirt feels casual and familiar. Black creates cleaner shapes and a quieter, more direct portrait. A white shirt with jeans and a white tank with relaxed pants bring the set back toward something soft and everyday.

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Room for more than one version of you

Some of Kara's photographs are close and direct. Others leave room for her stance, her hands, and the full shape of this moment in her life. That's one of my favorite things about building a maternity set together: it can be strong, tender, playful, understated, or a mix of all four. It doesn't need to fit somebody else's idea of what maternity photos should look like.

Kara, thank you for trusting me with these. It was a pleasure to make photographs of a friend who usually knows exactly what it's like to be on my side of the camera.

If you're thinking about maternity portraits of your own, tell me what feels like you, what you'd feel comfortable wearing, and how you'd like the photographs to feel. We can plan around that. Explore maternity and lifestyle sessions.

Photography: Michael Ballard / Nilas Photography

Studio: Cobalt Studios PDX

Kara's work: Kara Cooper Photography