I hope you are ready for a lot of belly photos! My friend decided to have her belly decorated with henna near the end of the pregnancy.  She made it into a little party and invited some friends over.  Most of the women there were pregnant with their second baby or just had a baby.  It was pretty incredible and  nice that the group is going through similar experiences and challenges especially with the older siblings.

The henna artist took a drawing that Maureen had sent her and altered it a bit to createa beautiful piece of art on Maureen’s belly.  I think it was quite challenging since the canvas kept moving – either the baby moved or Maureen had to breathe!   It looks like so much patience is needed to create something like this.  After the henna was finished was dry, sheets of paper were placed on Maureen’s stomach so she could put her shirt down later in the evening.   I loved the whole idea and it was a nice night out!

Since the party took place at night and it was a more intimate affair with just friends I decided not to use my flash and just increase my ISO.  I didn’t want the flash to be intrusive and decide to convert most of the photos into black and white.

About 5 days later we took some maternity photos, which can be seen here.  We weren’t sure if this session would happen since it was a week before her due date.  Normally, I take maternity photos between 32-36 weeks.  This is because most women look pregnant and the last month can be very uncomfortable. Maureen just looks amazing even with her due date a week away.