Maternity Photography by Koren

After having a baby, one of the biggest concerns mothers have is getting the post-pregnancy weight off. As we all know, sometimes its a little difficult to get motivated or find the time to try to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing. If you have the means, getting a personal trainer is great, but if you don’t, well, there are other tools you can use that can be just as effective. And once you drop the pounds, a boudoir photography session is just the thing to show off your new body!

One of the coolest sites for weight loss and getting healthy in general that I’ve come across is the LiveStrong website. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, along with Demand Media, created the site to encourage everyone to live a healthier lifestyle, to transform their lives, really, and have infused it with a ton of tools to keep you motivated and informed. One of the best is My Plate, a completely free food tracker. It calculates how many calories, fat grams, protein grams, etc, you’ve consumed throughout the day. MyPlate has many of the brands of food you know and love, so after a quick search, you input how much you ate, and it’ll do all the math for you. Easy, right? On LiveStrong, you can also blog about your journey, upload pics, join groups and get local exercise routes from other members to try. Its very cool, and my favorite part is the tagline: “Dare to Change Your Life.” How can you NOT be motivated?!?!

New fine art maternity and pregnancy work in New York City.
This beautiful nude has been highly stylized into a unique black and white format digital image.

No, she’s not actually pregnant. It’s just fine art for fine art’s sake.

This is my signature photo. I LOVE this shot and am so happy to have it.
Looking for something artistic like this? I have a whole portfolio for you to enjoy.

Visit the artistic pregnancy photos on my Fine Art Nude Pregnancy portfolio.

Announcing the Boudoir Photography Website

Want to watch a website in progress? I’m building a new site to separate my family photography from my boudoir photos. Something about a middle-aged or young mom looking at my wholesome, happy family picutres right next to the gorgeous, sensual women (most of whom are over 40) just doesn’t sit right with me.

Besides, I’ve always wanted to go all out with the boudoir pictures. I’ll have props, a room, a bed, fabrics, and we’ll work with lingerie, boots, corsettes, bustiers, fishnet, long, sexy gloves and any other props women feel like having in their pictures.

Here’s the new site: BoudoirbyKoren

Five years ago, it would have been really difficult to make a living doing maternity photography and pregnancy portraits. Women had little interest, but “Face” magazines were busy spotlighting pregnant celebrities and women have been waiting longer and longer to start trying to get pregnant.

Fast forward to today and you’ll find that the internet is filled with maternity photographers. Obviously, women have caught on that this very special portrait photography is something to behold, embrace and demand.

I would say that pregnancy photographers are offering very similar looks. Most use drapery of various color and texture, bed sheets, shawls, scarves and a whole lot of plain old nothing. Yes, you’ll definitely see a lot of pregnant nudes out there.

If this is your time to start searching for the right pregnancy photographer for you, I would base the search on the following things in order of priority:

1. Do you like the pictures?
Look for pleasing lighting. No matter what the “experts” say, this is highly subjective. Some women will respond to more contrast in the lighting while others like the soft, dewy, glowing look. Neither is better; it’s totally personal.

2. Decide if you want to work with a man or a woman
Some of you won’t care either way, but I can’t imagine being pregnant and working with a male photographer. Yuk! This truly is fine art only a woman can create. There is just that female connection not to mention that you’re probably going to strip it all off. Isn’t is just easier to do it with women?

3. Look for subtleties
The subtle things to look for are pleasing body lines. Again, this is subjective, but generally look for curves, balance, direction, flow. You’ll know it when you see it.

4. Look for creative lights and darks
Anybody can throw up a light and take a picture. What makes a maternity photo interesting is subtle changes in light, dramatic changes in light, differences in lighting color (transitions from cool to dark for instance), and balance.

5. Call up and find the photographer personality you like
We come in all personalities. You want to find someone who, even though you walk in feeling a little nervous, makes you feel completely comfortable five minutes later. You don’t want to feel self-conscious or nervous for long, really! You should be able to determine this within minutes on the phone. By the way, if the photographer doesn’t have time to talk to you, keep dialing. Assistants aren’t going to be taking your picture, so get what you want.

Yes, I love pets! I love cats and dogs and puppies and kittens.
I even have a white label pet site that brings in a lot of really interesting commercial photography.
Have a look.

Here’s my latest pet magnet showing up on metallic surfaces in Manhattan:

Here’s the most important site:
MaternitybyKoren

And here’s the really cute pet photography stie:
PetsinPhotos

In good taste, of course.

In addition to my emotionally compelling pregnancy photography, I also work with women who are not pregnant.

In fact, my pregnancy specialty was born out of the highly stylized nude and boudoir photography that I started while living in California.

Ever since Val Frankel’s new memoir came out, I’ve been getting emails and phone calls for boudoir photography. I think is such a powerful statement of body awareness and self-acceptance, especially when they come from women who are over 40.

Here’s one of my favorite images:

Let me know how you like it. To review more pregnancy work, click here Maternity Photography