Maternity prompts that respect the client
The exact words to say to a maternity client who is uncomfortable, has heard every cliché, and has a partner who doesn't know where to stand — sorted by where they belong in the session.
She has been uncomfortable for weeks before she books you, and she will be uncomfortable for the entire hour you have her. She has also heard every line in the maternity playbook already — "glowing," "cradle the bump," "you look so natural" — usually from a stranger in a grocery store line, and none of it made her feel seen. Her partner, meanwhile, is standing three feet away with no idea what to do with his hands, waiting for a cue that never comes. What actually helps is smaller than either of those problems: a specific thing to say, at the moment it's needed, that gives her something true to do with her body and gives him a job besides watching. Every prompt below is quoted exactly from the Prompted catalog, sorted by where it belongs in a session — the first frames, the moments with a partner, the sitting-down stretch her feet will thank you for, and the last light of the day. None of it asks her to look comfortable. It asks her to actually be a little more comfortable, one instruction at a time.
The first frames
Open standing, and open short. She's still deciding whether this is going to be fun or an ordeal, and the fastest way to tip that scale is to prove, in the first ninety seconds, that nobody is going to ask her to hold an arch or a stretch she can't sustain. These are quick, low-effort setups — the kind you can shoot from three angles in under a minute each — meant to build trust before you ask for anything harder.
Look at your hands, not the lens. Your hands are the story.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Hands on bump profile”
Say this the moment she squares up to the camera and her face goes stiff. Redirecting her focus to her own hands gets her out of her head about her expression without asking her to fake anything.
We'll go at whatever speed your feet are happy with today.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Window silhouette”
A good opener for a session shot outdoors, especially if she's carrying late in the third trimester — this pose is tagged late term. Say it before you've asked her to move anywhere, so she knows the pace is hers to set from the start.
You don't have to arch or bend anything. Stand comfortable and I'll move instead.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Meadow walk”
Use it as your very first line of direction, before she's held a single pose. It tells her plainly that the effort of the shot is yours to carry, not hers, which is the opposite of what most posing advice implies.
One breath for you, one for the baby. Repeat.
CalmFrom the pose “Chin up eyes closed”
A settling line for the first quiet pose of the day, eyes closed, chin lifted toward the light. It gives her a rhythm to hold instead of a shape, which reads as calm rather than posed.
With the partner
The partner's biggest fear isn't the camera — it's being extra. He doesn't want to loom, doesn't want to grip too hard, doesn't know if his hands belong on her waist or her belly or nowhere at all. The fix is the same one that works for couples who go stiff in front of a lens generally, covered in more depth in what to say when a couple goes stiff: give him a specific, finite action, not a mood to perform.
You can completely ignore the camera. Just close your eyes and lean into each other.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Bluff profile kiss”
Use this once the two of them are standing close and one of them keeps sneaking a glance your way. Removing the camera from the instruction removes the performance pressure along with it.
Close your eyes and take the slowest breath you've had all week.
CalmFrom the pose “Partner forehead touch”
Say it once his arms are already around her from behind, hands resting over hers. It's a genuinely useful instruction, not just a photogenic one — most of her week has not involved a slow breath, and this pose is a fair excuse for one.
Bring both of her hands up to your lips and press a slow, gentle kiss to her knuckles.
RomanticFrom the pose “Knuckle kiss overlook”
A good mid-set moment once the two of them have loosened up. It's a small, specific action for him to execute, which keeps him from freezing while it also gives her hands somewhere to be.
Kiss her temple and keep your eyes on the bump.
RomanticFrom the pose “Partner slow dance”
Use this for a slow-swaying, no-real-steps kind of movement — there's nothing to choreograph, just weight shifting side to side, which is forgiving of tired feet and a body that doesn't want to be led anywhere fast.
Take a slow breath in together, and as you exhale, just let your shoulders drop.
CalmFrom the pose “Collarbone wrap gaze”
Say this as she leans her weight back into him. It's doing double duty — softening her shoulders for the frame, and actually letting her rest some of her weight on him instead of holding herself up alone.
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Seated and resting
Somewhere in the middle third of a maternity session, her feet start to say something and her lower back agrees. This is the stretch where you stop treating sitting down as a break from the shoot and start treating it as the shoot. A chair, a step, a reclined lean against a partner — none of it reads as "resting" in the final gallery if you frame it with intention, and several poses here carry a seated_variant tag for exactly this reason.
Nobody expects you to feel graceful at eight months. You look it anyway.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Armchair rest”
This pose is tagged both seated_variant and late_term — offer the chair before she asks for it, especially past week 34. Say this as she settles in, not as a consolation, but as the actual truth.
It's just us out here. Take up all the space you want.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Rocking chair”
Tagged seated_variant, wheelchair, and late_term, which makes it one of the most accommodating setups in the whole catalog — worth keeping in your back pocket for any client managing mobility limits alongside a late pregnancy. Say it as she gets settled, and mean it about the space.
Just sink right back into him and let him hold your weight. There is zero need to hold a stiff pose.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Beach recline cradle”
Also tagged seated_variant and late_term. Use it once he's settled behind her on the sand — the instruction is permission, not direction, and it's usually the moment a tired session turns into an easy one.
Look down and let your shoulders finally let go.
CalmFrom the pose “Bump from the side seated”
This one carries seated_variant, limited_mobility, and late_term tags together — a genuinely versatile fallback. Use it any time you notice her shoulders creeping up toward her ears after a standing stretch.
Let your eyes go soft and heavy, almost sleepy. Stay.
CalmFrom the pose “Floor lean”
Tagged seated_variant and plus_size_flattering. Reserve it for clients who are comfortable getting down low with support nearby to get back up — check in about knees and balance before you set it up, not after.
The last light
Close the session in the light that's hardest to fake later — the last thirty minutes before the sun is gone, when everything softens and everyone is tired in the good way. These are the frames worth slowing down for, the same instinct behind golden hour prompts: say less, let the light and the fatigue do the work, and give the two of them something quiet to hold onto instead of a pose to perform.
Squeeze hands and take a quiet second to just look up at your baby together.
RomanticFrom the pose “Sonogram sky hold”
Use this near the very end of a beach or bluff session, once the sonogram print has come out of a bag or pocket. It's an easy way to close a shoot on something that means more than a pretty setting alone.
Take a slow breath out together, listen to the waves, and just stay right there in the moment.
CalmFrom the pose “Tide rocks kiss”
Save this for the actual last frames of a coastal session, when there's nowhere left to walk to and no more setups planned. It's an instruction to stop, not to do anything else.
You don't need to look at me at all. Just lock eyes with each other.
Nervous clientFrom the pose “Shoreline blanket drape”
A reliable line for a couple who has gone a little camera-shy again as the light drops and the session is winding down. Taking the lens out of the instruction usually brings them right back.
Lean back against his chest, take one long breath out together, and look right at me.
CalmFrom the pose “Bluff bump wrap”
A strong closing frame — full weight transfer onto him, one shared breath, then eye contact. Use it as close to your literal last shot as you can, once everyone's guard is fully down.
Pacing the whole session
A maternity session runs longer per shot than almost any other kind of session you'll book, because every single setup has to account for a body that's carrying more weight than it usually does, in ways that change week to week. Build in more breaks than feel necessary, offer the chair before it's asked for, and treat a seated pose as equal in value to a standing one rather than a fallback for when she's tired — that framing alone changes how a client experiences the whole hour. It's the same instinct behind getting a natural expression out of a much bigger, more chaotic group, laid out in 20 things to say to get natural smiles at a family session: comfort produces the real expression, not the other way around. If she needs to stop for water, sit down mid-sentence, or skip a pose entirely because her ankles have had enough, that's not a session going sideways. That's a session going right.
The Fall Mini Session Shot List
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