Training Days | Abigail Joyce Photography

Hey friends,wrapping up this month's maternity photos and in just a couple more days and I will be heading to Spokane, Washington for my hike. I can't express the excitement I have! I will be with friends and (future) family - Ben my Fiance and his brothers, Mark and Joe along with Allie, and Markus and possibly some more Friends :).

Ben and I have been training for the past couple of weeks and it's been quite intense. Every night I am climbing stairs for 40ish minutes with 20-25 lbs on my back. I hope I am prepared enough for this hike! There will be days on this adventure that I will be hiking for 13 miles per day! It will also be raining most of the time (better than snowing I guess). 1 week from today, I will be on my first plane ride! That's another concern on my mind!! Any advice for a first timer?? This is quite the trip for 2015, my first hike and first plane ride!!

-Your (hiking) Photographer (Abigail Joyce)

A P.S. about the Maternity Photos

PS.  Aren't these maternity photos just gorgeous?? Aimee, you are beautiful and your family is nothing short of wonderful. There daughter is named Victoria, (which is my sisters name) and what a crazy coincidence that I met up with my sister right after this session?? My sister lives downtown and I picked her up so we could go grab my wedding gown which was ready that day!! I'm so glad I was able to photograph your Maternity Photos!

About Maternity Photos

Maternity Photos can be captured year round! You don't need to be pregnant in just summer or spring, but I have photographed many amazing and romantic winter maternity sessions. If you do find yourself pregnant and expecting during the winter or late spring months, there are still amazing locations that we can meet both indoor and outdoor, providing beautiful galleries year round!

Have you seen anything more beautiful? I simply love maternity photography if you can't tell already! I have learned so much about pregnancies just from photographing so many maternity sessions!

I honestly, can't wait to have my own kids. Well duh! I am baby photographer!

This session was photographed at the Garfield Park conservatory one morning in January I believe. No it wasn't beautiful outside, but the wonderful thing about maternity photography, is that if you find a good location (even indoors) you can make the most romantic gallery without trying!

How I go started as a Chicago Maternity Photographer

I started early on in my photography career as a general portraiture. I photographed events, children's parties, you name it! But eventually I started to get a sense for what moved me, what made me feel, and eventually I knew that I would come to a fork in the road.

Fortunately, this wasn't an issue! In fact, I'm so glad I made the decision to focus my work on maternity portraits. Yes, I'm a newborn photographer, and yes the majority of my work comes from newborn sessions, and YES I absolutely love and adore newborn sessions, but there is an amazing romance to maternity photography that is hard to get elsewhere (except maybe weddings, but let's not go there yet;).

Maternity sessions with children are something to behold!

Every once in a while, I'll get the chance to photograph a maternity session that includes another sibling, and these can be amazing:) I know I use that alot about sessions, but the newness and bewilderment that a newborn brings to a sibling is an amazing experience to capture!

A lot of times they are confused and not really sure of how to react, and other times they are super excited and want one of their own. Here's a sweet photo of an expecting mom with her daughter, it just made my day! This was photographed in her home, and it turned out wonderfully! No need to go out to a seperate location, we made due with the beautiful window light and it turned out to be the best choice:)