Are you looking to elevate your maternity photography lighting and create striking, high-impact portraits? One powerful technique is using bare strobe lighting—no softbox, no diffuser, just pure light. This approach allows you to shape light, shadows, and angles in creative ways, giving your images a bold and artistic feel. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to use bare strobe lighting for maternity photos, from bouncing light off surfaces to creating dramatic silhouettes, so you can capture stunning, magazine-worthy maternity portraits that stand out in your portfolio or client gallery!
A bare bulb flash is a flash or light source without any reflectors or light modifiers attached. I used to fear the hard light created by bare-bulb strobes, but I’ve come a long way from that! I now use it to create unique and creative effects with maternity photography studio lighting, adding depth, drama, and artistry to studio portraits.. In my studio work, sometimes I’ll place the bare bulb behind people as background or rim lights; other times near white walls or corners for soft fills; even on its own with foam board reflectors to control spillage – creating perfect main lights every time!
The setup
I was excited to push my creative boundaries and come up with something new for an upcoming maternity photo shoot. I came up with the idea of using a crinkled background paper roll that had been sitting in my studio for ages! After cutting off four pieces, I wrinkled them and hung them on a v-flat – it totally gave an Antelope Canyon vibes effect – exactly what I wanted.
Styling
To bring the look together perfectly, I chose a formfitting monochromatic knit dress (found on revolve.com) that really tied everything together. All-in-all this maternity shoot was one of those great creative moments where all your ideas come alive right before you!
Lighting
I wanted two very different looks for this shoot, so I got creative and used just one Profoto b10x bare bulb strobe! Firstly, I pointed it towards my white wall to get beautiful fill light and some striking contrast on my model – exactly what I was going for! To create this look I used my Canon 5D Mark IV camera together with a 24-105mm F4 Lens. My camera settings were 1/125 F8 ISO 200.
Secondly, however, things changed up drastically: by pointing the strobe at the ceiling instead of directly onto her face; it’s soft wraparound light gave off an incredibly flattering glow. The outcome? Two totally distinct lighting styles with perfect results each time – super impressive if you ask me!
Editing
After I opened this image in Photoshop, getting it ‘picture perfect’ was just the beginning. To give it a vintage vibe, I did some color grading on Lightroom- adding reds to shadows and cool green-tinted highlights before finally giving everything that final textured touch of graininess. It was a fun process!
Conclusion
Maternity portraits can be truly incredible when you use a bare bulb strobe! You have so many creative options—bounce the light off the ceiling or walls, point it straight at your model, or use it as a backlight to create a stunning silhouette. Inside The Ultimate Portfolio, you’ll get innovative tips and tricks for shooting maternity with just one bare strobe—plus full behind-the-scenes access to this photoshoot and 23 more maternity and motherhood sessions! Join now and start transforming your portfolio with high-end, creative techniques!
