Top 15 Maternity Images of 2015 | Monterey Maternity Photographer | Vanessa Hicks Photographer

This is one of my favorite images from this past year!! This gorgeous session was with the beautiful Kayla and her hubby and dogs!!! This was take at Oak Grove Park, and I swear, Kayla reminded me so much of Sandra Bullock! She was just stunning inside and out, and was one that truly radiated while she was pregnant! I was blessed to then to be invited into her home and shoot her lifestyle newborn session (which you may or may not be seeing in the top 15 newborn sessions wink emoticon Looking back on this past year, makes me realize just how much I miss my Virginia clients! Kayla, I hope you are doing well!!!

Here is a recent maternity session with the wonderful Crystal and her boys!!! Now, this was a gallery that I just could not narrow down her images because they were all good! There are so many favorites from this gallery, but I kept coming back to this simple but meaningful image!  If you take a look at my portfolio, I do not do many pictures in Black and White. Not that I have anything against it, but I truly feel that a black and white image should be timeless, and should convey that. For me, this image needed to be in black and white. Crystal and her boys have and will always protect Baby Brody! And, I am happy to report that she does have a handsome little boy, and is the Queen of her castle! Crystal, I truly hope to have the chance to work with your family again!

LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this amazing session with Ashley! I love this particular image because it was actually by accident that I got this amazing silhouette shot! I had been wanting to perfect this, but you have to have the right light to capture this! It happened, and I switched settings really quick and there ya go!!! Again, to me, silhouette shots should be a classic shot, and I love this as I knew how much Ashley was so excited for her baby girl, and again, I was blessed to capture their first session as a family! 

Oh, I loved shooting at Oak Grove Park so much!!!! Another beauty here! Sylvia was just amazing here as she awaited her first born daughter!!! What I loved about this image was that it was one of the very last ones we took, as we excited the park! I saw the sun shinning through the trees and I envisioned this shot, and it came out fantastic! I always like to do pullback shots like these, because the surroundings is just as important in your session! It’s something that you want to document and remember! Sylvia, I see your Facebook posts and little Evie is just so beautiful!!! I hope you guys are doing well!

Oh man, so much YES!! This definitely had to make the top 15 of Maternity Sessions this year!!! I love everything about this session with Lauren!! This was such an unplanned moment at the end of her session, and that cold California rose and got her!!! This was her reaction! She didn’t know that I kept shooting, but this photo and the subsequent photos were amazing!!! I LOVE how she stayed posed too!!! Only Lauren could look this beautiful in that cold water!!! I can let you know that she gave birth to a very handsome little boy about a week or so ago, and I got to go to their home a few days before Christmas to document their newborn session (stay tuned for that sneak!!)

While it is quite obvious why this is part of the Top 15 images, I still will say it. When your beautiful mom to be comes to her early morning session, and there is beautiful light at the beach, her equally beautiful daughter is with her, and she had ANGEL WINGS, well, you know that you are going to have a stunning gallery! And that we did!!!!! I was blessed to photograph her stunning girls right before the holidays as well!! Kim, I hope to be able to continue to document your family’s memories in 2016!

One of the TOP maternity images this  year had to be this one! Oh man, again, when you nail something this stunning right in camera, it’s like you won the lottery! I am so lucky to call Megan my friend! I first met her when I photographed her welcoming her husband home from deployment, and that went on to photographing her gender reveal, and then this session! Unfortunately, she was due to give birth right as I was moving here to California, and I had to make the hard decision of letting her know I couldn’t do it! But, she had an amazing photographer who documented those memories!  For this session, I had just purchased this lace gown and floral headpiece, and I knew that Megan was the perfect person to use it first! She was such a trooper, and as the sun started to set and change colors, again, I just envisioned this shot! She did everything I asked, went right in that cold water, (So did I!) and we nailed THE SHOT of the session!

Oh my stunning on the inside and out Caitlyn!!! I feel like I’ve known her forever and just met her at this session! She was new to the area, and this was one of my favorite sessions ever! Her beautiful personality, her gorgeous baby bump, and these beautiful cherry blossoms made this session just to die for!!! She delivered such a beauty named Ava, and I was lucky to be there for her newborn shots and then family shots later on as well! I am so blessed to know Caitlyn and I can’t wait to watch Ava grow, even if its just through Facebook!!! 

I love this simple but stunning session with Jill! We were able to capture  not only her maternity session, but her husband and her 3 other children as well! It was just a great day at the beach, with that nice golden light, but it was this photo that I loved the most. Just Jill and her final child, who would be born a beautiful girl Noelle that I got to meet! This shows everything that I love about maternity sessions- the beauty in the mother, the beauty in the bump, and the beauty of pregnancy!

Another amazing Virginia session! I really wish I would have found this location sooner!!!! Only got to shoot here a few times, but each time it was amazing! Ivy’s session was no different! This was just a last minute decision, where I wanted to capture all of this walkway, not just the front of it, and when they leaned in for that kiss, I knew we had captured an amazing moment!!!

I swear, I have a thing for maternity sessions, the beach, and that amazing golden light! Put that together with a beautiful mother to be, and your session is bound to be stunning! Another beautiful gallery with Lindsay! I was lucky enough to meet their baby girl Kinsley and photograph a newborn session with them! Wishing them all the best in the new year!

The first thing I thought when I first met Sara for our Maternity session is OMG…I love her hair!!! It was/is just so luxurious and beautiful! I knew I wanted to incorporate it as much as I could in this session! This was my final session in Virginia, so its a very bittersweet session, but I mean seriously, I could not have ended my session in Virginia in any better way than with Sara!

BEAUTY. ELEGANCE. SIMPLE. STUNNING. SO many words can be said about Katrina’s Maternity Session! This photo is just everything! It was one of the last shots of the night, and it was just perfect straight out of the camera! Katrina’s whole gallery was amazing, and I know she is anxiously awaiting her newborn girl in the next few weeks!!!!

Another California beauty!!! Another shot that was just PERFECT straight out of the camera! Another gorgeous mom in her maternity gown, and she had her daughter in a matching outfit too!!! Again, sometimes you get a shot and you know that no other shot that day will compare to it! Luckily,this was towards the end and her whole gallery has nothing but stunning images like this! And yes, Brooke now has a healthy newborn baby boy to add to her mix! Brooke, I know you are happy to not be pregnant anymore, but you were made for it!!! At least for me to take pictures of!!!

Last, but most certainly not least, was Tamara’s Rainbow Baby session! This session still brings me to tears. For what Tamara and her family went through. How we documented it. How she kept her faith. How she now has a beautiful healthy baby girl, that was born 6 weeks early right after this session. I was able to use my platform and spread awareness about what a Rainbow Baby is. And I feel like with Tamara, I have a friend for life! This was my absolute favorite session in 2015 because what it meant and what it stood for. Below, I attached the story that went with this session! Tonight I was privileged to finally meet and photograph Tamara for her maternity shoot. This was no ordinary session. Tamara wanted to capture her maternity session after the loss of 2 babies. Here is her story in her words: “I have lost two babies, the first was my son EJ who I lost at 17 weeks. I delivered him on 10/18/12. We didn’t take long to get pregnant with our second baby, which was a girl we named Olivia. I lost her at 27 and half weeks and she was delivered on 10/18/13. Both due to issues with my placenta. Luckily, we have been blessed to be pregnant again with what we hope to be our miracle baby. The doctors have me on high BP meds, as well as daily Lovenox blood thinners and a daily aspirin. All appears to be working as I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and all is well. I keep praying and looking at the end that we will finally have our miracle. Thank you again for our wonderful shoot!!” We wanted this session to remember her Rainbow Babies. For those that don’t know, A “rainbow baby” is a baby that is born following a miscarriage or still birth. In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better. The rainbow is more appreciated having just experienced the storm in comparison. The storm (pregnancy loss) has already happened and nothing can change that experience. Storm-clouds might still be overhead as the family continue to cope with the loss, but something colorful and bright has emerged from the darkness and misery.