I get asked all the time if I shoot maternity sessions. The honest answer is yes, plenty, I just don’t post most of them. A lot of these couples I’ve known since their engagement session, then their wedding, and now they’re calling me back for this sweet next chapter. It’s one of my favorite parts of the job, getting to stick around long enough to photograph someone’s whole story. This session at Post Ranch Inn is a good example of why.
Why Big Sur Works So Well for Maternity Photos
If you’ve driven Highway 1 through Big Sur, you already know. The light does something different here. Fog rolls in off the Pacific most evenings, which means you get this soft, diffused glow. Add in redwood groves a few minutes inland and you’ve got two completely different backdrops in one afternoon: open ocean cliffs for the big sweeping shots, and quiet forest light for the intimate ones.
Post Ranch Inn in particular gives you both. The property sits on a bluff above the water, so you get that dramatic fog line where the ocean disappears into cloud, and the surrounding redwoods mean you’re never more than a short walk from deep, mossy forest.
How This Session Went
We started at the room, catching some quiet in-between moments before heading out. There’s something about window light in a room with a view like that. It does half the work for you.
From there we moved into the redwoods for the bulk of the session. This couple has an easy, playful energy together, and honestly the best maternity photos usually happen when people forget the camera is there and just interact. A hand on the bump, a kiss on the forehead, someone laughing at something the other person said walking down the trail. Beats posed shots every time.
We closed out at the cliffs as the fog bank rolled in below us, which gave us that soft pink and orange sky fading into gray ocean fog. It’s one of my favorite skies to shoot in Big Sur, and it doesn’t happen every night, so when it shows up you use it.
Booking a Maternity Session in Big Sur
I keep my maternity work limited, mostly because my calendar is built around weddings. But if you’re expecting and want photos taken somewhere unforgettable before the baby arrives, Big Sur is hard to beat, and Post Ranch Inn is one of my favorite spots on the whole coast to shoot. The window for a session like this is smaller than people think. Third trimester, good weather, availability all lining up takes some planning.
If that sounds like what you’re after, reach out and let’s see if we can make it work.
B.
