There is something about light and airy maternity photos at sunset for me. I love documenting what technically really is the first family portraits for newly expecting parents. This photo session at Congaree and Penn farm in Jacksonville was the perfect reason to leave the beach and change it up! I love shooting at Congaree and Penn farm because they allow you to reserve private time for you and your clients to assure a completely unique experience. Plus, I mean they have goats - what's better? Ha!

This beautiful Mama opted for a long and flowing white maxi dress, a maternity session classic, timeless and organic - perfect for shooting on the farm. I love the effortless look these maternity portraits have, and especially their black and white versions. I typically don't present mainly black and white images in a client portrait session, but this session's soft look translated well into a scaled back color with more muted tones. For black and white portraits I try to be strategic in presenting only those images made stronger by being in black and white. Images with emotion, a further away more landscape orientation, all lend to being stronger by being presented in black and white.

Below, I've included a few of my favorites from this maternity session at Congaree and Penn, in both black and white and color, and I look forward to documenting their in-home newborn session in the next fews weeks! I can't imagine how well this beautiful Mama-to-be is going to do for her newborn portrait session.

I shared a close up version of this portrait in my Instagram stories. I love how her hair is blowing softly in the wind, and the soft and relaxed look on her face. Maternity portraits should have a quiet energy in my opinion. Soft and organic.

I like the pulled back, more landscape orientation to this photo. It shows the beauty of the farm, even in the colder winter months. A cloudy day gave us great even light!

A hand sweeping away hair, holding each other, is always a forever pose favorite of mine, especially during a maternity photo session.