Pregnant and Athletic: Maternity Portraits That Celebrate Strength

When a runner tells me she's pregnant, there's often a specific kind of grief in that conversation. Not grief about the pregnancy—grief about her identity as an athlete being temporarily interrupted. For women whose bodies are their instruments, whose identities are built around what they can do, pregnancy can feel like a loss of control.

That's why maternity portraits that incorporate sport and strength matter so much.

Identity Doesn't Pause During Pregnancy

I've photographed climbers, CrossFitters, marathoners, yogis, dancers, and skiers. What they all share is a certain presence in their bodies. They know how to occupy space. They understand movement and tension and what their bodies are capable of.

Pregnancy changes those bodies, temporarily. But it doesn't change who these women are.

The most powerful maternity portraits I've made are the ones where we acknowledge that continuity. A climber in a maternity shoot isn't just "pregnant"—she's a climber who's pregnant. A runner is an athlete who's carrying a child. That distinction reshapes the entire narrative.

Instead of the story being "woman's body changing," the story becomes "athlete's body evolving." It's a reframe that clients feel deeply.

How to Incorporate Your Sport Into Your Session

This is where logistics and creativity intersect. If you're a runner, we can shoot on trail—not to capture you running (which is typically uncomfortable and unsafe at third trimester), but to capture you in the environment where your identity lives. The light through the pines. The familiar landscape. You in your element, even if your pace is different this season.

For climbers, we've done portraits at the base of rock formations or in gym settings, with climbing gear as visual context. For CrossFitters, we've shot at the gym during off-hours, using the space and equipment to tell the story without putting pregnancy at odds with athletic identity.

Dancers and yogis often want to incorporate movement or posture that references their practice. That might mean a specific stretch, a position that feels familiar, or simply the alignment and grace that years of practice have given them.

The key is that these sessions still center on pregnancy—they're maternity portraits, not athlete portraits. But they hold space for both truths at once.

The Outside Magazine Series and Why This Matters

A few years back, my Pregnant Athletes series was published in Outside Magazine. It wasn't an accident or a special project—it was a recognition that pregnant athletes are underrepresented in media. These are women training through pregnancies, building strength during what pop culture frames as a time of fragility.

Those images resonated with a specific audience: women who recognize themselves in that identity. They look at those portraits and see strength, not sentiment. They see continuity, not interruption.

When you book an athletic maternity session with me, we're creating images that tell that same story about you—that your identity as an athlete and your identity as a soon-to-be mother aren't contradictory. They're simultaneous.

What These Sessions Actually Look Like

Athletic maternity sessions are usually outdoors, which means light matters, temperature matters, and we're working with the environment rather than trying to control it. We'll talk beforehand about what sport matters most to your identity and how to visually reference that without making you uncomfortable in your pregnant body.

Some women want to wear athletic gear—running shoes and a supportive top, climbing harnesses, yoga gear. Some want to be in maternity wear that honors both their athlete identity and their changing body. Both approaches work.

The physical demands are different from studio sessions. We're usually more active. The energy is different. The light is more varied. And the resulting images have a different character because of that.

Important Note on Exercising During Pregnancy

I want to be clear: I'm not here to give you fitness or medical advice about exercising during pregnancy. Every pregnancy is different. Your doctor or midwife should be your primary source of guidance about what's safe for you to do. What I can do is create beautiful portraits of you during this season, incorporating the activities and environments that matter to your identity—with your safety as the priority.

If you're an athlete carrying a child and want portraits that honor both those identities, let's start planning your session.