Real Film • Medium Format and 35mm

Film Maternity Photos

Up to 25 frames on medium format and 35mm, unretouched and raw. Film photos are my favorite way to celebrate pregnancy. The one add-on no other maternity photographer in Colorado offers.

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Expecting mother in a straw hat and white knit set, leaning on a ranch fence below the foothills.

Partner standing behind a mother-to-be in long satin gloves, hands together on her bump in low light.

Couple in denim and white cotton, his hands framing her bare bump against a soft studio backdrop.

Expecting family among the pines, toddler riding dad's shoulders while mom holds her bump in red florals.

White fur coat and leather trousers on a black sofa, red backdrop lit and rigged behind her.

Parents-to-be side by side in denim with their toddler seated between them, bare bump showing.

Sheer white robe open over a bare bump, long red hair loose in a green mountain meadow.

Feathered white coat open over a bare bump, snow and rock spires behind her in winter light.

Where Motherhood Meets Authenticity:

Unfiltered and Unforgettable

Digital is what I shoot most days, and it is excellent. Film is what I add when a mom wants something that can't be faked.

There is no screen on the back of a Hasselblad. No battery. Fun fact: it’s the same camera they took to the moon in 1969. I load a roll, set the exposure, and commit. No burst, no checking, no fixing it later. That constraint is the magic. Every frame on this page cost something to take, and you can see it.

Then the film gets developed and scanned, and what comes back is grain and color I did not choose and could not have built in Photoshop afterward.

You do not need film. Digital will hand you a gorgeous gallery and most moms book exactly that. But if you have ever looked at a photo of your own mother pregnant and noticed it had a texture nothing on your phone has, this is that.

Inquire to Add-on Film

Wide-brim hat and a fringed poncho in tall summer grass, Colorado ranch land rolling out behind.

Black & White

Black and white on film does something to a pregnant body that black and white on digital does not. The grain sits in the skin instead of on top of it. Highlights roll off instead of clipping. What comes back is closer to a charcoal drawing than a photograph.

This is the fine art maternity photography end of what I do, studio and outdoors both, medium format and 35mm both. Black and white film has no color version. It’s just light and shadow. If you want something that makes your bump look like a work of art, this is it.

Black and white film maternity photography, hand at her jaw and soft studio light on the bare bump.

Long sheer gown against snow and bare foothills, rendered in black and white on medium format.

Sunglasses and wide black trousers, black tee lifted, hands resting under the bump in flat studio light.

Fine art maternity photography in black and white, arms folded, bare form lit against darkness.

Layers of tulle trailing behind a braided mother-to-be, shot on a Hasselblad in black and white.

Dancer's line on a pointed toe with one arm reaching, black and white film grain in the shadows.

Bare form turned inward, arms across the chest, quiet black and white grain on a grey wall.

Close study of the curve from ribs to hip, rim light picking out skin against black.

Black lace veil trailing across fresh snow, photographed from behind on black and white film.

Black lace and low key light, both hands cradling the bump, deep shadow behind her on film.

Sheer gown caught mid-motion, fine art maternity portrait in high key black and white.

Standing bare with one hand at the hip, soft grey gradient and fine art black and white tones.

Sheer fabric gathered against black, hands under the bump, medium format black and white.

In the Studio

Same black frame I build up from nothing, same lights, a roll of film instead of a computer. Color film in a controlled studio is where you get skin that reads like skin: warm, forgiving, a little imperfect in the way real bodies are. These frames make a studio session intentionally slow and deliberate.

We shoot digital alongside it, always. The film add-on runs up to 25 frames, so you walk out with the anticipation of getting those scans back in 2 weeks…

Black blazer and lace-up boots on a director's chair, dusty rose backdrop lit soft behind her.

Cream robe open over the bump, water bottle in hand, an easy moment between frames on film.

Full split held on a terracotta sweep, black activewear and one arm arcing overhead.

Two silhouettes facing each other in hard warm light, her bump between them and shadows on the wall.

Olive satin set with thigh-high boots and sunglasses, hands sweeping her hair back on 35mm.

Seated back on a wooden chair with legs stretched long, black top pulled above the bare bump.

Paisley silk robe and matching trousers open at the waist, warm color film in a controlled room.

White shirt and boots with a drink in hand, one knee lifted mid laugh on a cream backdrop.

Black two-piece and sandals, hand on the hip, the bump catching a soft edge of studio light.

Sheer chevron knit and orange sunglasses, reclined in a chair with the bump reading through.

Black hat brim in hand, lace and stockings against a dark wall, one hip pushed forward.

Seated cross-legged on the floor, arm drawn across the chest, bare form in soft daylight tones.

Camel coat open over the bare bump, seated on a stool with legs crossed on a blush sweep.

Black turtleneck lifted over jeans, hand in her hair, sage green wall behind her on color film.

White fur hood and sunglasses on a black sofa, red backdrop and rigging in the Denver, Colorado studio.

Film slows a session down on purpose. You spend more time being looked at and less time being photographed, and that is the part I like best about shooting it. If you’d like to learn more about the process, inquire with me about adding film to any session.

Out in Colorado

I grew up on this light, so film outside is a gamble I like. I expose for your face and let the mountains fall where they fall. Colorado's afternoon contrast is exactly the kind of thing film handles better than a sensor does, and the state gives you a new palette every six weeks. Wildflowers in June, gold in late September, a sky that cannot make up its mind.

The Colorado outdoors take on an iconic, cinematic look with Kodak Portra in front of them. No amount of digital filters ever can match this level of color accuracy and artistic vibes.

White gown on a rocky overlook, toddler on her hip and the range falling away behind them.

Strapless white gown among aspen trunks, gold leaves down and the grove going quiet.

Partner kissing her hair in a summer meadow, peonies gathered against a white off-shoulder gown.

Cream fur coat open in a green meadow, storm light building over the ridgeline behind her.

Sun flaring through the pines while a family stands together, mom's hands resting on the bump.

Sheer gown lifting in the wind above tall grass, bare back turned to the mountains.

Pale slip dress and white boots against a weathered fence, straw hat held at her side.

White coat open over a bare bump in deep snow, pines and cold blue shadow behind.

Mustard skirt and a handful of wildflowers, bare torso turned toward the light in an alpine meadow.

Black lace veil catching wind over snow, the bump bare and the woods pale behind her.

Jeans and a lifted knit top in a dry spring field, fog sitting low on the peaks.

Bouquet held against a bare bump, white skirt and dry gold grass under the foothills.

Black sheer gown in a wildflower meadow, one hand in her hair and mountains stacked behind.

Dad tossing their toddler skyward while mom watches, hand on the bump in a red floral dress.

Small in the frame among gold aspens, white gown glowing through a screen of tall grass.

Mother and toddler beneath a wind-bent pine, canyon light open behind them on color film.

If you are already planning to shoot outside, film is the easiest yes on the list. Tell me the season and I will tell you what it does to the color.

Talk Through a Season

These are the strips as they came back. Frame numbers, edge markings, the shot before the one that worked.

Nobody puts these on a portfolio page, which is most of why they are here. This is what a session looks like before anyone has chosen anything.

Process & Proof

Uncut strip of 35mm color negative, four meadow frames with edge markings and numbers.

Black and white negative strip from a studio roll, five frames as they came back from the lab.

Three Portra frames on an uncut strip, a mother in sheer white on wet moss below a waterfall.

Flatbed scan of a full strip, seven forest frames including the ones nobody picks.

You book a studio or outdoor session the normal way. If film is in the plan, I bring the Hasselblad 501 C/M for medium format or my Nikon F6 for the looser, grainier version, and we build the shot list so the film frames get real time instead of leftovers.

I shoot digital the whole session too, so your gallery is never riding on one roll. The film goes to a lab I trust for hand development and scanning. Turnaround runs longer than digital, and I will give you the real timeline when we plan the session, depending on season, lab lead time, and number of rolls you order.

What lands in your gallery is a set of scans I have not filtered or color-graded into something else. Whatever the film did, that is what you get. And that’s the magic. No retouching. No filters. No AI. Just you, your beautiful belly, and the frame.

“Ethan was fantastic to work with from start to finish! We loved being able to have both digital and film to keep. I regretted not doing a maternity shoot with my first pregnancy and was super happy with how these turned out.”

– Bridget M. 2026

Film is an add-on, up to 25 frames, available with any collection. It is priced separately and no roll is included by default. Ask for it when you inquire rather than on the day, so I can plan the time around it.

It is also the only thing I offer that I cannot promise frame by frame. Due to the nature of analog formats, there is (an incredibly small) chance that the film is damage, lost, or improperly treated. I can promise the session. That’s why I shoot digital along side it. The film either sings or it does not, and when it sings there is nothing else like it.

A couple of things to keep in mind about Film:

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White hat, boots and a matching set, one hand on a director's chair in bright studio light.

Why me for this

I founded Colorado Maternity Photography in 2019 and I am the state's only dedicated maternity photographer. 500+ moms in, I am also the only one here who will shoot your pregnancy on medium format and 35mm. The reviews cover the rest better than I can.

Family of three on a studio stool, toddler on her lap and a bare bump, by Ethan Herrold.

I’m Colorado’s Only

Film Maternity Photographer

Pregnancy is brief. These portraits are not.

I would rather film stay a deliberate choice than a checkbox on a form. If you want real grain in your gallery, say so when you reach out and we will build the session around it.

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