Eugene, Oregon maternity photographer: Milk bath with Brooke

I had the pleasure of meeting Brooke last month to do a milk bath for her maternity photography session. She is such a beautiful lady and the pictures turned out wonderfully! If you’ve followed previous posts you probably know that, while most of my sessions are held in my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon, or in one of the many beautiful outdoor locations in the area, I have to break with tradition a bit for milk baths and welcome clients into my bathroom at home so we can use the tub! It actually makes for kind of a fun change sometimes, and I love doing milk bath photography because it always turns out so pretty. 

Brooke wanted some purples and bright fuchsia pinks for the flowers, and she loved the contrast of using a black gown against the creamy white of the bath. Love it—especially with the black. I’ve done this type of contrast before with milk baths and really liked the results and I think the black also works great with Brooke’s long dark hair.

When I do sessions like this I often get comments from my followers afterwards asking, “Why a milk bath?” You have to keep in mind that art is subjective so milk bath photography doesn’t necessarily need to make sense or appeal to everyone, but milk baths as a beauty treatment have been around for centuries and are still used in spas today. The milk is used to soften the skin (and it used to be believed that the white of the milk would have a bleaching effect on the skin and make it fair and pale—a very desirable trait back in the day!) We know now that it doesn’t work that way, but it is still a wonderful pampering treatment that can be very soothing and softening to the skin. I figure expectant mothers can use all the pampering they can get!

I’m not sure whose idea it was to incorporate this beauty treatment into photography, but I think it’s absolutely gorgeous! Milk baths are also used for baby and other types of portrait photography, but it really does work especially well for maternity photography. Flowers and a pretty lace gown are the perfect complement to a milky white background, and the softened look of the bathwater when milk is added to it highlights a pregnant woman’s beautiful curves. 

Using milk baths is something I added to my repertoire as a Eugene, Oregon photographer relatively recently (I did my first one a little over a year ago), but I always enjoy them! The results are lovely, and it’s fun to interact with mothers-to-be in a different, spa-like setting. (At least, as close to spa-like as I can get in my bathroom!) 

It was great to meet Brooke as she’s getting ready for the arrival of her little one, and to document this exciting time with a beautiful art form. I love being a maternity photographer and helping women capture this amazing stage in their lives!