Karien & Derrick ➳ Maternity / by Abigail Smith

Karien and Derrick are big on adventure, they love the outdoors and mountain biking, they recently spent a month camping and exploring Southern Africa, but they're about to embark on their most magical adventure yet... they're having their first baby!

We had a tough time choosing a location for their shoot (the original location was practically ruined by trees in the area being felled). One afternoon on an outride I found this absolutely gorgeous field, the sun was low and all the glory of golden hour was captured in the autumn seed heads of the grass, I just knew I had to convince them to use this field. On the day of the session, I hoped and prayed that weather predictions would be correct and that the sun would make it's way down to the horizon without hiding behind a shroud of hazy clouds during the last half hour of its display (which unfortunately is common and a big disappointment). Well, the sun graced us with her magnificent presence and as she lowered towards the horizon she illuminated the field with her warm, golden magic creating the perfect canvas for showcasing one of life's most magical experiences... pregnancy. 

"Those first few weeks are an unearthly season. From the outside you remain so ordinary, no one can tell from looking that you have experienced an earthquake of the soul. You’ve been torn asunder, invested with an ancient, incomprehensible magic. It’s the one thing that we never quite get over: that we contain our own future."
~ Barbara Kingsolver