My cousin was 33 weeks pregnant when she suddenly saw a black spot in her eye. When she took her blood pressure it was abnormally high and because she is an adult ICU nurse she knew she needed to go to the ED immediately. In the ED the doctor told her that she needed to be monitored more closely and was sent to L&D at UF Health in Gainesville, FL. They confirmed that the black spot was a hemorrhage caused from a sudden and dangerously high spike in her blood pressure. She was told that she would need to be admitted and closely monitored for pre-eclampsia. Over the week that followed they went back and forth on whether or not to induce her early. Her blood pressure was stable without any medication, but they were concerned it could suddenly rise again.  

When my cousin told me she was pregnant we immediately started to make plans for her maternity pictures. We had grand ideas for multiple shoots including a milk bath, underwater photos at the springs and family centered pictures in the wild flower fields.  All of these ideas were no longer achievable with her being stuck at the hospital. Then I remembered seeing another photographer’s work in a private Facebook group who did a maternity photo session in the hospital, of her client who was on bed rest. Her images were gorgeous. Here is the link to that amazing session. https://www.facebook.com/1237047039680573/posts/2330568550328411?sfns=mo

Inspired by Lo Photo I began talking to my cousin about making the most of her situation and we both became excited about all of the creative possibilities.

We started with the L&D floor to see if we could get an empty room to take pictures on a bed or in a large window. The rooms did not offer large light leaking windows, but instead had beautiful clear doors with pressed flowers. I instructed my cousin to stand on the other side to see if we could get a silhouette shot. As I called out, instructing her press her belly harder against the door I noticed an audience of L&D nurses watching with curiosity.

We decided to go explore other parts of the hospital. As we walked through the underground tunnel that connects the North tower to the South tower we found a beautifully illuminated fake window.

We continued to walk around exploring the outside terraces of the South Tower. I wanted to use a variety of different types lighting and backdrops so as to try and make up for the fact that we couldn’t leave the hospital.

As the sun began to set we made our way onto Unit 75, the Cardiac ICU. My cousin works on the adult ICU floors and we wanted to see if we could find an empty room.

This session was challenging and exhilarating! Being pushed to think outside the box and find creative ways to take interesting pictures is something every photographer should frequently experience.