Maternity Photos with Beatriz & Tom

November 2020 update: The above portrait has just been awarded a Highly Commended Rosette by the Master Photographers Association (MPA). Ray Lowe, Chairman of the MPA, commented, “[An] absolutely exquisite maternity portrait… you can’t do anything to improve it. Perfect. Classy. Delightful… Everything about that is top notch, absolutely top notch.”

Beatriz had been warned: a lot of guys pretend they work in the army to impress women. She was on holiday in Las Vegas, after all, and first impressions were everything.

So when Tom approached her in the Hard Rock Cafe and mentioned he was a military man, Beatriz laughed. She didn’t believe him but she didn’t mind the lie, either. After all, she thought, it’s not like I’ll see him again…

Nine years later, and they are happily married and expecting their first child together. I met them at their maternity photoshoot with me, with just a few weeks left to go before baby’s due date.

Beatriz hadn’t been sure whether she’d like to capture portraits with her baby bump at first. She told me that she hadn’t always felt her best during her pregnancy, and she had been so busy with her work that she hadn’t really stopped to appreciate what a special time it is.

At the last minute, she decided she’d regret it if she didn’t do it, and that she’d treasure some beautiful photos capturing the excitement and anticipation of pregnancy, especially as it’s such a big milestone in her journey through life with Tom.

Indeed, that first conversation in Las Vegas turned into meeting up every day while they were both out there and swapping email addresses to stay in touch afterwards.

After that trip, Beatriz thought that would be it. Tom returned to the UK and Beatriz went back to Pennsylvania, where she was working as a nanny and learning English.

A few months passed and Tom had a short-term deployment at a base in Florida. Hr invited Beatriz to meet up while he was there. He was still saying he was in the army, so Beatriz asked him to pick her up while he was in uniform. To her surprise, he turned up doing so. It seemed he was what he said he was. It also seemed he was very serious about Beatriz.

Indeed, a few years later he came to meet Beatriz’s friends and family in Brazil. Up until then, they had all teased Beatriz about her ‘imaginary English boyfriend’, as no one she was close to had ever met him. Once he appeared in the flesh, however, they not only believed in his existence, but really got to like him, too.

In 2014 the couple went back to the place they’d met, in Vegas. They were walking past the Bellagio Hotel, and Tom was telling Beatriz all the things he loved about her.

Suddenly, he sank down to one knee, right there in the middle of the road, at the exact spot they’d had their first kiss. Beatriz said yes and the pair started to plan their wedding and life together.

Beatriz moved to the UK and begun working for a market research company. At first she lived alone while Tom stayed at his army base, which was a three and a half hour drive away. A recent promotion, however, means he now works closer to home, and so the couple finally live together now.

To ease them into parenting, Beatriz and Tom have recently taken on an adorable 10-week-old Labrador puppy, called Brian. He’s had a bit of a poorly tummy, which has meant a few sleep deprived nights spent comforting him. However, they tell me they are totally in love with him, that he’s absolutely worth it and that getting him was the best decision ever. I have a feeling that becoming new parents will fill them with the same joy (despite a few more sleepless nights!).

Tom is patient, calm and playful, and Beatriz hopes their child will inherit these traits from him. Tom hopes the baby will be as beautiful and intelligent as Beatriz.

She can’t wait to have a mini-me, a companion forever to whom she can be a role model. Tom is looking forward to the new challenge and responsibility of bringing up a new life, a whole person. He’s also excited about having the excuse to buy and build lots of Mecano kits 🙂

So Tom does work in the army, after all. There is, however, one more thing to see if he’s right about. Beatriz is adamant they are having a little boy. Tom is insistent the baby will be a girl.

They’ve chosen to wait and see when baby arrives, so watch this space… 🙂

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After our shoot, Beatriz said:

“We did a maternity photoshoot with Sarah, which was something I’ve been debating whether to do it or not for a long time because it’s something completely out of our comfort zone. Now I am SO glad I did it and I am so thankful that we have found Sarah! She made everything so personal, of our taste, the session was a lot of fun, very romantic and relaxed. Sarah made us feel very comfortable, almost like she was a long family friend and not someone we have just met! The pictures were stunning – very hard to shortlist them though – and I am so happy with the result! I would recommend her a million times and can’t wait to see her again to do a session with the baby 🙂 Thank you Sarah for making this day so special and helping us to register this special moment of our lives in the best way possible.”

Beatriz, maternity photography client from Kidlington, Oxfordshire

If you’re interested in newborn portraits or maternity photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).