Winter maternity photos at Poconos waterfalls in January sounded insane on paper: 9–12°F (-13 to -11°C), fresh snow from the winter storm Fern two days earlier. Roads still treacherous, no cleared parking, no paths. Just knee-deep snow and a frozen wall of water somewhere down those steps. Tami drove 2 hours for this, with sciatica, fully aware it wouldn’t be comfortable. She wanted different, not easy. And when she finally saw the falls, completely iced over, she gasped. I could see it in her eyes: every bummer, every hard mile, every shiver—worth it.
Table of Contents
“I just want something different”
When Tami first wrote to me in early January, she already had a mood in mind: forest, witchy, mother nature energy. Dark, maybe a bit of fairytale softness mixed in. She knew winter meant bare trees and no fall colors. She said it anyway, and that told me a lot. Some people reach out asking what’s “best”. She was asking what could work.
When searching online for maternity photos, she kept seeing the same. My maternity portfolio somehow stood out, despite us being hours apart.
I sent her a winter waterfall session I had shot earlier this month. Frozen cascades instead of leaves. She jumped on it immediately. “The frozen waterfall looks amazing!” she wrote. That was the pivot. Forest became ice, witchy became elemental.
We talked timing. Icicles don’t last forever. A soft winter week can erase everything. I encouraged end of January. Mobility would still be decent, and we knew the falls were frozen solid after a harsh December. She agreed.
Then Winter Storm Fern rolled through and gave us a fresh layer of snow two days before the shoot. You can’t plan that, but accept the gift.
Arrival: no parking, no entrance, what now?
First stop: Childs Park in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. I’ve shot there many times. I know where the flat rocks are near the falls, where the steps get steep, where to stand safely close to the water. But I had never done it in winter like this.
Before she arrived, I drove by the park entrance and… nothing. Parking lot not plowed. Entrance buried! 20 inches of snow stayed intact.
My mind ran through the backup plan quickly. Raymondskill Falls might be the same story (that’s where I photographed my Caribbean visitors a few weeks prior). Worst case? Some random snowy forest background near a plowed road. Fine, but boring.
See, she drove two hours, had outfits. She had the enchanted mindset. A parking lot wouldn’t make the cut.
So I drove around. Found a little plowed niche at a T-intersection. One car could fit. That was it. I then drove to a nearby church/preschool—my daughter used to go there—and asked if I could leave my car in their lot. They said yes. I love small-town kindness.
We met there. I hopped into Tami’s car, drove back to the intersection. Walked along the road, then into the snow. About 20 minutes through knee-high snow. Slow, careful. Supporting her on steps. Hand-to-hand at times. Carrying bags. Just the two of us, so anything I could do to make it easier for her.
If you’re considering winter maternity photos, this is the part nobody glamorizes or even thinks through ahead of time: getting there.
Going dark
We started with the dark look. There’s a gazebo near the falls, covered, benches dry. That became our base. The stage flow was simple: drop coat, shoot, coat back on, analyze the moves, correct/improve, repeat after the break. We also used the gazebo for longer breaks.
Temperature stayed between 9–12°F (-13 to -11°C). That’s not poetic cold. That’s real cold. Similar to my November maternity shoot in Alaska and a couples session earlier in January. I’ve done this rhythm before.
I stayed back with the 70–200mm. I like distance for something like this. It compresses the scene, makes that frozen waterfall feel massive behind her. I was shouting directions, gesturing, watching how the fabric caught the air.
In the black outfit, with boots grounded in snow, black crown catching light, tattoos visible, she didn’t have to look delicate. Instead—anchored, carved out of the snow. There’s one frame, the fabric arcing out from her body against the white ice, that feels almost mythic. Movement versus stillness. Dark silhouette carved into winter.
Those are the winter maternity photos that surprised even me. Not because of technical difficulty, but because of the presence. The goal was not to try looking cute in the snow. I’d say, more of owning it.
The ruins and the shift to light
After over two hours working that section, we took a longer warm-up break in the car and she changed into the white dress.
On the walk toward the car, I stopped by the remnants of the 1820s watermill in the park, built by Joseph Brooks. Stone arches, history layered into the landscape. I knew that stone would align with her stance.
Black against stone and ice felt ancient, and reminded me of my castle boudoir shoot.
Then we headed back down, further along the stream to a different waterfall section with a wooden platform. Platforms can be annoying. They limit angles. I switched to the 24–70mm and worked tighter.
For a couple of shots, I climbed onto the railing carefully to get a slightly higher angle. Nothing crazy, just enough to change perspective. Snow, wood, ice, white fabric.
The white dress changed the tone completely. Same setting, new energy. Softer, but not fragile. There’s something about white against frozen water that feels clean, almost cathedral-like. That was our fairytale layer.
Could have ended, but didn’t
At that point, we were done, technically. My original timeframe was almost over. She was tired. I was tired. We had strong outtakes already.
But she had a green dress. And I had one more locations in mind. Raymondskill Falls was an option, but creatively, we had already built the story at Childs Park. I didn’t want to repeat ourselves.
I’d been watching a massive rock wall along Route 209 all season. The Caribbean couple I photographed earlier didn’t get snow there. It had blown off by their date. This time, snow clung to the rock. Ice lines traced the surface. Broad, textured, solid. We did a few more frames in the white dress, then she changed in the car into green. Just a handful of softer images to close this fearless 4+ hour winter maternity shoot.
The woman behind these winter maternity photos
After the shoot, I asked Tami if she’d be open to me blogging it. She agreed, and I invited her to share more of her background if she felt comfortable. She wrote something simple and powerful.
Growing a life inside your body is magic and hard work. Going through pregnancy alone has been difficult, but empowering. Winter wasn’t her first instinct for a maternity shoot, yet the extreme cold ended up representing her life. She has been through extreme things. She has nearly lost her life several times. After it all, she found strength and peace. And now she gets to nurture new life.
She stood at a frozen waterfall, coat dropping for short bursts. Sounds extreme, but standing there with her, it just fit. Winter outside. Fire inside.
Why “Frozenix”
On occasion, I lift the veil from my blog titles. When designing this cover, my first instinct was “Iceborn.” Born in ice, fit visually. But language has context. “ICE” doesn’t feel neutral to everyone these days. I didn’t want the word itself to distract from her story.
So I kept thinking. Frozen, Phoenix, Frozenix.
A phoenix rises through fire. Frozenix rises through winter.
When I look at these winter maternity photos, black fabric cutting through white, white dress glowing against ice, green grounded against rock, I don’t see a woman braving cold for aesthetics. I see someone who has already lived through extremes and is now choosing how to show up.
Considering winter maternity photos?
If you’re thinking about winter maternity photos, here are some pointers:
- Check conditions
- Check access
- Plan for warm-ups
- Bring layers
- Know the terrain
- Have a photographer who won’t panic
- Most of all, ask yourself why
If you just want pretty, there are easier seasons. If you want something that feels earned, winter might be exactly right.
Behind the scenes
Client’s Feedback
Just got a word from the mama-to-be:
Credits
Photography: Zorz Studios (@zorzstudios)
Location: Childs Park (@delwatergapnps)
Alternative location: Raymondskill Falls (@delwatergapnps)
Tami, thank you for trusting me with your winter maternity photos. You showed up. That’s what made this work.
