My Tips for Milk Bath Photography

I’ve been modeling for years, and while I’ve never been one to do a “trendy” photoshoot- I went for it for my maternity photos.

You see, when I had my two oldest kiddos maternity shoots weren’t “a thing”. In fact, this was when Facebook was still relatively new and Instagram wasn’t yet born so there weren’t many people doing photo shoots for the fun of it. I think the only maternity shoot I had even seen would have been Demi Moore’s and I wasn’t even thinking of anything like that.

So when baby number 3 made his surprise appearance, I decided I was going to do a maternity shoot. Why not? I’d had plenty of other shoots over the years.

When researching what I wanted to do, I ran across these milk bath shoots. I hesitated at first because they seemed like such a trendy-everyone-else-is-doing-it thing, but then I realized from a model and photographer stand point… I really liked them. You can get very creative with the look of the outfits to even what to put in the milk bath itself. Plus the bath provides this really dreamy, sexy look without being overly so- and there’s tons of potential for flattering body angles.

The biggest thing is finding a photog who can match the look you’re going for. Google photographers in your area, or if you have a local magazine that you like find out who they use. I knew I wanted to go with Jessica Whitley out of Macon, Georgia because she has this ethereal look to a lot of her photography- don’t get me wrong she can do all kinds of professional photography as well but her creative style was what I wanted.

Ask if your photog will have an assistant on hand- the fact that Jessica had Demarcus on hand was soooo helpful. He was attentive to not just helping her but also being there for me. You’ll want to be sure the assistant is someone you’re comfortable with as well because more often than not they will be helping to keep hair out of your eyes and lips and also helping you move around the tub or in and out.

Also: BE COMFORTABLE! So this might seem like an obvious one, but for me it wasn’t. I was all kinds of mentally prepared to freeze in a tub filled with cold milk hahaha. Bless. My. Heart. Jessy and Demarcus made sure the tub had warm water mixed with the milk so I didn’t freeze… but also- I was inspired to create this:

Lavender & Rose Milk Baths! I’ve already made herbal bath teas, but milk baths are awesome not just for photo shoots but even just relaxing! I loved it so much that I’ve made these for myself and now I’m selling them.

This bath kit has powdered milk, lavender petals, rose buds, and essential oils. The powdered milk is SO much easier than bringing it in by the gallon, and the dried flowers and essential oils make this an even better experience. This is just the first but I’ve got more to come.

Now- for photography purposes you do also want to have live – fresh flowers. Unless you’re just stuck on a particular kind pick up a bunch on sale from your grocery store. Kroger weekend markdowns for the win over here! This was such much fun we’re also planning a follow up shoot with baby. But all that said, it’s so much easier to look relaxed in photos when you actually are… so have fun with it with one of my homemade small batch kits.