Last week I photographed a Bon Air Rose Garden maternity session in Arlington, VA – with a couple who are expecting their first baby. In late evening, the sun drops low behind the garden, filters through the rose blooms, and turns everything warm and glowing. There is no editing trick that recreates what that light does naturally, and the images from this session are some of my favorites from the year.
About Bon Air Rose Garden: What Makes It Work for Maternity Photography
Bon Air Memorial Rose Garden is tucked into a residential area in Arlington, VA. It’s small, well-maintained, and features over 100 varieties of roses winding along pathways, trellises, and pergolas. For maternity sessions, a few things make this location work especially well:
• The roses are in peak bloom in early June, and bloom for several months throughout the summer.
• The variety of backdrops is impressive for such a compact space: open pathways, pergola archways, dense rose beds, and open lawn at the garden’s edge.
• Evening golden hour is the sweet spot here. Bon Air Rose Garden faces west and the setting sun results in extraordinary backlit quality through the blooms.
When to Schedule Your Bon Air Rose Garden Maternity Session
The question I get most about Bon Air Rose Garden maternity sessions is timing — both time of year and time of day. For Bon Air, early summer is ideal if you can swing it. The roses are in strong bloom, the evenings are long, and the light is extraordinary. Late spring works beautifully too, and early fall brings softer, more golden tones as the season starts to turn.
As for time of day: evening, always. I schedule Bon Air Rose Garden maternity sessions to finish at or just after golden hour. The backlit glow through the rose petals is the defining quality of this location — it’s soft, warm, and flattering in a way that flatly lit midday sessions simply can’t replicate.
In terms of pregnancy timing, I recommend booking your maternity session between 28 and 34 weeks, but I have done maternity photos as late as 39 weeks!
What to Wear
Before this session, this mom reached out asking about my studio wardrobe. I sent her a few ideas, and she chose ivory — which turned out to be exactly right. Light, airy tones like white, cream, blush, and soft sage photograph beautifully against the layered pinks, reds, and whites of the rose blooms, and don’t compete with all the surrounding color.
A few things I suggest avoiding: big prints, heavily saturated colors, and anything stiff or structured. This location calls for something that moves and feels soft. Flowy gowns, wrap silhouettes, and linen textures all work well in this setting.
If you’re unsure, I’m happy to help you think through outfits during our pre-session consultation. Getting the clothing right makes a significant difference in how the final portraits feel.
What a Bon Air Rose Garden Maternity Session Looks Like
I photograph maternity sessions at a relaxed pace. There’s no rushing from one pose to the next, and I’m not working from a rigid shot list. We’ll move through the garden together — pausing where I see a pretty glow or framing from the flowers.
Most outdoor maternity sessions run about an hour. That gives us enough time to work the full garden without pushing past the best light, and without exhausting you — which matters more than people expect when you’re well into the third trimester.
Schedule Your Maternity Session at Bon Air Rose Garden
If you’re expecting a summer or fall baby and want to talk through what Bon Air rose garden maternity session could look like, contact me here. Maternity sessions usually book 8-12 weeks in advance, so the earlier we get your date on the calendar, the better.
And if you’re starting to think about newborn photos too, I’d love to tell you about what that experience looks like at my studio on Saint Asaph Street — just a short drive from Arlington.
