Need help to make "timeless" portrait photo's

[koraks]

I hope to take one picture that is good enough without having to post process it.

Are you shooting slide film? In that case I can sort of see what you mean, although I'd personally not see a very solid advantage to it in 2026.
If you're shooting negative (B&W or color), then IMO the whole 'no post processing' is inherently nonsensical. There's always processing being done to get from the negative to a viewable positive. How much processing is involved is really a matter of taste. But I understand the desire/ambition to get as much of it done 'in camera'. Nothing wrong with that, but IMHO also nothing wrong with just considering the original negative (or digital file) as an intermediate step in the process. Anything goes! It's liberating.

I also have a digital DSLR camera. Maybe I'll take some pictures with it to see what the best composition and settings will be.

Especially if you're working with strobes it can help to use a digital camera the way you'd use Polaroid in the old days to verify correct lighting ratios etc. before committing the image on film. I've done the same in the past but mostly when recording on large format film.

 

[runswithsizzers]

"timeless"?

To me, that could mean either:
- a photo which lacks clues such as fashion, hair style, and cultural artifacts that would identify the time frame of the photo
or
- a photo which has enduring appeal over time regardless of any clues about the era in which the photo is made

@Analogski -- the portrait will be of your wife, and your child-to-be, so it is inescapable that the photo will have a different significance for you than for anyone else. Is the purpose of the portrait to document this event in your life as a personal memento? Or are you more interested in trying to create a portrait with universal appeal for a wider audience? Of course, there is no reason the portrait cannot simultaneously accomplish both goals, but it is something to think about.