Baby Photos

“Kids grow up so fast” and nowhere is that more true than in the first few weeks of their life. Each day their expression changes, they grow longer and chubbier. So if you want photos of that adorable baby in the nook of your arm, or in a basket then having the baby photo in the first week of the baby’s life is ideal. Not saying that you cannot have it later than that but it does get a little harder. They are really sleepy in the first week so it is easy to position them in those cute poses where they are propped on their arms, curled up in a ball or covering your arm. If a shoot is done after the first week, as I learned firsthand, babies are more awake and less cooperative for the shoot. And my little guy outgrew some of the props too. I had a very wide awake baby and he was just not interested in being cute and cuddly in the photos. Also he was cranky so I had to breastfeed him, and even though we had a session booked for three hours, we ended up skipping out after two and a half, because he was just so cranky. Indeed the lighting (which gets a little hot) did not help matters.

Our photographer was very understanding and she made it clear from the get go if we needed to take more time than the three hours that were allotted that was fine by her, and she would not charge us extra. A flexible photographer is a good photographer. I had a bad experience for my maternity shoot with a so called good photographer who actually gave our date away to a higher paying corporate client. She also was requesting I bring the full payment in person prior to my shoot to a town 1 ½ hours away, this while I was in the final weeks of my third trimester! She also said that a maternity and newborn photo shoot package that was advertised on her website was no longer available. That was highly unprofessional and should have been honored as it was still on her website, instead she said “oh thanks for reminding me to take that down, as it is no longer available”. Thus she wanted to charge me $150 for the photo shoot fee for each shoot (maternity and baby) in addition to the cost of prints.  It was really a bad experience and very stressful since my husband and I were left scrambling to get our pictures with another photographer. Luckily we found a family friend who was able to do it and gave us a cd of all our images for a fraction of the cost.

So what to avoid:

A photographer who is inflexible with times for your shoot. This can mean the date (they say “I am available on this date only and in the morning”) well your baby may not arrive by that date, or if they are born and healthy they may not be happy that day and maybe will cause you to run late to your shoot. Then that photographer may get agitated and state that you took up their valuable time, even though it is your photo shoot. So a photographer who gives you only one available date, or states that she is really strict about times that she can do the shoot is not a good photographer. Babies do not run on a schedule and the photo shoot may take longer than expected.

What to ask the photographer about:

·         Does the photographer have a fee just to do the shoot that does not include any images or prints?

·         If you need extra time is there an additional charge?

·         Does the photographer allow use of all the images from the shoot, and can they be shared or are they the exclusive property of the photographer?

·         Does the photographer offer a gallery (either on a website, or CD) of all images of the shoot,  or if she just prints a few images as part of a package and does not give the remainder of the images to the parents?

·         If the photographer has her/his own studio is it a professional space or is it a home studio? In the latter case note that it may be small, very hot and have pets. This last one is important in case of allergies or if you do not want to expose your children to animals. Therefore it is important to ask if the photographer does the photos at their home if they have pets.

·         Can the photographer come to a location chosen by you? This is key if the parents want to do a at home shoot (the easiest and least preparation required for the parents). Some photographers will do this for no extra charge, while others will charge you extra. Still others may not be flexible at all on location and insist you come to their studio.

What you want to ask your friends about

·         Who they used and if they were happy with the photographer?

Note that baby photographers are a dime a dozen. They vary in their styles and in prices. Baby photographers are part of an industry and as such know each other, as such they can recommend colleagues if they are unavailable on a certain day, or if you are looking for a different style or price point.  Thus each photographer has their own angle and unique style, but there is the opportunity for a new parent to shop around. Ask friends, and know that there are a variety of options in both price point and styles. Each photographer has a different mix they offer. Some offer discounted rates for CD’s of images of the photo shoot and they do not actually do prints, thus keeping the costs down. Others will have their own studios and do package shoots with selected images (usually up to 20) print them, retain the rest of the photos as proprietary and not give them to the parents, and charge up to $900.) So it is best to shop around.