Maternity/newborn photos

conatk

Hi. I'm having hard time deciding if I want to do maternity or newborn photos or both. I have emailed several people in my area and for the two sessions and rights to the pics we are looking at $400. I can think of lots of other things to buy for baby but I know these pictures are once in a lifetime. Also we do have a nice Nikon camera that I could attempt to take them myself and have someone take them of me. I keep going back and forth because in all honesty what ends up with these pictures anyway? Please help me persuade myself one way or another. TIA!

BabyCurtiss2014

$400 is cheap over here it runs $875 for both I'm in the same boat. Maybe I'll skip maternity and just do newborn but that's still $600 Seems like a lot!

kd&cd

I was having the same issues finding a decent price for maternity photos...then I looked at my good old friend kijiji.ca (same as craigslist) and found a professional photographer who does it on the side for $75 and puts the photos on cd. Check out other sources other than just photographers websites!

arekeweg

This may help with some of your questions

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12202370/maternity-to-1-year-photography-opinions-please#latest

dragonfly711

My friend does pics and she usually charged 650 for both. She would so them for me for 550. I so want to do them but don't think I can afford them.

I think I am going to ask her how much just newborn are since I would rather have them.

So bummed.

conatk

Thank you for the info everyone!

curlylocks3

I'd like to have a couple photos taken of us while I'm pregnant, but no way would we end up framing more than 1, maybe 2 of them, so the cost of a maternity session just doesn't balance out for me. Instead, we have two friends with high quality cameras who will take a few pictures of us. 
I know the photographers that take newborn pictures at our hospital do a great job and the price is reasonable, so this will likely be the route we go.

coffee89

You may want to ask around about student photographers, especially if you are anywhere near a fine arts school. I know a few lovely people who have done a lot of discounted work (as in anywhere from covering travel cost to $150) to get the experience and possibly further their portfolio. Just keep in mind that student/amateur does not = terrible all the time, ask to see their previous work.

AngRN0512

I paid 350 for the session and 800 for the rights. I won't do that again. Now I pay for the session and make an album at the end of each year with my photographer

ricecakes1216

My best friend is going back to school for photography and has all the fancy equipment. She is doing our pictures and just putting them on a disc. I'm lucky! I really want a few shots of us while Im pregnant and I love newborn pictures.

MrsP419

I did maternity and newborn for my first two, but I used a friend photographer who was portfolio building.  I think both sessions together were like 300-350, including files.  I am a photographer on the side, and my maternity and newborn sessions come out to like $270 total.  If I did it more as a job, I would charge more.  

This pregnancy, I am not planning on official maternity photos.  While I loved getting them done and preserving my "pregnant self," I found that once the baby came, I had no desire to display maternity photos; it just seemed like someone was "missing."  My DD's maternity photos were more of the posed belly shots which look kinda cheesy to me now and DS's maternity photos were more like casual family photos where I just happened to be 30 weeks pregnant.  Definitely prefer those.  

But I will definitely be getting newborn photos done this time.  I have a friend who offered a free session to me (not the super posed Anne Geddies stuff - more like little details in pretty natural light), and when they are a bit more interactive (2-3 months) I am hiring a friend to do a lifestyle shoot at our home.  LOVE lifestyle shoots!

MSUMands

I'm not a fan of maternity shots. I'd be lying if I said I felt anything other than a hot mess during both pregnancies. Plus, they always seem kind of forced. My go-to photographer does them and has asked me about getting some a few times. But in every maternity session, it's some glowing woman in a super long dress that attaches around her boobs and is flowing in the wind. Very realistic, no?

(Not her photo, I just saw this on Etsy)


I actually do like the newborn photography, but I don't know if we will do it again. We spent $475 on the session and the rights with DS#1. It seems like a lot more money now, although all the grandparents have insisted we do them.

wtfisup

curlylocks3 said:

I'd like to have a couple photos taken of us while I'm pregnant, but no way would we end up framing more than 1, maybe 2 of them, so the cost of a maternity session just doesn't balance out for me. Instead, we have two friends with high quality cameras who will take a few pictures of us. 
I know the photographers that take newborn pictures at our hospital do a great job and the price is reasonable, so this will likely be the route we go.

Same here.

TMH2013

If the question is whether or not to take maternity and newborn pics, I would say absolutely take them! When else will you be pregnant? lol I just booked a package and it was about $640 (that's after a 30% discount) for maternity and newborn session. If I had a nice camera, I'd probably take a stab at capturing some nice moments myself, or having a friend do it. Also, if you're close to a university you can see if student photographers would do a photoshoot for you for cheap. If you do go with a package, you probably only really need a few poses. So don't buy into the hype of buying the files at $40 each!

b48kate

The only photos we are going to have professionally done are shots in the traditional Korean costume (hanbok) at the time of the first year celebration (dol). It is somewhat culturally expected, plus hanbok is beautiful and I will use any excuse to wear mine!

Mhensley1991

I was iffy about maternity photos however I definetly want new born photos. I found a photographer who has a package including 30min maternity session (perfect because I only want a few) and hour newborn session for $100 that comes with photos on cd and the rights! Or another package for $200 including 30min maternity 45min newborn and 30 min 6month and 1year sessions again it's the cd and rights! Therefore I will be doing the 4sessions for $200! Just can't beat the price and I won't regret any missed photo oppurtunities:)

fsumom

I didn't do them with DD.  My step-mom is now a professional photographer and will be taking mine.

MrsBHM

We're getting maternity & newborn photos taken. I think the total is like $650 and we'll get all the photos on a disc. We had a disaster of our wedding photos three years ago and I always said from then on that I wouldn't pass on photos of a once in a lifetime event just because they are pricey. And I'd pay top dollar to get the best if I needed to. It still hurts my heart when I realize that we don't have a single picture of just my husband & I on our wedding day. Not one. When I thought we were taking photos together our photographer later explained she was just "testing the light & setting her settings". Who does that?!

gmc222

I did boudoir photos for DH as a wedding gift and loved them, but there is no way I would do maternity photos, mostly because I look like a fat cow. However, I adore the newborn pics we had taken of DD when she was 5 days old and will absolutely be doing that again with this one.

Luckily one of my brother's best friend's wives has a photography business on the side (full-time kindergarden teacher), and does amazing work. I believe it was $250 including the CD. If anyone is in the Boston area I can pass along her info, she's amazing!

hollygb22

I did maternity photos first time around. We have one hanging in our room...they weren't worth the $ so we're skipping them this time around.

We did do NB photos. They were adorable but holy crap so $$$. I think when all was said and done we paid $250 for the session and $600 for a pkg so we could get some digital files...those seem to be the hot commodity that you are charged through the nose for in my area.

With #2, I feel so guilty not doing them. I looked and looked for cheaper photogs but they just didn't have the same quality as the one we used, so we booked her again. Mom guilt kicked in that the kids should be treated the same...this time around we probably won't do as pricey as a pkg since we didn't really do much with the digital files we did buy since you take a thousand pics of your new baby on a weekly basis

christinemurray91

That is actually cheap in comparison to here. That being said, we did the newborn photos for my daughter and probably won't this time. We strongly prefer the pictures we took ourselves, our candid ones. The newborn ones are nice and we loved them at first, but now they're kind of silly and not the same as our personal ones.

So, we probably won't do them again.

Amyla726

If the price is too much for you and you have an idea of what you want for newborn photos, they sell tons of affordable props you can use for your own photo session. They have websites that sell the cute hats, hammocks, blankets etc. Then you can set them up all the time for each mile stone too. Regular cameras are so much better than they used to be. It won't be the same, but you could get a lot more for your money by setting it up yourself.

Good luck

shellbell813

Personally I don't feel the need for maternity photos... I don't really want pictures of myself looking big and probably awkward. 

I am a big advocate of newborn photos and have two thoughts:

1.  Find an up and coming photographer who is willing to do a more affordable shoot. I would suggest finding one that has experience with newborns though, because it is not an easy shoot. Some photographers have RIDICulous prices, I've always tried to keep mine low because people can't afford $1000 for a newborn shoot!

2. USE A PHOTOGRAPHER. I have a real problem with people who buy themselves a nice camera and decide that means they can take their own amazing photos. Not usually true. Yes a nice camera is helpful, but for newborn shoots, there is SO much involved as far as lighting and posing goes that if you don't know what you are doing, it won't look good and it could even put the baby in danger. Before I ever started shooting newborns, I did a ton of research on best practices and safety and comfort for the baby. Plus, the pictures probably just won't look as good. 

Off my soapbox... 

conatk

Love your profile pic. I'm actually a Spartan myself and live in Michigan! Are you in the GR area by any chance?

Ellebee85

From a professional photographer stand point, I second what a lot of people have said already. Try looking on Craigslist to see if there are any photographers that are just starting out. I know that I brought in a lot of business from Craigslist, and charged very little while I was portfolio building. This is especially great for maternity photos....

But like a lot of other people said, splurge on a real professional photographer for newborn portraits. Make sure you choose a photographer that has experience/specializes in newborn photos as they'll know how to safely handle your brand new baby. (And never let anyone do anything that you aren't comfortable with.)

You might also want to look into photographers who offer a package deal. My package for a newborn session is $475 with high resolution digital images as well as prints, and I'd discount my maternity rate if a client booked both. 

Good luck!

izzetoot

Both of my sisters had babies around the same time last year (they're 10 wks apart).  One sister did the whole enchilada and spent hundreds of dollars on a photo session and got some really breathtaking photos and made some into large canvas wall hangings they put in the house.  My other sister went to JCPenny and had the photo shoot there for about 1/10 of the cost.  While the professional ones were really amazing, they were too expensive for family members to purchase or my sister to give out as gifts unlike the ones from JCPenny that we all got copies of.  The JCPenny ones were not ALL great but there were definitely some gems.

temursgirl

Prices differ a lot by area, but $400 doesn't seem that high to me.  Sometimes you can bargain though.  We got a discount on our wedding photos by asking for a modified package... no prints or albums because you can always do it yourself, there was a super high resolution we didn't need, etc.  If I were choosing one, I would do newborns.

DH really wants to do both.  I really feel unattractive right now, and was thinking of not doing maternity shots, but after reading @LoHerrim 's reply I'm rethinking that.  Thanks 

Jenn111211

Does anyone know if an inexpensive photographer in the NYC area? The photographers I've found online are charging well over $1000!