Maternity to 1 Year Photography Opinions Please!

arekeweg · December 2013

We are currently trying to decide on our newborn photographer and packages for when LO arrives. Since this is our first, we just are not sure what to get! We are looking at the following options:

1. Maternity, Newborn, 6 Month, and 12 Month

2. Newborn, 6 Month, and 12 Month

3. Newborn and 12 Month

4. Newborn Only

For those who already have children, are there milestones that you either regret not getting done or milestones that you got done and realized later you maybe didn't need those?

Did you have a maternity session? If yes, are you happy you did? If no, do you now wish you did?

Thanks for your thoughts!

nunzchucks · December 2013

Personally, I think maternity photo are silly, but to each their own. We have newborn (I took), 6 mo (pro) and 12 mo (pro) pictures. I'm glad we have all, but I did buy Groupon packages for the pro pics we have. It is just SO hard to gauge how your kid will act at 6 and 12 mo. DD was in a shit mood at her 6 mo pics and I'm so happy we got a $150 session for just $50 or it would have been a waste of money. At 12 mo, she was ok, but just has trouble opening up in front of new people.

There really is no substitute for a great pro photographer, but I ended up investing $100 in Photoshop and my mom has a nice mid-range DSLR so we "tag team" our pictures. We tend to get a better pic because DD is comfy with my mom.

So...in sum, I would probably just do a newborn session if you're going to pay big bucks.

Eta: I took our newborn pics b/c DH wouldn't let me spend $$ on them. Our compromise was photoshop for me.

mommyof2boys922 · December 2013

I didn't have maternity sessions... just did a monthly bump photo and that is in the boys baby books...
I think the main ones are for sure newborn and 1 year....I did it for both of my boys and was glad I did

MNOpea · December 2013

I did maternity, newborn, 3m, 6m, 12m And I took my own 9m pictures. We did family pictures at the newborn, 6m, and 12m sessions. We also just went to Sears or the like for those pictures and didn't spend over $100. This time I will be doing my own pictures except for family pictures on the same timeline as before

Eta: my parents both lost the majority of pictures of me as a baby by not paying storage units, so I have a weird fear/obsession of having a lot of pictures for my kids, so I know that what I do is kind of overboard...

lucreciac · December 2013

I'm not a huge fan of maternity photos but to each their own. We did professional photos for newborn, 3mos, 6 mos and 12 mos. I love them and do not regret them at all. Pricey yes but going forward we will probably only do them once a year.

Baldwinbaby4 · December 2013

I am a maternity and newborn photographer and I love doing maternity, newborn 6 month and 1 year. I think maternity sessions make mom feel beautiful and special. I make very pretty dresses for my clients which enhances the whole experience. You are pampered and beautiful!
And of course I love meeting the babies when they come

WoodsSeltzer09 · December 2013

We did maternity photos - that are just for my DH and I, noone ever saw all the posess but my mom, and we have 3 up in our bedroom. Not that they were naughty - just very intiment and i like keeping that stuff private.
I think i'm odd man out on this one - I'm obsessed with photos. So once DS was here we did ND shots in the hospital, 3,6,9,12, 15,18 mon. professional photos. The 3 month ones were at JCP then we found our photographer who is real reasonable and has become part of the family. The 9 month and 18 shoots were "mini" shoots so a lot more reasonable. But I love every single photo so to me it's money well spent.

zipscheer07 · December 2013

With my DD, we are currently doing the Grow with me package.We have done the newborn, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. This package also includes the smash cake photos. We will be doing this again for our DS. Though I may do the new package that also includes photo right away after birth for the baby!

Cherylwang · December 2013

A friend of mine is a photographer. For me she did maternity, newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month. She does mini sessions for me. Not a full blown photo shoot. If we meet at the playground with our older boys she will take pics while we are there. Etc. after one year we just do yearly and Christmas pics.

babySchmidt · December 2013

We did not do professional maternity photos with our daughter. We took pics while we were on our babymoon (highly recommend babymoons!) so I have some nice, bumpy, 100% fully clothed pics. I don't regret that we didn't do professional ones and we will probably do the same thing for this baby.
As for baby photos.... We did the hospital newborn pics, 3,6, and 9 so far. I do not regret any of them. She has grown so much that it's wonderful to see her progression through photos. We also used groupons for our sessions so we could afford the full CD of the sessions. It is SO worth it to buy the CD, if your photographer offers it. I have made several shutterfly books, her birth announcements and our Christmas cards using photos off the CD's. As for her 1 year pics, coming up in January, we have enough coupons and free gift certificates we will probably do them at the same studio. For this baby, we will probably do newborn in the hospital again and do 3 and 9 months at home with our nice camera we bought each other for Christmas. 6 and 12 will probably still be done in studio. So, if you have a nice camera, flash, etc, you can do them at home when your baby is happy, awake, not hungry, etc.

YetterEA · December 2013

I did maternity, newborn, and 12 months. I was very happy with that and felt like I caputred the "in-between time" (newborn to 12 months) in a nice, but less expensive way (i.e. my own shots, or formally via Pennys or Portrait Innovations).

Bmcmullin01 · December 2013

I did maternity, newborn and 12 months professional photos all done by a friend. And 4 month photos because they were for Father's Day. I am so glad we did maternity photos. I love them and super glad I chose to so them

RaeJ004 · December 2013

I don't get maternity photos. I don't want pictures of me huge pregnant hanging on the walls in my house. We did newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month photos. She changed SO MUCH the first year so I'm happy I have them all. Also newborn she was mostly asleep, 3 month she was much more alert, 6 month she was sitting up, 9 month she was walking and 12 month was her cake smash and a ton of her running. I love them all!

crestedlady · December 2013

My sister is an amateur photographer, so we did maternity, newborn, 6 month, and 1 year photos. I only did maternity photos because otherwise I would have had no pictures of me pregnant and oddly enough, because of how much I loved a scene from the movie, The Family Stone.

dmizak · December 2013

@Baldwinbaby4

Baldwinbaby4 said:
I am a maternity and newborn photographer and I love doing maternity, newborn 6 month and 1 year. I think maternity sessions make mom feel beautiful and special. I make very pretty dresses for my clients which enhances the whole experience. You are pampered and beautiful!
And of course I love meeting the babies when they come

You make dresses for your clients? That's awesome! I'd love to see some of your pictures! Do you have a website?

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Maternity to 1 Year Photography Opinions Please!

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