Is this price reasonable?

hope1017 · May 2014

I need advice in order to make a decision. I came across a lady that is doing a photography special for $450 and this includes maternity, birth, and newborn photos. Now all she would give me would be a DVD with the pictures and copyright release form so I would have no problems printing out the pictures myself. I'm not to hype about the maternity pictures but I would love to capture the moment my baby is born especially because there is a 90% chance my husband won't be there due to work (military). What do you guys think?

abchittam · May 2014

I think it's a very good price for around here. I know that the birth package that I am having done is valued at $500. She hasn't sent me newborn pricing yet, so I don't have anything to compare that to.

bullybutt · May 2014

Around these parts, they seem to charge $200/ for each one of those sessions, which includes the CD rights. That's about average for the dime-a-dozen photographers. Now, if you want the high-fallutin photographers, that will cost you more.

tourqeyes · May 2014

$450 is the price of a newborn session in my area, so yes I think that is reasonable as long as you are pleased with her photos.

hope1017 · May 2014

I know when I spoke with her she stated that all her photos will be edited and for the birth she takes pictures from me getting to the hospital till 30 minutes after the baby is born. I will ask how many pictures are included. Is there any other questions I should ask her?
I saw her photographs and I love the birth and newborn photos. They look very professional with good lighting and great angles.

jnnfrrose6 · May 2014

hope1017 said:

I know when I spoke with her she stated that all her photos will be edited and for the birth she takes pictures from me getting to the hospital till 30 minutes after the baby is born. I will ask how many pictures are included. Is there any other questions I should ask her? I saw her photographs and I love the birth and newborn photos. They look very professional with good lighting and great angles.

The price sounds good to me. I'd check again with her on how long she'll be at the hospital with you. Labor can take a long time. Will she really be at the hospital up to or even over 24 hours if yours goes that long? And wake up in the middle of the night if you end up going in to the hospital at 2am?

aimeepigott · May 2014

Extremely reasonable! Go for it and enjoy!

AKbadwolf · May 2014

Wow, that's super cheap for around here. Prices are starting at $750 for just newborn pictures. I am still looking. lol

dobbyisfree · May 2014

Yeah its around 1300 here for maternity, 1 week old, 6 months and 1 year. So thats definitely a pretty good price!

littlemissmarla · May 2014

sounds like a good price for a professional. just one piece of advice - find out what size pictures you can print on the disc, i got screwed over with my wedding photos and the cd release only allows me to print 4x6's.

January Bride · May 2014

I think that sounds like a very reasonable price. I'd also check with your hospital or birthing center to find out what their photo policy is. Some limit when a photographer can be in the room (e.g., they only let you take photos after pushing but don't allow cameras during, etc.)

pantherRN · May 2014

You get what you pay for.

I think that someone who is going to include an entire birth session in a package that is so cheap is sort of fishy. I'd be very weary of someone charging that little.

For reference, we are paying $700 for mat and newb shots and live in an average cost of living area.

cakebatter27 · May 2014

You get what you pay for. Our newborn photographer books 4 months out and is $800 for a session and copyrights.

I hate our wedding pics because I went the cheap route and come hell or high water I won't hate these.

hope1017 · May 2014

Thank you guys for the advice...I have been asking her questions like crazy.

@January Bride‌ good thing you mention this. I completely forgot. I went ahead and asked her if she has done any birth photography at the hospital I'll be delivering and she said that her most recent one was there. She spoke very well about the L&D team and said she had no problem as they were all very nice.

@littlemissmarla‌ that actually never came to mind in asking her. Very sorry to hear you were only allowed to print 4x6 for your wedding pictures. I would be very upset. Thanks for the heads up though, now you are helping others not be in the same boat and I guess that is something you can do to help others as we all learn by personal experiences and experiences of others.

mamatomp · May 2014

I think that's a steal. My newborn photographer is $150 sitting fee, which is fine. Then you have to buy a minimum of $500 in prints. If you want the CD of all pictures it's like $600, in addition to your prints... OR you can get a package of prints that includes the CD for like $1,000.

Granted, the pictures were AMAZING but DH nearly had a stroke when I told him how much we owed her. (He doesn't understand the "value" of pictures).

The photographer I'm using for this baby is $150 sitting fee and then a minimum of $150 in prints. Still a few hundred dollars for a disc of pictures.

honeybee434 · May 2014

I agree that sounds like a steal. I live in a LCOL area and the cheapest I could find for a newborn session only with copyright release was $400, and that was an up and coming photographer, so she isn't as high as the others, yet. I was a little picky on the picture quality, but even for lower quality photographer I would have paid $250. Most of the normal photographers were closer to $500-1000 for newborn packages with copyright release.

hope1017 · May 2014

I hope I won't be disappointed but I keep looking at her work and reviews and I'm positive I made a right choice by choosing her...

If anyone is interested and is in the San Diego area contact her via Facebook. Jessica Turner Photography.

tourqeyes · May 2014

I think for that price point and for a larger market like San Diego that her photos are all right with what she is asking. Someone with additional experience I can see asking for more than that. I may have missed this but...How many photos did she agree to give to you on the DVD for each session?

hope1017 · May 2014

@tourqeyes‌ The maternity and newborn sessions come with 15-20 pictures and the birth session she said last one session she had was with 75. Is this good?

tourqeyes · May 2014

15-20 edited images is what I am assuming. I have heard sometimes of them providing that many + an extra amount in black and white. It really just depends on the photographer, but I think the number she is offering (if edited) is pretty standard for a session.

aimeepigott · May 2014

I find it reasonable for all three. My photog charges $300 for maternity, birth, and newborn package that includes disc and copyrights. He normally makes the disc at the end of each session so I have the photos immediately! I love it! Good luck and enjoy your session!

hope1017 · May 2014

Thanks ladies. Never had professional photos taken so this should be fun and a new experience.

Prncesta · May 2014

That seems reasonable to me. I just booked my newborn session which was $850 for the session, 35-40 edited photos on a disk for us to do what we want, and two 11 x 14 prints. We also love in New York where the price of everything is inflated!

stella_blu · May 2014

She seems underpriced. What guarantee does she have? What if she misses the birth? Money back? Birth photography alone should cost more than that IMO because you are on call for 4-5 weeks to rush to the hospital at all hours. I'd also be concerned that at that price, she's either overbooking herself to make the money she needs, or not invested enough to charge what she worth.

fmb2011 · May 2014

I was going to say that's really cheap especially for birth photography! I bought a package from the woman who did DD2s baby pictures and for $575 I'm getting maternity, newborn, 6 month and 1 year smash cake sessions but the pictures on cd are not included. But she does amazing quality work so I don't mind paying for them.

Aimes33m · May 2014

Prncesta said:

That seems reasonable to me. I just booked my newborn session which was $850 for the session, 35-40 edited photos on a disk for us to do what we want, and two 11 x 14 prints. We also love in New York where the price of everything is inflated!

@Prncesta Would you mind sending me the information with who you are using? We live in the area too and as you said, everything is inflated! I'm having a hard time finding someone reasonably priced.

pfeilele · May 2014

An awesome price - if you like past photos that she's taken, go for it! A low price doesn't mean she's shady or bad. I absolutely love my birth photos and we paid $190 for them with a disc. She just didn't have the experience so she couldn't charge a ton.

Skeemer · May 2014

jessa8907 said:
I would ask where she recommends getting photos printed afterwards. Most professionals have a printing service they prefer for quality. My wedding photographer gave us printing resource recommendations with our copyright release disc.

^ This. I do amature photography on the side. You'll get more true to color & true to size at a more professional lab than a grocery store lab like Target or even Shutterfly. I did DS's Easter pics in a hurry last month & had them printed quickly for friends & family. I was ticked because Walgreen further cropped my photos. The photos were also darker in color than how I had originally edited them.

ETA: It wasn't a HUGE deal because I was just mailing his pics to friends & family but I don't get why they just can't print a photo without cropping it.

Skeemer · May 2014

pfeilele said:

An awesome price - if you like past photos that she's taken, go for it! A low price doesn't mean she's shady or bad. I absolutely love my birth photos and we paid $190 for them with a disc. She just didn't have the experience so she couldn't charge a ton.

^ This also. The woman who is doing my maternity session is only charging $75 & she's really really good. She has a full time job & does photography on the side so she doesn't charge people a lot simply because she says she has no need to charge a lot.

However, with it being your birth session I can totally see where you'd want to give it serious thought. It's not like you get a do over.

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