STM+ Photos Question

Lilwatz · July 2014

Hello! We are booking a newborn photographer and the one we like has some Baby's First Year packages and we think we are going to get one. They have one that has 3 sessions (newborn, 6m and 12m) and one with 5 sessions (newborn, 3m, 6m, 9m, 12m).

We are torn between the two. It is pricey in general but it is cheaper to buy the package than to supplement with ad hoc sessions. We are leaning toward the smaller package. I feel like we may want a million pictures of our little girl when she's in her first year, but in 3, 5, 10, 20 years will it make a difference to have 3 sets vs 5?

Help this clueless FTM, please.

Lilwatz · July 2014

FhSTAR81 said:

Personally I would do the smaller package. We have a great camera and can easily print them out for much cheaper on our own.

Yeah, I think it will be fine. Just wondering if someone will say, "NO! YOU NEED THEM ALL!" and give a decent reason.

ShelleyElla22 · July 2014

I love pictures so I would do the larger package. They change so quickly in the first year that it's really cool to have the photos as memories. With DS1 we actually did professional photos monthly (we have a photographer friend that did it for free) but we did every 3 months for DS2. We still continue to do pics every 3 months for both kids and will follow the same schedule with this LO too.

I have all of their pics from the first year displayed and they are some of my favorite photos to look at

Lilwatz · July 2014

@ShelleyElla22‌ See, that's what I am wondering... I don't want to regret anything down the road, but the baby is already sucking all my money and she's not even born yet!

sweetbabyrahe · July 2014

I think it depends on how much the price difference is. I think the smaller package is enough. DH has a nice camera and takes great photos, so we tended to do our own little "photo shoots" of DS and got my favorite photos from those. Also, my DS is extremely shy, so we have always gotten better pictures when we do our own because he is so shy with strangers and not as candid.

ShelleyElla22 · July 2014

They are very good at taking all of your money! The way I looked at it is that it will be something I will keep and enjoy forever (and my boys like looking at the pictures too) whereas some of the baby gear has a limited time of use. When you use that perspective it might seem more worth it

Lilwatz · July 2014

FhSTAR81 said:

Regardless if they are professional photo shoots or not, I guarantee you will still have more photos then you know what to do with.

Yeah, I have no skillz in this area so I assume most of mine will be smartphone camera shots. Thought having *some* good ones would be nice.

Dana633 · July 2014

I did 3 months for my first and loved seeing the major differences in 3 months however, I don't think they needed to be professionally done. I have a very nice camera, so I think this time around I'll do the 3 sessions and fill in with my own throughout the year.

ShelleyElla22 · July 2014

KatieKarasin said:
Realistically you aren't going to frame every single professional photo you have done. And as you get new ones done, you'll take a lot of the old ones down to replace with new ones. I'd go with the smaller package.

I disagree. I personally have all the pictures up and don't replace them because I like to see and compare my boys when they were the same age. I choose my favorite photo from each session to display and each child has their own wall of photos.

Allisonville · July 2014

We skipped the newborn pictures and did 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Like someone else said, they just change soooo much in that first year. I did a panel with a picture from each session that I love. I just really love the progression because 3 months is a long time as far as infant development.

ccam · July 2014

We were gifted a photo package that was newborn, 6m, 9m and 12m and it felt like we were constantly at the photographers towards the end! Maybe it was because we didn't particularly like them but I think the smaller package would be perfect.

tinkerbell1658 · July 2014

I did hospital, 3,6,9,12 month pics. If you want to save money do the smaller package and go to target or some place for the in betweens. I went to BRU at first then target, i liked target a lil better.

Lilwatz · July 2014

tinkerbell1658 said:
I did hospital, 3,6,9,12 month pics. If you want to save money do the smaller package and go to target or some place for the in betweens. I went to BRU at first then target, i liked target a lil better.

I know a lot of malls have same day portrait places as well so I've been considering that. I'll have to see if there are any around here (still fairly new to this area). Thanks!

Ineedmorecoffee · July 2014

I would do the smaller one, the larger one seems like overkill. Especially if you have a camera at home and already will be taking lots of pictures.

Lilwatz · July 2014

WildFlower810 said:
I really don't have an opinion on this, but I do want to add that whatever you do for your first kid you might feel like you need to do/want to do for your second, third, etc. My grandma has framed pictures of all of us at our 3 (6?) month photoshoot in her bedroom all in a row. All of us except the youngest, that is, because the youngest never got an infant photoshoot done. To say the set looks incomplete would be an understatement!! So just keep that in mind.

Unless my husband gets his way she will be it.

but I recognize plans can change. Need to consider this!

mussalynn · July 2014

I would also just stick with newborn, 6 mos and 12 mos. Every 3 months seems like a lot, and like PPs have said, you will be taking pics of her every day with your camera/phone anyway.

We did newborn photos, and then a family shoot when we were in Maui when DS was 7 months. We haven't done any since then but will when DS2 arrives.

MrsDL · July 2014

Does the price include all the digital negatives for each session or do you have to add-on a package for that? The photographer we used for DS1 was fairly reasonable for the shoot, but the packages where we had to pick the #pics (we wanted them all for his newborn shots) was the killer. If that is a consideration and impacts price, I'd go for the 3 session but get all your negatives if it's not already included.

We did a 3 session grow with me plan like above and it was plenty - you'll take a ton of shots yourself, but you will want all the pics from the sessions, not just 5 or 10, etc.

carcrashheart · July 2014

We did a first year package for DS. Nb, 3, 6, 9, 12 mos. I'm so glad we did it. She took a head shot and a foot shot at every session, so it's fun to see how he grew. I sought someone out to create a first year package for #2. With DS she included DH and I in the pictures at nb, 6, 12 mos, so we also got family pictures. Seriously, love. Out of all the moms I know that take pictures themselves only one or two have nice enough cameras and skills to actually produce worth while pictures. The rest just look like home pictures.

Lilwatz · July 2014

MrsDL said:

Does the price include all the digital negatives for each session or do you have to add-on a package for that? The photographer we used for DS1 was fairly reasonable for the shoot, but the packages where we had to pick the #pics (we wanted them all for his newborn shots) was the killer. If that is a consideration and impacts price, I'd go for the 3 session but get all your negatives if it's not already included.
We did a 3 session grow with me plan like above and it was plenty - you'll take a ton of shots yourself, but you will want all the pics from the sessions, not just 5 or 10, etc.

Yes, includes a CD with all digital images! That's one reason we are so interested in these packages!

Lilwatz · July 2014

kakicloud said:

We had pro pics done at 1 week, 6 months, 1 year and 18 months. They were all with different photographers because we moved around, but that was what seemed like the best times to do it. And for us it was more about milestones, like getting new pics once he could sit on his own or walk, which corresponds pretty well to 6 months and 1 year. I just want to say that I totally endorse getting the newborn pics (like 7-10 days old) done professionally. Our son's newborn pics are still some of the most beautiful pictures we have. There's one that I'm seriously never taking down, haha.

Yeah, newborn pictures are a definite for us. I've seen too many precious ones not to!

mamatohne · July 2014

I'm a sucker for pics. I bought a 1000 dollar camera while I was pregnant with ds and ended up doing a maternity, newborn 3,6,9, and a cake smash. Granted my bff is an amazing photographer and we trade. I do her hair she takes our picturs. I also did my own of him every month and for holidays. I guess it depends on how important pictures are to you. I would go for the big one.

Lilwatz · July 2014

tarynleann said:
I'm a sucker for pics. I bought a 1000 dollar camera while I was pregnant with ds and ended up doing a maternity, newborn 3,6,9, and a cake smash. Granted my bff is an amazing photographer and we trade. I do her hair she takes our picturs. I also did my own of him every month and for holidays. I guess it depends on how important pictures are to you. I would go for the big one.

Yeah. I am seriously going back and forth with every post. I'm sure we'd be fine with less, but more sounds so good!!!

ElinJ · July 2014

Like others said it will depend on your skills with a camera. I skipped professional newborn photos, but snapped shots nearly every day with my DSLR. I paid for his 8 week photos (which included family shots), 6 month session which included more precious (rare!) family photos of the 3 of us, and his 1 year photos. I bought a new throw blanket and cheap tools to hang it as a backdrop, and did a 3 month session for my son on my own. And I also shot his 9 month photos myself at a nearby park. My photography + Lightroom skills are not as good as the professionals I pay, but they are better than some of the "professionals" people I know pay for so… there's that.

If I had NO skills in the photography department, I'd pay for the larger package if I were you. It was amazing to me how much my son changed from his 8 week professional pictures, to his 3 month session shot by me. Same thing, he changed a lot from his 6 month to 9 month, 9 month to 1 year.

As I previously mentioned, the best thing about the professional pictures are that it's the only time we have good photos of us as a family. We haven't had any family ones done since my son was 6 months, and I just booked a family session for late August. I shot my son's 2 year photos, and the August ones are really to capture us as a family before welcoming #2.

mamatohne · July 2014

Lilwatz said:

tarynleann said:
I'm a sucker for pics. I bought a 1000 dollar camera while I was pregnant with ds and ended up doing a maternity, newborn 3,6,9, and a cake smash. Granted my bff is an amazing photographer and we trade. I do her hair she takes our picturs. I also did my own of him every month and for holidays. I guess it depends on how important pictures are to you. I would go for the big one.
Yeah. I am seriously going back and forth with every post. I'm sure we'd be fine with less, but more sounds so good!!!

I know this is a "no shit" statement but: you don't get to go back and redo! If you think you a regret not getting the big one do it.i would rather have too.many than not enough.

LMM1215 · July 2014

I'm a FTM but we are doing a first year package that has 5 shoots - Maternity, Newborn, 4 Months, 9 months and 1 year. We originally planned for only a newborn and 1 year shoot but it ended up being similar in cost which is why we opted for the package. I figure we can never have enough pictures especially when LO is so small.

ElinJ · July 2014

tarynleann said:

I'm a sucker for pics. I bought a 1000 dollar camera while I was pregnant with ds and ended up doing a maternity, newborn 3,6,9, and a cake smash. Granted my bff is an amazing photographer and we trade. I do her hair she takes our picturs. I also did my own of him every month and for holidays. I guess it depends on how important pictures are to you. I would go for the big one.
Yeah. I am seriously going back and forth with every post. I'm sure we'd be fine with less, but more sounds so good!!!
I know this is a "no shit" statement but: you don't get to go back and redo! If you think you a regret not getting the big one do it.i would rather have too.many than not enough.

YUP.

And along those same lines, I know a lot of people said "Oh, you'll take a million cell phone pics!" But are you backing up your cell phone pics every month or so? To multiple places? Are you printing these photos and putting them in an album? Sending physical copies to family? I LOVE going through my grandparent's photo albums and seeing photos of my parents, aunts, uncles, and even photos of my grandparents before they met, etc. Photos can only last "forever" if they are preserved. Who knows when/if your 2 year old will throw your phone down a toilet only for you to realize you haven't backed up in 6 months. So you just lost your kid's Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, that cute thing they did at Grandma's, etc, if they were only snapped on your phone and never saved/backed up elsewhere.

…climbs off soapbox...

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