November 2014 Moms
misterdonut
member
Newborn photography worth it?
misterdonut
member
Hey y'all, I'm considering newborn photography but as you know it gets pricey real quick considering theres a session fee and on top of that separate digital file fees.
My husband needs some convincing and one point he made was what if we have a second baby? And at that point I dont even know if we would pay for that again haha! I dont want baby 2 feeling neglected looking through memory albums.
Have any of you considered it and how have you justified it?!
My husband needs some convincing and one point he made was what if we have a second baby? And at that point I dont even know if we would pay for that again haha! I dont want baby 2 feeling neglected looking through memory albums.
Have any of you considered it and how have you justified it?!
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Re: Newborn photography worth it?
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Look around for better prices. Ask around. I found our last NB photog when I emailed our wedding photog to ask if she was available to do our NB session. She couldn't, but gave us some recommendations. We have gone a different route this time, and the photog is a bit more green, but because we had a first year package for DS we wanted to do the same for this one (I loved having so many sessions and want the same shots with #2) we couldn't afford the increased rates of our photog for this time around so I went on a hunt to find someone that could do it a more affordable way. I really would regret it if we hadn't had NB pictures done. I've never even seem hospital NB pictures that could really compare to an outside session. It's such a special time that doesn't last long. Our photog doesn't photoshop the little things so that you can remember what it was really like-the newborn scaley skin, the umbilical cord, etc. when he was super drooly at six months she didn't photoshop that out so we have some cute shots of him drooling a little. Those pictures don't compare to the monthly pictures I did with him-mine suck, but do their job. The pro pictures are the special ones. DO IT-THEY DONT STAY SQUISHY FOR LONG!
We did it for DS and are going to do it with this one. If you ever spring for professional pics these are the ones to get - like pp said - worth it a million times over. A good one will schedule in the first 10 days when they still have that curled-up newborn look. They grow so amazingly quick, to get a professional session done when they're so tiny is amazing. We have a wall of black and white photos in our house, the one everyone stops and comments on is one of DS's newborn photos where DH is holding him in one hand - his little head not much bigger than DHs hand and his body on DHs arm. I love it. DH was very hesitant (the photographer I picked was pricey) until he saw them. Now he keeps bugging me to see if I've booked a session for #2.
Like others have said, if you find a photographer just starting out or freelancing, you can get a good deal. We had some family pics done by a woman who was just building her business for dirt-cheap (compared to what we paid for DSs newborn ones). They were as nice.
Also, while a lot of photographers do things with props - and ours did and we do have the baby in the basket type for some, they take plenty of others - let's face it, for the first few weeks they don't do much in terms of candid shots - that's what a pro-photographer will do - wait for the baby to fart and crack a smile and snap the picture while he/she is sleeping. It's all about positioning and capturing that "fresh out of the womb" look that doesn't last long. It's not something we could have gotten at home, even with our fairly pricey camera. We have one with the 3 of us (also on my wall) that I LOVE. I value his newborn pics more than our wedding pics.
As FTPs, I have to say we learned some tricks in terms of soothing the baby and getting him to sleep. I remember she was instructing us as DH and I were looking at each other like "did you see that - she got him right back to sleep - take notes" - we had them done at 8 days and were still sort-of drowning in the "how the heck do we ........" phase. I remember we went out and bought our little lamb white noise toy after our shoot because our photographer used it. Most probably are not as clueless as we were, but I think the tips we got from her alone were worth the $$ to me (although she had 4 kids of her own, 5 now - so she knew what she was doing anyway).
**Follow your heart, but take your brain with you**
I think a photog comes around in our hospital so I may have them take some with the 3 of us. I believe there is no obligation to buy.
For other photos we contacted pur wedding photographer from a year ago that is just letting us schedule it once the little one is born - which seems to be rare for photogs. Their pricing is about $150 and we get all the pictures and rights to print on a cd.
Re newborn: we are going for it and I ended up going with a very expensive gal but her work is soooo beautiful and you only have your first once. I will want to do pics for the second as well but may find a less expensive option.
I asked my gal if she offered anything less expensive than what was on the site and she surprised me and said yes.
Married since 8.17.03
Mom to Richard 7.24.05, Ava 3.27.08, Isabella 5.19.09 & Timothy 10.22.14
Married since 8.17.03
Mom to Richard 7.24.05, Ava 3.27.08, Isabella 5.19.09 & Timothy 10.22.14
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