Newborn photography worth it?

misterdonut · August 2014

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?!

kimberly_ann81 · August 2014

I did it for both my boys and plan to do it again with pumpkin. Luckily my husband didn't need any convincing. Pictures are the one thing that he will let me spend a little more on vs clothing, toys, ect. Pictures will last for ever but all the other things we buy for baby will be used and outgrown before you know it.

kimberly_ann81 · August 2014

lissydee said:

Yes totally worth it! See if you can find a newb photographer who is building their portfolio--they will usually donor for a discounted cost!

This exactly. I used a friend who was just starting her own in-home photography business it was $85 and for Peanut I worked a deal for newborn and family, 3 m, 6m, 9m, and 12 m from the same lady to help keep down the cost.

carcrashheart · August 2014

God yes, a million times over. I've seen a few moms opt to do it themselves and none of them have impressed me. They jus look like a regular photo with failed attempts to awkwardly pose the baby. There's a lot to be said for someone that not only has a quality camera, but also knows posing, props, and photoshop. I did see one mom do a better job with a quality camera, but they were still a little off. A photog friend helped to photoshop a few of the pictures just to help the coloring and lighting and that's what made them really great. So I definitely find NB pictures to be worth it. So what if you have a second? Does that mean you wouldn't want any pictures of that kid? Or wouldn't do them? I really, really hate the motto of not doing something for #1 because you want to keep them equal with #2. What if there never is a #2? What if something happens and you can't carry a second? My sister and her husband have had this motto and I hate it. Their DD #1 got small, dinky parties because of hypothetical #2. They are lucky and conceive easily, so there is a #2. But why can't they both get decent standards instead of low standards?

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!

Colleen12589 · August 2014

We had all my maternity pictures and newborn photos for all three kids for with photographer who were building portfolios and they were all done for free! They were all awesome. I just looked on Craigslist for photogs who were looking to build portfolios. Totally easy and worth it.

MrsDL · August 2014

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).

Love4Science · August 2014

OK, so the problem I'm having is that I didn't look into this early enough and many photogs are booked for November and December (because of everyone wanting Holiday card pics). Anyone else experiencing this?

missnacholover · August 2014

DH is a photographer so he'll be doing ours. Yay! However, if he wasn't, we'd definitely get them done.

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.

yess0311 · August 2014

I am also going to get NB photos done. I ended up going with a local photographer that is building her portfolio and was given a special discount rate. I've looked through her gallery and her work is amazing so I'm really excited!! But if I wouldn't have found someone with low prices I probably wouldn't have done it due to financial reasons...so glad I found her!

turtles7 · August 2014

Worth it or not I'm getting photos taken. I would regret not doing them. After a lot a searching, I found a photographer who will do our maternity and newborn sessions for a really good price.

silverwings72 · August 2014

Ok, don't flame me, but what about sears or jc penny for photos? I don't want to regret not getting any, but DH is not very comfortable spending a ton of money. Are they decent or a total waste of money?

ColtiersMom · August 2014

We couldn't afford it with our first and had ours taken at 5 weeks. I really regret not doing the newborn pics with him but we are definitely doing them this time.

ljtwaroski · August 2014

Our hospital has a newborn photographer that comes to every room and there is no obligation to buy...but i can guarantee we will be buying at least one since i will be obsessed.

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.

wildflower75 · August 2014

Totally worth it and should be done for every child!! The one thing that a million people told me was "how fast they grow up and are no longer little babies". I thought yeah, yeah, I know, whatever. Now I have a 17 mos old and have NO IDEA how the time flew by so quickly. We look at her newborn photos and it's like she's a totally different person! They are precious memories everyone should have!

jj0313 · August 2014

@lissydee‌ I would love to see!

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.

Richardsmom_817 · August 2014

I didn't hire a pro with my first three, but already have it set up w/ #4. I know it will be totally worth it!

Richardsmom_817 · August 2014

Oh & the hospital pics, yes, didn't do them w/ my first three, but again am going to do them w/ this one!

kimberly_ann81 · August 2014

@budzer

I payed that much for all the photo's on Peanut, newborn, 3m, 6m, 9m, and 12m. Keep looking round that is too much. The women I used gave me the CD of pictures and I ordered the prints from Shutterfly.

@silverwings72

I had a friend do her newborn at JC Penny's and they turned out great. Make sure you tell them if you want a specific pose or bring an example of what you are looking for.

mb314 · August 2014

I think it depends upon your taste in photography. I don't like newborn photos, personally. All the babies look alike, and I dislike the corny poses they put them in (thank god, I'm not having a girl where they will put on a dumb flower band). We skipped them with DS1, and I don't regret it. I like our snapshots of him. I do wish we had done professional photos when he was older and had more personality, but I don't regret skipping the newborn shots. We won't get them for DS2 either.

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