Professional maternity and/or newborn photos?

dirtymartini · April 2015

Hi everyone! I am torn about getting professional photos done. They are SO expensive but i don't want to regret not getting them. In addition to newborn photos, so many people get the 6 month and 1 year milestone photos professionally done too.... What are your thoughts/experiences? Worth it or waste of money??

finchfeeder80 · April 2015

Too rich for our blood. We'll just be taking oodles of pictures with the new digital camera we bought on black Friday! I'll admit that the guilty pleasure center in me would love some professional pics, but it's just not in the budget. I'll be sure to share my Pintrest fails, though!

BabyList · April 2015

We did newborn, 3,6,9, and 12 month pictures for our dd. We plan to do the same for this baby, but I am also doing maternity pictures this time. I was sad that I didn't have them with dd.

heidiiwa · April 2015

I don't think we will. Those pictures always seem so cheesy and staged to me. I'd rather have spontaneous pics taken by us showing moments in his everyday life. If I was going to splurge for professional photos it wouldn't be newborn when they are mostly asleep and you can't see much personality yet. I may consider getting photos done in December to include in our Christmas cards, though.

heidiiwa · April 2015

Also, there's an argument to be made for saving your money for something your child will actually care about when she gets older. Will she be mad at you for not taking professional newborn pics? No, on the contrary she will probably protest "why did you put that big bow on my head and put me in a fruit basket, (or whatever)?" Your child will not likely thank you for this kind of silly pose when she grows up.

jessieR358 · April 2015

I'm not getting maternity photos but I have a photographer for newborn, 6 months and 1 year. photographers are crazy expensive where I live but I'd regret not doing them. The newborn will be at my house then the 6 month and 1 year are at any location we choose.

Katerina&Baby · April 2015

I'm doing newborn photos - I think they are adorable! Kids change so quickly in the first year, I really want to capture the initial weeks (photographer will come to my home and set up shop in the nursery so this will be very convenient for us). I'll skip professional pics at other milestone ages (I think I'll be satisfied with my own camera skills for daily life). My sister had newborn pics done with my nephew and the baby blanket our mom had knit for him - the pictures came out beautifully and it's such a great addition to the framed pictures at my parents house.

laurendutch · April 2015

My cousin (a professional photographer) is doing my newborn pics in my room. It's going to be more of a lifestyle shoot with the whole family. We will have my sons included in the pics. I could care less if my kid wants me to spend $$$ on the pics...they are for me and my memories

In the Fall we will be getting new family pics done and probably again the following year when she turns one.

KarasTwin · April 2015

Just did maternity pictures on Saturday, but only because I found someone who wasn't outrageously expensive. It was $95 for an hour session with 2 outfit changes, 40 edited images, and rights to the photos. I've seen about 10 so far and couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. The photographer was creative and let us be ourselves so we got some great shots that really captured our personalities. I will definitely be getting her to do new born pictures

mccall35 · April 2015

My sister (who's a photographer) did my maternity photos with DS (and the photos were wonderful), however we used the hospital photographer for his NB pics. They were suuuuper expensive and not great quality IMO (we hadn't intended to do them there, but got schmoozled into it). This time, I'm debating asking my sister if she would be willing to do some maternity photos again, but I'm definitely going to ask if she would be willing to do a family shoot with DH, DS, myself and the new baby once we're settled at home.

TL/DR: I don't think I'd be willing to spend big bucks on professional photos this time around, however I do want some good quality pictures so I'm hoping to take advantage of my sister's talent and generosity.

esampson1983 · April 2015

We do not plan to get newborn photos. I'm saving my money for daycare fees...

lshylko · April 2015

I didn't do maternity photos with my first. I did with my second and included my daughter in most of the photos. I plan to get them again this pregnancy and include the older two. I don't regret not getting them the first time at all. I don't have any of my maternity photos from my second pregnancy displayed around my house. If budget is a concern then just take a few candid non-professional photos in case your kids ever want to see what you looked like pregnant.
I have heard some "welcome wagon" groups send out a free / really cheap photographer to your house for newborn photos. Maybe look into that if you are interested.

auburnmamma · April 2015

I have no desire to remember what I looked like pregnant. So no maternity pics here. However, we will probably hire a professional to do newborn pics this time. We didn't last time as both myself and MIL are amateur/professional photographers. While I like the pics, I honestly felt like crap doing them. Newborn shoots are tough work.

jesscmv · April 2015

I recently had maternity photos done and love them, they turned out awesome. The only reason I got them was because one of my friends did it as a shower gift for me since her sister is a photographer. I want to use her for newborn photos, but like evey one else said, it's crazy expensive! We will see.

alcrimmins · April 2015

We are having newborn photos done. I joined a club (baby giraffe club) through a photographer and he offers free newborn or maternity photos in the club. Otherwise, we get 3, 7, & 1 year shots. He also does mini sessions for $39.00 around various holidays for the baby giraffe club.

Emilywooddesign · April 2015

They are a little too cheesy for me personally, a good friend of mine will take some candid shots of the twins once they are born and don't look like rats anymore lol but def no pictures with corny props and back drops.

LaurenAnn0405 · April 2015

No maternity photos here with DD and not planning on doing any this time but we did do 6 month and 1 yr. DD was born around Christmas so we were able to combine Christmas and 1 yr which was nice and this year we'll be able to do DS 6 month DD 4 year AND Christmas all at once which will be nice! We go to Portrait Innovations where you don't have any sitting fees and the sessions are usually about an hour with as many outfit changes as you want and then you pay for a package with as many pictures as you want which we normally end up spending a lot more than we originally planned!

RandAllie1823 · April 2015

My girlfriend had some amazing ones... I called to ask how much she ended up spending, and she flat out laughed and said, "I put a blanket on (husband) and laid the baby on top of him so he wouldnt get cold and did them myself!!". So that solves THAT issue! I then spent about an hour on pinterest and reading the articles and how-tos, if you have a camera, you can probably handle it on your own. I'm super crafty and work in graphic design so I know i can just photoshop in whatever background I want... I may or may not have practiced with the cat while she was napping and I think it's pretty easy. Even easier when you start thinking about how many diapers/necessities you can get for the same amount

HoosOnFirst · April 2015

Emilywooddesign said:
They are a little too cheesy for me personally, a good friend of mine will take some candid shots of the twins once they are born and don't look like rats anymore lol but def no pictures with corny props and back drops.

"Like rats"... This made me laugh so hard! I'm sure I'll think my baby is beautiful but I'm glad we are not kidding ourselves about pushing out wrinkly little people

ElRuby · April 2015

DH's hobby is photography and he has even been hired for weddings because people love his pictures so I am thinking of having him take newborn photos but I worry he won't be able to get the angles of the exact shots I want.... I do know that some newborn photographers charge insane rates that could be better spent elsewhere...

As for maternity photos ... No thank you!!!

sabett · April 2015

My brother-in-law does some photography, so we'll probably ask him if he would take some newborn photos. But otherwise, professional photos are way too expensive for us on a graduate-school budget. Plus we don't tend to hang a lot of person photos around the house, so it would seem silly to spend a lot and then have them sit in a box or on the computer.

lalamomma · April 2015

Photos are very important to me given that I was a photographer for several years before/after DD was born. I do wish I had more of myself as a kid. My parents didn't have a lot of money so it wasn't a huge priority to them.

I have already put a deposit down for our newborn session, I did DDs but it was not a good time for any of us and I won't do them myself again. Thankfully I know the photographer and she is really excited to work with me on a newborn shoot and collaborate to make it extra awesome. I'm excited but I also won't be to pushy, I want to sit back and enjoy it too.

I had planned maternity pictures with a photographer I admire but after 3 attempts at contacting her and no response I gave up and might have my amateur sister in law take them. I really only wanted a couple and though she won't be giving me artistic photos I want a few anyway.

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