Newborn/Family Photos

fiscally3 · June 2016

Has anyone else started to think about newborn photos yet?

Usually we prefer the in a park for casual/natural pictures. Our regular photographer does not have a studio, and I am concerned by the time the photos will be taken it will be too cold to be outside in early December (although snow could be pretty). So I am debating between risking the cold, the "mall" studio type places, which always feel a little cheezy to me, or the generic hospital ones. Anyone know what they are doing yet? I know some photographers book very early for the holiday season, hence trying to decide now (also the hospital photo info was in my "goody" bag from the OB and triggered this).

jstinkz · June 2016

We will definitely get newborn photos done. Our photographer has her own studio, but is willing to do what the client wants outside of her studio as well. Would your photographer be willing to come to your house? I know someone who had their photographer do newborn photos in the nursery and they were done so well. I feel like if your photographer is willing to go to different places to take outdoor photos why not indoor ones? Maybe because of lighting quality? Might be worth it to ask.

I personally dont don't like the hospital ones or the "mall" studio type places.

mamahazey · June 2016

I have been thinking about this too. I don't know what is a reasonable price to pay either... I want them to be good but I really don't want to pay an arm and a leg.

Ours will most likely be outside because we live in Florida and it seems most photographers don't have studios.

fiscally3 · June 2016

@jennihaze It really depends on your area, where I live I think generally $140-200 is pretty normal. But I know from friends in other areas, $200 is a steal! I think a lot of photographers are trying to drop the studio if they can. The first time we looked for a photographer, I posted on a local facebook group and went through all the suggestions until I found a style & price that worked.

@jstinkz We did half our pictures inside with DS3 (early April), and its just a hard space to work in, smaller old house, and kind of dark with natural lighting at weird angles. Our photographer was concerned that the photos might not come out at all. Our kids don't have their own rooms either, so even nursery shots, the photographer has to work around two cribs and all their stuff (we unfortunately don't have one of those beautiful pinterest worthy nurseries! Poor fourth child). If we get our master "suite" in the attic done in time, I could see that working.

Knottie1458416769 · June 2016

Wow $200...that is a steal! We booked maternity and newborn shoots - doing a Christmas theme in our home - and maternity shoot outside - had to pay a travel fee, I forget how much that was, but total package comes to around $2K. Now granted that our wedding photographer cost 3 grand and he wasn't even the most popular one, so this didn't seem too far off - plus I inquired at three other places and they all charged similarly, big city pricing.

MrsEusini · June 2016

I haven't put much thought into it, I just know I don't want the type where the baby is put in an odd position that they wouldn't even normally be in. I just don't like them. I really don't know if we'll get any professional ones done, I just really don't want to pay a ton just for that. We may just have someone do a cute family photo for Christmas.

At this point I just need to get in contact with the girl who did our engagement photos. They turned out so well, and I really want her to do the maternity shoot.

fiscally3 · June 2016

I think the price really depends on what all the photography throws in, ours only does editing, so no pictures are included in the price, and you are almost completely responsible for your props. She's also a SAHM who does this more as a side business, rather than say a wedding professional who takes photos full time. Where I know friends who live in major cities pay $3-500 for the same kind of thing! I've generally found, people who don't do wedding/engagement photos are much cheaper than those that do.

@MrsEusini No babies in bowls for you?

I totally get what you mean, there have been some where I know newborns are flexible, but it looks uncomfortable.

Seattleite86 · June 2016

@MrsEusini look for a photographer who describes themselves as a lifestyle photographer, we generally don't use props and odd basket positions.

Lifestyle photographers usually will come to your house to do the shoot-you are definitely not going to want to do a park or outdoor session in November if you live in the north. If you dont want a photog in your house though a studio photographer is a better option.

Im a photographer and do many infant sessions. You can probably go ahead and look now for a fit for you, at least contact them to compare prices and packages, you might not want to technically book until closer to september though. Especially becauae we like to photograph infants within the first 10 days in order to get the infant look. I have special packages that bundle maternity, infant and other milestone ages together and that brings the price down. If you know you are going to want both maternity and infant i would look into that.

Price varies so greatly depending on your location. Contact at least three different photographers that you like and or have been recommended in order to compare and get a feel for prices in your area. I dont recommend the cheapest option you find as you usually get what you pay for, but theres no reason to spend 1K unless youre sitting in studio and buying canvases.

Also know what you want before going in-do you want digital files or are you ok buying individual prints? Etc. There are many photographers who do not give out the digital files, so make aure you know that before booking.

jstinkz · June 2016

@fiscally3 ahhh okay makes sense. No shame in not having a Pinterest nursery! Shoot well then my suggestion doesn't help at all! Hopefully someone else has a better idea.

fiscally3 · June 2016

@Seattleite86 thanks for the tips. I'll be a scheduled c-section right before Thanksgiving, so it's unlikely I'll be in the 10 day newborn photo window, I'll probably have to do the first weekend in December.

@jstinkz I appreciate the help! I love our house, but I know this is one of its flaws. The windows are a great setup for ventilation, but not so much family photos(I guess a low priority in the 1920s). We can make it work if it's the best option at the time, but I'm just hesitant. Originally thought my due date was earlier, so I was thinking pretty fall leaves and such like we had with my oldest!

TwandaFTG · June 2016

Do you have a family member or friend that can lend their house out? Also, many places will have holiday décor up so places like hotels and churches and museums might also be a nice places for pictures.

And now some photographers will come and do a lifestyle shoot while you are still in the hospital and those can be stunning.

I found my photographer by doing google searches and her style (I love the poses!) matched mine. I'm sure there are several in your area that you can talk to about good ideas of how to make it work! I attached some snippets I the pictures taken of my son.

Knottie1458416769 · June 2016

@TwandaFTG look at that ball of yarn! I agree, Internet is your friend here - whatever your style is, lots of inspiration online.
I'm 100% pose-camp, and want to do artistic newborn shots like someone else's pic where their baby looks like partaking in an Alice in wonderland tea party, or like they are sleeping amongst stars and the moon and clouds. after getting a better sense of what I liked, I went interviewing a couple photographers in our area to see what they could do - didn't know anyone so I looked at Yelp and public lists of local ppl who got photography awards - we are going for posed styles, elaborate props brought to our house, baby photo book, canvas prints, Christmas cards, and I feel that all justifies the 2k price tag. Additional prints are extra, and I don't think we get digital copies but I wouldn't want to print myself anyways so we didn't care here. I have artistic friends who would rather do it themselves - and they don't need a big studio to do it, just a small space at home with good lighting suffices.

serenaxo84 · June 2016

It's one of my huge regrets that I didn't do one with my first- but an unpaid maternity leave and big life events we were attending within months of the birth didn't really leave us the extra money.

around NE they are expensive! But most will come to your home and most have props so even if you don't have the perfect home or the perfect nursery they should come bearing nice blankets for baby to lay on, props and lights to make your house perfect.

kay.hoff · June 2016

As pp said most of the time they will come to your house and provide the blankets, baskets, backdrops, etc.. Most don't like to do any older than a week or so because the babies arent as sleepy and don't like to be moved around or posed (if that's your thing). I learned that the hard way this last time because I procrastinated and he was right at 2 weeks old. We got some great shots but it took over 3 hours and lots of breaks to nurse to try to get him to stay asleep! Luckily I'm friends with the photog so she didn't mind the extra time clocked.

erinlin25 · June 2016

luckily my best friend is a photographer so she will come up to my house and do the newborn pics.

KRMcD · June 2016

Generally if you want high quality impressively posed newborn pics, you will have to pay an arm and a leg. Typically those photographers specialize in newborn pics. Lifestyle photographers are going to be much less expensive, but there's a definite difference in quality if you know what you're looking for. My aunt is a really awesome newborn photographer in San Diego so I see her pictures posted on facebook all of the time so I was too used to seeing her pictures to want more typical lifestyle ones. Luckily she was able to fly out to take pictures of my first so we didn't have to worry about it! I'm hoping she can fly out again to take pictures this time.

MrsEusini · June 2016

I can finally get back in the discussion, my mom came to visit for the weekend and I haven't had the chance to get online much.

@fiscally3 Definitely no bowls haha. Some of the photos I've seen are really cute, I just want more natural looking ones. I see some poses and they look so uncomfortable, no matter how flexible the little one may be.

@Seattleite86 I live in Florida, so it's not really cold here in November generally so outdoor photos could happen. We're just not going to have hundreds of dollars to drop on this since baby is coming in a bit of an awkward time.

manabearursa · June 2016

I am a hobby photographer, def not a high dollar photog, but when I've done newborn I was able to to bring a small set up of the bean bag, backdrop, ect. To their house. But I love the lifestyle photos in hospital that are popular in my area too. I love the idea of what someone mentioned of doing them in a hotel. A nice hotel with a big fireplace in the lobby would be really pretty.

Seattleite86 · June 2016

@manabearursa agree!! I've rented an airbnb loft in NYC once when i went to do a maternity shoot and my client didnt have any room in her apartment. It works very well because usually minimally decorated and clean!

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