Newborn Photography

kcdo1010 · April 2018

I’ve spent the last few weeks stressing about deciding what kind of pictures I want done in the first few weeks. Are you doing hospital photos? A studio session? A family lifestyle shoot? Something else? Feel free to share your inspiration, dilemmas or experiences!

kcdo1010 · April 2018

With my 1st (now 7), we didn’t do any type of newborn pictures. My only and biggest regret, but we were broke and didn’t really think about it.
With my 2nd (now 4), we purchased the pictures done by the hospital photographer. They are beautiful and well done, but with this baby, I’m wanting something more.

Im torn between an adorable studio session with all the posable sleeping positions, props, backgrounds etc or a more laid back family lifestyle session in our home. The family pictures in the bed and such are always so dreamy.

$400-$1200 has me

and unable to decide though!!

legallykate · April 2018

I booked a maternity/newborn package, the newborn shoot is 7-10 days after birth at the woman's studio where she has a bunch of props and everything is sterile and such. I figure my family will take a bunch in the hospital, and this way I can get my hair and makeup done for the professional ones (I am awful at doing my own hair and makeup). The package was only $775 for both shoots including all digital images which seemed like a steal compared to some other prices I saw out there.

dirtanddiamonds · April 2018

I’m doing the same as legallykate. We did it with number 3 and they were the best photos ever.

laurad75 · April 2018

I'm so torn about this. I think it would be nice to have some professional newborn shots and be able to use them for the birth announcement but I cringe at the investment.

livinthesunnylife · April 2018

I think the newborn photographer that came to our house after the baby was born was only $400? Look around, those prices seem really high.

proudparent2b · April 2018

We just took family pics w/ DS... nothing professional. I think the professional pics look nice, but I don’t think they are worth the cost.

F47 · April 2018

We had a "Fresh 48" session in the hospital with DS2 and they are some of my favorite photos in the world. She captured the moment DS1 first met DS2 and they're priceless.

I've booked with the same photographer again, but I can't decide if I want to do them in the hospital again or at home. I'm afraid of them looking too similar to DS2's first photos, but I don't love the at home lifestyle pics either. I don't have to decide until a month out, so I have some time.

harleyquinn0621 · April 2018

oh i love this thread! i've been thinking about this a lot- and as a FTM i have no idea what i want to do or how these are normally done! when do they do the hospital pictures, do they generally show up right after the baby is born? or do they normally come the next day?

ajesq2 · April 2018

We loved our hospital pictures! I had quite a few complications so we didn't get the hospital pictures taken until he was 5 days old. I think they started coming by the room the day after he was born, but I don't remember for sure (too many pain meds). We used those as birth announcements and they are still some of my favorite pictures to this day!

vinerie · April 2018

I am not doing them only because I think I want to do a nice family shoot in the fall sometime for both Christmas cards and to have something professional done of our family (we've never done this before.) I do like the newborn photos of the parents and the baby, all together, snuggling with eyes closed or something to that effect. Those are always the sweetest

vinerie · April 2018

F47 said:

We had a "Fresh 48" session in the hospital with DS2 and they are some of my favorite photos in the world. She captured the moment DS1 first met DS2 and they're priceless.

I've booked with the same photographer again, but I can't decide if I want to do them in the hospital again or at home. I'm afraid of them looking too similar to DS2's first photos, but I don't love the at home lifestyle pics either. I don't have to decide until a month out, so I have some time.

Okay, this might make me change my mind. I would LOVE to have someone capture this moment!!

lalala2004 · April 2018

We did a studio session at JCPenney, and obviously I've seen better pictures, but we got some good ones, and just couldn't justify spending nearly $1000 or more on pictures. We'll do the same thing this time. We do more quality professional pictures occasionally if we can snag a mini session or go in with a larger group of family. This reminds me, I need to book DS's birthday pictures at JCPenney!

Firemanswife11 · April 2018

Newborn photography is INCREDIBLY work intensive. The price you pay is worth it and probably then some. Sessions are often hours long. That said - I have no idea if we will do them. I'm a photographer (though not a newborn photog) and I did some for DS1 and they turned out alright. I've grown leaps and bounds since then and I'm sure I can do another good shoot that I will love even more. I just don't know if I can justify the cost for someone else to do them, while also knowing how worth it those prices are.

proudparent2b · April 2018

@harleyquinn0621 you’ll have to check with your hospital, but at mine, they come to every room. They take a few pics, then send you a link to preview. We did it with DS but weren’t impressed by the pics so we didn’t purchase any.

Your assigned photographer may be better, but I’d recommend finding your own to ensure you get the pics that you want.

melprop · April 2018

My photographer (friend of the family) does a NB package that will include shots of NB only, NB & sibling, NB & parents, and whole family. I’m going to do that. Which reminds me, I need to message her about that.

kcdo1010 · April 2018

@harleyquinn0621 as said above, depends on what/ if anything, your photographer or hospital offer. Our hospital has a set photographer that does all the nb shoots and typically come on day 2 or 3 or your stay.
If you hire an outside photographer, that’s totally between you two. I personally wouldn’t hire an outside photographer to come to the hospital for newborn photos. Birth or at home/studio.

@livinthesunnylife- depends on where you live I’m sure. There are also so many options based on experience, expertise and specialty. I found one lady that is only $250, but she is still building her portfolio. Her work doesn’t compare to the newborn experts that are closer to $700ish.

I think I’m going to just purchase the newborn pics from the hospital photographer and then schedule a family shoot for October for Christmas card/family pics.

scottishlass1213 · April 2018

We just did the ones that come to the hospital room as well LOL Super convenient. Only pics of the baby because I don't think I will want my pics taken for a couple months at least again after baby is born. I'm thinking we'll do fall family pics so the baby will be about 3 months old by then.

ecwk · April 2018

livinthesunnylife said:

I think the newborn photographer that came to our house after the baby was born was only $400? Look around, those prices seem really high.

Definitely depends where you live. Most places I consulted were at least $1000 minimum. We got ours a lot less with a younger/starting out photographer and she did a good job but this time we are going to spend more and have DS included in shots too.

neeraja_k · April 2018

Thousands of dollars for photographs? Eesh! I didn't even pay that much for my wedding photography. I think ours came out to around $400 and we got a photo shoebox FULL of photos. In the folder of stuff my hospital handed out to me there is a photographer whose flyer was included, so after reading this thread I went to go look at her website and Facebook. Her photos look decent, she seems to have fairly good reviews, and her stuff isn't too expensive. But I can't honestly say it crossed my mind to have it done till this post was made. lol

nll0803 · April 2018

The one photographer I reached out to, had a minimum expense of $1300 for newborn, only including 10 images, no online access, just order the prints that start at $200 for each 5×7. I know photography is an art, especially NB, but those prices I cannot justify. I need to do more research!

pghctwife · April 2018

I did them for my boys and love them - newborn session - in my home though. No interest in a studio session (esp with older kids to entertain bc I’d want them in pics and these can take hours). Not into all the props and I don’t like the photoshopped posing. More lifestyle, family pics, mom and dad with baby, sibs with baby, some snuggled swaddled sleep pics, close up of feet etc.

the price will vary greatly by location and person. Minecwere around $500 I think before, I’m paying much less this time (using a friend new to photog who took gorgeous Xmas pics of my hard to photo kids). Around here studio usually costs more too - overhead.

I could easily pay wellover $1k but that’s not an option lol - nor necessary imo, in my area.

pghctwife · April 2018

scottishlass1213 said:

We just did the ones that come to the hospital room as well LOL Super convenient. Only pics of the baby because I don't think I will want my pics taken for a couple months at least again after baby is born. I'm thinking we'll do fall family pics so the baby will be about 3 months old by then.

Obviously do as you please... but I encourage you to get in those very early photos. Even if no one sees them but you and your child... if you are doing them anyhow, get in one or 2. You never know, and it might be something you or your child appreciate having one day. Jmo

kburg15 · April 2018

When DS was born my SIL took some newborn and family pictures of us and they’re sweet, but not the greatest. We actually have family pictures this weekend with the same photographer we’ve used for Xmas and spring photos the last few years and I’m going to ask her about a family session a couple of weeks after DD is born. Then I’ll (hopefully) plan to use these for our Xmas photo this year. Otherwise we’d be having pictures taken again a month or two later and that seems maybe redundant. Sort of hard to plan for..

jsnakehole · April 2018

This is our first so we don't have an older sibling meeting the baby shot to get but I would love to get a picture of my dog meeting the baby for the first time. He loves babies!

mapleandbacon · April 2018

Our hospital photos are meh, I was super hormonal and the instant I saw them had to have them all. We did a newborn shoot as well as a lifestyle shoot at home. I will cherish the newborn photos for the rest of my life. They are absolutely precious and I've booked with the same woman for our daughter. The lifestyle photos came out ok, but I don't have any of them displayed. My ppd was just setting in, when I look at the photos I'm reminded of that. Plus I look five months pregnant still. At the newborn shoot I was a wreck as well. I cried the entire time, mostly because I was looking at my son, how precious he was, and feeling completely inadequate. I was supposed to return two more times to document his first month but had to cancel because my anxiety prevented me from even leaving the house. Even still, the photos are priceless. I live in a small town though, they are not NEARLY as expensive as what others have mentioned. I don't know that I would have paid more than $500.

KonaCoffeeBean · April 2018

I regret that I didn’t do them for my son. But now I feel like I shouldn’t do them for this baby, because it’s not fair to my son that we don’t have the same pictures for him.

juliebird6 · April 2018

We did a maternity+newborn combo package for our first. This time, we are having the same photographer do a fresh 48. Prices will vary based on cost of living in your area, but I definitely think it was worth it. Our photographer was AMAZING with our tiny, screaming baby and we got some really beautiful shots. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she can do with fresh 48 and capturing the moment when DD meets DS!

mbrowling · April 2018

We did a 1 mo shoot with dd instead of newborn. The pictures were cute and very reasonable but kind of hard to get. She was trying to get the sleeping newborn type of photos and dd wouldn't sleep a wink bc she was a little older

hardlyhannah · April 2018

My SIL has a photography degree so she’s going to take fresh 48 at the hospital for when DS meets baby, and we’re probably going to do a lifestyle newborn shoot with another friend that has a photography business. I’m super excited about both. We did a newborn, 3, 6, 9, 12 month package for DS and will do something similar for baby but not with the same photographer. There will be family shots included in that too.

melbel0824 · April 2018

I booked a package with a local photographer when she was having a sale. So I'm getting maternity, newborn, 3 month, 6 month, and a 1 year cake smash session. I think it was $350 for everything, and I know it's a steal. I had been looking at her portfolio anyway, so when I saw her offer that deal I jumped on it fast.

suzystar829 · April 2018

We are already scheduled for a newborn, 6 month and 1 year session with a local baby photog. We did the same for DS and I am so glad we did it. I had a last-minute c-section so we have no photos just as DS was born and everything from the hospital was a blur. We paid about $1000 total for all three which gave us lots of photos (including family shots) and full rights for everything. To us, it was worth every penny, but understandable that everyone has their own opinion!

mrs_drc_rn · April 2018

We didn’t get newborn pics with DS since he was in the NICU and I kind of regret not getting professional pics when he was a baby. I really want to get some professional family pics this time around. I have a few friends who are photographers so they’re able to give us decent pricing.

homequiltingmama · April 2018

@KonaCoffeeBean We missed our chance with my first too - they always came while I was with the LC in the hospital and I didn't want to give that up. I broke out in hives after going home, so pictures were the last thing on my mind. Of course, we have pictures that we took, but I am a bit sad that we don't have the 'professional' ones with her. The hospital photographer was much more convenient for us with baby #2 and I adored those pictures, so we got them. I'm still a bit sad we don't have those type of pictures for my first, but at least I'm not regretting not having them for both. Plus, there's plenty of other special things that we've done with our first that just hasn't happened yet with my second...so there's a little give and take

AFM, I hope the hospital pictures turn out good with #3 - I'm not sure that we'll seek out professional pictures though if they don't. We usually do nice pictures around Christmas, so there will be some nice pictures in the early months.

melissaf22 · April 2018

No one ever came to me about photos in the hospital but we had the photographer who did our wedding photos come to the house and she took lots of family pics as well as just baby. She charged around $400 since we were returning clients. Even though a good friend of mine is s photographer and this may cause problems I’ll probably have the other photographer do these newborn pics since she is so talented and did such a great job the last time

mrsbubbles-2 · April 2018

I haven't even thought about getting newborn photography, I swear if not for some of these conversations I wouldn't even know what day of the week it is! The one good thing about the dumb bump ads that I see now is that one has a tiny little squish (sorry @calimom2524!) all swaddled up and my heart melts! We're getting birth photography done though so I think my girlfriend who is doing that will want to get some of the baby all snuggled and sleepy.
Omg you guys - is it August yet?!?

ashleyandjody · April 2018

We did the Fresh 48 with DD, and those pictures are good but not the best. Then we had a newborn session done when she was 21 days old (she changed so much from birth to then), and those are my absolute favorite pictures. We spent $375 on those and have full rights to all of them, and we received a book of all the images. We have since moved and the cheapest newborn session I could find was $650, but I know the pictures will be worth it. Plus DD gets to be included as well as DH and I.

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