Why does Newborn Photography cost what it does?
As a Newborn photographer sometimes I receive some questions about the price of a newborn session and often why is this session more expensive than others. So I have decided to write a blog about this :)
Like any type of photography, you have to invest in courses, training, equipment, marketing, insurance and I'm sure you are all aware that none of these things are cheap.
Newborn Photography has everything that any other type of photography session has and a bit more....
We don't know when the babies are going to be born, so we have to keep a LOT of flexibility in our schedule for them;
Newborn sessions are very long and require lots of work during the session, stopping for feeds, cuddles, wee wee and etc. so this makes this session much longer than other sessions, usually around 3-4 hours but it can be longer, I have done a few that went to 6 hours, especially when you have siblings, the other sessions are usually 45 minutes - 1:30 hours;
In a Newborn session you have a vast use of props, most of them are pricey and some of them get ruined with poop and we have to discard it;
Different Set Ups for the session, then just when you think you are ready, baby poops everywhere..so we have to start again, or we'll catch the poop in our hands to save the setup! yes, really!
(Photo credit to Danielle Badaró on Paloma's Schell WS)
Laundry; Everything that baby touches goes to the wash, even if baby didn't poop on it, the studio is cleaned before and after any sessions starts;
Post process editing is more time consuming compared to other sessions, We always have an idea that babies have the most lovely skin and this is true but does not apply to newborns, their skin in 90% of the cases is not even, some parts are purple, red or yellow and We have to fix all this in post production, some of the babies also have flaky skin or spots and most of the parents don't want this in their photo.
Editing SIBLINGS, when we add a toddler to the session it takes much longer to get the photos done and many times I have to photoshop putting two photos together when the toddlers are not happy to take the photo with the new baby;
We photograph new moms in pleasing angles to help them feel good after having a baby, We also provide professional retouching to get rid of blemishes and any unwanted areas.
Training to deal with the most important person in your life, I do lifestyle sessions where poses are not required and I almost don't have to hold the baby, but most of my clients like the sleepy, curly, womb like poses, that are not as easy to achieve as they look. I have had to train (and continuously keep up to date with safe posing practices) to learn how to pose your little peanut in the best safe way, hours and hours of practicing to make sure your little baby is safe.
Flu Jabs, If I can do something to protect myself, which helps protect my children and the newborns that come to me, I will do.
An Assistant, not in all my sessions, as sometimes the schedule doesn't work for both, but most of them I have another newborn photographer assisting the session so mum and dad can rest, and this is also a cost
Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a photographer or specialist photographer, but it really takes so much time and money to get to know your craft that if someone has invested in themselves that much its impossible to be too cheap or they are cutting corners somewhere.
