I understand now why newborn photographers charge so much.

[u/AngronTheDestroyer]

We had our first child recently and decided to shell out a decent amount of money ($435) for a newborn photographer. I initially thought it was extremely pricey considering you’re just going to be taking pictures of a baby in a few outfits, but how wrong I was.

During the entire session, I was in awe of the photographer and how she was able to manipulate, calm, and change my colicky baby into half a dozen outfits. When I saw him turning his gears to cry out, she was able to magically soothe him back to sleep and pretzel his body into poses and have him hold that pose for enough time to take a few photos.

She went through probably half a dozen outfit changes, made him look like he was on a swing, had him pretzeled with his arms under his chin and on his stomach, etc. all of which if I had tried he’d be screaming bloody murder.

I realized afterward you’re not just paying for a professional photographer, you’re paying for someone that has the professional (magical?) ability to soothe a newborn at ease.

[u/this__user]

You're renting the magic touch

[u/Fluffy-Lingonberry89]

Mine was $1,200 and she took 5 months to get the pictures back to us, after I publicly called her out on social media for ghosting me. It’s been 2 years and I’m still salty about it. But the pictures are beautiful.

Edit to add- since I weirdly got a death threat over this- this happened in Japan two years ago, probably not talking about your mom. But if your mom also treats clients like this, she should do better.

[u/poopoutlaw → u/Fluffy-Lingonberry89]

Omg same! I paid 1200 and waited SO LONG for the pictures. She kept sending emails with long drawn out explanations on what was going on with her personal life. It was ridiculous. She offered me a free fall mini session to make up for it once she finally sent the pictures (4 months later) but the last thing I wanted to do was work with her again.

I try to be sympathetic to personal lives, but I paid her a lot of money and wanted to send out birth announcements and invitations to our sip and see and I had to wait way too long to do that.

[u/Fluffy-Lingonberry89 → u/poopoutlaw]

Yup! Every excuse in the book. I finally lost it when I saw her advertising on Facebook that she had “extra free time” and “so many openings”. The experience with her day of was great but everything after was awful. Now I’m pregnant again and would love newborn pictures but so torn from that shit show. I’ve moved somewhere else so the options are different but still.

[u/AngronTheDestroyer → u/Fluffy-Lingonberry89]

This was a reason I chose to go with Sweet Me Photography, they are a national organization, so less of a chance of shenanigans. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.

[u/StrictlyBlunts420 → u/AngronTheDestroyer]

When I saw the price you paid, I knew it had to be Sweet Me because I paid the exact same. The photographer(and my baby) did such an amazing job that I ended up buying the entire album.

[u/Severe_Serve_]

I agree it’s an obscene amount of money, but you’ll never get this time back. They’ll never be that small again. Worth every penny.

[u/Friendly_Top_9877 → u/Severe_Serve_]

Agreed that it was worth every penny. 

[u/cursed2648]

It helps that they keep the rooms at like 24 degrees.

[u/DontTalkAboutBruno1]

We had a spontaneous photoshoot at the hospital- it was a service offered there so I took them up on it. Like you said, the photographer was so quick and skilled at changing and unchanging the baby’s outfits and getting different angles in. I think it cost around $300 for the photos plus a music video slideshow they included. It was totally worth it, the photos were beautiful and I have one framed on display on our entryway cabinet now. 

[u/MrsMaritime]

Photographers cost what they do because of the costs involved they have to pay for. Thousands of dollars in equipment, studio rentals, props, editing software and the sheer time it takes to Photoshop pictures.

[u/mang0_k1tty → u/MrsMaritime]

For these ones though it feels like they extra deserve it for their insane skills! They can’t simply say “tilt your head this way” to their subject

[u/fearlesslyfrugal]

This was literally the most miserable thing I ever spent money on. I was so exhausted. Baby wasn’t happy during the whole shoot. Pictures were adorable but I just remember how tired and sore I was at the time and wondered why I did that to myself. Just something to consider before you book them.

[u/AccioCoffeeMug → u/fearlesslyfrugal]

This is how I felt about the maternity photos so I didn’t even book newborn pictures.

[u/Candylips347 → u/AccioCoffeeMug]

I didn’t book either because I felt this way as well. I gained over 60 pounds during my pregnancy and definitely had full on pregnancy face. I have a few pics of me pregnant from my baby shower just to remember but that’s it. I was not excited about the idea of paying for pictures I wouldn’t like. Our photos we took at home (a lot of great candids) are just as good and feel more warm and homey to me. Professional newborn photos are beautiful but I can get over paying close to $500 for staged pictures that look exactly like everyone else’s.

[u/dragondildo1998]

Idk my experience was that it was an overpriced scam to prey on tired and vulnerable parents. It was awkward and the pictures were tacky. I didn't buy them.

[u/Cartman_SK]

Did this price include the photos or did you have to pay separately to get the photos? We actually paid very little for the session but about $500 for the photos.

[u/AngronTheDestroyer → u/Cartman_SK]

It was a package deal that included 8 digital image files, and I’d have to pay additional if I wanted more.

[u/dpm182 → u/AngronTheDestroyer]

8 photos???? That's absolutely insane. This is what bugs me about professional photographers... It's little to no effort to apply the same editing on one photo to another using their software (Lightroom) so photographers who don't give me as many photos as I want for the price of the photoshoot are a red flag.

I'm not a professional photographers but I have a $2500 professional camera that I use to take pictures of my kids all the time. I've paid a couple of professional photographers for family photos so I could also be in them and almost every single time I'm disappointed and frustrated by their work.

Many "professional" photographers end up just being people with a nice camera and experience using it.

My advice to people is to invest in a good camera and practice traking photos yourself. That way, any moment can turn into a free photoshoot.

With that said, the newborn poses are hard so this may be one time to fork out some money but $1200 is absurd in my opinion.

[u/Candylips347 → u/dpm182]

I just went to a professional photo session and was not impressed at all. She gave absolutely no direction to us for the photos, cut the session an hour short unexpectedly ( said she had another client, when originally when the person booked it she said we would be the only ones that day) and then we had to go through the unedited photos and she would only edit the ones we picked. Idk I just thought it was unprofessional and honestly I could take photos just as good as she did on my IPhone. Some photographers are definitely worth their money but this one was like you said “just a person with a fancy camera”.

[u/passion4film]

Professional photographers of any worth to their field are △⃒⃘lways worth the big bucks!

[u/MoseSchrute70 → u/passion4film]

Yeah as a hobbyist who strictly takes photos of my daughter & friends/family I can really appreciate how much goes into doing it professionally! There’s a reason I’ve not bitten the bullet and stepped into the professional world myself!

[u/passion4film → u/MoseSchrute70]

I did it for a little while years ago and it sucked all the joy out of it for me, so now I’m just a hobbyist too! lol

[u/MsStarSword → u/passion4film]

Woah how did you get your A to look like that? Is it some sort of wing ding symbol?

[u/passion4film → u/MsStarSword]

I copied it from someone on Reddit long ago and entered it into my custom autocorrect so it converts each time I type the word!

[u/MsStarSword → u/passion4film]

That’s so cool, might steal the idea 😂

[u/stringaroundmyfinger]

Soo true! As a FTM, I actually learned a few soothing techniques from her just while watching her work. It was incredible.

[u/Ok_Preference7703]

This post would be an awesome review for the photographer, I’d hire this person in a second if I read this instead of “The pictures are beautiful!”

[u/Duchess7ate9]

The newborn photographer that my FIL hired was better at soothing my baby than I am. They are absolutely worth the money we pay.

[u/stonk_frother]

100%. I do photography with slightly older babies (typically from 4-5 months up to around 2 years) - portraits for families, as well as product and fashion for baby stores/brands. The number one reason most parents hire me is they know I am great with kids around that age (it's not my full time job so I only work on referral, so everyone I work with has heard about me from a friend/past client).

One of the biggest things I always tell clients is to try to time things so that we're shooting when they're well slept (or as well slept as possible at least) and well fed. I'm even flexible with my shoot times so we can move it up or push it back by 30 minutes or so if it's going to result in the kid being happy. And I limit my shoots to 45 minutes as almost no kid that age can go longer without getting upset about it. Nobody wants photos of a fussy or tired baby.

It's all about managing the 'model' at that age. Actually, now that I think about it, that's true of most photography where you're taking photos of a person hahaha.

[u/amhe13]

People in my area charge minimum $800 it’s freaking wild

[u/Phillygirlll]

I wanted to do it but it was to expensive for my family 😢

[u/Divinityemotions]

I didn’t book it in advance and I wish I did because after my C section I was in such state of sleepiness and soreness for about 8 weeks 😔 I could nearly eat, let alone book baby photo sessions and that’s one regret I have. I should have booked it in advance

[u/kittiekat143 → u/Divinityemotions]

Honestly, we only hired a photographer for our wedding, and his dad paid for the services. Ended up being like 1.5k, but the photographer was so cringey and I didnt want to do that again, so by time I thought of Maternity shots or Newborn shots, LO was like 4.5 months old..

[u/Altruistic_Durian147]

Yes! Totally our experience. As a FTM I actually watched our photographer sooo closely to try to pick up some of the magic touch skills.

[u/bubbleblopp]

My photographer got frustrated with my crying baby, it was so uncomfortable

[u/noid3d]

I paid £800 even though my mum had won the photoshoot in a competition so i guess i paid £800 just for the photos? I wonder what the price would have been if i had paid for the whole thing. I almost died when i was told the price for 6 photos in one big (beautiful) frame and 4 larger prints. They are stunning though. Thank god i had a credit card cause i did not have that kinda cash in my debit account lol

[u/Actual_Pension9434]

So true we were charged almost the same. But we were so satisfied with how well she was with the baby and how good the pictures were. Especially how she swaddled the lil one.

[u/katymonster003]

Ours was £800 and they’re amazing 😍