Why Does Newborn Photography Cost So Much?

Why does newborn and maternity photography cost so much?

Newborn Photography is one of the most difficult genres to learn. A photographer must not just be able to use a camera, work with lighting but most importantly learn the skill and technique to pose baby beautifully without injuring baby. And with experience comes how to learn to ready baby's signals. Some babies just dont like certain poses or they prefer to turn their heads in only one direction. Not all babies are they same. Each one is unique with his/her own personality.

A lot of time is spent on training! I'm going into 9 years of business and I'm still doing training classes and working to advance my skill.

For maternity there is also a fair amount of training and skill required, to understand what is going on in a pregnant woman's body - the aches, pains and discomfort which goes along with growing a tiny human in your body. There are certain ways your body can not move and then the are certain ways it still can to pull of those glamorous pose! And just like babies, we are all different and we move differently.

For most of my sessions you don't need to provide much, if anything. For newborn for instance, you just need to show up with your nappy bag and spare tops for yourself. For my maternity sessions I provide the make up and dresses. You just show up and get pampered before we start. For a Cake smash I also provide pretty much everything except family outfits. Most of my packages are pretty much all inclusive.

Running a photography studio cost money!

My collection of props & outfits for newborns, maternity and other ages is quite big. And I'm constantly looking at new things, changing up dresses and outfits, adding headbands, new wraps, bonnets etc. And all these things cost money. One newborn headband can cost on average R80. I have over a 100 just for newborn. Not to mention the flower crowns & tiaras for my maternity sessions and I need to check I have hair accessories to match each outfit.

Everything gets washed after use and this also causes wear and tear and wraps, bonnets, outfits, dresses etc, which eventually needs to be replaced. Knitted wraps and bonnets are the cutest for newborn babies, but wool is also the one thing that is the most costly items to buy as well as wear and tear shows much fast after several washes - even with gentle hand wash. Such things need to be replaced. 

In SA we have some wonderful vendors who make the most beautiful newborn props, outfits and accessories. But non of them are in my area, which means there is also shipping costs with each order placed. 

Lets talk about a photography studio in general.

I do stock outfits and props for older babies, all the way up to 1 year of age. This is A LOT of outfits and props from 1 week to 12 months and maternity! And I very carefully select my props and things to be timeless. I don't like high fashion items - in NOW and OUT the door next year. 5 year or 10 years form now, your images must still look as beautiful and as exciting as the day you received them.

Photo editing

Once the photoshoot is done, more work starts for me. Often the editing can take longer than the actual photo shoot itself! And this time spent on editing gets worked into my packages. I have to pay myself for this time. Newborn sessions especially take time to edit. With newborn most babies have yellow or red or blue or grey skin, pimples, scratch form their paper thin finger nails. Then still need to do a bit of skin softening ( I prefer to keep my editing as natural as possible and dont ever edit for baby to look like a plastic doll). This can take a lot of time!

For maternity session there is also a lot of time spent on editing, especially when there is certain effects done with fabric, backgrounds to extend, or skin marks to be removed.