How many hours work go into a newborn photography session?
Some people are unaware how much work goes in to a newborn photoshoot. They assume you can just pick up your i-phone and take a few pics. Of course you can and there is a time and a place for these photos. Those spur of the moment photos; those special, private, intimate moments; the feeding in the middle of the night photos. What we are talking about is the photos on the coffee table photos, the photos on the wall of the nursery photos, the photos on your desk at work photos. So just to give you a little idea, here goes:
Before the newborn photography session
Before the day that we photograph your newborn baby there will have been plenty of emails shared between us. You will have let us know your due date so that we can reserve sufficient space in our diary. You will have decided whether you are going to come to the studio or whether we are going to come to your home. Once baby has made an appearance we will have sent you a form to fill in with your details and preferences. We will then have spent a couple of hours planning which different set ups we are planning attempt. Also, we will be matching colours and textures according to your requirements, your baby’s size and sex. We then get everything packed up or set up for the big day.
The day of the session
If we are coming to you, then the two us (two of us for safety reasons – one to hold the camera, one to hold the baby) will jump in the car with all of our equipment. We drive anywhere within an hour of the studio (further by arrangement). If you are coming to the studio then we will have tidied up and put the kettle on.
We tell parents to allow up to 4 hours for the session. The main reason for this is so that everyone is relaxed (keeping baby relaxed). We don’t want anyone feeling that they have to rush off for anything. The other reason is to allow plenty of time for feeding, cuddling, changing, accidents etc. Oh, and the occasional cup of tea.
After the session
Anyone keeping tabs will see that we are already up to potentially 16 man hours. Next Pamila heads to the computer to see what gems we have captured. She will make a selection of the finest images and retouch them to her unique style. This will be at least another full day’s work. Then we invite you back to the studio to watch a slideshow of the images and to decide how you would like to keep and display them. This may also involve coffee and biscuits.
Overheads
That’s all the fun stuff. As you can see we devote a lot of our time to your precious little bundle. You only get one chance as the newborn window is very small and we want to do our best for you. On top of all the hours we have had a lot of training from some of the best in the industry primarily focusing on your baby’s safety. We have public liability and professional indemnity insurance. We have spent thousands of pounds on top of the range equipment from iMacs and backups to cameras and lenses to studio lights and backdrops. Oh and a few hundred headbands, bonnets, blankets and props.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and that it might go some way to help you understand what is involved. To find out more or to make a booking click here or send us an email here.
Stay up to date with our latest photography sessions by following our Instagram feed here.
