For those of you who follow my blog you know that I seldom take on family clients. But this was a family I just couldn’t refuse. I think when you see the pictures, you’ll understand why. They are one of the most fun, loving and welcoming families I have met. Even the cat kept trying to join the family in the photos!
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Austin Texas birth photographer – unintentional, unassisted homebirth
This lady is a dear friend of mine. I can say honestly that I’ve never seen anyone give birth as quick as she does. I was blessed to be there for the homebirth of baby number 3 (read about that here), and I was lucky to be there for the homebirth baby number 4 as well. Sort of 😉 The night before baby Beau was born she called to make sure I was still in town as I was leaving that weekend. (Side note: This is exactly why photographers like myself always have a back up photographer ready!) She has a history of going into labor early so I knew it was likely with this baby as well. The next morning at 5:25am she texted me that contractions were 6-8 minutes apart. I fed my baby and headed out the door. Confession time: She asked me to bring some breakfast for her kids as she needed to go to the store but I did too! I stopped by Chickfila on the way over and made it to her house in just under 55 minutes. Her wonderful midwife at Central Texas Birth Center met me at the door and said “Baby is here and we missed it too.” Turns out my dear friend had an unintentional, unassisted homebirth in her tub just a little more than 30 minutes after calling me and the midwife. I was able to catch all of the great moments immediately after her birth though. Here are a few of my favorites. And check out his newborn session here.
Austin Texas Newborn Photographer – Tiny Baby Beau
Do you remember me sharing a beautiful belly photo a while back? (Stay tuned for the homebirth photos while I edit them!) Announcing the arrival is sweet tiny baby Beau! This little guy was 6 pounds when he was in for his newborn session. Aren’t those little baby toes just the most precious thing! I love capturing all the details at newborn sessions <3
And a special thanks to Allette at Glimpses Captured for helping me with this session! I just love working with you.
Thoughts from a fellow photographer
Going back to the topic of the cost of birth photography, I thought it would be great to give you another photographer’s opinion. She wrote a wonderful blog about deserving birth photography. Read on and visit her website to check out her work.
“YOU deserve to have your birth photographed. Period. There is no pre-requisite of a certain type of pregnant body, certain location of your birth, or certain amount of medical intervention to qualify for your beautiful birth to be captured. You and your baby’s birth story is a unique story deserving to be honored through photos.
Imagine spending 9 months or more planning where you are going to get married. You plan exactly who is going to attend this ceremony. You plan exactly how you want events to turn out. You plan who is going to officiate the service. You’ve planned the atmosphere of whether you want your ceremony being quaint or crowded with a bunch of people cheering you on to enter the next phase of life. You plan what you are going to wear or not wear. You plan for every single detail, big or small. You pay the officiant, a wedding planner, the wedding venue hosts, and the musicians. Can you imagine planning every single detail of one of the biggest days of your life and not hiring a professional photographer? You just decide that iPhone pictures taken by your mom give this special day justice.
There is absolutely no way to fully capture the true atmosphere and details of your wedding day with your phone. The same goes for your birth and moments of postpartum with your new baby. Your birth is worth capturing by a professional photographer. No, birth is not always roses and sunshine, but the real and raw moments that unfold as labor and delivery play out is just as beautiful as any wedding I’ve ever seen. This day may trump your most important day of your life and you want to have it documented. Plan for birth photography to be incorporated in to your birth plan along with your care providers and any other people invited in to your special birth day!
So remember you, yes YOU, and all other mommy-to-be’s deserve to have birth photography, because each story is worthy to be told!”
Thoughts?
I hear frequently that birth photography is too expensive. I understand that not all people can afford to hire a photographer and that’s ok! What I value {photography} may be different than what you value. Others assume that photographers just have a nice camera, point the camera, snap a quick picture and that’s all there is to it. Oh friend, there is so much more though!
Most people don’t consider what all goes into birth photography. The obvious things are taxes, equipment, liability insurance, education/training and professional organization dues. These things alone cost more than a few thousand dollars. For sake of discussion let’s assume that most photographers have invested $5000 at a bare minimum. This number doesn’t take into account any future equipment upgrades, editing software or new lenses. Add in marketing costs for things like brochures, price lists, business cards, and sample costs for products I offer. For this discussion let’s assume $1000 is spent a year.
Next let’s discuss the actual birth. I am on call from 37 weeks until delivery so that can be 5 weeks that I am glued to my phone waiting expectantly for your call. When that call comes, whether 2am or during business hours, I drop everything and run to your birth. As we all know, all births are different and can take a few minutes or a few days and I am there the entire birth. After the birth, I will edit EVERY image to present to you. Depending on how quick your birth was or wasn’t, this could be up to 200 images.
I’m going to get personal now. I’m a mom of 3 kids – 8 1/2, 6 1/2, and 16 months and one of my children has medical needs. When a client goes into labor, it doesn’t matter when or where I am. I have to quickly arrange for my kids to get dropped off or picked up from school or therapy and call a babysitter for the baby. I am still nursing, so I have to always have milk pumped and ready for the baby. I also have to bring the pump with me so that if I’m at a long birth I don’t get engorged, because let’s face it – mastitis sucks. When I’m at a birth I may be missing a birthday, holiday, school event, or simply not getting to tuck my kids into bed at night. I may not get to see my husband more than a quick kiss hello/goodbye. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make because I love being able to document birth stories and creating those images for you to cherish.
Let’s get back to the numbers. I take on 2 sessions a month, or 24 session a year. If each birth brings in $1500 I pay $600 in income tax. That leaves me $900 dollars of each birth to pay for expenses and my salary. If I take the $1000 in marketing and approximately $1000 for insurance and professional fees, divided between 24 session that’s another $83 of each session leaving me $817. I have to pay for childcare, so take out at least another $100, bringing my total to $717. Think about it – $700 is all I make to capture memories you will always cherish. As one client stated, it’s the only way to be able to tell the story in the future.
$700 may not seem like a lot to you, but to me it’s a therapy visits, or doctor’s bills. It’s a vacation for fun instead of an out of town doctor’s appointment. It’s a way to provide for my family. And you know what else it is? PASSION. I love it. I love watching new lives enter the world. There is something so magical about birth that nothing else can duplicate. The bond babies have with their mom is just amazing. I am so thankful to those who have allowed me to be a part of their birth team and capture these fleeting moments. <3
Sweet Little Catepillar
This little girl was such a dream to work with. I needed a model for a Hungry Caterpillar hat set for my vendor Naked Sheep Design. (She has some seriously amazing stuff, go check her out!) Sweet little girl slept for me and when she was awake she was the happiest little girl. Did you know that newborns smile? Really! Check out her cute smiles.
The long wait – a hospital birth story
This sweet little boy decided to take his time getting here. Mom was 40 weeks and 5 days before he decided it was time to make his grand debut at the hospital. Mom was so patient – more than I would have been! Mom was pretty sure she was in labor and headed to her doctor’s office to verify. She was! They sent her next door to the hospital to check in. I met mom and dad at the hospital later that morning. It was a super rainy, heavy traffic day so thankfully there was no baby born in the car. Mom was in great spirits and it was hard to believe she was in active labor. Even as her labor progressed she was happy and managed the pain extremely well. When it was time to meet the sweet little boy, mom was strong and did a great job bringing him earthside. He was so happy to be in his momma’s arms and calmed right down. Welcome to the world little man! Keep an eye on the blog for pictures from his newborn session.
Fresh 48 with her furry family
I love Fresh 48 sessions! Not only do I get to see squishy, cute, adorable babies, but I get to see them at home where they are loved like no other. This little girl was surrounded by her family – human and furry! I have a sneaky feeling that one day these two will be best friends. Congrats mom & dad! She is just gorgeous! Thanks for letting me spend the evening with you.
Beautiful Belly
I had the pleasure of doing this sweet friend’s maternity photos (see those here) and birth story last year. You probably recognize her from her amazing home birth (see those images here). Once again, I was able to spend some time doing her maternity pictures and soon you will get to see another awesome home birth from her. (Have I convinced you yet that she rocks her births!??) I wanted to make sure we captured the time with her other kiddos before she adds baby #4 to the mix. We are missing mom with middle pictures, but that’s ok because little boys would rather play while we are at the park 🙂 Don’t worry, we got some cute ones of him! I included one so you believe me.
Baby E Birth
Birth is beautiful and unpredictable. This sweet lady was in labor for a long time. She started out at a birth center, transferred to a hospital and ended up needing a c-section. The birth went nothing like the plan but it was still magical. It was so wonderful to see all of the support and love surrounding her throughout her birth.