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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