Newborn Photography Pricing | "Why Is It So Expensive?"

It can be hard to understand the pricing of newborn photography when you're not in the business. But like all photography, especially newborn photography, there is so much more to it than clicking a button. So, minus the charge of the photographers talent, I wanted to share the top 5 reasons for Lp photography's newborn pricing.

1. Props -Not all newborn photographers use props and that's okay. Everyone has their own style and mine consist of wraps, bowls, newborn headbands, newborn outfits, newborn pillows, and an assortment of different blankets used as backdrops to give the shoot a wider variety of images. I need these props to create the style of photos my clients are seeking. Plus, since I wash everything between clients, and since newborn props are usually made from very supple fabrics, my props need to be replaced regularly.

2. Length Of Time - Newborn photo shoots usually last between 3 to 4 hours. It begins with unloading my gear, preparing the room, and setting up lights, stands, props, etc. After that it's all about the baby (or babies), which means we stop and start photographing when they say so. For example, there are many times where the baby's diaper needs to be changed, maybe they started crying and need to be soothed or maybe they just need to eat. And after many of these events, we have to wait for them to fall back to sleep.

3. Editing - After the photo shoot is finished, I head home and upload all the photos, narrow them down to the best of the bunch, and begin to edit each one. Typically my clients will have between 30-80 images to choose from, editing all of these usually takes about a week. Once the photographs are to my liking, I create a slideshow for the family and present it to them in their home. Editing by far is the most time consuming, most important, most detailed and most challenging part of the job.

4. Prep. - Preparing for a newborn shoot is an underrated, but very important part of my job. My office is filled with shelving and different bins to keep all of my props and gear organized. I like to double and even triple check I have everything I need--there would be nothing worse than my client setting aside a chunk of their day only to find some critical piece of gear was forgotten. Luckily, that hasn't happened, and since I take my photo shoot prep very seriously, I will not be letting any mistakes or oversights happen.

5. Gear - It takes a lot of gear to create images that are up to my standard and that my clients will cherish forever. For instance, I need an AlienBee Light , a Newborn Posing Bed, an Impact 7' Parabolic Umbrella, a Flash Trigger & Receiver Kit. Then there are essentials like my Nikon D600 Camera, two different lenses, SD cards, extra hard drives, my laptop, iPad, editing software, marketing software and all of the other things needed to run a successful small business.

Newborn Photo Shoot Photography Gear