5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Newborn Photographer
Most people work with a newborn photographer only a few times in their lives, so hiring one can feel a bit daunting. After all, how do you hire for something you’ve never done before? Or you’ve done only once or twice? And that’s why I am writing this blog post today. Because this is an important decision, who to hire to capture those first few weeks of your baby’s life. And when you’ve never done it before, it can be a bit overwhelming. In this post, I will discuss questions/considerations you should ask/have about a photographer before hiring them, so that you can get the images that you’ll cherish for the rest of your life and your child will cherish for the rest of theirs.
The Importance of Choosing the Right Newborn Photographer
As I mentioned above, choosing the right newborn photographer is an important decision. Although you’ll most likely be taking tons of photos on your phone, let’s be honest here. Those phone photos aren’t photos you’re going to be printing at a 16” x 20” size and framing for display on your wall. Your newborn portrait photos though, should be just that. They should be images that you’re proud to show off. You’re proud to make into gifts for the grandparents. And you’re proud to show your child when they are old enough to ask “can I see what I looked like when I was a baby?”
Choosing the wrong photographer, whether it be because the image quality wasn’t up to your standards or the images weren’t what you expected, can be heartbreaking. Your child is a newborn only once. You essentially have only one chance to capture these photos. Since that time can be so fleeting, when those photos don’t come out the way you were hoping, you may not be able to redo the session. So getting it right the first time is really important.
I should also mention something, not to scare you, but to inform you. Certain types of newborn photography, specifically posed newborn photography, can be dangerous. For the same reason that many of those rockers and baby loungers have been recalled over the past few years, certain poses should never be done with a newborn. It can cause harm. So making sure that you are working with someone that knows what they are doing isn’t just a matter of getting the images you want, it can also be a matter of safety for your newborn.
Question 1: What's Their Style?
There is a reason this is the first question. It’s because it is a big one for getting the types of images you’re hoping to get from your session. Many don’t know this outside the industry. There are two schools of thought when it comes to newborn photography. One is lifestyle newborn photography. The other is posed. They produce very different kinds of photos, so be sure that you’re looking at a photographer that produces the types of images you want before you proceed any further with considering the photographer.
I personally do lifestyle newborn photography. So all the images on this post are in the “lifestyle” school of thought. In lifestyle images, you’ll find images within the setting of the home or outdoor location. They are more environmental in that way, showing the environment around the subject as well as the subject itself. Lifestyle will include the whole family. It focuses on connection between the family members. So babies will be held by their parents for the majority of the session. Photos will be taken with siblings. And you’ll get a full family photo. When it comes to capturing baby alone, you’ll find more naturalistic poses. And you’ll find babies doing things that you would expect a newborn to do.
The other type of newborn photography is posed. These are the images you see of babies in baskets, babies in hammocks, and babies in poses that aren’t technically natural to a baby. They are typically done in a studio or with a studio set-up in a home. And these images are often of just baby alone. Props are often utilized for the images and color schemes are planned ahead.
To make matters more confusing, there are many photographers that combine these two approaches. They may get images with the whole family that are a bit more lifestyle and then when it comes to baby images you’ll see the posed images. So be watching out for cues as to the photographer’s approach when you’re looking at their portfolio. Look at both images of families with newborns and newborns on their own to see what kind of images you can expect. And when you meet with a photographer before you hire them, make sure to ask specifically about their own personal approach and what kinds of images they like to capture during a session. Their explanation may highlight some things that you wouldn’t have noticed by looking at their portfolio alone.
Question 2: What's Included in the Package?
If you thought the different approaches to photographing a newborn session weren’t different enough, now you are venturing into the other two major schools of thought in photography - prints versus digital image files. Photographers will offer either prints or digital files or a combination of the two depending on their own personal philosophies and their business models. The first way to know what school of thought a photographer prescribes to is to look for clues on their website. Some photographers will speak generally about their pricing and others will list it up front. Know that the amount of information available on a website will vary based on if the photographer feels that explaining their pricing to you in person is important in understanding it or not. Photography pricing can be confusing. Just check out my whole blog post about portrait pricing to get a glimpse into that world. But there will be clues on their website regardless of the amount of information they share. Print photographers will highlight their print products on their website, whereas digital file focused photographers may not. Another good place to look is the FAQs section to see if they mention what they offer.
When you meet with your prospective photographer, ask them specifically what is included and make sure that you have a full pricing sheet available. Don’t make assumptions about what is included and what isn’t. And don’t make assumptions about what types of products they may offer. For example, many people will assume that digital image files are included in a session fee when often they are not. So always ask and never assume. The last situation you want to find yourself in is after the session realizing that the photographer is out of your budget.
Question 3: What's Their Experience with Newborns?
I contemplated having this question be the first question, because it is so important. As I mentioned above, some poses can be dangerous for newborns. And poses done wrong can cause something called positional asphyxiation. Which cannot always be seen when a baby is sleeping. Some popular poses are ones that cannot be done in one shot. If the photographer hasn’t been trained properly and/or is inexperienced, they will try these poses and it is dangerous for the newborn. One example I always like to use is the “head in hands pose”. It’s a pose where it looks like a newborn is holding their own head up with their hands. No newborn can do this. This image can only be done by creating a composite. A composite is a combination of multiple photos with the baby being appropriately supported the entire time, but you don’t see that support in the resulting composite image. I know of inexperienced photographers trying this pose in one shot, because they didn’t know better. And that is dangerous.
So how do you know if a photographer has a lot of experience with newborns? Unfortunately it can be hard to tell. Some newborn photographers will have certifications. But, if you ask me, certifications in the field of photography aren’t what you’ll find in other professions. Often there is no real check on if a photographer really knows their stuff. It’s on the honor system. So I don’t recommend trusting badges on a website. Instead look at their portfolio and make sure you see a history of photographing newborns. And then ask them in your pre-booking meeting about their experience. Specifically ask about safety and how they ensure that your baby is safe during the session.
Question 4: Do They Have a Portfolio to Showcase?
This really isn’t a question that should need to be asked. Before you reach out to a photographer, you should have already viewed their portfolio online. But I would like to take a moment to discuss things you should be looking for in a portfolio.
A Professional Newborn Photography Portfolio Should be Hosted on it’s Own URL
The first sign that you are working with a professional is that they have their own website. It doesn’t take much money, but it does take a lot of time to build up a robust website. The fact that it doesn’t take much money, means that if a photographer is not even hosting their own website they are cutting corners they shouldn’t be. And then you have to wonder what other corners they are cutting as well.
So what do I mean by their own website? I mean that the URL should be www.companyname.com. It should not be companyname.pixieset.com or companyname.shootproof.com or just a Facebook profile. They should have their own website and their own homepage. One caveat is that the actual portfolio may have a URL as previously mentioned. And that is fine. It just means that they are managing their portfolio through one of those services. But the homepage should be at www.companyname.com.
This is Business 101, so this is a big corner to cut if they are not doing it. Only businesses planning to be around for the long term and willing to put the work in to run a legitimate business will have their own website.
Robust Website
A robust website means an established photographer. It takes a lot of experience and time to build a robust website. So if a photographer has quite a few blog posts and multiple pages on their website, it means that they have been in business for a while. Why is that so important? Because in a world where everyone with something fancier than a phone thinks they are a photographer, you don’t want to be caught working with a supposedly professional photographer. You want to be working with an actual professional photographer. Because that means that they won’t get overwhelmed when jobs start coming in, will show up to said jobs, and will deliver your photos.
Consistent Portfolio
Now let’s take a moment to discuss the photos in the portfolio as well. You should be looking for consistency. Their editing shouldn’t be all over the place. You shouldn’t see light and airy photos next to dark and moody photos. Only newer and inexperienced photographers do that. Only experienced and veteran photographers understand editing well enough to remain consistent.
Consistency goes beyond editing though. Also make sure that you’re seeing a long history of photographing newborn photography. Make sure that the entire portfolio isn’t just one family. That there are multiple families. That is the only way to know that this photographer has done this more than once.
These Are Photos You’d Want
There are a lot of great photographers out there. The easiest way to narrow them down to the one you should hire is making sure that you are only speaking to photographers that produce the photos you want. So first of all, make sure it is the style of newborn photography you want. I am speaking in regards to posed vs lifestyle. Then make sure that you like the way they edit. And make sure that the photos they are capturing are the photos you want captured. A professional is going to capture your session similar to how they have captured sessions in the past, so make sure that these are the types of images you’ll want.
Don’t expect them to change their style. Don’t expect them to capture a series of poses you don’t see in their portfolio. And don’t expect them to edit in a different way. Photography is an art. It is a way of seeing the world. They cannot mimic other photographers. They can only shoot the way they shoot. They may be able to replicate one or two poses to match something else from another session, but to ask a photographer to do more than that is a recipe for trouble.
Question 5: Safety and Illnesses
We touched on safety in the section on experience. But I want to touch on it again, as it is an important aspect of working with newborns. A photographer shouldn’t just be safe in regards to poses. They should also be safe in regards to all aspects that might be affecting the newborn, the mom, and the family.
Vaccinations
Is the photographer fully vaccinated for everything that someone handling newborns should be vaccinated for? I personally would expect my photographer to be up-to-date on their DTAP, COVID-19, and flu shots. And, of course, any other vaccinations you would expect an adult to be vaccinated for.
Illness
Will this photographer be upfront if they are sick and reschedule if needed? This is a complicated one, because there’s two parts to this. You need to make sure that this photographer will be willing to let you know that they are sick and reschedule. You also need to make sure that this photographer isn’t booking themselves so much that they have the flexibility to reschedule if needed. A good indication on if a photographer isn’t booking themselves too much is to make sure they are charging a sustainable amount for the session. The less a photographer charges for a session, the more they have to book to make ends meet and the less flexibility they have in their schedule for reschedules.
Rescheduling Policies
It is weird to think that rescheduling policies would affect the safety in a session, but it most definitely does. As I brought up above, you want to make sure that the photographer can and will reschedule if they are sick. You also want to make sure that a photographer is willing to reschedule based on the nature of the birth. Will the photographer be able to reschedule if your baby ends up in the NICU? Or you have a difficult delivery? Or the baby is high risk and can’t have visitors for a while? Find out their policies when it comes to rescheduling after baby has arrived to make sure that all bases are covered.
Interviewing Prospective Newborn Photographers
If this blog post hasn’t gotten across this idea, I’m going to say it nice and clear. You should be interviewing prospective newborn photographers. Don’t make the decision based on a website alone or a few emails back and forth. This session is too important to make a decision without meeting with the person. This might be just over the phone, over video chat, or in person. Regardless the medium, make sure that you are asking the questions that need to be asked and paying close attention to the answers. Ask follow up questions as needed and don’t be afraid to ask too much. This is worth a thorough vetting process. There really is only one chance to get your newborn session done. Babies grow up much faster than you think they will and there rarely is a second chance.
Sara Herkes is a maternity, newborn, family, and senior photographer based in Longmont, CO. She serves the the Denver Metro Area, the Colorado Rockies, and the Northern Front Range and captures your pregnancy amidst the Colorado wilderness. Learn more about her services here.
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