Why Birth Photography Costs So Much
Have you ever wondered why birth photography costs so much? You’re not alone. Read on for an explanation of the amount of work a photographer has to do for a birth. Spoiler: The birthing day isn’t even half of it.
Births can be so expensive, with the hospital or midwife bill, formula and/or lactation consultant support, the baby clothes, the nursery room furniture, the anesthesia bill or labor doula fees; the list goes on and on and on. Add the cost of the photographer on top of the list, and it can feel overwhelming, and it will make you wonder why birth photography costs so much. We’re here to break it down from a photographer’s perspective so you can understand all the work that goes on behind the scenes.
Time
The amount of time a birth photographer spends on a birth factors into why birth photography costs so much. The time spent can be broken down into five categories: client meetings, pre-birth preparation, hours, days, weeks and month of on-call time, the birthing day, and the editing.
Client Meetings
The client meeting is more than just the initial interview between the couple and the photographer to see if they’re a fit for one another. There will be subsequent meetings to update the photographer on the planning process and to discuss the birthing day. A good birth photographer will periodically check in with their couple starting at 28 weeks to see if everything is going well with the pregnancy, how prenatal visits are going, and reminding the couple how to stay in proper and clear communication during these last 12 to 14 weeks of their pregnancy so that once labor does begin, the photographer will have anticipated it for months and can arrive at the correct timing. Sometimes these meetings can be done via video chat, but sometimes they require the photographer to travel away from their home to meet with the couple at their doctor or midwife’s office. This process takes a few hours.
Pre - Birth Preparation
The pre-birth preparation also factors into why birth photography costs so much. If the birth package includes a maternity shoot, fresh 48 shoot, siblings meeting shoot, and/or coming home shoot, and depending on the location where you are planning on giving birth, a photographer has to account for traveling time, photographing the couple, and editing the photos. There is often extra communication involved to get acquainted with the important people in the couples lives leading up to the day of the birth, especially if any grandparents, other family members or friends or the baby’s big brother or big sister will be coming to the birth during early labor or in the first few hours or days after the baby is born. is a new one for the photographer. The photographer needs to guide you on what to wear, since most people these days no longer wish to wear the hospital issued gown. Your photographer might even be looking online for inspiration via new angles to try shooting from or for a new take on a photo they’ve shot dozens of times. They need to prepare and pack their gear, and they need to mentally run through the shots they plan on taking. This will take your photographer another 7-10 hours depending on the length of the maternity shoot and the length of the birth session.
On-Call Time
On-Call time, also referred to as standby time, is similar to how a doctor is on-call for their patients. From the moment you are working with your birth photographer, they are on-call for your family exclusively, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until your baby is born. This means that they must drop everything at a moment’s notice if your water suddenly breaks a couple of weeks before your due date and rush to meet you at the location you’re giving birth, even if that means leaving their own engagements, such as one of their children’s birthday parties, or even Christmas Eve dinner. That also means being on-call for you even if you end up going past your estimate due date. Did you know only 5% of people go into labor on their estimated due date? That means the other 95% of people go into labor at some point roughly between 36 weeks and 42 weeks. That means nothing on the birth photographer’s schedule can be set in stone until your baby is born, even if you go 1 or 2 weeks past your estimated due date.
Birthing Day
The birthing day is anywhere from 5 hours long for moms having their 3rd or 4th babies, and can be even 40 hours long for first time moms, there is zero predictability when it comes to birth because every baby and every pregnancy is completely unique, while we can make guesstimates, they rarely are 100% accurate. Plus the drive time for the photographer too and from home. Some births may require the photographer to travel longer distances. It is not uncommon for photographers to travel 2-3 hours one way from their hometown to cover a birth story. Travel time has to be incorporated into a photographer’s cost of doing business. Every good birth photographer knows life happens and emergencies are real and will work with not only a reliable back up photographer, but also someone who intimately understands the birth process and is an excellent photographer, that person has to be paid as well. You’re suddenly getting the equivalent of anywhere from 12 to 46 hours of work when your 5 to 20 hour birth package includes two photographers.
Editing
Finally, editing is probably the most time-consuming aspect of a birth next to on-call time. Editing is one of the reasons why birth photography costs so much. Your photographer could take dozens of photos seconds apart to avoid missing a particular moment or they might be much more selective with each shot they take. So a birth photographer can photograph anywhere between 50-70 photos per hour. For a 15 hour birth that could be approximately 1000 photos. Now your photographer needs to cull these photos: separate the best photos from the average or sub-par ones. The time varies depending on the photographer, but it would probably take 3-4 hours to cull the images for a 15-hour birth.
The actual editing process takes much longer and is an even more significant factor in why birth photography cost so much. The photographer can sometimes apply a specific editor preset to multiple photos at once, but then they will go through each picture individually to manually adjust these presets to give the photo the perfect final look. Expect this process to take another 8-24 hours. Plus your photographer will probably leave your photos for some days before coming back with fresh eyes to correct any overlooked imperfections before sending you your photos.
If we’re counting hours, at the very minimum, your photographer has spent 24 hours of their time on the various aspects of one birth. This doesn’t even include the time needed to create a birth album. Now you might be wondering why your photographer takes so many weeks to send you the photos after your birth. Remember your photographer has other births to photograph, they may also have different types of photo shoots to attend, more client meetings, other client photos to edit, and their own family life.
Gear
Phew – that last section was super detailed, I promise this one will be much more succinct. After on-call time, your birth photographer’s gear is probably the third biggest reason why birth photography costs so much.
A birth photographer has at a very minimum two camera bodies to work with. This is to reduce the amount of time they have to spend switching between lenses – especially at crucial moments like the first look the moment your baby is born. This is also, so they have a backup camera if the worst case scenario happens and the camera stops working. They will have an absolute minimum of 2 lenses in their camera bag for various looks and aesthetics. One lens for super close up detail shots and one lens for the bulk of your birth story photos.
Your birth photographer will also have flashes, spare batteries and memory cards. The cost of all these items together run into tens of thousands of dollars.
Talent
I would argue that this is the number one reason birth photography costs so much. You hire a birth photographer based on the look of and the quality of work they produce. It takes so much time for a photographer to develop their shooting technique, to find their perfect editing style, to find the best way to interact with each to bring out the best reactions and expressions for photos. This takes both natural talent and high dedication to practice until they reach the ever elusive perfection. A good photographer is always paying for new workshops and researching better methods to get the results they’re looking for. They will keep an eye on which gear is the best to give you the ultimate level of quality.
You are paying for talent and experience. This is a day that you can’t recreate if something goes wrong. You want to pay for the assurance that the person photographing your big day knows how to handle any sort of lighting, any setbacks or time delays, and knows how to smoothly handle prominent personalities and reluctant subjects.
Business Expenses
Finally, your photographer has their own set of business expenses that also factor into why birth photography costs so much. There will be photographer’s insurance, accountants or accounting software, client management software to keep everything organized, and online gallery services to name a few. Not to mention, every good birth photographer has taken birth education courses to understand the physiological and medical side to birth, along with the photographic. Any physical product photographers offer couples is another expense. A computer and photo editing software is essential for a photography business.
Photography is an Investment
It is YOUR Investment
There are quite a few smaller expenses I have failed to mention to limit the length of this article. Hopefully, you have a better appreciation for why birth photography costs so much. Often birth photographers are swallowing some of these costs when starting their business to draw in more clients. They deserve a chance to earn those investments into their business back. They also deserve a chance to earn enough to support their family and to save for retirement, the way a 9-5 career does.
Finally, remember that most, if not ALL birth stories are going to occur on unpredictable dates. This means birth photographers are completely limited to the number of clients they can accept, to ensure their clients births do not overlap. Rest assured, photographers that charge a lot of money are incredibly talented and wholly dedicated to their craft.
