Why is Birth Photography so Expensive? | Dickinson + Bismarck Birth Photographer
Did you have a little sticker shock the first time you got a quote from a professional photographer? You’re not alone!
Listen, I’m a photographer now, but I remember being young and dumb and uninformed and saying, “That’s ridiculous!” the first time I looked at price lists for a professional photographer. And that was “just” family photography, which doesn’t come with all of the extra challenges of custom labor and delivery photography.
If you’re anything like me, you like to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck, but you’re also willing to pay a little more for a high quality service that’s not going to disappoint.
It’s like when you go to buy a new pair of jeans.
There are a wide range of prices, quality levels and attention to detail depending on your budget and the experience you want.
It’s the same with all types of photography, but especially birth photography! Let me share some things to consider before you hire a professional photographer for your birth.
1. Unpredictability
First of all, one of the biggest factors that influences the cost of birth photography is the sheer unpredictability of the thing. Everyone knows babies don’t look at calendars and they can decide to come at any hour of the day or night.
Even if your birth is scheduled, that doesn’t mean that baby won’t choose to come before then or that you won’t have to reschedule due to the L&D floor being full, your care provider’s schedule, etc.
The on-call aspect is literally the number one reason I hear from photographers that are interested in documenting birth stories, but can’t manage to make the rest of their life and business work around the unpredictability of birth.
Not only is there the unpredictability of when labor will start, but there’s also the unknown of how long a labor will actually last. In my 11 years of birth work, I’ve been at births for anywhere from 2 hours to 3 days.
Recently, another birth worker told me about a client who hired two separate photographers to document her birth, one after the other, whom both had something come up and had to back out of their contracts and she almost didn’t have the photos she desperately wanted, except that her birth support team swooped in and found someone else for her at the last minute. This is a situation that would not happen with a dedicated birth photographer.
For instance, when I’m on-call for a birth, that means that for up to a month of my life, I’m not traveling out of the area, I’m not drinking, I’ve paid an on-call babysitter to be available for my kids, there’s a clean set of work clothes laid out, any plans I make come with a giant “if I’m not at a birth” disclaimer, my phone ringer stays on all night (because I’m too paranoid to set up ‘do not disturb’ bypasses for my clients), if you call me at 3 AM in labor, I’m ready to go. And so is my family. Our life revolves my birth clients and their babies.
When you count in the number of hours spent on-call, most birth photographers are making far less than minimum wage.
2. Education & Experience
Then there’s the part where you really can’t pull just any professional photographer off the street and into a labor room and have them document the story without disrupting the space and the energy. Birth is so incredibly different than any other photography job, both from a technical and an emotional standpoint.
“Personally, as lovely as our wedding photos are, my birth photos hold far more meaning, poignancy, and are a more authentic representation of my husband’s tenderness towards me and our relationship than our wedding photos could ever be.”
Birth photography requires professional photography skills, but also an inside knowledge of how the birth process works, what different stages of labor look like, common interventions, the sights, the sounds, the smells of birth. An experienced birth photographer is prepared to compensate for when the labor and delivery room goes from nearly dark to lit up like the sun by the spotlight used for delivery.
Not only that, but birth is a physical process that has the potential to be profoundly affected by other people in the birth space. A birth photographer is aware and respectful of this sensitivity, taking care to read the room and hold onto stillness when it’s needed. When things go sideways, they know how to document discreetly, but also when to put the camera down. Most importantly, a professional birth photographer knows that feeling safe and respected are imperative to the laboring person’s process.
Simply knowing when to arrive at a labor is a skill gained by experience, yet never perfected, since every birth is so different. Get there too early and risk a labor slowing because there are too many observers in the birth space for the body to kick over into active labor (something along the lines of “A watched pot never boils” applies here). Get there too late and, well, it’s not like you can put the baby back in and have a do-over.
All that to say, professional birth photography isn’t something just anyone with a camera can do. A professional birth photographer brings a level experience and education (birth doula trainings, birth photography-specific trainings, etc.) that is often acquired over years and paid for with passion, tears, adrenaline, and cold hard dollar bucks.
3. Professional Gear
Just like any other professional photographer, a birth photographer needs camera gear that can produce consistent, crisp images, regardless of how low the light may be or how fast things are moving.
Personally, my gear is worth over $10,000 and needs to be replaced every few years. A new camera body costs upwards of $3,000 and lenses are easily $800 or more. High quality memory cards: $100+. External hard drives for storing and processing files: $200. That may not sound like a lot in the grand scheme of business ownership, but to a solopreneuer without a business line of credit, that’s a lot and needs to be taken into consideration when it comes to pricing.
4. Continuing Education
As a birth photographer who takes my craft seriously, staying current on professional practices within both the birth and photography worlds in important. That looks like registration fees for online conferences, courses, maintaining my certifications as a doula—which is important because there are times when that certification is what tells a skeptical nurse or cranky anesthesiologist that I am more than just an extra person with a camera.
5. Business Expenses
Just like any other business, a birth photographer pays taxes, carries insurance, and invests in marketing. Website, accounting software, legal and tax experts, client management software, editing software, computer equipment, vehicle expenses, and on and on. It all comes at a cost.
6. Unpredictability
I’m adding this one again because the unpredictability of working in the birth space cannot be overstated.
I once heard someone liken birth photography to wedding photography—if you only knew that the wedding was going to happen at some point during a given month, with no one knowing exactly the day or the hour. It could be in the dark of night or the bright of day. It might be a 3-day Indian extravaganza or a quiet 3-hour backyard affair. But the most crucial part of both weddings and births is that they can’t be repeated or rescheduled. Those moments aren’t replicable and if you want them documented and preserved, it needs to be done right the first time.
Personally, as lovely as our wedding photos are, my birth photos hold far more meaning, poignancy, and are a more authentic representation of my husband’s tenderness towards me and our relationship than our wedding photos could ever be.