Advice on desire for baby photography

[im1dermike]

My wife and I are expecting a baby in 4 months and we're thinking ahead to photographs of our newborn. I looked into baby photographers and, on average, it costs about $1,200 for a disc of high-res digital images resulting from a 2 hour photograph session. I'm having trouble rationalizing paying for this considering what else could be done with that money.

I don't really have any photography knowledge or skill and, given my other obligations, can't make it a hobby. I bought a Canon G10 five years ago or so. The thought was that I didn't really want to invest the time and energy into learning how to use an SLR and the G10 would be a high quality point and shoot. I was hoping for some feedback from experienced photographers on what I should do.

Is the G10 capable of taking reasonably good baby pictures or should I really go with an SLR? Would learning basic/important photography techniques via online article, Youtube, or even an in-person session be valuable if I intended to use the G10 or only if I went with an SLR? Are any lens or other additional hardware worth it to make my G10 better?

Thanks in advance.
Mike

 

[Rosy]

Newborn photography is quite challenging which results in the cost of the session. Have you shopped around a bit more, $1200 is a bit steep. You might reach out to someone her on the forum, that lives n your area. They might give you a better rate or confirm that that's the going rate for area X.
If you are up for the challenge, take a course or 2. Read refernce books and buy your self an entry level DSLR (Nikon of course...) the rewards will be ten-fold. You'll be capturing the little nuggets life and who cares if they are not Professional quality you captured the moment...(priceless).

 

[curtyoungblood]

A very quick google search results in several Philadelphia area newborn photographers who are priced well under the $1200 price that you mentioned.

It is unlikely that you are going to get pictures that are anywhere near as good as the photos that you'll produce yourself. You yourself admit that you have no photography knowledge, and without knowing how to pose an infant or understanding light, you're not going to get a great keepsake.

 

[Designer]

That quote seems high to me as well. I am just more practical I guess.

As to taking pictures yourself, sure, the camera is part of it, but so is the light. If it were me, even without some experience, I would take the pictures myself. Start by looking at some photographers' pictures of babies. Analyze what makes a good photograph. Do some practicing. Make a diffuser/reflector for your built-in flash. And for Pete's sake, DON'T copy the clichés. Good luck! Have fun!

 

[cgw119 144]

I'd put whatever budget you have towards an entry-level/mid-range DSLR with decent hi-ISO performance and a fast-ish 35mm lens(50mm equivalent on APS-C sensor cameras). Skip a slow kit zoom. Avoid flash whenever possible in favor of natural light, especially for a newborn. The sort of kit I mentioned will deliver that. Skip "baby" photographers. Your kid deserves better and you two can deliver it. Face it, you'll make time(happily) to get the hang of shooting the kid. You can't take enough pix, so don't limit yourself.

 

[WardQ]

I, personally, would spend the money on a pro (after doing my research of course!).

That being said, the advantage to doing it yourself is if you don't like the lighting/props/poses/etc, you can do it again and again until you're happier with the pictures.

 

[tirediron]

...Is the G10 capable of taking reasonably good baby pictures or should I really go with an SLR?...

This is analogous to asking, "Is my Husky-brand socket set suitable for rebuilding the engine in my mini-van or should I buy a Snap-On set?" The camera is more than capable of producing stellar images in the hands of a knowledgeable operator. The question you need to ask is, "Are we going to regret a D-I-Y approach to our child's first year when he's a teenager?" $1200 for a disc of high-resolution images is CHEAP! Remember, that's the same as buying the negatives; you can make all of the prints you want whenever you want, wherever you want. That said, I suspect you could find a skilled photographer who would provide you with a nice print package fof $4-600. IF you're more concerned with just capturing random moments, you and your G10 will do just fine, IF however you (or more likely the grandparents) want higher quality portraits, the $1200 will soon seem like a small price after a year or two of snide remarks and back-handed compliments.

 

[paigew]

That seems about standard to me for the entire disc. Many photographers offer packages where you can purchase say 10 digital files of the entire session. This is much more affordable. You can also order albums or prints rather than having the entire session digitally. I would spend the money and hire a real pro. Speaking from someone who doesn't have any pro photos of my own newborns. It is worth it.

Even people skilled at using a camera have trouble with newborn photography.

 

[Civchic]

I take decent pictures of my kids (I'm not a human portrait artist by any stretch of the imagination, but kids DO move slightly slower than birds) as we do stuff out and about, even a couple of fairly nice posed portraits. I still get professional family photos done every 9-12 months. It's a major difference - not the least reason because YOU will be in the photos as well. As for baby pictures, I have beautiful newborn photos of my daughter - and I think ONE nice photo of my son (before we started doing the pro shots) that I took. ONE. Get the pro shots, but shop around. $1200 is a lot, and you don't really need a whole disc of images. A 10-image package or a print package is all you need.

 

[im1dermike]

Thanks for all the valuable feedback. I think I'm inclined to get professional newborn photos, assuming we get get a reduced price on a subset of images. Then I'll try to get some basic fundamentals of photography down using my G10 (at least to start) so I can take better pictures moving forward.

Thanks again