Now, you may have several important questions in mind starting with – what on earth is Baby Photography or Family Photography and why should I get a session done for mine? I take a zillion photographs of my wife, husband, babies, granparents, their shoes, selfies of our movie outings and what not on my fancy iPhone and even on my fancier, bulky 54920238292 megapixel DSLR with a super zoom of 20000X all the time! In fact I take at least 50 photos every day and am regular in posting on facebook, instagram, twitter and every social media platform!
I take your question, and respond with three further questions:
1. How many of these 92043820192830 photographs have you printed (and therefore made them digital-disk-failure proof and have actually therefore preserved them as memories which can be easily revisited cherished years after)?
2. How many photographs from, say 5 years back, do you actually revisit and relive and share with your family and friends over a casual cup of coffee, chatting about those stories from those days?
Family photography sessions and baby photography sessions make sure that this precious phase of your life is taken care of and preserved with care and love. In addition, your photographer would be making basic but essential styling recommendations before your shoot so that she can capture your best self! A lot of people choose to get sessions done at their home or outdoors – a place that is special to you and somewhere your little one is comfortable. From my experience as a baby photographer, I can tell you that babies, toddler and young children find themselves at home at their local park where they usually go to play every single day. That’s what they associate fun-time with, and it’s very easy to get them to open up, be themselves while memories are being created.
While choosing a baby photographer or family photographer for your special session, keep the following factors in mind:
1. Style: Consider the style of the photographer. Notice the following points to decide whether you like their style
(i) Amount of props used or not used.
(ii) Choice of clothes for the baby or child – what the baby or child would ordinarily wear (albeit for special occasions) or is it a costume.
(ii) Whether the photographs are mostly posed or are moments.
(iii) Notice the colours, the vibrancy/ dullness, the feel of an image. Your images would likely be what you see on their site/ page.
2. Comfort Level: While photographing families and babies, it’s important that there’s an element of trust and support. You’d be letting someone who could be a perfect stranger, into your family, close to your precious little one and even into your home if you wish to have a shoot done at your place. You’re trusting them with images of the most special people in your life. Hence, it’s important that you feel comfortable with the person, and know that they are thorough professionals to work with, are methodical about their work.
3. Women Photogs: I know I’m biased on this one, but usually women photographers are better at interacting with and handling young kids than men! And children also open up faster to warm, fun and happy women.
4. Response Time: You’d be engaging your photographer for a valuable and special service. See how long their response time is and whether they’re courteous and prompt with replies. This is important because you’d be dealing with your photographer for at least a month after the shoot, and may also be going back for sessions to them.
5. Pricing: Budget is an important factor and the focus here should be on building a relationship with your photographer who’s good to work with and who is be happy to give you the best service possible!