Why is Birth Photography so expensive??

I was going to write a long, drawn-out, SEO-boosting post on this topic, but I decided instead to keep it short and sweet so that it really sticks! When you ask people with children what the best day of their life has been thus far, they will inevitably give you one of the following responses:

1. The day I married my husband/wife.

2. The day my child was born.

3. It’s a tie between 1 & 2!

And if you had a wedding, you most likely hired a photographer to capture your special day. You were willing to spend a pretty penny because you knew that it was a defining day in your life that would fly by in the blink of an eye, and you wanted to have a way to look back and remember everything — from the big moments to the little details. And that was worth the money to you.

It WILL BE the same for the birth of your child.

Let me say it louder for the people in the back:

It will be the same for the birth of your child!

So why is birth photography so expensive?? Because birth is just like a wedding except:

• You won’t be able to tell me the date of your wedding. Instead of putting it in my calendar as a Saturday wedding day, I block off 4 weeks in my calendar and keep the phone by my side the whole time. I will plan to have a babysitter ready to watch my young kids for an unknown amount of time, day OR night, on any day of the week, with very short notice. We sometimes will miss out on special events (soccer games, birthdays, holidays) with our families. We have to pre-arrange childcare (which is not cheap) weeks in advance.

• You won’t be able to tell me how long the wedding will be. Instead of planning for an 6-8 hour wedding, I have no idea how long I will be there, but will plan on being away from my family for 10-30 hours…or more!

So that, in a nutshell, is why birth photography is so “expensive,” although I could argue that it is actually way underpriced when you consider how similar it is to wedding photography, and yet even more challenging (being on call 24/7 for a birth, unpredictable birth lengths, challenging lighting conditions). At the very least, it should clarify why birth photography is not priced in the same ballpark as portrait sessions!

If you’re interested in seeing a recent birth session, check out the Birth of Killian, and if you’re interested in finding out more about birth photography or booking your due date, send me a quick note and we can chat!