Birth Pictures Question

[MonkeyPrincess]

I attend lots of births and take pictures for the families, but I really feel like I'd like to start charging for my time - on call, at the birth and the time it takes to edit/copy and get the pics to the clients.

Not professional quality, but much better than handing a point and shoot camera to whoever is in the room.

Includes on call availability, arrival during strong active phase and immediate postpartum. Pictures cropped/edited, in black and white on cd.

How much would you be willing to pay for birth pictures?

[lunarlady]

That is an interesting question because while I sort of wish I had pictures of my DD birth, I really wouldn't want a stranger there. (It is one of the reasons I went for homebirth).

But assuming we were friends, or you were my midwife's assistant or something, I would easily pay $300-$500 or so, esp. if I got to have digital copies of the images free of copyright. (Something most wedding photographers do not do). For the higher end, I guess I would expect some printed copies of pictures, maybe a "birth book" or something similar. I would also want your written consent to not post or distribute the pictures in any way as I feel birth is a very personal and private event. HTH!

[MonkeyPrincess]

Yes, I am apprenticing with a midwife - that's where most of the picture taking opportunities would come from. However, because I need to make some money to cover expenses while apprenticing, I am going to branch out to other midwives in the area.

I do have a release form that parents sign, and can choose wether or not to allow me to have rights to the pictures. They of course, can do whatever they want with the pictures.

Thanks for replying.

[laughingfox]

So, you're working as a midwife apprentice, and not just as a photographer?
If you're going to be there anyway, and taking pictures is just an extra thing to do (i.e. photography is not the reason you're on call or the reason you're making the trip to my house), I probably wouldn't pay more than $50-$100 for digital images with a standard digital camera, or maybe $200-$300 if you had a really nice professional-quality setup, assuming that I would own all rights to the images.
If you were planning on using any of the images for portfolio building, to further your career, in advertisements, etc., I'd expect a reduction in fees.

However, I've never hired a professional photographer, so I don't really have a basis for comparison.

(Also, I'm on a very tight budget, especially when trying to pay off my midwife, so I'd want to know about the availability and price of photography service as soon as possible so I could look at my budget, see if it's doable, and save up for it.)

[MonkeyPrincess]

For most births, I'd be there as an apprentice...and as of right now, I don't charge anything. I take the pictures with my camera, crop/flip them black and white, and put them on a cd. As much as I just love doing it, I'm in a rough place financially, and its getting to the point where I need to bring in some cash to cover child care for apprenticing or I can't continue. I am also trying to get more photography work with other midwives in the area, and that's the situation I am looking to figure out how much to charge for.

I do have a really nice Canon, with the ability to use specialized lenses and flashes (which I will acquire as I am able, with the money from taking birth photos).

The parents would own the rights to the pictures, but I do have a release form that I give everyone to sign that has a place to initial if they are willing to allow me to use the pictures. What I might possibly use them for would be something like submitting them to Midwifery Today, or in a photo book to use like a portfolio, or for educational purposes in childbirth classes.

Thanks for the input! I appreciate it.