Weddingbee boards

Alright, this is an interesting situation, so bear with me please.

I have the insane blessing of having a professional photographer in my family, my SIL shot my senior photos, my wedding, and now my maternity session, all gratutiously free-of-charge (I only pay for prints), and breaks all her policies for me just because I'm her SIL (like giving me a CD of all the pictures and giving me full printing rights). I am SO THANKFUL for her and feel indebted to her because she is so generous. 

I REALLY value the art of photography because of her and really recognize their value as far as price, and she has helped me understand why it has to cost so much and how little she actually takes home. 

She lives 6 hours away from me though, so she won't be here when my baby is actually born, and probably won't be able to visit for at least a month.

And I really want a newborn session so I can send out birth announcements (it is my first child, so this means a lot to me), but for my SIL to do it, the baby would be 1-2 mos old and that is a little late to send out announcements.

So: enter a family friend. She is a teenager studying photography and already has an incredible gift/talent. I really respect her as an artist. She obviously isn't up to the level of my SIL merely for lack of experience, but she is seriously gifted and has done amazing work. Because of her age/experience she only charges $100/session, so I am considering asking her to do the newborn session and just having my SIL do pics when she comes later.

But because she has a lack of experience (I don't know if she's even done a NB session before) I was considering, since I will be paying for a NB session anyway, having another local photographer with A LOT MORE experience do the session instead. However, it would be $400 for just the session and a CD of images (since that is extra), any prints would be additional.

So what should I do: pay just a little bit for a talented, yet inexperienced photographer to do just the birth announcements and wait for my SIL to do a "real new family shoot"

OR splurge and get the other professional photographer NB session?

Money is obviously tight as we are having our first baby, so it would take a little bit of saving extra to splurge on a professional session.

What do you ladies think? 

Hmmm...I'm a other.

I agree that newborn photos are probably so different that the teenager probably won't be the best option. But then on the other hand I am shocked the pro is like $400!

Most "portrait" session I have found start in the $250 range?

Do you have access to a nice camera? For our birth announcement I am planning on using our DSLR and then when she's a little older maybe splurge on a session. Maybe.

I would honestly go with the new photographer as you seem to be pretty impressed with her talent already.   I'm sure doing a newborn photo shoot is very different to anything else but if she has enough notice, she sounds like she might actually do some research and practice as much as she can to make sure the photos turn out well.   I also think you would be giving her valuable experience - not that that's your intent, but it would be a valuable bi-product.

If they don't turn out well, you can always do a photo shoot with your SIL when she comes to visit.  From all the babies I've been around lately, they honestly don't look THAT different after a month, and being new parents and all, I guess you're going to be taking a plethora of photos all the time anyway!  :-)  

@regberadaisy:  Well, with the local photographer I like, the newborn session is $275 which includes the shoot, a few prints and 50 birth announcements. Or you can do a session without the announcements for $150. But I want a CD with copyrights, that is an additional $250 alone. 

I actually DO have my own DSLR because I love photography and like being able to take high-quality pictures, but I am no professional photographer for sure. And I had considered doing a few myself, but I do want a professional session. 

@Ree723:  Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Because she is such a great friend, I would really love giving her the experience and the business. She is such a sweet young girl, and yes, talented for being so young. I am crazy impressed with her gift already.

bump

I used to think that newborn photos are easy, until I saw a friend of mine's. I just didn't like them. (How do you mess up a curled up sleeping newborn?) So I would pay more for the experience.

But if you can't do that, then I would see if the inexperienced photographer takes some test shots of dolls or other inanimate objects. I would also stalk other photographers sites and see what shots and angles and lighting you like. I would also ask SIL if she would feel comfortable giving some tips to the new photographer. 

Then I would have SIL do another session at 1-2months. 

I voted to go with the young photographer, and then do another shoot when your SIL comes to visit at 1-2 months.

Forget the inexperienced friend and hire the pro. We hired a pro for our newborn shoot and she did about 2% photographing, and 98% posing and shushing the baby. She brought a ton of specialty things with her like a heat lamp, a giant puff for the baby to lay on, multiple hats/diaper covers/blankets (in case the naked baby goes to the bathroom all over the props), and a white noise machine. She brought an assistant and the two of them spent a LONG time shushing/warming/jiggling the baby into the perfect sleepy poses. There's no way a first-timer could do what she did.

@mmsva:  You're right, they're not easy. Which is why I don't even want to attempt it 5-7 days post-partum! That is a really good idea to have my SIL offer some tips to the teen photographer.

@Vegas Pug:  yes, I definitely have a lot of ideas of what I what pinned onto my photo board on pinterest!

@snmcdowell:  Good to know. I can't imagine it was all that easy either, which is why I don't want to attempt a few shots on my own. 

I think I will ask my teen photographer friend if she's done any NB shoots, or has any ideas of how to do them. I have 5 weeks until my due date, so that would give her time to research if I decide to have her do them.

I think I'm leaning toward her, just because I know my SIL will still do photos for us when she comes out anyway, regardless of who we choose to go with. So even if we don't have stellar newborn pics, we'll still have great 2-3 mos old pics.