I have been a Dallas area newborn photographer for over 10 years. I have tons of experience photographing babies. Tons. I am stating this to make a point. Really, I DO have a point here. And that is: please hire a professional with EXPERIENCE when you hire a newborn photographer. This is so important.
When you hire a baby photographer, you are putting a newborn baby into the hands of another person. BRAND NEW. Sometimes I work with babies that are only 6 days old. That is a lot of responsibility. You don’t want to hand your new baby over to a 19-year-old girl who has never worked with babies but who thinks that photography might be a fun job. We all started somewhere but that should NOT be with newborns.
Over the next few posts, I am going to give you some tips on things you should look for in a newborn photographer and some things you should avoid.
Look for Experience in a Newborn Photographer
Ask your photographer how many years they have been working with newborns. Don’t hire someone who just started last month. Decide on the number of years that makes you most comfortable and don’t settle for anyone with less than that in experience. I know that if I were looking for a photographer myself I would not hire anyone with less than 5 years of experience. Unless they were also a neonatal nurse – then I might give them some leeway. I’m not even kidding.
Hiring a newborn photographer who is also a mother is typically a given but you never know. At the very least, they should have started with a mentor and worked alongside a more experienced professional before they ever handled a baby on their own. Many photographers work with friends’ and family members’ babies first. That is fine, but you don’t want to be one of the first unless you know the photographer very well and already trust them.
So check them out. Make sure you see a lot of newborn images on their site. A lot. Ask them questions. Ask for references. And if anything makes you uncomfortable – move on to the next one.
Check back for my next post on Hiring a Newborn Baby Photographer – Safety.