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What does a Baby Photographer do?
A baby photographer is a professional photographer who specializes in portraits of babies. Most baby photographers are considered to be family photographers, and will be able to shoot portraits of children and families, as well as babies. Someone who wants to become a baby photographer often pursues an associate's degree in photography or fine arts, though it is not a requirement, and many photographers are self-taught.
A baby photographer may work for a photography business, or may be self-employed and own his or her own business. A photographer may need to set up appointments for families to come to the studio for a portrait session, or the photographer may travel to the family's home or another location of their choosing. A photographer will need to purchase and supply all of his own equipment; aside from the obvious cameras, lenses, and flashes, this might include backdrops, furniture, and props.
If the photographer owns or rents his own studio, he will need to make sure that the studio is comfortable and professional looking for customers. In addition to dealing with customers who come in to have their portraits taken, he will need to deal with customers after the photos are printed. The clients will need to go through the photos and choose their favorites, after which time the photographer may offer various photography packages.
These packages might include a number of photos of different sizes, such as photos for wallets, photo albums, and frames for the wall. He may offer the option to create the photo albums himself, or to enlarge and frame a family's favorite photo. Often, if a family is happy with a baby photographer, they will continue to return to the same photographer to document milestones throughout the child's life, so it is important for a baby photographer to listen to a family's needs and try to help them select the best photography and photo package.
A photographer will also need to accept payments and do billing and bookkeeping, and may need to create advertisements for the photography business. It is important for a baby photographer to enjoy working with kids and families, and to make sure that the family enjoys themselves during a portrait session and does not become stressed. A photographer will likely need to take a number of different shots in one session before getting that one perfect picture that the family will love for years to come.
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![Bookkeeping is one part of a baby photographer's job.]()
By: robert cabreraBookkeeping is one part of a baby photographer's job. -
![Baby photography can be hard work, as the clients don't always want to be photographed, but it can also be incredibly rewarding.]()
By: RachwalskiBaby photography can be hard work, as the clients don't always want to be photographed, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. -
![A baby photographer might package and sell photo albums.]()
By: SilviuFlorinA baby photographer might package and sell photo albums.
Discussion Comments
In today's photography world you have to be dedicated to losing your personal life. Everyone thinks that photographing weddings is easy ! There are so many people trying to make a living out of photography, but no one will pay the proper price for your talents. You have to be very good and different.
Since the advent of digital and the curriculum in schools teaching photography, everyone has a go, so no one pays much attention to a real pro.
Take my advice and get a real, full time paid job with a pension attached, because unless you are good -- really good -- you will end up like a starving artist.
@Mor - If I wanted to take beautiful photos of my child I would either do them myself or get one of my talents cousins to do them. Seems like everyone has done a photography course these days, and you can take your own photos that imitate the work of a professional baby photographer.
I'm not saying they will be of the same quality. They probably won't be, but with a digital camera I feel like you can go with quantity and hope there's one or two of quality in there as well.
@KoiwiGal - I think it depends on what kind of baby photographer you are. There are those ones which just photograph the baby in the studio, all of them with the same five backdrops and the only task is to make the baby smile for the camera.
But then you have photographers who try to take more artistic shots of babies, or of the rest of the family.
They won't just use a camera on a fixed tripod, they might move around, or even get you to go outside like a wedding photographer would.
Just look at the gorgeous baby photos that Anne Geddes takes.
You might not be able to afford that kind of quality of work, but with the right accessories and a photographer who tries his or her best you might get something similar.
It's pretty difficult to get into photography these days, since so many people love it and it's no longer as technical as it once was.
You don't need to know how to use a dark room and a bunch of chemicals to take a photo, you just need to be able to point and shoot.
Of course, there is more to it than that, but the ease with which the technical things can be managed with digital cameras means that there is a lot more competition between photographers.
I think one of the ways in which you can break into the profession though is to get experience working with a baby or family photographer, since those jobs aren't considered as fun as things like wedding photography.
You will end up as more of a babysitter than a photographer for the first few years though, since the composition has more to do with where the people sit and smile, rather than how you move the camera.
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