After months and months of waiting and wondering what this brand new human will actually look like, it’s no wonder that once baby arrives, moms and dads just can’t resist taking about 10,000 photos in baby’s first days.
But even with the amazing innovations in cell phone photography tools, there’s something different about the “real” photos, and distinct advantages to having a professional photographer come to capture baby’s first images while you’re at the hospital.
1) By hiring your own professional photographer, you can guarantee that you’ll not only DEFINITELY get the photos you want but that they’ll be high quality and include all of the key players in your family’s story, including mom, dad and siblings.
Many moms plan on using Bella Baby at the hospital, but when the baby arrives, there are bumps in that plan. These large companies rely on volume and can’t guarantee times when big siblings are visiting or even that they’ll come at all. If you’re with a medical provider when they stop my your room (unannounced), there’s no guarantee that they’ll be back.
2) When you set up a session in advance for a hospital newborn photo shoot with a professional photographer, you have a spot penciled into their calendar. I make sure that I’m “on-call” from week 37 until baby arrives so that I can rearrange my schedule and come to capture this time. When you go into labor, you let me know, and as soon as baby arrives, we plan for a specific time of day for me to come to the hospital for what photographers often call the “fresh 48 photo session”. Making a concrete plan with an exact time gives you the advanced notice to know when to freshen up and expect a baby whispering visitor. And of course, unlike Bella Baby, I won’t be in and out in 10 minutes. We can take our time, so that if we are interrupted by a nurse or baby is fussing, we can pause as needed and still capture those tender moments of baby’s first hours earthside.
3) Hiring a professional for hospital newborn photos, whether at Presbytarian, Medical City, Baylor or Methodist, means that you’re paying for attention to detail. While some of the contracted photographers at the hospital are talented, because of their need for speed, there is limited time for take simple steps like decluttering the room, turning off lights that cause unattractive color casts, or to retouch your images beyond the most basic edits. The images from your session will be meticulously edited so that your images of baby’s first days are portraits to cherish.
And the bonus reason: Babies. Change. So. Fast. It’s breathtaking how much a baby grows and changes in his first few days and weeks, much less over the course of his first year of life. Those flakey feet, that tiny hospital ankle band, the traditional hospital bedding - all of this is so fleeting and brings back a flow of memories that will crush you with a tidal wave of love, even years down the road.
Rachel is a premier maternity, newborn and family photographer serving families across the DFW Metroplex, including Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Highland Park, Allen, McKinney and beyond. She offers hospital “fresh 48” new baby photo sessions at all area hospitals. These sessions are best booked at least a couple of months in advance, to ensure photographer availability.