Are professional photographs worth it?

[sharond101]

I am considering getting a photoshoot of my DS who is 14mo. It would comprise of 30-40pics taken in a studio with some family shoots in amongst them. It costs £100-£150 but I get copyright of them so can make as many copies as possible. Is it worth it or can I do as good a job at home since my Dad has a super hi-tec new camera?

Don't get sucked in. I have a friend who ending up spending over a grand on photos. I personally think that your own can be just as good, and are more natural. Especially if you have a good camera, you can take loads and pick and choose

Hi Sharon - if the price is agreed up front, and you are getting the 30-40 digital images for that price, then it is probably worth going for. I assume this is with an independent photographer?

The studios MrsMartin refers to would be the bigger franchises who have a fairly formulaic method of shooting, plus some sneaky sales techniques to reel people in. Definitely steer clear!

As for your dad's camera, also bear in mind it's as much about the photographer's ability to pose the subject naturally and capture the right moment! Although it does help as well that a pro photographer will have a studio with lighting and some decent backdrops.

So, all in all, make sure you know exactly what you're paying for up front and what you will get for that price. Independent photographers are definitely a better bet than the costly franchises but take a look at their previous work to see if you like their style of photography. Also, take a look at images on the web to see if there's any particular styles/poses that appeal to you (eg black and white, colour of background, outdoors etc).

Hope this helps and good luck

I would agree that it's worth having someone else who knows what they're doing taking the photos. That sounds like a great deal. We've just been suckered by a certain company beginning with V. Do NOT use them!

Have fun!

This is an independent photographer who has her own studio but also works for a big company as her main job. The price has been agreed upon and I will get copyright to all of the digital images.

No. You may think your child is fabulous at this age. Bit you will think that at every age! Trust me, we have tons of photos up the loft - there was an offer on baby food once, so we got photos free every few months for a year. Never look at them now. I also did some for dh's birthday (of ds) & we never look at those either.

The photos I love are the ones taken spur of the moment on lovely days, they have meaning.

The best photos we have of our kids have been taken by us.

Every so often we go out with our 'good' camera (as opposed to our phones!) to somewhere quiet ish and snap away. We try to take snapshots, not posed pics.

We take loads of pictures...edit them on the pc, and then print our favourite ones.

Dh is very good at taking pics to be fair, and knows about lighting and exposure etc.

It might be worth doing that before parting with your cash.

If it doesn't work out, then you could look at paying someone to take them.

i havent had any prof photos done as most photographers charge hundreds of pounds practice makes perfect if you got a good camera then keep practising but if you can afford proffessional then go for it :)

I'd say it's worth the money to get a professional to take pictures of your baby and you all as a family (someone who is trained as a photographer and has a good creative eye - it's not just about having a fancy camera!). However I'd say steer clear of studio shoots. They won't create very interesting pictures. I'd say go out to a park or somewhere else that is an outside & visual location.

Make sure you will indeed get the hi-res pictures on DVD so you can get them printed yourself if you want. There are lots of places/people who will charge very little to shoot, but then give you only one or two pics and/or charge a fortune for prints.

We've had professional photos of DD from nursery. One photographer was great, the other wasn't, so we only bought the good ones. If you think the photographer is good then it sounds like a good price to me.

DH and I are absolutely rubbish at taking photos (if we even remember to snap in the first place).

Once a year we go to a photographers and have a family portrait and a portrait of the kids. So as a minimum I have two photos from every year of their life.

When I have the right house I plan to hang them in chronological order and coo over how much they've grown.

DH hates it because every year he and I are fatter, wrinklier and have less hair, but I turn a deaf ear to his moaning.

I know an independent professional photographer who does similar to what you're talking about - set price for the shoot and the photos on a memory stick (usb flash drive or sd card) and then does prints and frames on top if required. I'd definitely recommend it; the poses and the lighting are so much better than I could do with my own camera (and it's a proper DSLR, so it's not the camera's fault!) She also does some tweaking of lighting and colour etc to increase the picture quality.

If you're happy to pay the set amount and say no to any onward selling then I'd definitely say go for it.

We've just had a photo shoot (outside) with a professional and they're lovely photos that we definitely wouldn't have got ourselves. There are several good photographers in my family but

1. We have very few photos of us altogether as a family as it's usually DH or me behind the camera.
2. DFIL takes beautiful photos of DC but always cuts me out of them so again, not so many of me and DC together.
3. It's nice to have some in a different style to our usual ones.

I spent a lot of time looking around until I found someone I liked the style of and we got a similar deal to yours. She'll organise good quality prints or photo books too if we want.

I'd say go for it

If you get copyright for an upfront price then it's probably worth it, especially at 14 months when DC will still be baby type cute.

Most of my photos of the DDs that sort of age are birthday and christmas photo's, cute, but too cluttered to frame.