Becoming a newborn photographer

[sarah13xx]

I’m a Primary Teacher although I’m currently off on maternity leave. I’ve known for the last few years that I haven’t wanted to be a teacher forever. I love the kids but hate the job and it’s an impossible task to teach among major behaviour issues with no support as well as unnecessary paperwork and absolutely no resources whatsoever. Meanwhile there is an expectation that your classroom will be all singing all dancing when the school haven’t provided so much as a single pencil towards it. Anyway…

Since being off on mat leave I have realised I don’t miss it, not one bit! I took my baby to a newborn photographer for a photo shoot and since then I’ve been looking into being a photographer. The girl had a qualification from college but I have done a bit of research and it seems some photographers aren’t actually qualified as such. I was thinking of completing a 10 week course online at the open university while on mat leave to build up a portfolio and eventually achieve The Royal Photographic Society Licentiate Distinction (LRPS) in still photography. There’s a further online course you can do after that one as well as various in-person courses from a variety of places claiming to be able to teach you to become a newborn photographer. I’m thinking I could get a dslr camera for Christmas.

Any photographers out there know if this is doable? Would two online courses then some specific short courses to become a newborn photographer be enough? Obviously over time I would build it up but I would need to be able to make an income alongside it. I would go back to my work part-time after maternity leave then I could resign if it took off. Any advice please? ☺️

Jenna Kutcher has a lot of resources for new photography business owners - jennakutcher.com/ - and a great podcast and Facebook group. It leans wedding, but there is a LOT of amazing info there.

And yes, I think it's a solid niche. There are probably several courses available - what will be important is your own personal vibe with babies and whether or not you have a good eye. And a good camera!

Also, clients don't give a damn about your short courses - they care about your portfolio, so work on building that, first and foremost.

Thanks for all the comments, didn’t expect so many! Definitely lots to consider but going to give it a shot, even if it’s just a hobby to take pictures of my own baby

Have fun! You might want to consider a course about how to get the best out of your camera instead of one about a specific type of photography. You could try seeing if there's any photography clubs nearby. Some of the photographers i know do lessons or short courses might be something similar near you.

One of my sil set up a photography business in similar circumstances. She taught herself. I have to say her top tip was to practice loads, she did about 100 free shoots she estimates to build up enough of a portfolio to set up a website (my own children included)
The good news is she now earns a decent living about 5 years later and can afford her own studio etc and is very popular.

I’m a hobby photographer. I think you are completely underestimating how long it will take from buying a camera to being competent at using it, let alone ready to set up a business. Using your camera to take good quality pictures means learning about the exposure triangle, focus, depth of field, light, composition, etc etc etc not just pointing it at a subject and pressing the button. You cannot take professional pictures just by buying an expensive camera.

Courses are a great idea, but you need to practice practice practice as well. You will not be ready to do the LPRS after a couple of courses, it can take years to get to that level.

I would get a camera and learn the basics and see if you actually enjoy photography before even thinking about taking it further, you might hate it. Learning lightroom and photoshop are also important and take time.

Others have pointed out the amount of expensive equipment you would need for baby portraits. Don’t rush out and buy everything before checking you love photography first. It is not an easy way to make money. The money your sister paid for her wedding will have covered hours of post processing on a quality computer, printing costs, framing costs etc as well as the time you saw the photographer working.

Newborn photography is a real skill and you need to be good at photography first! If you are a photography newbie I'd concentrate on getting your skills up before you work with babies as they're tricky and if you're not sure on settings etc you'll come unstuck. Don't forget associated costs such as software, laptop, insurance etc.

Work on it as a hobby first. Build up your confidence and portfolio as pp have said. Try practicing on one of those 'real life' baby dolls, because getting posing, lighting and composition right takes skill and patience. There's a lot of skill in good portraiture work and it takes time and practice to do it well. I Speak as a seasoned professional of 10 years, with a degree, a masters and an associate of the RPS. It's not a quick win.

Please don't take this as a further negative but one thing to factor in is your current Pension. Hopefully you're married but if you're not this is even more important.

So you've not even done any photography yet and your considering it as a job?
This is why photography is a dying business because every Tom, dick and Harry thinks they can do it when they haven't got a clue what they're doing.
Doing a degree in still photography is very different to portrait. It doesn't sound like you know what your doing sorry.

I wonder why you think it takes 3 years to get a degree in photography?

I've got a real empathy with children and need to find a job that allows me free time in the school holidays. Maybe I should just rock up to the local primary school and ask for a job as a teacher.

I do newborn photography part time. I've built it up over several years around being a stay at home mum.

Like any self employed job it's not easy and a lot of hours and commitment. You will need to learn how to use a camera in manual mode, I did this via an evening photography class at a local college. Also learn about lighting and whether you want to use flash or natural light. Then specific newborn photography training is good to learn about posing and safety, a one to one training with a good photographer is probably best as group workshops can be hit and miss and you don't actually get to pose the baby you are just watching it being done.

A degree in photography is not really necessary, newborn photography is very specific things you need to learn about and practice makes perfect. You need to be confident with newborns and young siblings and also be able to take a decent family shot. Using photoshop is a must if you want to produce anything half decent.

A lot of photographers struggle with the business side so a course in business and marketing would definitely be beneficial.

The good things are you are your own boss and you get to choose your hours, and if you do it right it is possible to make money. The bad are it can be hard work, equipment and props are expensive, you are responsible for absolutely everything including admin, website etc. It can be lonely with no colleagues. You need to be comfortable working in heat as with a heater to keep newborn baby warm you will normally be sweating by the end (there's a reason we wear black!).

But now could also be a good time to try as quite a few photographers haven't been able to keep going due to all the enforced covid closures or have decided they want to try something new.

@IndigoBlue fab thank you! How many shoots do you tend to do per week, or how many could you do if the demand is there? The girl I went to for mine seems to be overrun with people, she’s struggling to fit people in and is taking a lot longer than expected to get photos out to customers due to how busy she is

It really depends on your personal situation as to how many you could do, for me and not doing it full time 2 to 3 newborns a week would be plenty taking into account the editing. I only do one newborn in a day, the photoshoot is normally 2-3 hours then there’s set and and tidy up.
How many you do also depends how quick you are at editing. If you’re at the point you’re over run then you have to make a decision on finding the right balance so that you’re still providing a good service and people aren’t waiting weeks longer than expected for their photos. It’s also possible to outsource editing and pay someone to do it but you’d still need to have the skills to do it yourself if they weren’t available etc. Older baby, first birthday don’t take as long to photograph and editing is normally quicker than doing a newborn. Hope that helps!

Do t forget you need to factor a significant amount of time into working ON your business, not just IN your business.

Getting a steady stream of enquiries takes time, skill, money and effort. Converting those enquiries requires the same, plus networking, sharing best practices etc.