Birth Photography Pricing

Pricing any service is difficult. But when that service is for an undetermined amount of time, the person providing the service has to be on-call, and the service itself is relatively new to the photography industry, it’s even more difficult.

I recently sat down with a friend who is starting to offer birth photography. Her work is stunning and she’s had continued interest over the past few months. She’s also an experienced wedding photographer. You’d think that since she’s been a photographer for a few years, she’d know how to handle pricing, right? Well it seems that birth photography is a whole different ball game.

While there are pricing standards for wedding photographers, portrait photographers, and commercial photographers, the same can’t be said about the birth photography industry. The fact that birth is so unpredictable makes pricing this service really, REALLY hard. I’m no expert, but I have a few things that I think are worth discussing about this subject.

Know Your Value

This is STEP ONE in creating a profitable business. Yes, you can charge little to nothing for a session and get away with it for a while but that can’t last if you’re trying to run a business. I’m not inferring that you should buy a camera and start charging thousands of the dollars the next day. But I am saying that you need to know what you’re worth and charge accordingly. You may not charge much at the beginning of your career, but be sure to raise your prices as you continue to book clients.

When I first started photographing births, I decided on my pricing, then offered an introductory discount to my first few clients. This was helpful when it came time to charge “full” price: my original clients knew that they received a discount that wouldn’t be offered forever.

Take Your Emotions Out of It

This is especially important in the birth industry. Bringing a life into this world is such an intense and intimate moment so I know it’s hard to not be emotional when pricing this service. But in order to be profitable and hold our industry to the standard it deserves, we have to price our services for what they’re worth. I find myself wanting to photograph every birth and work within everyone’s budget. If I were to do that, I would be a hobbyist, not a professional. I don’t mean to be harsh, but you must take a step back and look at the business aspect of all this in addition to the amazing service that your providing. That brings me to my final point:

Offer An Experience That’s Worth the Price

This is my favorite part of my job: creating an amazing experience for my clients. I’ve worked hard over the past five years to really hone in on how best to serve my clients. I want to be there to answer their questions, I want to walk through their pregnancy with them, I want to encourage them through their labor and capture the most beautiful moment of their lives. The reason I’m confident in charging what I do is because I know I’m offering a top-of-the-line service.

Ask yourself how you can best serve your clients. Put yourself in their shoes and figure out what you’d want from a birth photographer. This will look a little different for everyone, but there’s always a way to make your experience a bit better. Once you’ve done that, your pricing will follow suit and you’ll be confident in it. Plus your client will sing your praises and be so grateful for the amazing experience you provided!

I hope this post was helpful for those of you who are figuring out your pricing, but please feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have!