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Why you should choose SARA-JANE as your London newborn, baby, child & FAMILY photographer

In today’s digital age, anyone can pick up a smartphone or camera and take a decent photo, leading many people to wonder why they need to hire a professional baby & child photographer. So here are my top five reasons for hiring me:

1. Experience – a baby & child photographer will have experience of posing newborns, getting babies to smile and dealing with hyperactive toddlers! I love children and have nine years of experience of photographing them and have photographed hundreds of newborns.

2. Lighting – lighting situations are not optimal in the UK when shooting indoors but an experienced professional photographer such as Shutterbaby will have the knowledge and equipment to handle that.

3. Quality – a professional photo taken on a 24 mega-pixel camera will be a lot better quality than a smartphone one, especially with moving children when sharp focus is so necessary. This is so important when printing larger images for your wall.

4. Editing – a good photo can be made great with the right editing; a tweak of the exposure for white balance (e.g. for jaundice), conversion to black and white, milk spot/ scratches etc removed. I do extensive retouching on every photo you order.

5. Everyone can be in the photo – I have heard so many times from mums that they have photos of the dads with their children but not of them – this is a great reason to get some amazing professional family photos.

Those first precious moments go by so quickly, and to book Shutterbaby Photography to capture them through photographs means they can be treasured for years to come.

OK I get that, but professional photographers are so expensive…?

Granted, professional baby & child photography is an investment, but you are paying for the time and talent of your photographer. The time it takes from the moment you make your enquiry to when you receive your gorgeous images – the initial emails and booking, the photography session (plus travel), preparing your images for your online gallery, editing your final choices, sending out the digital images and prints. The average time I spend on a client’s session if they buy the full set of images is about 20 hours, longer for newborns.

In addition, a professional photographer needs to cover the cost of insurance, investment in high-end gear and props, software, training, professional-grade printing, taxes.

You’ve convinced me! But there are a lot of cheap photographers out there, why don’t I just go for one of those?

Cost is a factor admittedly but cheaper photographers often skimp on the time, dedication and attention to detail that are necessary to get the amazing photos you are paying for. You should take the following into consideration as well – it’s important to choose a photographer who is right for you, after all you are trusting them with your baby!

Baby in dad's hands taken by South London newborn photographer
Girl with arms in air taken by South London baby photographer
Smiling girl on bed taken by South London child photographer

How to choose your professional newborn, baby & child photographer

1. Style – do you love the photos the photographer has on their website? My style is fairly natural, I don’t believe in putting newborns in a basket or hanging them from a tree!

2. Location – would you prefer a studio shoot, home session or outdoor session? I don’t have a studio because I find home sessions to be much more relaxing for you (as you have all the things you need to hand and don’t have to leave the house with your baby!). I also find outdoor sessions to be much more fun with older children, and that fun shows in my photos.

3. Time limit – does the photographer limit the session to a short time slot? I never do this as I recognise that you need to be flexible with babies and patient with toddlers, so I will stay as long as is necessary to capture photos that you will love.

4. Experience with kids – does the photographer specialise in children’s photography or just do it as part of a wider portfolio? I only take photos of babies and children because it’s what I love to do, and it means I can concentrate on being the best family photographer I can.

5. Recommendations/ online reviews – does the photographer come recommended by friends or have a lot of reviews on google or local forums? I have lots of amazing google reviews and pride myself on clients coming back to me to photograph their second or even third kids.

6. Editing – not all photographers, especially the cheaper ones, do any editing to your images… they might offer you 60 digital images but they are likely to be straight from camera. I do professional retouching on all images ordered which reflects in the quality of my work. Would you rather have fewer high quality images than lots of bad quality ones? 

7. Safety – does your photographer understand how to handle a newborn safely? Some of the newborn photos you see (e.g. head up with hands under chin) are composite images with two or more being blended together in Photoshop. I tend to stay away from these images as they don’t seem natural to me, but if you want them make sure your photographer knows how to do them safely. I have done extensive newborn safety training and you can be secure in the knowledge that I will handle your newborn with care.

8. Insurance – does your photographer have public liability insurance? All good baby and child photographers should have this.

A word of warning… beware of photographers offering free or cheap sessions where product prices are not given to you beforehand. I have heard so many stories about parents getting stung for thousands of pounds to get the images afterwards. That’s why all my prices are visible on my website. Pick the best photographer you can for your budget; a few good quality images are much better than a lot of standard ones.

I hope I have convinced you that I am the photographer for you! If you would like to book a newborn, baby, child, family or pregnancy photography session in London please call Sara-Jane on 07958 734184, email sarajane@shutterbaby.co.uk or use the contact button below. I look forward to photographing your gorgeous children!

Sara-Jane x