5 Tips on Selecting a Pregnancy Photographer
May 14, 2009 by Kimberly · 6 Comments
For our expecting readers, below are five tips from award-winning pregnancy and family photographer Jennifer Loomis on how to make the best choices when selecting a pregnancy photographer:
1) Look for Experience. The photographer should either have extensive experience in or specialize in pregnancy photography, in order to obtain the most flattering poses for a pregnant woman’s body.
2) Consider Artistry and Personality. Finding someone whose work you love and whom you want to work with is key to capturing beautiful images of your pregnancy. Also look for redundant images on the artist’s website which indicates a lack of creative artistry.
3) Ask for Referrals. If you weren’t personally referred by someone who has used the photographer and can recommend his or her work, ask for several referrals to contact. These may be already posted on the photographer’s website.
4) Start to Finish. Ask if the photographer will be thoroughly involved in the editing and photo selection process; this represents about one half of your cost. The photographer should expertly guide you to the best and most unique photos, plus offer suggestions for cropping and finishes.
5) Get Technical. Ask if the photographer uses film or digital. Jennifer Loomis recommends film, dark room prints have a superior archival quality over digital prints. Film is more expensive, but the quality and longevity is worth it, so you can pass the images down through the generations.
© Jennifer Loomis 2009
(Jennifer Loomis also has a new book out with Hugo Kugiya from Sentient Publications called Portraits of Pregnancy: The Birth of a Mother ($24.95). It has more than 50 portraits and stories from women on their journey to becoming mothers. She is based in Seattle but also has studios in New York and San Francisco. You can see her work at www.jenniferloomis.com.)
Bravo to these brave women. That’s such a vulnerable stage of life yet the beauty is unmistakable. How wonderful to capture it in photos.
Just a quick comment that digital photography today is just as archival as film. As long as your photographer uses a professional lab, the photograph will be printed on archival paper (the same used with film) and should last a hundred years or more before any color shifting happens. And the beautiful retouching that can happen in digital is so very important to expectant moms today, including soft focus and retouching any areas of the body that the mother may not consider “perfect.” I am a professional photographer of over 20 years with a college degree in photography, so I know what I am speaking about. Please visit my website and you’ll see why. (http://www.asliceoflifephoto.com)
Digital costs far more than film. When you add up the cost not only of the expensive cameras, but the computers, the hard drives, the redundancy, the software, and all the peripherals, you end up spending far more than you would on a few rolls of film. It’s true that film has a personality, but digital imaging offers the creative artist so many more opportunities. And I agree with A Slice of Life – professional labs create prints that last just as long as darkroom prints.
(http://www.maternitybykoren.com)
A quick note on retouching for those of us who still shoot film. Retouching can be done on fiber prints by a professional retoucher. For film photographers, we can do effects on film or in the darkroom which will be as creative as a digital photographer. While digital photography is very widespread, in my opinion, there is no substitute for film and silver gelatin fiber prints.
I agree with all 5 points, except that I’d go the opposite way on #5. I think a lot of people are eager to share some of their favorite images on facebook, email, etc. That’s a natural fit for digital images.
TJ McDowell´s last blog ..Photography Startup – 5 Books You Need To Read