The raw emotion of birth is humanity at its purest. It is an event like none other for you and your family – one whose joy and power eclipses all other milestones. (Sorry weddings) But for many reasons, this is also a time that is difficult to remember without the aid of photographs. Give yourself and your child the gift of seeing this incredible event through the eyes of a photographer. I would be so honored to share your sacred birth space and be your Denver birth photographer.
Session Includes
Pre-Delivery Consultation
Birth photography comes with a very unique set of considerations. How you want your experience to be documented and the privacy involved before, during, and after will be discussed.
On-Call Time for Primary and Backup Photographers
Birth is unpredictable. I will be on call for you 24/7 starting several weeks before your expected due date and ending only when your child is born.
Extensive Coverage
I will arrive at the selected birth location when active labor is underway and stay with you through the miracle of birth. The session will end with candid images of the family and newborn details.
Digital Album of Images
I will select a series of images that artistically tells your birth story. This usually results in 100+ individually edited, full resolution digital images.
Add-Ons
Option to purchase physical prints and keepsake items
Document your child’s arrival in the world from pregnancy through infancy with this all-encompassing birth story! This special package includes a complementary maternity shoot, birth photography, and a customized posed newborn photography session.
If you aren’t comfortable with or are unable to have the actual birth experience documented, a “Fresh 48” session may be just the ticket. Sometime within the first 2 days of life, I will come document the details of baby once the excitement has settled down. This session focuses on the interactions between child and family. It is also a great way to document the first moments of bonding for adoptive parents.
Session Includes
1-2 Hour Session
On location at your hospital/birth center/home. Photo-documentary style images may include things like baby’s features, family interaction, the location of the birth, first bath, meeting the siblings, etc.
Digital Album of Images
I will select a series of images that shows this family milestone. This usually results in 40+ individually edited, full resolution digital images.
Add-Ons
Option to purchase physical prints and keepsake items
Because birth photography requires me to mobilize quickly, my comfortable service area is limited. I am located in Northglenn, Colorado and take birth clients in the Denver area and towns immediately north. Some towns in my service area for Birth Photography include:
Arvada
Aurora (North)
Boulder
Brighton
Broomfield
Commerce City
Dacono
Denver
Erie
Firestone
Frederick
Golden
Henderson
Lafayette
Lakewood (North)
Longmont
Louisville
Northglenn
Reunion
Superior
Thornton
Westminster
Wheat Ridge
Areas of the map in grey are possible for Fresh 48 ONLY.
Areas in tan are for both Birth and Fresh 48.
Yes! I offer payment plans established through my client management software (Dubsado). For large purchases like birth story or birth bundle you can break the cost up over several months. Due to the digital nature of my products, you will not receive your finished images until you have paid in full.
If you want to establish a registry, I can receive payments from multiple parties.
Yes. All of my sessions require a retainer to reserve your date and/or on call time. I only offer a limited amount of sessions per month and turn away work based on my bookings. I cannot hold a session date or on-call time without a signed contract and paid retainer.
Your retainer amount does go towards your total session/package and does not constitute an additional cost to you.
Retainers are forefeited in the event that the client cancels the contract. If additional props or services have already been paid for (like cake smash props or professional makeup), additional fees may be asssessed for cancellation.
I accept cash, check, and either PayPal or credit card (Stripe) through your client portal site.
Each session comes with a password-protected digital gallery via Pic-Time or PixieSet. These platforms allow clients to view images, select final choices from proofs (for posed sessions), share, download, and even purchase prints with fulfillment through the site.
For packages with a specific number of images, you will get a proof gallery with watermarked photos. Many times they will be “soft-edited” but not refined. You will choose the images you like for your package and indicate if there are extras you wish to add to your order. I will then finalize them and send you a new gallery. These new photos will be full resolution, un-watermarked, and have download/sharing turned on. You will receive your print release as part of this final gallery.
No. Your album will come with a Limited Print Release that gives you permission to print and share the images for your own PERSONAL use. You may not alter them, use them for advertising, use them for publication, or in any way profit off of them without the permission of the photographer. If you are concerned about privacy, please know that I do have a privacy agreement where you can choose not to share images or names publicly.
Print and copy rights are often confused. Copyrights are held by the artist and are intellectual property. To purchase copyrights (ex. ad agencies or magazines) is extremely expensive because it removes all claim by the artist to their own work and allows others to edit, distribute, and profit from the images without crediting the photographer.
That’s a big no-ski. Most people don’t know this, but the RAW images from a camera’s sensor are not like the JPEGs you see in previews or what you pull from a point-and-shoot camera. They are kind grey, lack contrast, and are just generally icky looking! Your photographer will apply settings in post-production that completely change the look of the photos to represent their style. (You know, the one you paid them – hopefully me – to provide because that look most appealed to you?)
I am not sure where this fad of asking for them has come from, but it is not a great idea for any artist to share unfinished work. You would not buy a painting that is half done and say, “It’s close enough” or “I’ll just touch it up at home.” The images you pay for are truly artwork and not mere snapshots. You know this in your heart or you wouldn’t be so selective about who produces your photographs. They are one part how the photographer shoots photos and one part how they edit. Given the extensive amount of editing that I do (especially on newborn skin), I would be sad for you to see the “reality” to the great “expectation” you got from the carefully crafted final edits.
If you hire me as your Denver birth photographer, you will get more than just great photos. You will get a thoughtful and competent addition to your birth team.
Your birth photographer will be with you during your most vulnerable time so you should choose someone who makes you feel safe and has a like-minded approach to childbirth.
A lot of that depends on your preferences. I will give you a birth survey ahead of time that includes how much interaction you would like to have with me. I can be a fly on the wall or another member of your cheering team. That decision can change even during birth so it’s great to be clear how you’re feeling. Being in labor affects us all in unexpected ways, so I won’t take offense!
I find that it ultimately varies by the stage of birth (NOBODY is chatting during transition but there is a lot of down time before that) and how much we interact before your birth. I strive to maintain contact and become a familiar face in the room by the time you give birth. The birth space can be tense and fragile at times. You should feel safe with everyone in it.
I take the comfort of the birth space and the privacy of my clients VERY seriously. Overall I am a pretty modest birth photographer. (More on that philosophy under “What is your style…”) I choose angles and edits that focus on the emotion and impact of the event and less on the anatomy. In my opinion, an artistic birth image will never be approached like medical footage for a textbook. Your birth space and your memories deserve reverence.
Ultimately, the coverage of your birth is entirely up to you. During our pre-labor consultation we will discuss modesty and privacy issues for the birth itself and the resulting images. You can put certain shots off limits during the birth, create separate galleries for sensitive imagery, and tell me exactly which images (if any) I can share on behalf of my business. Some birth stories are told without the actual moment of birth while others include it in detail.
That depends on the venue and time of day. For most births I will use a combination of flash and ambient light to create beautiful images. The lighting and overall mood of the space is important to telling your birth story so I don’t like to override it completely. For daylight births I can put the flash away completely.
However! Cameras need light to work well. Low light images are grainy, lacking in color, and often have no contrast. With a high enough ISO, pictures from the best camera will start to look like they were taken with an old flip phone. My personal style of shooting and editing makes life much easier if I get to use a flash.
A lot of people worry about the use of flash in the birth space. When I am using flash, I am much more mindful of how many shots I take. I bounce the flash off of walls above or behind me to create softer light (much more flattering) and avoid bothering anymore. I do not use a flash in the operating room for a cesarean (a few exceptions may apply). Many considerations go into my use of flash both for your comfort/safety and the way that it will affect the images.
You can say no to flash! But so far nobody has ever disliked it during labor. Especially knowing how much it will improve their images.
We will discuss ahead of time what to do if there is an emergent situation or a loss of life. It’s incredibly difficult to think about but very important. As with all choices on your birth survey, this can change in the moment if requested but gives me a guideline to go on.
Emergencies: If I am encouraged ahead of time to keep documenting, I will still use my best judgment during an emergent situation. At those times, the only people whose jobs matter are those trying to ensure everyone’s safety. I may step out of the room to give them space.
Loss of Life: Should the very worst case scenario unfold – or for those who hire me expressly for bereavement sessions – documenting your story can still be very important to you. Even if it’s not something you look at right away, photos of this nature can be cherished memories and even a way of processing trauma.
Unless you are completely put under general anesthesia, most hospitals in the Denver area are fine with having both a support person and a photographer present. If I am not allowed in, I will continue to document in other ways such as your family in waiting and their reactions. When possible I will send one of my cameras into the OR with your support person that has been set up for ease of use. Most hospitals will bring the baby to the warmer in recovery to do the measurements, footprints, etc. where I will be to capture baby’s first exam.
Documentation does not end just because you need a surgical birth! That is simply one aspect of your honest and beautiful birth story.
I will do everything in my power not to miss a birth and have many safeguards in place. But if one of my backups has to attend your birth, please know that I have chosen qualified individuals with a similar shooting style. They will take over for me until I can get to there or for the complete birth depending on the situation.
My backups are paid to be on call and then receive more pay for attending your birth. But the RAW images will be given to me to edit in my style for the final delivery.
This is basically the nagging nightmare that birth photographers face every day they are on call. I want to be there just as badly as you want me to be. Honest and frequent updates are so important to successfully achieving that.
However, precipitous births happen. If I arrive immediately after a precipitous birth, I will continue documenting normally. I will also provide you with a Fresh 48 session to round out your gallery.
If weather or some other act of God should stop your birth from being documented by either myself or an alternate, I have compensation options in place within my contract.
I will carefully choose which images look best in black and white or color. There is a lot more to black and white conversion in post-processing than most realize and it is not just a filter like on a smartphone. Starting from a color image, I can choose which tones of the black and white will have contast or brightness to create the most pleasing image.
Some will be delivered both ways and others will not. Images in low light can look better in black and white because the edits I use to bring back their impact absolutely ruin skin tones! Some just look more artistic or draw your eye differently one way or the other. But ultimately, I love color and feel that it does best on the flatter light of most births.
If you have a preference of one over the other, let me know ahead of time and I will do my best to shoot and edit with that in mind.
Absolutely not! These are your memories first and foremost and I will honor your choices. After you view your private gallery you can decide which (if any) of your images you will allow me to share.
I will extend a huge, heartfelt thank you in advance for those who do allow me to use their images. Obviously it helps me promote my business, but it also helps promote a truer image of birth and normalizes birth photography.
All Right Reserved © Season Hurd Photography – 2020
