Indeed… why should you hire a birth photographer when you’re delivering a baby??

To be honest, if you had asked me this question a couple of years ago, I may have looked at you funny.  In fact, when I tell people that I’ve done this several times now, I still get the odd mix of funny looks.  But that’s not how I first heard of such a thing.  When I was first introduced to birth photography, it was when I saw my friend Brittany in Texas posting photos of the births she was photographing.  And you know the saying of how a photo is worth a thousand words?  Well, when I saw these images, I couldn’t get a single one of those “thousand words” out of my mouth… because I was in AWE.

Prior to seeing these images, the only thing I had seen about births was from science class in junior high school… and let’s just say that nothing about those images or videos tempted me to photograph such a thing!  But as I’ve gotten older and many of my friends have had babies and I keep hearing all moms say, “Time just goes by too fast” regardless of how old their children are, births went from something that I didn’t want to know about to something I wanted to freeze in time for these moms.

So here are my reasons why you should hire a birth photographer…

1. It’s about so much more than just a baby being born.  To everything there is a story.  On wedding days, my goal is to tell the story of the day.  And when a baby is born, my goal is to tell the story of the day.  Of mom, dad and family at the hospital, of the pains that happen when a contraction comes, of the tears of joy that fall when the baby arrives, and of dad holding his baby for the very first time.

2. Dad should be completely present with you.  You may have heard of unplugged weddings before.  It’s when the bride and groom ask their guests at the ceremony to put away their phones and their cameras and to fully engage in the service and just be there to enjoy it.  Well, that’s kind of what this is like… if you have a birth photographer, then dad is able to be fully there, fully present, fully your coach, and doesn’t have to think about whether he got a good photo or not.  Now I’m not saying that once the baby arrives he’s not allowed to pull out his cell phone or your own camera, in fact, I fully expect you both will want to pull out your phones once things have settled down and your sweet little newborn is resting in your arms!  But, during contractions, I want dad-to-be by your side, holding your hand, and encouraging you through the pain.

3. Dad should be completely present with the baby.  And while we’re on the subject, this little newborn is going to be just as enticing and beautiful and precious to him as he or she is to you!  And photos of the three of you admiring your new arrival together are by far some of the sweetest photos I’ll take all day long.

4. They’re only this tiny for a moment.  From what I hear, newborns grow at an alarming rate.  From one week to the next they’re growing and changing so much that within just a couple of months they already look completely different than their first day here!  And within those first couple of hours, the awe that’s in their eyes matches the awe that’s in yours as you both meet for the very first time.  And I love being able to capture that!

5. It’s not every day that you get to witness and capture a miracle on “film”.  So I may not be using film anymore but you get what I mean.  Regardless of what school of thought you come from (creation or evolution), the birth of a baby is a miracle.  Every.Single.Time.  Y’all know that I live my life for Christ and I wholeheartedly believe that each time I’m able to be in a delivery room for a birth, that God is there too.  And the amazingness of it overwhelms me to tears each time a sweet baby is delivered!  And with as broken and as dark and as tough as this world is most days, being able to photograph something as incredible as a baby (who’s been growing inside its mommy!) being born is indeed a miracle.

Clearly this is no exhaustive list of reasons, but they’re MY top reasons for why I’ve fallen in love with these moments.  If you’d like to see these stories in full, please feel free to click here.