Booking Form
Thank you for booking The Birth Day to photograph your upcoming birth. We are a team of three photographers skilled in capturing beautiful, candid birth images. There is nothing more awe inspiring than capturing the moment your family grows by one more, these are moments that pass too quickly, and we are honoured to capture these images for you.
Sarah, Hayley and myself work together taking turns to be on call 24 hours a day in the lead up to your birth. As of 39 weeks (or earlier if required), your first on call photographer will be in touch via the WhatsApp chat to say hello and let you know they on call for you. We work our on call schedule around our personal businesses so we hand the baton over to the next photographer in the team every 5-7 days. We will update each other with any progress or notes so please keep in touch via the chat group so we’re ready to be with you as soon as you need your photographer.
Birth can be unpredictable, and as such we photograph your baby’s birth day as it unfolds, in a photo-journalistic style. We are sensitive to your needs as a labouring woman and our goal is to be unobtrusive as possible. Below are some guidelines to ensure that we can give you the best experience possible.
On the day
Please get in touch via text as soon as you *think* you might be in labour so your photographer can begin making plans to be there. Even if it’s 2am, even if it’s a false alarm, we would much rather be ready to roll than to miss the event! Signs your body is getting ready for labour may include regular tightenings increasing in intensity, your waters breaking or a ‘show’.
It is also helpful if you check in after midwife appointments in the week before labour and let us know how things are progressing and/or if there will be any changes to your initial birth plan.
A note on lighting…
We do need a little light to capture your images, usually the midwives are very helpful in giving us just enough light without disrupting your dark birthing space. In a hospital setting we can often turn on the light in another room or use the dimmers or pool lights, in a home environment please have a lamp available for us to place near your birthing pool in case we need more light. Fairy lights are also an excellent option for adding more light in a pleasant way. We don’t photograph with flashes, only available light. The aim is so you barely notice our presence. Please note that if your birthing environment is dark, your images and video footage will be more grainy and dark as we push our cameras to their limits. I have included an example of an image from both a dark environment and a daylight room so you know what to expect. (both are beautiful by the way!)
Example of a dark room with the only light coming from candles and a salt lamp.
Example of a light room with daylight coming in from a big bank of windows.
In most cases your photographer’s time begins when she arrives at your birthing facility (when you are in active labour) and ends around an hour after birth. In the event we were unable to capture your labour due to unforeseen circumstances we will capture everything from the moment we arrive onwards. We haven’t missed a birth in 10 years so the likelihood of this happening is very, very slight.
If you fail to contact us at all before your baby is born, there are no refunds as we value our time on call. You are welcome to transfer your balance to another session such as a Fresh48, newborn or family session.
Finally, we aim to have a handful of images to you within a few hours of your birth. These will be sent to you via the Whatsapp chat so you can make an announcement with beautiful images and share your bundle of joy with friends and family!