There are a couple ways that we can approach birth photography. I can arrive early to photograph the labor and birth as well as the first moments with your baby. Or I can arrive just after the birth to capture the first moments. I remain quiet and unassuming, and I do not use lights or flash so that the whole experience is yours. I do like to visit you at home shortly after the birth to document those precious first couple of weeks. I feel that those photographs are invaluable. The photographs we take at home are usually a mix of candid and posed shots.
First, wear something that makes you feel good and says something integral about who you are. What to avoid: It’s best to avoid clothing that distracts the eye from the most important part of you, namely your face. So a basic rule is to avoid shirts with low necklines and short sleeves. Distracting patterns or flashy logos are also best avoided, such as your wearing a paisley Duke shirt while your partner sports a polka dot Carolina sweater.
I don’t hate digital. I just don’t love it, and I still love film. There are basically three main reasons I still shoot film. One, I think the tones of black and white film photographs look better than the tones of black and white digital photographs. That’s a subjective statement, so if you’re a digital photographer and are reading this, don’t hate me. Two, I do not enjoy working with large, control-heavy digital SLRs. I prefer the small, human scale of my classic film cameras and their simple and quiet operation. I am however curious to see what comes of small mirrorless digital cameras. I think that, say, Olympus might come out with something in that vein that is truly stupendous. But they’re still years away from producing anything I would want to use for my clients. Three, film prevents the photographer from succumbing to the “spray and pray” syndrome, something that digital photography encourages. Each frame in a film camera counts, and the photographer must practice great observation, prudence, and skill in order to capture that decisive moment. That’s part of the process that I just love.
More and less. My gear is fixed for the most part; the cameras and lenses I use were manufactured from the 50s into the 70s—I don’t have to build thousands of dollars into my expenses to upgrade every couple of years to keep up with the digital revolution. But I do have to buy and process film. Also consider that film photographers tend to shoot less, considerably less oftentimes, than digital photographers, so my editing time is often much more streamlined, which saves time, energy, and money.
Special requests are possible if color photographs are important to you.