https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 25 May 2026 02:01:48 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography/page/2#post-1153236 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 13:51:47 +0000 NorCalWayfarer 1153236@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wow that seems really pricey. I would look for a photog that does mini sessions and includes rights to at least a few shots (e.g. 30 minute mini session + 3 digitals). I would think keeping it under $300 is totally doable/reasonable. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography/page/2#post-1153224 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 13:47:18 +0000 keiki_mama 1153224@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're getting ours done this weekend and it's going to set us back $150. We get:</p> <p>- 5 retouched files within 2 weeks of selection<br /> - 24 free wallet prints of your favorite image<br /> - online private gallery of images for viewing by family and friends<br /> - permission to print, post, and share your pictures as you please<br /> - storage of your photos for at least 5 years on current digital media</p> <p>EDIT: we're located in the SF/Bay Area </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography/page/2#post-1153216 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 13:44:20 +0000 lovehoneybee 1153216@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The one we're looking at is $125 for a 1-2 hour session plus 25 digital negatives for $150. We can get prints for $5-$10 each depending on the size, and $10 for individual digital negatives. </p> <p>I can't comment on it yet, but I just filled out an...ISO sort of thing at thumbtack.com. You put in what you're looking for, how much you're looking to spend, what products you want, etc, and they gather and email you quotes from local businesses. Apparently it's for all sorts of services, not just photographers, but that's what I'm looking for. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography/page/2#post-1152986 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:49:41 +0000 Mrs Hedgehog 1152986@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is about $400 for a session and we get the CD with about 100 images with a print release. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152980 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:47:04 +0000 bpcmarj 1152980@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Rainbow Sprinkles: I can't believe that's all you paid. Your pics were B-E-A-utiful last year!</p> <p>We don't pay for it...I am too cheap. My sister and 2 friends both have DSLR cameras, so I am happy with them taking good quality pictures in outdoor light. They work fine for a Christmas card. My sister will take ours this year and I am SO excited. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152971 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:44:31 +0000 chopsuey 1152971@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That sounds kind of steep.. </p> <p>So far we've spent nothing.<br /> We have a Canon 5d Mark and a tripod! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152964 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:42:49 +0000 HabesBabe 1152964@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$1k seems insanely expensive for any part of the country!</p> <p>We're doing a holiday mini session, 30 mins, 5 hi-res images on a disc, for $120. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152899 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:20:44 +0000 Mrs. Bee 1152899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>most photographers are around $500/hour here in ny. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152893 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 12:16:47 +0000 bhbee 1152893@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did an hour session in boston for about $300, including disc of all images and a good number of edited ones. Get a slight deal for being a repeat customer. I do think its pricier in the fall and around holidays because they are busier. Definitely look for up and comers in your area that may be cheaper! Prices are all over the map. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152836 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:57:53 +0000 birdofafeather 1152836@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: when i do full sessions, it can cost that much for the session+a full disk of images, but mostly people order prints or just the digital images they want. i also 2nd @Mrs. High Heels: suggestion to find someone doing mini sessions! that should include at least a couple of images and be in the more $200-$300 range (guessing from the prices you're getting from other photogs in your area!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152772 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:33:54 +0000 Rainbow Sprinkles 1152772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our Christmas photos last year were super inexpensive. We paid $150 for a 20-minute mini session and got 60 images (digital rights). And it is not like she was an ameture photog....the pics were beautiful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152756 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:25:52 +0000 Freckles 1152756@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: I'd do a mini session. I don't find that it's worth doing a full session, especially if we'll do a few a year.</p> <p>We did a mini session for $75 and got 10 digital prints. Because we weren't happy with our session, she gave us all the digitals at no extra cost.</p> <p>We had another mini session (in a more expensive city) that was $500. There was a groupon so the sitting fee was $60 and we had to use the $500 towards prints or digital copies. I really disliked that, since you could probably find photographers who'll give you the entire session's digital prints. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152746 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:22:01 +0000 junebugmama 1152746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH's friend is an amazing photographer. She charges us less but she standardly charges $200 for an outdoor shoot, that includes 100 photos edited, on a disc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152739 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:19:42 +0000 chrispygal 1152739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In my area, with good photographers, sessions with images/prints can easily cost around that. There were a few "mini-sessons" for the fall which includes a 30 minute session and like 5 edited images (with print rights) for $400. That's a good deal. </p> <p>I just booked my daughter's 2-year session and paid $200 session fee and the package option I will get afterwards will be an additional $400 and will include image rights (for about 10 images or so) and some prints. Usually I like to own the images and you can print them pretty cheap on Mpix. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152676 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 10:47:17 +0000 sunshine83 1152676@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This summer we did a mini session with our photographer. It was $375 for a 30 min session and 15 digital files. She ended up giving us 30 digital files because she loved them so much and couldn't decide which ones were best. She also just did a holiday mini session with I think under 10 digital files for $175. I live in Seattle. Her normal prices are more like $250 fee and digital collections start at $450. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152627 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 10:24:57 +0000 pinkcupcake 1152627@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sounds like a lot. We typically spend about $500 ($200ish for session fee, $300ish for digitals). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152613 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 10:15:54 +0000 T-Mom 1152613@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I spent that much last year and I'm not doing it again. This photographer had a property complete with lake, large props, full studio so we got lots of different looks and poses, and they turned out great, but of course it was the package of prints that costs money (sitting fee was like $200). This year I found a girl who comes highly recomended by a coworker i trust, and who charges roughly the same sitting fee but gives you the digital negatives to print. She didn't have a studio but we shot it at a local park. I hope they turn out just as good! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152584 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 10:03:03 +0000 indi 1152584@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh, my. I think $1K is a lot, but our photog (midwest) also does fam session for $175 - that includes sitting fee, editing, prints, and high-res CD. We're spoiled by how great she is, though. I think the average family session in this area is $200-400. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152566 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:54:57 +0000 MrsH 1152566@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This weekend we are doing a mini-session for 45 minutes including a cd with all the high-res images for $150 with the photog who took our wedding photos. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152553 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:50:18 +0000 MrsRcCar 1152553@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The young lady we love, charges $75 a session! We get unlimited clothing changes, and long sessions (2 hours). The $75 also gets us a CD with all printing rights. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152552 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:49:53 +0000 luckypenny 1152552@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm in San Francisco and I think that price is crazy high!!</p> <p>We have a photographer that is very reputable and good for $450 with disk with like 60+ edited hi-res images. I'd find someone else. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152548 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:47:33 +0000 deactivated_account 1152548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: I think it's best to find a photographer who gives you all of the images, either on disc or emailed to a Dropbox. My wedding photographer charges a flat fee of something like $500 for family sessions, spends about 2 or more hours with the families, and then edits and provides upwards of 100 or so images. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152545 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:45:38 +0000 ShootingStar 1152545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$1k seems like a LOT. I live in the Boston area and it's not as expensive as that. Our newborn session (with digital images) will be $600, the other photog I considered was going to be $150 (session fee) plus $300+ for digital images. So probably around $500 or $600 as well. Not cheap, but $1k seems outrageous. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152543 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:42:29 +0000 littlebug 1152543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: I was just going to suggest this. I spent a day scoping out local photogs' facebook pages and blogs, found a few that I liked, and followed for their mini-sessions announcements. We just booked a 30-minute session with digital printing rights and holiday cards for $175. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152538 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:39:49 +0000 mrskc 1152538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That sounds like a lot and I won't use a photog that has a print min. I like to just get the digital images. I booked one for beginning of nov. I put down a 250 deposit, no session fee. Deposit goes toward print or disc order. All digital images are 600 i believe and 10 images are 300. A little pricey for me, but I really liked the photog and she seemed like a real professional so I decided the extra cost will hopefully be worth it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152498 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:21:27 +0000 TheSwissWifeStyle 1152498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeah that seems like a lot! 1k is what I paid for my wedding photog, and that included a cd of all pics, re-touched. </p> <p>For our family session last Summer, we had bought a package deal around Mother's Day for our moms. I think it was 300 or 350, which included about an hour of shooting (she came to us) and 15 re-touched digital files to do whatever we wanted with them. (ie, order prints online wherever.) And then a souvenir cd of all the shots with a watermark. </p> <p>Maybe sign up for Groupon or those types of webistes in your area? I often see photography deals on there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152462 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 09:09:51 +0000 Bookish 1152462@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That seems pretty steep. Our area is lower cost of living, but still, I pay 65$ for an hour session + all print rights with a photographer we've used for years. It's a great deal but even so, I couldn't/wouldn't pay 1k! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152436 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 08:59:47 +0000 blackbird 1152436@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, i don't like print minimums. I like disks so that I can order what I want. </p> <p>Have you looked into Christmas minis? Lots of photographers do them for &lt; $200 and they include a handful of digital photos. </p> <p>Prints are a rip off. I know what I pay for them, and the charge is usually passed onto the client at 4x the cost. It's where they make their money. I don't mind selling them if someone wants to, but it's not my personal philosophy to require them </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152421 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 08:55:03 +0000 bunnylove08 1152421@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>our go to photographer is $500 but since we're regular clients of theirs they lowered it to $350 for us. I would see if you can contact a photographer you have worked with in the past and see if they have a discounted price for loyal customers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-family-photography#post-1152411 Wed, 16 Oct 2013 08:51:39 +0000 fancyfunction 1152411@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're doing one in November and she's only changing $175 for a session at our home, rights to the disc and even a short home movie. I think we're getting a steal. ;) </p>