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Shooting Births

When I saw that I photographed a lot of birth, I really loved photographing bus. It was amazing experience. And I remember there was a question Kenner about photographing and filming at the same time in birth. And the most of my birth have been long. So that's Ah, that's a gift. They I had one that was one hour long, and I was only shooting stills for that. Thankfully, but the majority of them, you have time to film and do stills. You just have to ask your client, which is camera A. This is I always us if if I'm doing both is camera a video or his camera a stills, which is more important to you. And usually they say stills. But sometimes they say video and he I'm going to show you a birth. Now I want to put out a warning. This is a birth. Ah, there isn't too much graphic stuff in it. It's I don't really like graphic stuff. I get a bit queasy, but, um, it is definitely a birth. And if you don't like a little bit of boob than possibly don't watch, everyone loves foods. Uh, so, yeah, this...

is a video, but I OSHA I did shoot steals for this as well and plenty. We had stacks of steals and we had stacks of video and it still made a great project. I haven't combined stills in the video because you don't need to. I need you way. Oh, my go. I do. Oh, I'm sorry. It was oh, opening his eyes. So that's a slow of film. And also ah, all shorthand health. No figuring, uh, 35 mil lens. I think that's also what some people early on think, Um, if I'm handheld and they've got their, like 70 or 50 on there, they think I can't get this steady. But I think because I always use a wide lens, it means that it seems steady It I mean, it is steady A because I'm not using his own land. So I just wanted to quickly pop that tech talk in there. But this is an amazing experience in, uh, has had a lot of use online. And, yeah, being a really Yeah, I can Can we read you some of the feedback? That's the woman in There's a lot of tears going on, but I thought This was interesting observation from Jesse Lee, May said. So gorgeous, and I noticed how, when the action became intense, the editing slowed down. Nice, intuitive editing. So people are being up on that. That's right. Very good, Yeah, And also, I think if you want to really door, everyone's like at that point where she's giving birth to the baby and and the first moments with the baby where she's like, I love you, I love you and those sort of things. I think you that's on camera sound, too. That's not know, Mike. Nothing. And I think you really want it. You just want nothing else. Don't distract me with music. I turn down the music so you could hear it. I'm I'm like, Look, this is it. Pay attention to everything that's happening here by turning down the music by not cutting by not doing anything fancy. The camera watching that is it's shaky, but I'm crying. I can't be there and not feel that, and it doesn't really matter in this situation. This is actually really big market huge, Yeah, but I didn't realize that I would have never thought that that would be actually something that people, I would want a camera in there, and I'm surprised by talking to how many newborn and Children's photographers I talked to. They get asked, and a lot of photographers don't film or capture birth. It'll do. They I suppose, it right there. I mean, there were five tick guys just doing anything to get out of that booth. They were scoring at the window. I could see the hot right is locked it. Watch it, man happen. T. One day you'll be holding someone's hand one day. Good experience for you. So, Haley, I have a comment here from Sheena Lash, who says capturing her saying You're perfect on film is much better than a photo leavened. But that's a powerful statement. And also and this mother loves this video because she would have forgotten that I I've got photos of my breath with my kids, but I don't remember, and I'm grateful I have those photos because I see that and you cried. Otherwise I wouldn't have known that I did. I was so in that moment that there was no way I would have seen Andrew crying. But to hear what they said is so beautiful and powerful. And how many people say amazing things when their baby is handed to them. But they don't remember it because the adrenaline so high, then and you know the moment is gone. And I think it's a beautiful gift to that baby. You know I love you. It's the first words he heard. I think that's a hazy and that we get to share that se. I got a great comeback. I'm not gonna cry Teoh. He's opening his eyes. He's opening his I yes, the first time he opened his eyes. Yeah, I think one day he's gonna watch that right, and I'm opening my eyes the first time. I mean, that's pretty amazing. Yeah, it is. It's really cool. Yes, a question that came through from Kehinde Haley, who said for the birth video, Was there any direction on your part? Or were you simply being a fly on the wall on the wall as least noticeable? It's possible this is very different to how there's no planning in this type of crisis documentary. This is seat of the pants. See what happens, and it's it's amazing, but it is also very I don't make a sound. And if the light is bad and something isn't working, I e. There's a big flare behind you be from the window or your backlit. I'm not going to change it. It's just is as it is. So it's quite different way of shooting and you let go of all the I want some flair and shot lists and and plans for this type of, you know, What would you catch for that? The reality off, Thea. Amount of time that it would take you to eat it something like that. You were obviously there for a day. Best foldout over 24 hours. You could be on call. I mean, the chances of you you would have to you know? I mean, I get that you're getting a client for life because you're getting the family portrait on the Knicks baby and the newborn and the one year picture. But the truth is, is that is a product, and somebody would have to pay you for that. What do you put? What money value do you put on that? I put that same as yours, but only because I love it so much. It isn't. It's worth more than a short 5000 to which is what I normally charge, um, more on the right now, um 10. But so may Phil. This is very time consuming. I can't. It's hard to book, and that's ended up why I haven't done a lot more of them because I've had stacks of enquiries and people wanting them. But I can't play my life around. I have to be in the one city all the time, and it's a really big commitment. If you're a birth photographer or newborn photographer and you have a studio, this is an amazing thing. But for me, I couldn't do other work around it because I was always on call and, uh, yeah, it. But I would judge five days, so an option would be a I like options. If you chopped that in stop motion, it would have 1/50 of the editing time. Yes, um, essentially, you would just have to choose your sequences, and that would be the only real editing time everything and could go in light room or first up into black and white. Really, you could actually create a vision off that that's not quite so epic immediately and stop motion or fusion, where you are shooting, trying to keep everything horizontally and then maybe just a few sequences and moving. But you're right when they talk to the baby on. Maybe that's what you do. You did or stop motion printers when the the baby comes out and that first hold and you film that that first cry or whatever happens there and then the rest is all stills and you frame that up. I actually have seen that and it does work. It's lovely. Uh, just another question. I think that had come in earlier, but was about Can you or would you pull stills from your video for something like this? I I don't have you done that a bit? I don't because I'm normally shooting stills as well, so I don't really need them. If I wanted to block about something and I hadn't got to still, then I might grab a still, but I don't find them high enough quality to do much other than a blood post with, but you're going to get a five by seven print Cool. So it's never high enough, and remember often when you were filming motion. Either you're in motion or the person is emotion. So if you are to extract is still out of that. It's never gonna be sharp. Somebody is always moving in moving footage. One thing I took from that Waas the cannon in the Nikon shoot while filming. Um, but it puts a hiccup in the in the footage. So if you're capturing something and you decide to shoot a still in your camera is set to roar, it will shoot a still in raw. But when you play back and you keep panning, it will keep filming. But it will show a little glitch like that in the footage when you play it back. So you either have to eat it. That out will take the first half or take the second half. But never miss an opportunity to take a higher is still in roar so that you can make it bigger. That's just something you learn. I've learned to shoot film shit form shield film. Yep, another I I would prefer higher is than to me. It's not enough. I want a high risk. Definitely. Yeah. Haley, will you be getting mawr into pricing later or we have a couple pricing questions that just so you will be doing that so well. Actually, I can talk about that with you now because I'm happy to talk about pricing all the time with photography, with video, with time. So if you want to talk about that before the break, a lot of questions on Price. Yeah, we do. We have a couple that are coming in about pricing because we brought it up. So OK, Mommy had said if Hayley was to break it down, how she would charge for a video like this. Is it all based on time per hour? Or is there more things to consider in the pricing? Well, when I'm learning to edit, I don't charge that time to my client. That's my research and development that's investing in yourself. So if I said if I was starting out, it might take me three days to edit something that really should only take half a day, then that's what I'll charge them half a day. Ah, something like this is HAB. Birth is particularly hard because you're not show how long you'll be there, so that is a little bit more tricky, but the way I got around it was with, uh I gotta stills, end birth video package so that you get steals as well, and I sell Also, I sell them, Ah, fee up front to get that. And I actually missed a couple of months, so you can't I don't take it away Payment up front first, and I kind of break it down a little bit and make that, um, the stills that you buy so you buy put image, and you make more money that way. So you get you pay an upfront fee, plus whatever still do you want to get when you're selling fusion? So when you're selling anything where you have footage and stills, the one thing I think you're gonna come up against its what I can. It flapping its A. Soon as I started offering it Waas you can up sell video. So if you come in and have a photo shoot off your family and you think we'll just get a nice family shot and then you see all the photographs and then all of a sudden you're buying 16 24th and 34 days and your way over budget, $5000 you're upgrading your sale. That is how you up sell your work to get more money, just like when you get a bigger winning album, whatever. But you can't take a video and upgraded. There's nothing you can actually do to sell more than a DVD, so the video has to be one package. So you might have to say a family fusion shoot is $1800 with that, you get the shop of your choice for the wall as well. So you get a high res video, you get the shot of your choice. Then when they come in, they will get the DVD that look at all the other shots. And, of course they will. Absolutely shots. So, the irony is, is you can up sell a DVD, but you can up sell stills so the power is to shoot both and then upgrade the stills right? And people inevitably will buy more stills. So I just found that that's how you have to price the video based on time or day rate and what you feel comfortable with. And the hardest part about that cell is I have to sell you an $ video before you've seen your video. You understand that? So this is what I'm going to talk about in marketing because I think the biggest problem there is why would I commit to an $1800 video and a video shoot when I don't even know what my video is gonna look like? And I found two ways around it. So I'm gonna really, sort of just keep pushing on all the marketing. But pricing for May video is time. Stills is upgrade. So I do a day, right? So I just did a family portrait, and it's something's changing. A video family portrait. There were no still involved. And I charged 4.5 for that. Uh, that's a lot of money up front. You don't know what you're going to get. And I spent an afternoon with the family, edited it together, and I did that that price based on my day, right, Hal and I think this is gonna take me. Had to travel quite a way to for the location. And how long will the edit type