? for the Ladies: How did/do you handle pregnancy?

ssimmonsphoto

Hey, ladies.
My husband and I are starting to have the kid talk. Since we are wanting to be prepared as possible, he wants me to ask you how you handled getting pregnant while balancing your clients. I'm booking for 2012 now (have been since last fall) and obviously I have no way to know now if/when a kid would be born in order to avoid booking during that time in the first place. How far along were you when you stopped shooting weddings? And, on the other side, how long postpartum, assuming that everything goes right with the delivery, did you wait before starting up again?

I know this is a really odd topic to bring up, but we're trying to cover all of our bases and get as many responses as possible so we can decide what will work best for us as well as my clients.

Thanks in advance for your feedback. :lust

tropico

I don't have much experience and not too many bookings. But I am six months pregnant, and so far there is no problem shooting weddings.
Keep in mind that every lady have different pregnancies, some have more health issues than other.

I will keep working as long as possible. I know I got one booking for the month I am due, and I am thinking about cancelling because I am afraid to be in labour the day of the shoot. And the first weeks of the babies life I want to be with my baby and not in front of the computer editing.

Good luck with the baby planning!

nicoleshilliday

I had all these same worries about pregnancy and booking clients. All very good questions and concerns especially this being your first.

With my first, i will still just starting out, so i didn't have many bookings yet, but i ended up shooting a wedding about 5 days before my son was born. We also knew we were moving to a different state, so i wasn't taking any future bookings at that time.

With my second things were a little more complicate. It took us 8 months to get pregnant, so i ended up not booking as many weddings as i could have in 2011. I was nervous about having to cancel. I did have in my contract about if i had a DRs note and couldn't work that a replacement would be found. (that is one great thing about photographers boards...replacements can always be found if need be). Also, once you are pregnant you will know when the baby is due (give or take a few weeks) and you will have to cancel any weddings right around that time.

After my second I shot my first wedding about 4 weeks after (and i even had a c-section) and have been doing about one-two a month since. I am also breastfeeding and have talked to each of the brides telling them i needed to take a 10 min break about every 4 hours to pump. I even carry my cooler of milk around with me in the car during the day (don't want to waste that liquid gold).

All and all, when you are pregnant, if all things go well, you can work up until you have the baby and can start right back up again after. I would just be honest and upfront with all your clients once you become pregnant. You can give return their deposit, help them find another photographer. 99 out of 100 brides will understand!

One last thing...photography can put you into labor! I did an engagement shoot the day before I had my second son (ended up being 3 weeks early). It was the great gift the couple could have ever given me...i didn't have to be pregnant any more

I guess what i am trying to say is do what is comfortable for you. and if you have any questions about anything this mom of two can TRY to give you advice. Good luck!

nicoleshilliday

tropico wrote: »

I don't have much experience and not too many bookings. But I am six months pregnant, and so far there is no problem shooting weddings.
Keep in mind that every lady have different pregnancies, some have more health issues than other.

I will keep working as long as possible. I know I got one booking for the month I am due, and I am thinking about cancelling because I am afraid to be in labour the day of the shoot. And the first weeks of the babies life I want to be with my baby and not in front of the computer editing.

Good luck with the baby planning!

as for editing...it was a lot easier finding time to edit photos when my first was younger (up to 6 months). Once he started moving around, i would get a sitter one day a week and edit like crazy and then do the rest of my editing at night. I also got very good at typing with one hand and breast feeding while i was sitting at the computer. Managing your time being a mom and photographer is very hard! I wont lie about that one, but it is a great job to have, BC you can stay home and still be with your little ones. The house cleaning always gets left in the dust...literally, but who cares what the house looks like anyway!

ssimmonsphoto

Thanks for your advice so far, ladies. I'm a part time photog (full time photog high school teacher), so we have several balls to juggle while making the decision. I've been shooting professionally for 3 years this August and typically do 19-20 weddings a year, so I generally have a fair number of bookings that I need to be thinking about.

How did you go about setting them up with another photographer? And what range did you do it with? If all goes as planned, I'm hoping for a late April/May kiddo (in the most perfect world, I know). Right now I have one in mid-April and then one in June. Obviously I'm not pregnant yet, but, especially with this being our 1st, my husband has a ton of "what ifs" that he asks me. My husband has been a second shooter for me before, so my thinking would be that any dates within a month or two before my "due date" would have him there as my back up just in case I needed a rest or anything happened.

AHHH! Sorry for the 20 questions. Just the typical first time parent panic, I suppose.

bnlearle

My wife was with me shooting weddings up until a few days before she delivered. She had no problems at all -- and she's not some gnarly tough chick. Afterwards, if you wanted to get a different second shooter other than your husband, your husband could watch the baby and you could shoot. Lindsay was good to shoot probably a week or two after the baby. Of course, everyone's going to be different but that was her experience

ssimmonsphoto

bnlearle wrote: »

My wife was with me shooting weddings up until a few days before she delivered. She had no problems at all -- and she's not some gnarly tough chick. Afterwards, if you wanted to get a different second shooter other than your husband, your husband could watch the baby and you could shoot. Lindsay was good to shoot probably a week or two after the baby. Of course, everyone's going to be different but that was her experience

Thanks! I definitely know that it wouldn't necessarily be a predictable experience for me, but it is good to hear that some people do get back to shooting relatively quickly. In the end, the more informed I am, the better my husband will feel. !

Babyboom

11 weeks Pregnant and a Master Graduate in Photojournlist
Just as I have completed and passed my 2 year MA course in Photojournalism, I find myself 11 weeks pregnant. My partner and I are very happy but I am worried about building the career as a Photojournalist now for what I have built over 2 years, in what I have always wanted. I have a great talent who's well connected with the editorial industry, but now I'm still worried how on earth I will plan and do this, but just as I have made such vast progress, I have to take time out for my baby and then to achieve agency representation, projects and new assignments. Any advice on how best to proceed, and use this time effectively, for the next 2 years?