What is a Photographer's Time Worth?

What is My Time Worth?

(Trigger warning; mention of baby loss)

My time; it is not just the time I spend taking photos, far from it.

It's the hours after midnight when I think about the set up for tomorrow.

It's when I spend time, family in tow on holiday, wandering around markets looking for that specific prop to make the set complete for a planned cake smash.

It's when I edit the images sent to me from Remember My Baby, talking to the little one who didn't make it, whilst gently wiping away the marks on his face with my editing brushes.

It's when I go through the smiles I captured of a family welcoming a new member.

It's the cuddles I give a newborn baby, soothing her to sleep, whilst her parents, bleary eyed and sleep deprived next to me, are given a moment to rest.

It's when I spend hours going through images to find the ones that you will display on your walls.

It's when a Mum who was in very early stages pregnancy at a session, but then lost her baby asks me if there were any images that I didn't use where you could see her tiny bump? I go through all the images and there it is.

It's when I look back at the images from a wedding where I know the bride was in pain, thinking of how much strength she had to pull together, to last the day out. Did I do enough?

It's when I tell an anxious father of a child with autism "Don't worry, I've got this", there's no rush.

It's giving you a cup of tea when you tell me how stressful your morning has been.

It's when I wash all the materials from a little bubba's session, and think of how gorgeous he was swaddled in blue.

It's when I receive a message from a mum who is so tired and not feeling well, and I explain that she needs to look after herself and we can postpone the session.

It's when I think of the Dad who clearly didn't want to be at the session, but by the end of it was the one who was the most engaged and didn't want to leave.

It's when I clean the studio and make sure everything is safe for a little bubba to capture her stretches and smiles.

It's holding your hand when you tell me how worried you feel since you've had your baby.

It's when I keep going back to that one image which I can't quite get right, making sure it ends up as I saw it.

It's capturing memories for families who are yet to know how much that image will mean to them.

❤️