How Much Does a Maternity Photoshoot Cost? An Honest Breakdown

Nobody publishes this, which is why you are reading a Reddit thread from 2021 instead of a photographer's website. So here is mine, plainly.

My maternity sessions start at $690. That is two hours, and it includes a $500 credit toward your images, so the real question is not the session fee. It is what you end up spending on the photographs afterward, and that is the number most pricing pages carefully avoid.

Let me explain how the whole thing is structured, because once you understand it you can compare any two photographers properly instead of comparing one number to a different kind of number.

Why comparing prices is so confusing

Photographers price in two completely different ways, and they rarely say which one they are doing.

All-inclusive. One fee, all the edited digital images included. Simple to compare. Usually a higher headline number.

Session fee plus images. A lower fee to reserve the date and cover the time, then you choose and buy the photographs you actually want afterward. The headline number looks small and the total lands higher.

Neither is dishonest. The second one exists because most people do not want forty images, they want the eight they love, and pricing that way keeps the entry point reachable. But it makes a $200 quote and a $700 quote look like they are describing the same thing when they are not.

So the only question that gives you a comparable answer is this: what will I have spent in total by the time the photographs are on my wall. Ask that. Any photographer worth booking will answer it directly.

For my sessions the answer is: $690 covers the session and $500 of your image spend. Most clients land somewhere above that once they choose, because almost nobody picks the minimum. I would rather tell you that now than have you find out at the reveal.

What actually drives the price

Time. A two-hour session is not two hours of work. It is a planning call, wardrobe decisions, studio setup, the session itself, culling several hundred frames down, and retouching the ones you choose. The two hours you experience is maybe a third of it.

Retouching. This is the biggest single difference between a cheap session and an expensive one. Basic color correction across a whole gallery takes minutes. Proper retouching, done frame by frame on the images you actually want, takes hours, and it is the difference between a photo you like and a photo you print large.

Wardrobe. I keep a client gown collection in a range of sizes, plus silks and fabrics I drape and pin into different shapes on the day. That exists so nobody has to go and buy a dress they will wear once at a size their body will not be next month. It is also a real cost that gets built into a session fee somewhere.

Lighting and space. A studio means the session happens regardless of weather, at a time that suits you, at a stage of pregnancy where standing in a field for an hour in July is nobody's idea of fun.

Direction. The part that is hardest to put a number on and the part that decides everything. You are being told exactly how to stand, where to put your hands, where to look, and when to breathe out. Nobody photographs well when they are guessing.

"Why are maternity photos so expensive?"

It is a fair question and it gets asked a lot, usually by someone who has just seen a number they were not expecting.

The honest answer is that the price is not for the shoot. It is for a photograph of a version of you that exists for about eight weeks and then never again, made by someone who has done it enough times to know how to light you when you feel enormous and how to pose you so the bump reads as the shape it actually is.

There is a cheaper answer, and it is a real one: a friend with a good camera, or a mini session, or a phone in good window light. Those produce real photographs and I would never tell someone they were wasting their time. The difference you pay for is consistency. A professional session is not a chance of a good photo. It is a planned outcome.

If the budget is the constraint, say so at the inquiry. A shorter session is a better answer than no session.

What a reasonable range looks like

Across the market you will generally find three tiers.

Under $300. Usually a short session, minimal or no retouching beyond a filter pass, and either a small number of images or a large unedited gallery. Fine if you want documentation rather than portraiture, and genuinely fine for a lot of families.

$400 to $900. Where most established portrait photographers sit, including me. Expect a planning conversation, real wardrobe support, professional lighting and proper retouching on your selected images.

$1,000 and up. Usually means an all-inclusive product package with prints or an album built in, or a photographer with a heavily styled editorial approach and a lot of demand.

Beware only of the quote that is dramatically below everything around it with no explanation. That usually means the retouching is not happening, or the images are not included, and you will find out which at the worst moment.

When to book, and how that affects the cost

Most maternity sessions land between 28 and 34 weeks. That is late enough that the bump is unmistakable and early enough that standing for two hours is still comfortable.

Reach out around five to six months. Not because of pressure, but because I take a limited number of maternity clients each month, and the useful part of the calendar is genuinely narrow. A due date is not a date you can move.

Booking early does not change my price. It changes your options: which weekend, which light, whether your partner can get off work, and whether we have time to plan wardrobe properly instead of improvising.

Is 37 weeks too late? No, and I have photographed women later than that. One of my favorite sessions was at 36 weeks with a client who told me she felt huge and left having cried at the images. What changes late on is comfort and risk. Standing and moving for two hours is harder, and babies arrive early often enough that a 38-week booking is a gamble on a date nobody controls.

Questions worth asking any maternity photographer

1. What is the total I should expect to spend, including the images?
2. How many photographs do I get, and are they fully retouched or lightly edited?
3. How and when do I choose them?
4. What is the turnaround, and how does it work relative to my due date?
5. Do you have wardrobe I can use, and in my size?
6. What happens if the baby comes early?

That last one matters more than people think. My sessions include a fully retouched gallery within two weeks, and I build the timing around the due date specifically so nobody is chasing photographs while also having a newborn in the house.

If you want to see what the sessions actually look like before you think about numbers, I have written up sixteen maternity photoshoot ideas with the reasoning behind each one.

What is included in mine

For $690, two hours:

• Wardrobe and session planning before the day
• Access to the client maternity gown collection
• Professional studio lighting
• Full posing and expression coaching, which is the actual product
• A $500 credit toward your images
• The option to add your partner or older children at no extra session cost

Fully retouched gallery within two weeks, timed around your due date.

Inquire about a maternity session and I will give you the full picture before you commit to anything.

Frequently asked questions

How much should I spend on maternity photos? Enough to get properly retouched images from someone who will direct you, and no more than that. For most people that is somewhere between $400 and $900 all in. Spending less is reasonable if you want documentation rather than portraiture.

What week of pregnancy should you do a maternity shoot? Between 28 and 34 weeks for most people. The bump is clearly there and you are still comfortable enough to move around for a couple of hours.

Is 37 weeks too late for maternity photos? Not too late, but it is tighter than it needs to be. Comfort drops and babies arrive early, so a session that far along carries a real chance of being missed entirely.

Why are maternity photos more expensive than a regular portrait session? Mostly wardrobe and time. Maternity sessions need clothing that fits a body that is changing weekly, they run longer, and the posing takes more direction because most people have never been photographed at this stage.

Do maternity sessions include my partner and older children? In mine, yes, with the timeline planned around it so it does not feel rushed. Always confirm this with any photographer, because it is a common upcharge.

Do you photograph newborns as well? I do not offer newborn sessions, but I work with newborn specialists in the Charlottesville area and I am happy to introduce you. Ask at the inquiry and I will send you names.

Can we do the session outdoors? Yes, and fall is a good time for it locally, though studio gives you control over the date and the weather, which matters more when you are seven months pregnant. If you are also planning family photos this fall, it is worth booking both conversations at once.

The part that is not about money

I have photographed a lot of women who booked reluctantly, at the point where they felt least like being photographed, and who told me afterward that they nearly did not do it.

You are not going to want to be in front of a camera. That is normal, and it is the reason to book rather than a reason not to.

It is eight weeks of your life and then it is over. Inquire about a maternity session and tell me your due date, and we will find the right week.

Last updated: September 1, 2026

About the author: Arnel Gonce is a portrait photographer in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has photographed over 1,000 sessions since 2015, covering headshots and personal branding, families, seniors, maternity, boudoir and her signature Fabulous Over 50 sessions. She guides every client from first nerves to final gallery so the camera catches them at their most confident.