Short answer
A portrait photographer. The thing to settle before booking is the pricing structure: many portrait businesses charge a modest sitting fee and make their income on prints and packages selected afterwards, which is legitimate and is also how a cheap booking becomes an expensive afternoon. Ask what the total is likely to be.
What to do before anyone arrives
- Ask for the full price list, including digital files, before booking.
- Decide whether you want digital files, prints, or both. Digital-only is often a separate and more expensive product than it sounds.
- Pick a time of day that suits the children rather than the light, if they are small. No photographer can fix a session booked during a nap.
- Agree on location, clothing and how many setups you want.
What to ask when you book
- What is included in the sitting fee, and what is the typical total spend?
- Do I get digital files, at what resolution, and with what usage rights?
- How many images will I see, and how are they selected?
- Is there a minimum purchase?
What changes the price
No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.
- Session length and location.
- Number of final images and whether digital files are included.
- Prints, albums and framing.
- Travel.
What you can do yourself
Is this licensed work?
Not licensed. Anyone photographing children in a commercial setting may need a working-with-children check depending on the state and the context.
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.
Common questions
- Who should I hire for a family portrait to book
- A portrait photographer. The thing to settle before booking is the pricing structure: many portrait businesses charge a modest sitting fee and make their income on prints and packages selected afterwards, which is legitimate and is also how a cheap booking becomes an expensive afternoon. Ask what the total is likely to be.
- Why are digital files extra?
- Because in a print-based business model the prints are the product and the files are the master. It is a legitimate structure and it is also the one that causes the most complaints, entirely because it was not made clear upfront. Ask for the full price list before you book and the problem disappears.
Find a Photographer near you
2,463 photographers in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.
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General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.