I have just started doing portraits. Newborn mothers are tired and sometimes they just feel they aren't ready for their newborn session and wants to reschedule. I have been there myself and I definitely understand. But it wrecks havoc on my calendar. How do you manage this? I don't want to charge penalties for rescheduling but I wonder if there are things you say to persuade moms to persevere? I tell them I won't need them and they can sleep when I am doing the session. And of course I tell them their house can be totally messy - I don't need a lot of space.
Charge the full session price upon booking and make the session non refundable. They wouldn't cancel at the last minute on their hair dresser, etc. They're doing it to you because they're tired and don't value the session enough. I'd still allow a one time rescheduling but after that, they lose their money.
I haven't done a lot of newborn sessions, but I haven't had a single mother want to reschedule with me. Part of it might be how I stress the importance of the timing of the shoot, usually when the baby is 5-8 days old. I can't even imagine how I'd respond to someone wanting to reschedule because they were tired. Hello? You're going to be tired for the next five years.
1. As mentioned... nonrefundable deposit, you determine the amount based on time/hourly rate etc.
2. Yes.. they will be tired but you can also let them know you do not photograph newborns after 10-12 days as they loose the fetal bend which makes it difficult to get all the cute poses you see around. So, if they do not want to be in the shots, at least have the baby photographed and you can then schedule them for the 3,6,9,12 month etc with mom and/or dad in the photos at the initial session.
Yes I do stress that I want to capture the baby before baby passes 10 days old for those reasons. Hopefully it won't be happening often, but with weddings I know it's all about the education before the wedding so I wanted to see if there is anything else I can do. I will add in to my contract that they can reschedule just once or lose the session.
In this case, baby was suppose to be photographed before 10 days, so we rescheduled from 4 days old to 10 days old, when parents have the grandma arriving to help out, but now the baby has to go back to hospital for jaundice treatment and tests because baby has a low white blood cell counts. In that case I'm not going to be horrible about it. I'm sure parents have more on their mind than photographs. But it is tough on scheduling because with newborns I want them in before the 10 days so when we reschedule I have to make it happen ASAP and squeeze them in.
