JUST found out my wife is pregnant! How do I spin this?

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #9221895
You actually think you're going to be standing there with a dslr while your wife is delivering a baby?

hahahahahahahaha

She's going to take one look at that camera and say, "put that D... thing away NOW!

I had a point and shoot for my first, and a high def cam corder for the 2nd. It only stands to reason that the 3rd get slr quality No worries...no photos of the 'netherregions' lol.

I say save your money, you're going to need it!

An UWA may not work. My wife is delivering this morning (she is napping courtesy of the epidural) and the docs and nurses don't want pictures of staff or them doing procedures. Go with a fast prime or a flash. I have both for later this morning, and yes it is per the wife's permission/request, although no pics allowed until the baby arrives.

Good luck. On the doctors/nurses not wanting photos during the procedure: Unless you are getting in the way, I really not sure it is up to them. If you are out of the way and not interferring with the procedure, I pretty sure they dont have a say. You are paying for the room, so am pretty sure it can be legally classified as your domicile for that time. Just tell them to lighten up and say cheese!

if you went in there with strobes and umbrellas/soft boxes, I could see them getting a little weird about it, but if you just wanna snap a few, I don't see why it should be an issue. Wifey should make you sell all your camera stuff to pay for baby food

I just had a baby girl 7 weeks ago. I took almost all her pictures using Canon 50mm f/1.4 including some pictures in delivery room. I would highly a fast prime, in your case it'll be a Sigma 30mm or a Canon 28mm.

dutchswan wrote in post #9222165
Good luck. On the doctors/nurses not wanting photos during the procedure: Unless you are getting in the way, I really not sure it is up to them. If you are out of the way and not interferring with the procedure, I pretty sure they dont have a say. You are paying for the room, so am pretty sure it can be legally classified as your domicile for that time. Just tell them to lighten up and say cheese!

Ummmmm.... No. You are entirely wrong.

The doctors and nurses are in charge of that room and if they don't want you taking photos (or they think you are interfering with their ability to provide proper care to the patient), they will have you removed from the room. My wife is a labour/delivery nurse and she has kicked out plenty of family from the room. I don't think she has had to do a husband but I'm sure she would and could.

Legally classified as your domicile for that time? hhahahahaha you're not renting a hotel room, your wife is having a medical procedure. Most times, the medical staff are OK with photos of them if you ask first but some hospitals tell them not to be in photos while procedures are being done for insurance and liability reasons. For most births, my wife is in a ton of photos as she gives her permission.

Remember, this is #3 for me. That is just another potato in the pot for us. My #1 will go to kindergarten two weeks after the #3 is born...so its not like our live-in nanny is getting a raise or anything.

Even if she did have to watch all three, I cant remember the last time my boss handed me an extra project and then said "oh, and here is some extra money for your troubles" lol

TheHoff wrote in post #9222235
Ummmmm.... No. You are entirely wrong.

The doctors and nurses are in charge of that room and if they don't want you taking photos (or they think you are interfering with their ability to provide proper care to the patient), they will have you removed from the room. My wife is a labour/delivery nurse and she has kicked out plenty of family from the room. I don't think she has had to do a husband but I'm sure she would and could.

Legally classified as your domicile for that time? hhahahahaha you're not renting a hotel room, your wife is having a medical procedure. Most times, the medical staff are OK with photos of them if you ask first but some hospitals tell them not to be in photos while procedures are being done for insurance and liability reasons. For most births, my wife is in a ton of photos as she gives her permission.

You are correct in that they have a lot of power in that room, but so does the person having the baby. If my wife decides she does not like a nurse or doctor, she can say "your fired"...get me someone else (perhaps an emergency might be the exception to this rule, but most deliveries do not have emergencies, and take 12+ hours)

Perhaps things are done differently in Canada

dutchswan wrote in post #9222262
You are correct in that they have a lot of power in that room, but so does the person having the baby. If my wife decides she does not like a nurse or doctor, she can say "your fired"...get me someone else (perhaps an emergency might be the exception to this rule, but most deliveries do not have emergencies, and take 12+ hours)

Maybe in the US if you are paying for a birthing centre, OK, I'll give you that. But in most hospitals here, there is one OB on duty. If you don't like him or her, or you want to "fire" them... you'd be laughed at.

And you have to assume they all talk to each other... if you were so crusty that you tried to fire some of the staff in the room, you're going to get the evil eye from all of the others because you're obviously out to cause trouble. And if they have problems with you taking photos it is likely a hospital-wide policy, not related to an individual.

Anyway, silly to argue about this... but you are a guest in that room... the main players are the medical staff and your wife and any one of them can have you kicked out

Time to upgrade to 5d2 for the video.

dutchswan wrote in post #9220060
Hey honey, I am going to need a fast wide angle lens, like the Tokina 11-16mm in order to take some excellent photos of [fill in the blank] on delivery day.

+1 on fast prime. (30mm or so).

+1 on 30 1.4 and a bounce flash. You'll be up close and a UWA will make the poor kid's head look even more stretched and misshapen than it already is. Plus you have room to move in and out so no real need for a zoom and it's nice to have the shallow dof.

Here's our guy, a couple of hours old (and still wondering "WTF???"). 30 1.4 @1.8/80 ISO 200

TheHoff wrote in post #9222285
Anyway, silly to argue about this... but you are a guest in that room... the main players are the medical staff and your wife and any one of them can have you kicked out

True that. Silly?... yes...I just have never heard of medical staff not allowing photos in a delivery room. Perhaps the medical paradigm is different here in Iowa...we have not delivered anywhere else.


BTW...went to your site; nice work. I think you do not charge enough though. Those would be bargain prices here....unless the prints are extra, then your pricing seems normal.

dutchswan wrote in post #9222340
True that. Silly?... yes...I just have never heard of medical staff not allowing photos in a delivery room. Perhaps the medical paradigm is different here in Iowa...we have not delivered anywhere else.

Just different hospitals and different medical corporations running them. I'm sure in that delivery room where photos of the staff weren't allowed, that is simply a hospital or corporation that has had photos come back to bite them in the ass in a legal proceding... so now they have a hospital wide policy of no photos of the procedures. I'm sure you're still welcome to photograph your wife and the baby after it is born.

Hey, thanks. Prints are extra but this is my first season booking so yea, I also think I'm a bargain I'll up the prices every few bookings.

Back to the topic, here is a blog post I wrote for my wife's site on how to bring your camera into the delivery room, and survive -- not technical but how to deal with things. (Not that you need it, being #3, but others in the thread might find it useful.)