faq

There are a few reasons…

1. For your convenience:  I know how hard it is to get out of the house and into a studio in the early days of parenting.
2. Your bub is comfortable there: Babies are more easily settled if they’re in their own house with familiar smells and sights.
3. For a unique and personalised Baby Montage: Baby’s first home is unique and special to you. You also have mementos there – perhaps a family heirloom, a significant toy, a special chair?

If however, your house is not appropriate or available for photography sessions, we can use my home studio located on the Northern Beaches and you can bring mementos with you. Please note: I’ll travel within 10km of Collaroy at no extra charge. The included suburbs are listed below.

For Baby Montage photo shoots in your home, I’ll travel within 10km of Collaroy 2097 at no extra charge. Those suburbs include:

Allambie Heights, Balgowlah, Balgowlah Heights, Bayview, Beacon Hill, Belrose, Brookvale, Church Point, Clontarf, Collaroy, Collaroy Plateau, Cromer, Curl Curl, Davidson, Dee Why, Elanora Heights, Fairlight, Frenchs Forest, Forestville, Freshwater, Ingleside, Killarney Heights, Manly, Manly Vale, Mona Vale, Narrabeen, Narraweena, Newport, North Balgowlah, North Curl Curl, North Manly, North Narrabeen, Oxford Falls, Queenscliff, Seaforth, Terrey Hills, Warriewood, Wheeler Heights.

If you live outside this 10km radius, a travel fee will apply and this depends on the number of visits required for your Baby Montage package. Please contact me with your suburb and I will be happy to clarify further. Otherwise, we can always use my studio for your photo shoots if you’re willing to travel.

By using the same location, mementos, similar baby clothing, camera angle, camera height, lens length, time-of-day etc., we create a stunning pattern and a cohesive artwork that is mesmerising. It also brings the focus onto your baby’s growth and development – it’s the only thing that’s changing throughout. This is called ‘continuity’ and I go to great lengths to achieve it – it’s what Baby Montage is known for.

Just me, Samantha Dodson. I’m a Professional Photographer of 20 years and a new Mum also. I have lived on the Northern Beaches most of my life – except when I was in Vancouver, Canada. There I studied photography for 3 years and became a travel photographer for Expedia.com.

When I moved back to Australia 10 years ago, I worked as a photographer in a portrait studio to pay for my Masters degree in Creative Advertising. Since then I’ve worked in Advertising as a Copywriter and partnered with my Art Director in our own Branding, Design & Photography business.

See more about me here.

If all the photo shoots will be in your home*, I’ll come to you for the consultation so I can see the space and the light.

If your home isn’t available for the photo shoots we’ll use my studio, so that’s where the consultation will take place.

* I’ll travel within 10km of Collaroy at no extra charge. The suburbs included are listed above.

About 45 mins to 1 hour.

At the consultation we’ll discuss your needs and wants, view the shoot location, choose your mementos (you may not have all of them yet), pencil in the shoot dates, and sign the commitment contract.

In total – about 45 mins to 1 hour.

On arrival, I’ll set up my camera, tripod, laptop, your mementos – which takes about 30 mins. That way, everything is ready to go before we bring baby in.

Babies have a short attention span, with minimal patience – so the actual shooting time will be short and sweet, about 15-20 mins. I’ll need your help to make sure bub is happy, smiling and looking at the camera – which means you’ll do a lot of arm-waving, toy-shaking and making weird noises. Don’t worry – I’ll be joining in.

Then I’ll pack up and get out of your hair until the next shoot comes around.

On my shoot days, I have 3 time slots – morning (9-10:30am), lunch (12-1:30pm) and afternoon (2:30-4pm). We’ll choose a time slot when we do the consultation (depending on light in your home and your schedule) and we’ll keep that time slot for the whole year of shoots. We want to shoot every photo throughout the year at around the same time of day so the light is in a consistent position.

Throughout the year, we can be flexible within a time slot to fit in with your bub’s sleep pattern that month. For newborns, it’s best to shoot when they’re sleepy. For all other ages, I find it’s best to photograph just after babies have woken and fed – but you let me know when your bub is at his or her happiest.

I prefer to use natural light for the Baby Montages as opposed to studio lighting, unless the room we’re shooting in is quite dark.

Sunlight coming through a window is beautiful and has a soft, natural but directional quality. Whereas strobe (or flash) is versatile but can be distracting and startling for babies.

The consultation in your home will determine whether we use the existing natural light, studio lights, or a combination of both.

No – it’s broken down into 4 easy payments spread out over a year or more.

1. A non-refundable $200 deposit is required to book a consultation and secure your spots throughout the year. This is deducted from the package price you choose.
2. 50% of the remaining package price is due before the 1st photoshoot.
3. 25% is due when your baby is 6 months old.
4. The final 25% is due at the final photoshoot when your bub is 1 year old.

SEE THIS EXAMPLE:

1. Jul 1st 2019 – $200 deposit paid. Kristy is 7 months pregnant and unsure which Baby Montage package she’s going to go with, but books a consultation anyway to guarantee a spot before baby arrives.
2. Sept 1st 2019 – $645 paid. After talking it over at the consultation, Kristy decided to go with the 5-Stage Baby Montage. Baby has just arrived and she pays $645 before the 1st shoot ($1490 package price – $200 deposit = $1290 x 50% = $645)
3. Mar 1st 2020 – $322.50 paid. Kristy’s baby is 6 months old so she pays 25% of the package price (less the deposit).
4. Sept 1st 2020 – $322.50 final payment. A year and 2 months after her initial consultation, Kristy’s baby turns 1 and she’s having her final photo shoot. Kristy pays the remaining balance so that her Baby Montage can be finalised and sent for framing.

I can Express Post a Gift Voucher either to the person paying or the person the voucher is intended for – anywhere in Australia for FREE! Please specify the correct shipping address during checkout – I’ll call or email to confirm also. 

Buy your Gift Voucher online.

FREE! I will ship your Gift Voucher by Australia Post Express Post to anywhere in Australia for no charge.

Buy your Gift Voucher online.

If you want to buy a Gift Voucher for a certain monetary amount instead of a specific Baby Montage Package, please get in contact with me.

• Gift Vouchers are valid for 3 years.
• Not redeemable for cash.
• Recipient can upgrade to another package by paying the difference.
• Gift Vouchers can be transferred to another person – the original recipient just needs to contact me with the new recipient’s name.

Lost or Stolen Gift Vouchers – contact me straight away so somebody else doesn’t try to use it. But don’t worry, I’ve got your details in my records so just show ID at the consultation.

See the full terms here.

Yes, absolutely. Just let me know before or during the consultation and you’ll be able to pay the difference in price when invoiced.

Yes, you can request other display options (we’ve got a year to decide!). Perhaps you prefer canvas, wood panel printing, or even acrylic blocks. I have a few different display options hanging in my studio. So just contact me to organise a time to see them and we can chat through the extra pricing (if applicable).

Yes, no problem. Just be aware that increasing the size or changing the format (orientation and layout) will incur an extra charge for post-production, printing and framing.

Yes, you can. 

To get the high-res digital images of your 3-Stage Baby Montage – the add-on is $150.

To get the high-res digital images of your 4-Stage Baby Montage – the add-on is $200.

(All digital images are already included in the 5-Stage and 12-Stage Packages)

After proofing your final image and the Montage artwork, I will do final touches of post-production and retouching, then it will be professionally printed and custom-framed – all up this should take between 3-6 weeks. Not that long considering we’ve been working on the project together for a year.

No worries – keep in contact with me and we’ll move things around if we need to. I know babies never come on their due date so I’m really flexible here.

That’s ok. Moving house means that the background or light direction might change for the rest of the images – this adds to your baby’s story.

Make sure you hold on to the chosen mementos though, so we always use the same ones in every photo shoot – this adds consistent elements to focus the eye on your baby’s growth alone.

During the consultation we’ll consider any holiday you have planned that’s over 6 weeks in duration and choose the right package for you. For example, if you plan to head overseas for 2 months after baby is born, you’ll probably need to choose either the 3, 4 or 5-Stage Baby Montage and not the 12-Stage.

If you have booked a 12-Stage Baby Montage where the photo shoots are monthly, going away for less than 6 weeks will not matter at all. If your holiday is 5 to 6 weeks in total, we’ll plan to shoot just before you go away and right when you come back. 

Always just let me know as soon as you can and I’ll be as flexible as possible – the more time I have to move things around, the better.