common questions when thinking about a professional newborn photography session

How to prepare for a Newborn Photography Session

A newborn photography session is a beautiful way to get those first moments with your brand new baby preserved. It’s a wonderful chance to document how tiny they are, and the bond of love between you and your baby, as well as other family members.

There are plenty of questions about what to expect from your baby’s newborn photoshoot. Let’s answer some of them!

Why should you book a Professional Newborn Photographer to take photos of your baby?

There are many advantages to booking a photoshoot with a photographer that specialises in newborn photography.

Firstly, it will help preserve the memories of the first few precious weeks with your little one. Second, you’ll have photos capturing your beautiful baby, which you can show off to everyone who isn’t able to visit. Thirdly, by hiring a specialist professional newborn photographer you can relax, knowing that you’re entrusting the important task of capturing these precious early moments to someone with the skills and experience to do it right.

Professional photographers use high-quality equipment and have the skills and experience to produce images with superior clarity, colour and composition. This ensures that you’ll have stunning photographs to cherish for a lifetime.

While it might be tempting to take newborn photos yourself or rely on a friend or family member, investing in a professional newborn photographer can result in stunning images that you’ll treasure forever.

A professional newborn photographer will know exactly how to safely and artistically handle, pose and photograph your new baby. It’s a highly specialised area of photography with skills that have to be learned and practised many times.

Many of the cute newborn poses you’ll see online are composites, and it’s important to never attempt to try to pose your own baby without any proper newborn photography training – leave that to the pros.

Where Should you Hold your Newborn Photography Session?

When planning a newborn photography session, you need to consider whether you’d prefer a lifestyle session at your home, or in your photographer’s studio for more clean, intricate shots.

Lifestyle Newborn Photography Session:

If you choose to have your photographer come to your home to do the session, you will need to think about the areas within your home that could work. Ideally, your photographer will look for rooms in your home with the best natural, indirect light. Open all of your curtains and see which rooms are the best lit. Generally, your newborn photographer will aim to shoot in the baby’s nursery, the family room, living room and parent’s bedroom.

These lifestyle newborn photography sessions will include your home as the backdrop to your photos with lots of more casual, candid photos.

Studio Newborn Sessions:

If you decide to book a session at a studio, you can decide whether you would still like a more natural ‘lifestyle’ element, or if you’d prefer intricate, posed newborn photos. Either way, I recommend that you do a good amount of research in finding the best, most trained and skilled posed newborn photographer near you.

There are many options out there. Many talented and sought after newborn photographers will book up weeks and months before your due date, so be sure to do your homework by your second trimester so you can make sure your first choice in newborn photographers is available for your baby’s due date.

How Long Does It Usually Take For A Newborn Photography Session? (And What’s Included?)

Your newborn photography session will last roughly 1.5 – 3 hours. That sounds like a long time, but remember that the main goal of the session is to produce peaceful, beautiful portraits of your newborn baby. Most of this time is spent feeding, comforting and positioning baby. Sometimes feedings can take an hour and a half, sometimes they take 20 minutes. Sometimes babies are more anxious than others, keeping their fingers tightly fisted, which need to be gently relaxed for optimal posing. Sometimes babies take a bit to transition to the next pose, waking easily with touch or movement, and some snooze through the entire session without even waking once.

The length of time of your newborn photo session can also depend on if parents and siblings will be included in the shoot. Sometimes, it takes quite some time to settle a newly appointed toddler big brother or sister for those sibling shots, or big sibling might have a meltdown for those family shot while baby is asleep and properly posed, only to wake up hungry when toddler finally settles and is ready to shoot. It happens all the time with family newborn photo sessions!

How Much Does A Newborn Photography Session Cost?

There are several things to consider when looking at the cost of a newborn photoshoot. First off, you may want to filter out any photographers that are not running a professional business, or are just starting out. Make sure your photographer is a specialist in the field of newborn photography and legitimate .

Costs can vary depending on many factors including your photographers’ overhead expenses and their level of experience. Remember, they are running a business and it needs to be sustainable – many unseen hours are involved (editing, planning etc), and if your photographer is supporting a family then they have to charge a fair rate in exchange for their time and the value of their service. Like everything, you’ll get what you pay for, so it's worth not shopping around on price alone.

Find out what your newborn photographer has to offer in addition to the photography session. Most established professional newborn photographers charge a separate session fee (ranging from £65 - £300) that does not include any prints, products or digital images. Your photographer will then have a separate, curated list of beautiful products and collections for purchase once the session is completed. Most newborn photographers will offer options such as prints, canvases, metal prints, wood prints, folio boxes, albums, and digital collections to chose from. To get an accurate idea on costs, ask for or schedule a consultation with your photographer to review their price list prior to booking, so that you can account for investing in the right products that will best suit your family. I always recommend opting for a collection that includes products (albums, prints, etc) as well as digital images. This will ensure that you have a quality, professional product that can be given to your newborn when he or she becomes an adult, and can be passed down through generations, as well as those digital images that will allow you to reproduce additional prints for family and friends. Collections with both product and digitals typically range from £300 to £1000.

As a general average, a newborn photo session with prints, products and/or digital images should cost about £600 - £1200. This is an average and will go up or down depending on the level of skill, experience and establishment of your photographer.