2026

What Actually Happens at a Newborn Session

I get a lot of questions from first-time parents about what a newborn session actually involves. Which is completely fair: if you have never done one before, handing your brand new baby to a photographer in an unfamiliar studio sounds a little daunting.

So here is exactly what happens.

You arrive

The studio is warm. Warmer than you might expect, actually, because newborns need it that way. There is no rush when you walk in. We settle in, you get comfortable, and baby gets used to the space. This part alone can take twenty or thirty minutes and that is completely normal and completely fine.

We start with baby

Most of the session is focused on baby: wrapped poses, basket setups, floral styling, and all the details. The tiny fingers, the curled up feet, the way they tuck themselves into a perfect little ball. This is the stuff you will look at every day for the rest of your life.

A lot of advanced poses are actually composite images, meaning baby is always supported safely and the images are put together in editing. Safety is always the priority, always.

We take breaks

Feeds happen. Settling happens. Sometimes baby wakes up at the exact wrong moment and we wait. This is not a problem: it is just part of it. I have never once felt impatient at a newborn session.

We do family and sibling shots

If you have a partner or older children joining, we bring them in for a portion of the session. These are some of my favourite images: the way a sibling looks at a new baby for the first time is something you simply cannot recreate.