Your baby is a week old. You’ve had about four hours of sleep across three nights, you’re still in the trackpants you wore yesterday, and someone has suggested a photo shoot.
If that sounds like the worst idea you’ve ever heard, stay with us. A newborn session isn’t a performance, and nobody expects you to turn up polished and well-rested. Here’s what actually happens on the day, so you know exactly what you’re walking into.
In This Guide
- When’s the best time to book?
- The chat that happens first
- What should you bring?
- What happens on the day
- What about siblings and family?
- What happens afterwards?
- The one thing worth remembering
When’s the best time to book?
The sweet spot is the first two weeks, ideally somewhere between five and fourteen days old. Babies that age are still curled up the way they were in the womb. They sleep deeply, and they settle into those snug little poses without much fuss.
After about three weeks, they start to stretch out and stay awake longer. You still get lovely photos. They’re just different photos: more wide-eyed, less sleepy-curled.
Here’s the tricky bit. Babies don’t read calendars. Most photographers will ask you to book while you’re still pregnant and then lock in the real date once your baby arrives. If you’re thinking about a maternity session as well, it’s worth sorting both at the same time.
The chat that happens first
Alt text: Newborn baby boy in a safari-themed setup, lying in a toy jeep beside a plush giraffe and lion
Any good newborn photographer will ring you before the day. Ours is a ten-minute call, and it covers more than you’d expect.
We’ll talk about colours you like, whether there’s anything specific you’re hoping for, and how to time feeds so your baby arrives sleepy. That last one matters more than any prop or backdrop ever will.
It’s also your chance to ask the awkward questions. Can I feed during the session? Yes. What if she screams the whole time? She won’t be the first. What if I need to sit down and have a cry? Also completely fine.
What should you bring?
Almost nothing.
Any decent studio supplies the wraps, headbands, outfits, baskets and blankets. Ours are handmade, and they’re included in every newborn photography session; there’s nothing to buy and nothing to pack.
Bring a couple of spare nappies, a dummy if your baby uses one, and a change of clothes for yourself. That’s genuinely the list. If there’s a blanket from grandma or a knitted something you love, bring it along and we’ll work it in.
What happens on the day
The studio is warm. Honestly, a bit too warm for the adults in the room, around 26 degrees, because babies settle far better when they’re toasty.
A session runs for roughly 2 or 3 hours, and most of that time isn’t spent taking photos at all. It’s spent waiting. Feeding. Settling. Waiting a bit more.
Your baby sets the pace. If he wakes up hungry forty minutes in, we stop. If he needs three nappy changes, he gets three nappy changes. There’s no schedule to fall behind on, because the whole session is built around the assumption that things will pause.
Every pose is done slowly, with hands close by the entire time. If your baby doesn’t want to be curled into a particular shape, we don’t push it. We move on to something he’s happier with.
What about siblings and family?
Older siblings are the wildcard, and they’re usually the best part.
Our advice: bring them at the start. A three-year-old has roughly ten minutes of patience for this sort of thing, so we get their photos done first. Then someone takes them home or to the park while we carry on with the baby.
Do the photos with you in them, too. Even when you’re convinced you look terrible. You don’t, and in ten years you won’t remember the trackpants. You’ll remember how small he was, and how happy you were.
What happens afterwards?
Once the session wraps up, the editing starts. You’ll get a personal online gallery to scroll through and pick your favourites from.
What you actually receive depends on what you’ve chosen; usually high-resolution images on a USB, along with fine art prints. It’s worth having a look at the session packages before you book so there are no surprises at the end.
The one thing worth remembering
Your baby will cry at some point. He’ll probably wee on something. He might reject every pose we’d planned and then settle beautifully in the one basket we weren’t going to use.
None of that is a problem. It’s the job. Every newborn photographer worth booking has seen all of it before, and the photos still come out beautifully because it’s precisely that unpredictability that we’re set up for.
So don’t stress about the details. Just turn up.
About the author: Dragana and Aleksandar are the husband-and-wife team behind My Precious Moments Photography, a newborn, maternity and family photography studio in Canberra. With more than 15 years behind the lens and AIPP recognition for their work, they’ve photographed hundreds of Australian families through pregnancy, first days and first birthdays. You can see their newborn portfolio here.
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