A Typical Newborn Photography Session

I often realise that I forget to capture behind-the-scenes footage before a photo shoot, which means parents and potential clients don’t always know what to expect when booking a newborn baby photo session with us. This blog post aims to give you a clearer picture of what typically happens during these precious photography sessions, though each one is wonderfully unique!

Studio Space – Kettering Newborn Baby Photographer

I always want to be upfront about our cosy studio space. The room measures roughly 6m x 3m (with slightly wider alcoves in places). We’ve created three versatile ‘hard board’ stations, each featuring reversible floor and wall panels, plus three rustic chalk board painted panels that we can incorporate depending on the style you’re after. These stations are primarily used with our collection of props. We also have a specially designed beanbag setup with a frame that allows us to clip different fabric backgrounds. We find this perfect for creating variety in our non-prop shots. For those lovely parent and baby portraits where everyone’s in frame, we use our comfortable blue sofa for seated poses and our clean white wall for standing shots. You can find more inspiration in our guide to newborn baby and parent ideas here. While our space may be modest, we’ve mastered the art of efficient setup changes. We take advantage of natural breaks, like feeding times or nappy changes, to prepare the next beautiful scene for your little one.

Newborn Baby Photo Shoot Flow – Kettering Newborn Baby Photographer

Arrival

Let me walk you through how a typical newborn photo shoot unfolds. We always follow Baby’s lead and take our cues from them. Most parents feed their little ones before leaving home, but since many families travel 30 minutes or more to reach us, Baby might be ready for another feed upon arrival. As most parents know, car journeys often have a wonderfully soporific effect on babies. While some little ones might stir when being lifted from their car seats, we usually manage to capture some beautiful shots on our bean bag while they’re either peacefully dozing or contentedly alert.

Bean Bag

Some parents specifically request photos of their little one in their arrival outfit, whilst others prefer to skip this step. For those who want these initial shots, we’ll capture them straight away. We might then move on to a costume change or perhaps drape Baby in one of our soft wraps.

A baby boy in his arrival babygrow. His daddy’s a chef – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

This is also the perfect moment to capture those intimate detail shots that many parents treasure – tiny hands holding fingers, feet arranged in heart shapes, and those precious close-up captures of button noses, rosebud lips, delicate ears and feathery eyelashes. During this time, we’ll also observe how Baby responds to different positions, particularly noting their comfort levels when placed on their side or tummy.

Amazing baby boy eyelashes – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Teeny tiny ears are always surprisingly hairy when viewed up close – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

His mummy loves him with all her heart – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Holding his daddy’s hand – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Posed Parent & Baby Shots

If Baby is bright-eyed and alert, we might suggest moving on to the parent and Baby portraits – but only if you’re keen. We completely understand that not everyone feels comfortable in front of the camera, especially shortly after giving birth. These shots typically involve both seated poses on our sofa and standing arrangements against our white wall.

So much happiness. Proud as punch new parents – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

As you may have noticed from our portfolio, whilst we photograph these against a white backdrop, we offer a striking black wall black and white edit for the standing portraits.

Black background edit of a shot taken against a white wall – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

For those interested, we can also adjust our lighting to create beautiful silhouetted images.

Props – Kettering Newborn Baby Photographer

At this stage, we usually begin incorporating some of our props. As mentioned earlier, we have three dedicated ‘prop stations’ ready and waiting, all set up according to your preferences from our pre-session questionnaire. Do take a look through our Newborn Baby Photography Props, Fabrics & Backgrounds directory to see what’s available for your session. We warmly welcome any personal, sentimental items you’d like to include – we just ask for advance notice, please 🙂

We incorporated this little boy’s late-grandfather’s nautical memorabilia into this shot – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot.

Care & Maintenance

The number of outfit changes needed for our three prop setups might influence how far we progress before Baby needs feeding or changing.

Sleepy night nights time – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Sleepy bedtime scene – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Feet hanging out of the bed is always a super cute shot – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

With our generous three-hour session time, this isn’t a concern at all – we can even accommodate additional comfort breaks. We always follow Baby’s natural rhythm and pace – trying to rush things simply wouldn’t be productive.

Over The Shoulder Baby / Parent(s) Shot

After completing the first round of prop shots, we often love to get mum and dad involved again. The over-the-shoulder portrait is a particular favourite amongst our clients.

Having mum and dad gaze at each other whilst being beautifully out of focus creates a wonderfully intimate portrait – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

There are a few really nice ways to do the over-the-shoulder shot – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Props – Round 2

Depending on our progress with the initial prop setups, we might need to revisit some arrangements. If everything’s gone smoothly, we’ll have already chatted with you about any other props that caught your eye in the studio. Whilst attending to Baby’s needs, we’ll have prepared these additional items for the next round of photographs.

Easter was approaching when this session took place – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Fast asleep in his armchair – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Crashed out on the sofa – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

We have a wide range of sofa props – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

We love the little mousey outfit – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

This newborn baby boy’s nursery is kitted out with a jungle theme, so the lion outfit was a must – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Wrapping – Kettering Newborn Baby Photographer

At this point, we typically consider wrapping Baby. They may be showing signs of tiredness or becoming a bit unsettled, and our wrapping technique often helps soothe them back to sleep. Most of our wrapped photographs are captured within our prop settings.

The culinary theme was strong with this one – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

The Swing

For families who’ve chosen this option, the swing setup usually serves as our final prop arrangement.

The Swing is usually a popular choice among newborn parents – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

Bean Bag – Round 2

To conclude the session, we commonly return to the bean bag. This allows us to capture any remaining woollen outfit shots that weren’t incorporated into the prop setups, along with any cushion animals you’ve selected.

A baby boy snuggled up on the swan animal cushion – A Typical Newborn Photo Shoot

We understand that every baby is unique, and we can’t force them to cooperate with every pose. However, we’ll always offer our experience-based suggestions for alternative approaches when Baby isn’t fully participating. Our commitment is to maximise the potential of each session for you.

Arrange Your Own Newborn Photo Shoot