There are a lot of different styles around when it comes to newborn photos and my personal preference is for in-home newborn photography sessions using natural light, and like everything I do, very relaxed! I’m passionate about showing your world as you adjust to life as new parents or the special time when your other children become older siblings, rather than highly posed shots.
I’ll just rock up to your home, blend into the background and capture life (in the first fortnight or not) with no time pressure and capture some beautiful family photographs for you. No elaborate props, no overwhelming camera gear; just your family in your own home at the best time, in the best way that suits you and your tiny baby. It’s all about capturing real life and the important things in a natural style.
Yes, if you want photos showing your baby’s first day home from the hospital or life in all it’s beautiful chaos then get that shoot booked in and get it done! But there are so many reasons why you might miss the boat. Some of my friend’s babies weren’t even home at the 10-day mark for example.
For me, you can absolutely have newborn photos when your baby is still a newborn and you’re the best person to judge the age on that!
Why do photographers say the first 10 days is the best time then?
If you search for baby photographers on the internet there is a lot of chat about making sure you get baby photos within the first 10 days and a lot of other ‘must’s. Of course, if you want the baby in basket pictures where your new arrival is all curled up and sleepy then yep, you need to catch them before they start uncurling and get too alert and most posed photographers recommend taking your pictures in the first 10 days.
But what about if the first 10 days just passes you by before you even stop, breath and think about photos?!
A family who had a ‘newborn photoshoot’ much later…
Here’s a little story that’s familiar to all of us at this point… the gorgeous family in these photos wanted Sebastian photographed as a newborn baby so they could remember the time when their family had changed from two to three. Then, as with everyone’s plans in 2020, things changed.
Lockdown meant that the days ticked on and Sebastian grew bigger. Claire & Mike were philosophical and decided that when he hit four months it would actually be a *better* time to have photographs taken than their original newborn plan as Seb was now smiling more and more interactive.
Then of course, the second lockdown rescheduled our shoots yet again!
We finally met up for photos when Seb was 9 months old and at this point crawling!
So, no, you now can’t really call these newborn photos, but they still tell the story of life having changed inextricably from couple life to life as a family with a baby. While they don’t tell the story of his first day in the world or his first taste of solid food, they do have a first in them – his first time in a sandpit.
And they are still going to be looked back on and treasured for capturing life for this family when everything was new and wonderful… just not quite as new as it should have been if everything had gone to plan!
So, when is too late to photograph your baby?
Is it ever too late for newborn photos? Technically, yes. You can miss the boat on the very early days.
But is it ever too late to photograph your new arrival? Absolutely not, we can always make it work!
Photograph them as often as you can afford in that first year, because it’s the year when everything changes so much. There is so much more change and development from 0-12 months than in any other year of their life. You’ll never regret making space for those first-year photos.
Take a look through the family photography gallery to see if my photos would be a good fit for your family!
