What to expect from my newborn sessions – Newborn photography London

10 Tips to prepare for your newborn photography session

When looking for the best newborn photographer in London there is a lot of choice out there and it can be hard to decide what you are looking for. My newborn sessions are tailored to you and your taste. I have my own style so you wouldn’t book me if you didn’t like my style but this is ok, we are all different and you need to feel comfortable with your photographer and love the images. This blog will guide you through how I run my newborn sessions from start to finish including the booking process and viewing the images.

Wether it’s a studio or home session this list below runs through my booking process.

1. When should I book my photography session?

A lot of parents will leave it till their baby has arrive to book in their newborn photographer but this may be too late. If you can it’s best to book in your session while you are pregnant, just after your 20week scan. Newborn photographers get very busy and quite often can’t accommodate last minute bookings. The best time for Newborn photography is best before 2 weeks as this is when they are still very sleepy and love being curled and cosy. If you miss this stage you may not be able to get the newborn baby photos you had wishes for, saying this every baby is different and I have managed to get some lovely sleepy newborn photos from babies up to 1 month old. Some newborns sleep all the time, some don’t, we cant predict each babies individual personality, which makes them so cute!

2. Where and when do my sessions take place?

My newborn photography sessions usually take place in my London studio, which is based in Hackney Wick. Here I have all of my props and accessories to hand. I do offer home session at an extra travel free, for home sessions you must have a good sized spaced near natural light as I do not bring my studio lights with me. For home photography sessions I will bring with me a few props depending on colours you have picked your your session. My newborn session take place Monday -Friday at 10.30/11am. I find this is the best time to photograph newborns as they have usually been up most of the night and are sleepy.

3. Whats the booking process?

Once you have contacted me and decided you would like to book in a newborn session we would pencil a date in the diary. Its best to photograph a newborn between the age of 5-14 days so we would schedule you in for a date about 7-10days after your due date and then change it if need be. Every newborn photographer needs to be flexible as we know that not all/most newborns arrive on their due date! I only book a certain amount of newborns a month you allow for flexibility, would then ask you to contact me within 48 hours of having your baby. Following all this I would then email you over the things below.

• The session fee invoice – This must be paid at the time of booking to secure you photography session.
• My client prep guide – This guide will have all the information you need for you and your baby to prepare for you session. Including answering all the common questions on what to bring with you and what to expect.
• My newborn booking form – The booking form will finalise your booking with me and then we will wait for your little one to arrive. Within the booking form you can upload 3 photos that you love of mine so I can see what colour and style you prefer.

4. How do I prepare for my session and what do I need to bring to my photography session?

It’s best if you can feed your baby right before the session if you can. either at your home or at my studio. The sessions last anywhere between 2 1/2 – 4 hours. If your baby has had a big long feed sometimes this can guarantee an uninterrupted session. Don’t worry though we will stop for feed if your baby is hungry or needs some comfort. Below is a list of things that you should bring to your session –

• Dress your baby in loose baby grow
• Pacifier/dummy (if you use one)
• spare nappies
• Babys blankets
• Extra bottles if bottle feeding
• Any new keepsake items that you may like in the photos

I want to your session to be nice and relaxed if your relaxed, usually the baby is too as he will fee off of your energy. Sometime even if you don’t have a dummy, these sessions are new to your baby and may want to suck/sooth more than often so they can get a great idea to being anyway.

5. How long does the session last?

My newborn sessions last anywhere between 2 1/2 – 4 hours. my sessions are baby led so some babies need more feeding that others or some sleep most the way through, its always different. Some newborns don’t sleep but thats ok we can still get some very cute awake photos.

6. Do you supply all the props?

Yes, I have all the props available in my studio and you can choose which ones you would like for your photos. I will have an idea from the photos that you send me before your session but sometimes people change their mind. I’m always on the look out for new props and being creative with my newborn photography. As well as the props, I always photograph your newborn without props and natural as well so you will have a variety of newborn pictures.

7. Have you been trained in safety with newborns?

It is important to understand that I take baby safety very seriously, not all babies are able to bend in all poses. I have been on many newborn photography workshops over the years training my skills and safety in this area. We will always discuss poses before we start the session and explain how we achieve the pose. Some poses require spotters and sometimes even the aid of the parents. Below are some unedited images where the one parent has helped for safety and I then would edit out the hand. The final image is the edited image

8. My baby has flaky or spotty skin, can you edit this?

Yes, I always edit your photos to a high standard and this is a large part of newborn photography. I have parents worry about this when they bring their baby in for their session, but I always tell them not to worry! If you are having the photo printed large on a canvas or frame you do not want there to be any flaws that are noticeable. I take pride in my work and put 100% into providing you with a beautiful finished product. You can see from the photo below, the first photo is unedited.

9. How many images do I provide?

The amount of images captured during a session depends on how well the baby is doing during transitions into different poses during a session. I provide a minimum of 30 edited images for you to view in your gallery. The number of edited images can vary from 30 to around 55 depending on if parent and sibling photos are included as well.

10. When do I get to see the final photos and choose my package?

The final images will be ready to view two weeks after your session. We can do a viewing at my studio or you can view you images on my online client gallery. I have 4 packages that you can choose from which you can see on my website here. Once you have chosen your final package your photos will be posted to you signed for delivery. My top 2 packages includes some prints but you can also add on products such as canvases, acrylics and frames.

I hope this helped you and gave you some insight into the best newborn photography in London and researching what you are looking for when wanting to book your newborn photoshoot.

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I also offer 10% off newborn packages if you have booked in a maternity session with me. You can find the Maternity information here – https://jocovephotography.co.uk/maternity-packages/

contact me at jocovephotograpy@gmail.com to book your Newborn session.

you can read my reviews via netmums, facebook & Google. You can also read some more of my blogs below.

How to prepare for a newborn session – 5 Tips for success