Five Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me Before My Newborn Session

After eighteen years and more than a thousand newborn sessions across London and Bromley, I've noticed a pattern.

There are things families wish they'd known beforehand. Not big things. Small things. The kind of things nobody thinks to mention — until you're in the middle of the session and suddenly wish someone had.

So here they are.

1. You don't need to have the house ready

I mean this.

I have never once walked into a family home and thought: this is too messy.

I have walked into homes with laundry on every surface, dishes in the sink, a dog bed in the middle of the room, and baby paraphernalia covering the sofa.

And I have taken beautiful photographs in every single one of them.

Newborn days are not tidy days. Nobody expects them to be. Least of all me.

The only thing I need is a room with a window and a little warmth. Everything else I bring with me.

Please don't spend the morning before I arrive cleaning. Spend it resting, or feeding the baby, or drinking a cup of tea while it's still hot.

That is a much better use of your time.

2. The session will take longer than you think — and that's fine

Two to three hours is a guide, not a promise.

Some sessions take longer. A baby who needs two long feeds and a full settle before they'll sleep deeply — that session might be four hours.

I have never once rushed a family to finish on time.

The session ends when it ends. When your baby has been photographed. When the family portraits are done. When everything feels complete.

There is no clock on the wall that I'm watching. There is only your baby, and the light, and however long it takes.

3. You are allowed to stay in your pyjamas

For the first half of the session at least.

While I'm working with your baby — wrapping, posing, settling — you don't need to be dressed, made up, or ready for anything.

Rest. Feed if you need to. Sit nearby in whatever you slept in.

When it's time for the family portraits — usually toward the end — that's when you change into whatever you've chosen to wear. Not before.

Many of my favourite family images have been taken with a mother in a soft dressing gown, hair undone, holding her baby the way she holds them every morning.

Those are often the realest photographs of all.

4. Your baby does not need to perform

Babies cry during newborn sessions. They need feeding. They need winding. They need a twenty-minute cuddle before they'll settle.

This is not a problem. This is Tuesday.

A baby who is unsettled is not ruining your session. They are being a newborn.

I have never left a family without photographs because the baby was difficult. I have simply waited, and settled, and tried again — as many times as it takes.

Your only job is to be there. Everything else is mine.

5. You will forget this faster than you think

This is the one I wish someone had told me before my own children were born.

Those first weeks feel endless when you're in them. The exhaustion. The feeds. The strange slow days and long nights.

And then one morning — months later, sometimes years — you look at a photograph from that time and you can barely remember what they looked like so small.

The weight of them. The smell of them. The way they fit into the crook of your arm.

It goes.

Not all at once. Quietly, gradually, the way all the best things do.

That is why these photographs matter. Not because life looked perfect. But because one day you will want to remember exactly how it felt.

And the photographs will be there.

Thinking about a newborn session in London or Bromley? You can see full collections on my investment page or simply get in touch.

What to Expect from a Newborn Session in Bromley

If you've never had a newborn session before, it's completely normal to wonder what actually happens. Here's an honest account of what a session with me looks like — from the moment I arrive at your door to the sneak peek you'll receive that evening.

When to book

Most families book during their second trimester, and we hold a flexible date around five to ten days after your due date. That window — the first one to six weeks — is when babies sleep most deeply and curl most naturally. Earlier is gentler, but every baby finds their own timing. I've photographed many babies up to six weeks old, and the images are always beautiful.

The morning of your session

You don't need to prepare much. A room with a window — south or east-facing is ideal, but any daylight will do. A slightly warmer room than usual, because your baby will be undressed for some of the session. A feed about thirty minutes before I arrive, if the rhythm allows.

That's genuinely it.

I arrive quietly, usually with everything loaded into two bags. I find the right corner of the room, set up while you settle the baby, and we begin when your baby is ready — not when the clock says so.

What I bring

Everything. After eighteen years of newborn sessions across Bromley and South East London, my entire studio comes with me.

Organic wraps in cream, oatmeal, sand, and soft grey. Knitted gowns, bonnets, and rompers. Delicate headbands. Wooden bowls, baskets, and neutral backdrops. A heated beanbag for posing. Studio-quality lighting for darker days. Warm hands and hand sanitiser.

You don't need to buy props, outfits, or anything at all for your baby. If there's something meaningful you'd like to include — a blanket from a grandmother, a tiny outfit that belonged to an older sibling — bring it. Those pieces often become the most treasured images of the day.

The session itself

A newborn session usually takes two to three hours. We work entirely at your baby's pace. If they need to feed, we feed. If they need a long settle, we wait. If a pose isn't working, we move on. There's no timeline and no pressure.

Most of the session is quiet. You're welcome to stay close, make tea, or rest in another room — whichever feels right. Parents are never far from the baby. Every pose that looks unsupported in the final image is fully supported during the session, often by a parent's hand just outside the frame.

Toward the end, I photograph the family together — you holding your baby, siblings if they're there, both parents in the frame. These are often the images families return to most.

After the session

That same evening, or the next morning, I'll send a sneak peek — one or two of my favourite images while the feeling of the day is still fresh.

Your full private gallery arrives within one week. It includes colour and black and white edits, a print release for personal use, and a password-protected link you can share with family.

A note on safety

I am trained in newborn safety and fully insured. Every session I photograph in Bromley and across South East London is treated with the same care I gave my own five children in those early weeks. Your baby is never not held.

Thinking about booking a newborn session in Bromley or South East London? I'd love to hear from you. You can see full pricing and collections on my investment page, or simply get in touch.

Newborn Photography at Home vs Studio — What Nobody Tells You

Everyone has an opinion on this.

Studio photographers will tell you that studios give you control — consistent light, neutral backgrounds, the perfect setup every time.

At-home photographers will tell you that home is warmer, easier, more natural.

Both are telling the truth.

But there are a few things neither side tends to mention.

What studios are actually good at

Control.

A studio is a controlled environment. The light doesn't change. The background is always clean. The temperature is set exactly right for a sleeping newborn. There are no dogs walking in, no toddlers who suddenly need a snack, no postman ringing the doorbell at the worst possible moment.

For a photographer, a studio is genuinely easier to work in.

And the results can be beautiful — classic, clean, timeless.

If you live near a good studio photographer you trust, that matters.

What nobody tells you about studios

Getting there.

You have a baby who is somewhere between five and fourteen days old. You haven't slept properly since before the birth. You need to pack everything — nappies, muslins, spare clothes, a change for yourself, bottles or a nursing cover, the wrap you were told to bring, the outfit you carefully chose at 11pm last week.

Then you need to actually leave the house. On time. With a newborn.

I know this — because I used to work from a studio.

And without exception, families with newborns were late. Not five minutes late. Thirty minutes. An hour. Sometimes more.

Not because they were careless. Because they were exhausted.

A mother who hasn't slept properly in two weeks needs to feed the baby, possibly pump, find something to wear, remember everything, get herself ready — and actually get out of the door.

I remember my own newborn days well enough to know that getting up was hard. Makeup was the last thing on my mind. Getting dressed felt like an achievement.

And that was just one baby.

Arriving at a studio already depleted, slightly stressed, in an unfamiliar place — that energy goes into the photographs. Babies feel it. Parents feel it. The camera sees it.

What at-home sessions are actually good at

Everything that happens between the posed shots.

The way your older child climbs onto the bed to meet the baby for the first time. The feeding pause where your partner holds the baby and you catch their expression. The afternoon light through the curtains of the room where you've barely slept for two weeks. The dog who wanders in and lies down next to the beanbag as if he belongs there.

He does belong there. That's the point.

A studio can give you a beautiful portrait of your baby. Your home gives you a portrait of your family — in the place where your family actually lives.

What nobody tells you about at-home sessions

Not every photographer brings the same setup.

Some arrive with a camera and natural light and call it a lifestyle session. That's a valid choice — but it's worth knowing what you're getting.

When I photograph newborns at home across London and Bromley, I bring everything a studio would have. Heated beanbag. Studio-quality lighting for darker rooms or grey days. A full wardrobe of organic wraps, gowns, headbands, and neutral backdrops. The same classic posed portraits — hands under chin, curled on a soft blanket, wrapped and sleeping — that people associate with studio work.

The difference is that when the session is over, your baby is already home.

You don't pack anything up. You don't drive anywhere. You put the kettle on.

The honest answer

Neither is objectively better.

The right choice depends on what you want from the day — not just the photographs.

If you want a controlled, clean, classic result and you don't mind the logistics — a good studio photographer is a wonderful thing.

If you want the same quality of portraits, but in the place where your family already belongs, without leaving home in those first fragile weeks — that's what I do.

After eighteen years photographing newborns across South East London and beyond, I still believe the most honest photographs happen where people feel most like themselves.

For most families, that's home.

Curious about what an at-home newborn session actually looks like? You can read more on my newborn page, see full collections on my investment page, or simply get in touch — I'm always happy to answer questions.

Why I Photograph Families At Home Instead of Studios

People sometimes ask me why I photograph so many families at home instead of in a studio.

The honest answer is:
because real life happens at home.

Not in front of a perfect paper backdrop.
Not under giant softboxes.
Not in matching beige outfits carefully prepared for Instagram.

At home, children behave differently.

Parents behave differently too.

A toddler hides behind the kitchen chair.
Someone jumps on the bed.
The baby needs feeding halfway through.
The dog walks into the room.
There are cups of tea somewhere in the background.
Laundry on a chair.
Tiny socks on the floor.
Afternoon light moving slowly across the walls.

And somehow all of that feels far more real to me than perfection ever could.

Maybe this comes from having five children myself.

I know what family life actually looks like.

I know that most mothers arrive at newborn sessions already exhausted before the session even starts.
I know that packing a newborn, spare clothes, bottles, muslins, snacks, nappies, and trying to leave the house on time can feel like preparing for an international expedition.

Sometimes mothers apologise to me for the “mess” at home.

And honestly?
I almost never notice it.

Because years later, nobody looks at family photographs and thinks:
“What a shame about that pile of laundry.”

What people actually see is:
the tiny expression their child used to make,
the way the light looked in their first home,
the chair where they fed the baby every night,
the feeling of that season of life.

That is what disappears.

And maybe that is what family photography is really trying to save.

Not perfection.

Just evidence that this little life happened.

That everybody was here.

That this was once your ordinary day — before it quietly became a memory.