Last Updated on 06/07/2026 by Armands Sprogis
How to Start a Newborn Photography Business in 2026
10 lessons I’ve learned after 17 years as a newborn photographer.
If someone asked me today how to start a newborn photography business from scratch, my answer would be very different from the one I’d have given back in 2009. The same is true if you ask me how to become a newborn photographer. Looking back, there were so many things I simply didn’t know at the beginning.
Everything in this guide comes from real experience building a newborn photography business over the last 17 years. If you’re a parent looking for a newborn photographer rather than advice on starting a business, you can view my newborn photography portfolio and information about my Edinburgh studio here.
I certainly didn’t think I’d still be photographing newborns nearly two decades later, running a photography studio and teaching other photographers how to safely photograph babies.
Like many people starting out, I thought that to get the best results, you need the latest equipment and have every prop imaginable. I spent money on things I didn’t really need, made business decisions that I’d never make today and learned many lessons the hard way.
The photography industry has changed enormously since then. Cameras are better, training is easier to find, AI can handle much of the editing, and marketing has completely changed. But despite all that, I still see new photographers making exactly the same mistakes I made all those years ago.
So I thought it would be interesting to sit down and ask myself one simple question.
If I had to start a newborn photography business from scratch in 2026, what would I actually do?
Not what sounds good on social media.
Not what photography companies want to sell you.
Not by copying what your competition is doing
But what I genuinely believe would give someone the best chance of building a successful newborn photography business today. Some of my answers might surprise you because I wouldn’t start by buying a camera.
Before You Buy Anything
Whenever someone tells me they want to become a newborn photographer, the first question they usually ask is,
“What camera should I buy?”
Honestly?! I think that’s the wrong question. Long before you start looking at cameras or lighting, I’d spend some time thinking about what sort of business you actually want to build.
- Is this something you’d like to do at weekends for a little extra income?
- Do you dream of leaving your full-time job one day?
- Would you like your own studio?
- Would you potentially like to sell your business at some point?
- A business that could eventually employ other photographers?
The answers to those questions will influence almost every decision you make over the next few years.
One of those decisions is your business name.
Back when I started, I deliberately chose A-Fotografy rather than using my own name.
At the time, I didn’t know exactly where the business would go, but I liked the idea that one day I could grow it beyond just me. Maybe I’d have photographers working alongside me. Maybe I’d open a larger studio. Maybe, many years down the line, I’d even sell the business.
Using a brand name gave me that flexibility. That doesn’t mean using your own name is wrong. Far from it.
Many photographers build fantastic businesses around their own name, and there are some advantages to doing that. People know exactly who they’re booking and it immediately feels personal.
However, if you think there is even a small chance that one day you’ll want to expand beyond yourself, it’s worth spending a little more time thinking about your business name before registering your domain and social media accounts.
It’s one of the few decisions that’s surprisingly difficult to change later. Full rebrands are not cheap.
The Money Nobody Really Talks About
This is probably the chapter I wish somebody had written for me when I first started.
Photography is often sold as a dream job.
Buy a camera.
Photograph babies.
Post beautiful images on Instagram.
Everything else somehow falls into place.
The reality is very different. Starting a newborn photography business takes money, and probably more than most people expect. It’s not just a camera. It’s insurance, editing software, training, memory cards, hard drives, props, wraps, accounting, website hosting, marketing, and eventually replacing equipment when it wears out.
Those costs arrive long before your diary is full of paying clients.
Looking back, one of my biggest mistakes was relying too much on credit cards. At the time, it felt like the easiest solution. I’d buy something now and pay for it later once the business starts making money. Unfortunately, businesses don’t always grow as quickly as we’d like, and before long, those monthly payments start adding unnecessary pressure. Especially if you are the family’s main breadwinner.
If I had to start again tomorrow, I’d do things very differently.
- I’d save first. Personally, I’d want around six months of living expenses behind me before I’d even consider relying on photography as my main income.
- I’d also keep my full-time job for as long as possible. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with building your photography business during evenings and weekends. In fact, I think it’s one of the smartest ways to do it. It gives you time to learn, make mistakes and build a portfolio without the pressure of needing every enquiry to turn into a booking.
If your employer is supportive, even better. When I speak to photographers now, I often suggest leaving on good terms if they eventually decide to leave their job. You never know what life will throw at you, and it’s always nice to know there’s a door open if plans don’t quite work out. It might not be the most exciting advice in this article, but I genuinely believe it’s one of the most important.
A camera can wait.
A new prop can wait.
Building your business on solid financial foundations can’t.
Keep Your Equipment Setup Simple
After talking about money, you’re probably wondering what I’d actually spend my budget on. The bad news is, I bought way too much crap back in 2009. One of the biggest mistakes photographers make is believing that buying more equipment will somehow make them a better photographer. It won’t. Make priorities for where you will spend your cash.
Here is the blog post I made talking about beginner newborn photography equipment and props.
Your clients don’t care whether you photographed their baby on the latest camera or one that’s a few years old. Parents don’t care about the latest prop trend. They care about the final photographs and the experience you provide. How you will make them feel, and not what your setup is and prop availability.
If I had to start all over again today, I’d actually keep my setup incredibly simple. I’d look for a good-quality used camera rather than buying the newest model. Cameras improve every year, but the truth is, cameras from five or even ten years ago are still capable of producing beautiful professional photographs. Lenses are probably where I would spend money and buy new ones, as glass normally stays, and you just upgrade the body unless you change the system completely. I have done 3 system changes, but each time for various reasons and nothing to do with newborns.
The money you save can be invested somewhere that will make a much bigger difference to your business. For example, marketing and acquiring actual paying clients.
When it comes to lenses, I’d also keep things simple.
Personally, I use two lenses for almost every newborn session. 35mm is perfect for photographing the baby, and you are close enough to the baby from a safety perspective, while the 24-70mm comes out when parents or siblings join in. I’ve never felt the need to own a cupboard full of lenses because those two cover almost everything I photograph.
Props are probably where I spent way more money than I needed to.
It is like a little ego competition between photographers. Who will have the latest trend, who can do the most complicated set-up. It is just stupid, if I have to be very honest with you. I still see this crap even today. Someone makes the set-up, and everyone, like sheep, follows and forgets what their clients actually care about. Put yourself in parents’ shoes, what would you care to see in portraits 10 years from now? I am sure it is not the cute prop we used.
Most parents naturally choose the same soft, neutral colours and the same simple poses. It is what you will show them that is what they will choose.
If I had to build my prop collection again, I’d probably start with four or five neutral wraps + same colour blankets, a few matching hats or headbands, that’s all. That would comfortably get me through my first year.
As your business grows, you can always add more colours and more variety if you feel your style is changing. There’s no rush. Also, remember the more choices you have, the more brain paralysis you will have :)
Lighting is another topic that often confuses beginners.
If you’ve got a large north-facing window, natural light is a fantastic place to learn. It teaches you how light falls across a baby’s face and helps you understand the basics of portrait photography.
The problem is, we live in the UK.
Some days you’ll have beautiful soft light. Other days you’ll wonder whether the sun has decided to take the day off. That’s why I’d recommend learning flash photography sooner rather than later. Not because you need an expensive studio setup, but because learning to control your own light gives you consistency. For years, I photographed newborns using simple speedlights before I ever invested in larger studio lights and softboxes.
You don’t need to spend thousands to create beautiful lighting.
Newborn posing set up.
One thing that also surprises people is how simple my setup was when I first started. I didn’t start with a flashy posing table as there were none available, but even now, I would 100% not start there. If you are younger and your knees are good, I would go with the good old posing beanbag.
Now I use a very cheap Costco picnic table set-up. It is sturdy, and I can sit at the table and save my knees. Sometimes photographers spend so much time looking at other people’s studios that they forget those photographers have often been collecting equipment for ten or fifteen years.
You don’t have to build your dream studio overnight.
- Start with the essentials.
- Learn how to use them well again and again.
- Then let your business pay for the extras.
There are also a few things that never seem to appear on equipment lists, but you’ll use every single week. Changing table, baby wipes, nappies, lint roller, breast pads, paper roll etc.
If one of my students asked me today how to spend their first equipment budget, I’d tell them to buy only what they genuinely need to get started. Spend the rest on learning marketing, posing, lighting etc. Knowledge is king.
Invest in Learning Before Buying More Gear
By this point, you’ve got a business name, you’ve thought about your finances and you’re considering buying some of the basic equipment you need to get started. Before you spend any money on equipment, I’d recommend investing in yourself.
If you’re serious about newborn photography, attend at least one or two in-person workshops. This will probably be your first serious money spent towards building strong foundations. You’ll learn how experienced photographers pose babies, use lighting and run their sessions, but there are other benefits too.
Photography equipment changes quickly, and spending time with photographers who actively photograph newborns every week is one of the best ways to find out what equipment is genuinely worth buying. Ask them what cameras and lenses they use, what props they couldn’t work without and, just as importantly, what they regret buying. You’ll often notice the same equipment being recommended again and again, which makes it much easier to spend your money wisely.
If possible, I’d also recommend joining a UK-based newborn photography community or forum. Being able to ask questions, learn from other photographers and stay up to date with new equipment and techniques is incredibly valuable, especially when you’re just starting out.
Learning isn’t only about photography, either. Very early in my career, I started attending business and marketing courses because I quickly realised that taking beautiful photographs was only 10% of the job. If nobody knows you exist, you don’t have a business.
Those courses taught me how to think differently about marketing, customer experience and growing a sustainable business. Looking back, they were some of the best investments I made.
One of the biggest lessons I learned early on was that understanding babies is just as important as understanding your camera. After my first couple of newborn sessions, I realised I had a lot to learn, so I did something a little different. I found a retired midwife who worked alongside me during my sessions for several years. Looking back, that was one of the best decisions I made.
She taught me things that no camera manual or photography book ever could, and it gave me much more confidence working with newborns.
Never stop learning. The money you spend on education today can save you from making expensive mistakes tomorrow.
Build Your Portfolio Before You Build Your Business
Before we dive into this section, I hope that at this point you are still in your full-time job and earning/saving for your safety pillow. I would recommend that you stay in a full-time position while you are building your portfolio as well. You will start getting an indication if you actually like newborn photography. Hopefully, after around 20 model call sessions, you will know if it is a big YES or if I need to do something else.
Once you’ve attended some training and have a basic understanding of newborn photography, it’s time to start practising and practising again. One mistake I see quite often is photographers attending a workshop on a Saturday and advertising newborn sessions on the Monday.
Newborn photography takes time to learn. Long time to learn. Every baby is different, every session is different and every family is different. The more babies you photograph, the more confident you’ll become.
I’d start by organising a number of model calls.
Photograph babies for friends, family or people who understand you’re building your portfolio. This gives you the opportunity to practise without the pressure that comes with paying clients. Learn a handful of poses really well and repeat them until they become second nature. Consistency is far more important than variety when you’re starting out.
Check my Simple Beginners Newborn Poses Guide.
It’s also worth remembering that your portfolio is often the first impression potential clients have of your work and sets expectations. Practising the same poses repeatedly gives you confidence to recreate them easily. It also shows consistency in your work and the kind of portraits you would like to deliver to your clients.
Take your time. I would guess it will take you a good 3 months (part-time) to build out a solid beginner’s portfolio.
If newborn photography still feels too much, there’s nothing wrong with switching to older babies. Sitter sessions are a fantastic way to improve your camera skills, learn how to work with families and build confidence before moving into newborn photography.
Don’t rush into charging because you feel you have to.
When you reach the point where you can consistently produce work you’re proud of, you’ll know you’re ready to take the next step and start charging.
Where Should You Photograph Your Newborn Sessions?
My Photo Studio Progress over the years. Starting from 2011
One question I get asked quite often is where I think new photographers should photograph their newborn sessions.
The honest answer is…It depends.
Over the years, I’ve photographed newborns in clients’ homes, worked from my own home, shared a studio with other photographers and considered eventually opening my own dedicated studio. Every option has its advantages and disadvantages.
Sessions in client homes.
When I first started, photographing babies in clients’ homes seemed like a great idea. Parents didn’t have to travel, and I could take my studio to them. The reality, however, was very different. Packing the car, carrying everything inside, setting up, photographing the session and then packing it all away again afterwards was hard work. It also meant every session took much longer than just the photography itself.
These days, I still offer sessions in clients’ homes, but they’re lifestyle sessions rather than fully posed newborn sessions. Instead of taking a mobile studio with me, I use the family’s own home as the backdrop, which creates a much more natural and relaxed style of photography.
Working from my home was another important stage in my business.
It allowed me to keep my costs low while I built my portfolio and client base. If you’re just starting out and have enough space, it can be a great way to avoid taking on unnecessary overheads. As my business grew, however, my own family grew too. I reached a point where I wanted to separate my work from my home life, and that’s when I started looking at studio space.
Rather than renting an entire studio myself, I shared one with other photographers.
Looking back, I think it was one of the best business decisions I made. We shared the rent and running costs, while each photographer managed their own bookings and clients. It gave me a professional space to work from without taking on the full financial commitment of a studio by myself. If you’re thinking about renting a studio, I’d seriously consider sharing one first. It can be a great stepping stone while you’re still growing your business.
Whatever you decide, try not to rush into expensive monthly commitments. A beautiful studio is nice to have, but not if it keeps you awake at night worrying about how you’re going to pay the rent. Start with what makes sense for your business today. As your client base grows, your workspace can grow with it.
Don’t Build Your Website First
This might sound like strange advice coming from someone who’s spent years improving their website and learning SEO, but if I was starting again today, I still wouldn’t build my website first. I’d build my portfolio first. One mistake I see beginners make is spending months designing a logo, choosing fonts, writing pages and trying to build the perfect website before they’ve even photographed a handful of newborn sessions.
The problem is…
A website is only as good as what’s on it. Without a strong portfolio, even the best-looking website isn’t going to convince parents to book you. That doesn’t mean you should ignore your online presence completely. I’d still register my domain name early, secure my social media accounts and perhaps put together a simple one page website while I was building my portfolio.
Once you’ve photographed enough sessions to confidently showcase your work, then it’s time to build your website properly. It doesn’t need to be complicated. A homepage, an about page, a newborn photography page, a gallery, pricing and a contact page are more than enough to get started. You can always add more pages as your business grows.
The same goes for marketing.
When I first started, marketing looked very different to what it does today. Over the years, I’ve tried lots of different ideas. Some worked incredibly well, while others were a complete waste of time and money.
Rather than trying to squeeze everything into this guide, I will write a separate article explaining the marketing strategies I’ve used over the years, what worked, what didn’t and what I’d do differently if I were starting again today.
One thing I will say is this…
Don’t wait until your website is “perfect” before putting it online. Your website will evolve just like your photography does. Mine certainly has. Start simple, keep improving it and let it grow alongside your business.
Your First Paying Clients
There comes a point where every photographer asks themselves the same question.
“Am I ready?”
The truth is, you’ll probably never feel 100% ready. I certainly didn’t. There will always be another pose to learn, another piece of equipment you’d like to buy or another workshop you could attend. At some point, you simply have to take that first step.
That doesn’t mean rushing into photographing every newborn that enquires. Start slowly. Choose your clients. You might be still working at your full time job so you can absolutely be a little picky now. Take on one client at a time and give yourself plenty of time between sessions while you’re still learning. Every baby is different, and every session will teach you something new.
It’s also important to manage your clients’ expectations. Don’t promise something you’re not yet confident you can deliver. If you’ve only mastered a handful of poses, that’s perfectly fine. Create a beautiful gallery using those poses rather than trying to recreate everything you’ve seen on social media.
Your confidence will grow naturally with experience. Once you feel you are happy with your basic poses, organise a bunch of extra model calls to practise more difficult poses, maybe use some props now. Learn how to do the bucket pose well.
One question I’m asked all the time is how much photographers should charge for their first sessions. The honest answer is that pricing is a much bigger topic than I can cover in this guide. It depends on your experience, your business costs, your local market and the type of business you’re trying to build.
I’ll be covering pricing in a separate article because it’s one of the biggest mistakes photographers make when starting a business. Please DO NOT look at your competitors’ websites and copy their prices or try to undercut them for no reason. !KNOW YOUR NUMBERS! and make your pricing accordingly.
Looking back, my pricing probably wasn’t perfect, but because I’d spent so much time practising and was genuinely happy with the quality of my work, I felt confident asking the price I wanted. Could my prices have been different? Probably. But at that stage of my journey, I was happy with them and, more importantly, I was still learning and growing. Check how I made my pricing, my packages, and my thought process over here.
The business and marketing courses I attended also gave me the confidence to talk about money and charge for my work. That’s something many photographers struggle with in the beginning. You have to believe in the value of what you offer. If you don’t have confidence in your own work, it’s much harder to expect your clients to have confidence in it too.
Every photographer starts somewhere. Your first client won’t be your best work. Neither will your tenth.
Keep learning, keep improving and, most importantly, enjoy the journey.
Final Thoughts
If there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from this guide, it’s this: Building a successful newborn photography business isn’t about having the most expensive camera, the biggest studio or hundreds of props. It’s about making good decisions, investing in yourself, learning from others and improving a little with every session.
Everything I’ve shared in this guide comes from my own experience over the last 17 years. It certainly hasn’t always been an easy journey. There have been plenty of ups and downs, mistakes, difficult decisions and moments where I questioned whether I was doing the right thing. Looking back, though, every challenge taught me something and helped shape the photographer and business owner I am today.
I’ll be sharing more about that journey in a separate article because I think it’s just as important to talk about the difficult moments as it is the successes. If you’re starting your own business, I want you to know that setbacks are completely normal and they’re often the moments you’ll learn the most from.
For now, I simply hope this guide helps you avoid a few of the mistakes I made and gives you the confidence to take that first step.
Good luck, keep learning and, most importantly, enjoy the journey.
