Last Updated on 13/06/2026 by Armands Sprogis
10 Things Nobody Tells You About Newborn Photography
If you spend five minutes scrolling Instagram, newborn photography looks pretty simple.
A sleepy baby.
A cute pose.
A fluffy blanket.
Click.
The reality is very different.
After photographing hundreds of newborns in my Edinburgh studio, I’ve learned that there are plenty of things nobody tells you until you’ve experienced newborn photography yourself.
Whether you’re a parent wondering what actually happens during a newborn session, a photographer thinking about offering newborn photography, or someone curious why newborn photographers seem slightly obsessed with blankets and room heaters, this article is for you.
After more than a decade photographing newborns, making plenty of mistakes, buying far too many props and being peed on more times than I care to admit, here are 10 things nobody tells you about newborn photography.
1. It Looks Easy, But It Isn’t
Many people assume newborn photography is simply placing a sleeping baby in a cute pose and pressing a button.
In fact, one of the most common things I hear from parents is:
“Why does the session take up to four hours? We only want a few nice photos.”
The reality is that people see the finished photographs, but not everything that happens behind the scenes.
Getting a baby comfortable, settled and safely posed takes time. Sometimes a pose comes together in five minutes. Other times it can take twenty or thirty minutes just to get one image. Babies need feeding, changing, cuddling and settling. They don’t care about your schedule and certainly don’t care what photo you wanted to take next.
When I first started photographing newborns, I thought the camera and equipment were the most important parts of the process. The longer I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve realised that experience is everything.
Knowing how to read a baby, when to move on from a pose and when to simply give them a break is something that only comes with time. A professional camera helps, but experience is what makes newborn photography look easy.
If you’re a parent, this is often the moment you realise why newborn photographers charge what they do. If you’re a photographer, welcome to the beginning of a very steep learning curve.
If you’re curious about what actually happens during those 3–4 hours, I’ve written a detailed guide explaining what happens during a newborn photography session from start to finish.
2. Every Baby Is Different
No two newborn sessions are ever the same.
Some babies sleep soundly throughout the entire session. Others decide that today is the perfect day to stay awake and observe every single thing happening in the room. Both are completely normal.
One of the biggest lessons I learned early on was that you have to adapt to the baby rather than expecting the baby to adapt to your plans.
I often say to parents:
“Whatever we think baby will do today is not necessarily what baby will do.”
That simple sentence has saved me a lot of frustration over the years.
The more newborn sessions you photograph, the more you begin to develop an instinct for what might happen next. You learn to recognise when a baby is becoming unsettled, when they are about to wake up and when it’s time to change direction.
That doesn’t mean you can predict everything. Trust me, babies still find new ways to surprise me after all these years.
But flexibility is one of the most important skills a newborn photographer can develop. Every baby is different and that’s exactly what makes newborn photography both challenging and rewarding.
3. Babies Don’t Always Sleep
Social media gives the impression that every newborn spends hours peacefully asleep in adorable poses.
The reality is very different.
Some babies sleep beautifully. Others prefer regular feeding breaks, cuddles and a good look around the studio before they decide whether they feel like cooperating.
One of my biggest mistakes when I first started newborn photography was believing that every baby had to be asleep before I could take photographs.
I would spend ages trying to settle babies before even thinking about picking up the camera. Sometimes I would wait nearly an hour before taking the first photograph because I was determined to get the baby asleep.
Looking back, that was probably one of the biggest lessons of my first year in business.
These days I know that awake babies can create beautiful photographs too. In fact, some parents absolutely love those images because they capture their baby’s personality and curious expressions.
The truth is that very few babies arrive asleep, stay asleep and leave asleep. At some point they will wake up, stretch, yawn, look around or decide they’ve had enough of your plans.
The key isn’t trying to control every situation. The key is learning how to adapt and make the most of whatever baby decides to give you on the day. That’s something experience teaches you. In fact, some of my favourite newborn portraits happen when babies are awake. I’ve written a separate guide showing the types of photographs you can create with awake newborns.
4. Sessions Are Long And More Physically Demanding Than You Think
A newborn session can easily last several hours. Between feeding breaks, settling, changing outfits, posing the baby and photographing family members, there is always something happening.
What many people don’t realise is that your brain is working the entire time. You’re constantly watching the baby, planning the next setup, checking for safety, monitoring the room temperature, and trying to stay one step ahead of whatever the baby decides to do next.
When you’re first starting out in newborn photography, those first few sessions can be surprisingly stressful. You feel like everything depends on the next pose working perfectly. The good news is that this gets easier with experience.
The physical side of newborn photography also catches many photographers by surprise. Depending on your setup, you might spend long periods kneeling on the floor, bending over the baby or holding awkward positions while waiting for a baby to settle.
Now add a studio heated to around 25 degrees and you’ll quickly discover that newborn photography can be a surprisingly sweaty profession.
After a particularly challenging session, I can honestly say I sometimes need an hour just to recover. Parents often leave thinking their baby had a busy day. Trust me, the photographer probably did too.
5. Siblings, Pets And Sometimes Even Parents Are Harder To Photograph Than The Baby
The newborn is often the easiest person in the room.
Toddlers have their own plans. Family pets can be unpredictable. And nervous parents sometimes need as much reassurance as the baby. Very early in my newborn photography journey, I realised that being good with children was almost as important as being good with a camera. If you’re struggling with sibling photographs, I’ve also put together a guide with some of my favourite newborn and sibling posing ideas.
People imagine sibling photographs happen like this:
“Sit here.”
“Cuddle the baby.”
“Smile.”
Click.
In reality, there is usually a game, a challenge, a joke or some sort of negotiation involved before you get anywhere near the photograph you had in mind.
The funny thing is that children are excellent at reading people. They know immediately when you’re pretending to be interested in their favourite dinosaur or superhero. If you’re going to play a game, you’d better commit to it properly because they will spot a fake from a mile away.
Pets bring a completely different challenge.
I love including dogs in newborn sessions now, but it took me years before I felt confident enough to say they were welcome in the studio. Not every dog is suitable and not every situation is safe. Just because a dog is wonderful with the family doesn’t automatically mean they will enjoy sitting next to a newborn wrapped in blankets while a photographer waves toys around.
The more experience you gain, the more you realise that newborn photography is often less about photography and more about managing people, children and occasionally very excited dogs.
6. Managing Expectations Is A Huge Part Of The Job
Right. Let’s open a can of worms.
You think newborns are difficult? Wait until you start dealing with expectations.
On one side, you have parents who arrive with a wish list longer than your arm. They have saved twenty Pinterest boards, thirty Instagram screenshots and somehow expect every single image to happen during one session.
On the other side, you have nervous first-time parents who watch your every move. The moment baby makes the slightest squeak, they are standing beside you asking if everything is okay.
I once had a new mum become emotional because she found it difficult handing her baby to me during the session. Every time I picked the baby up she wanted to hold them again. Completely understandable, but it also shows how much trust parents place in a newborn photographer.
The truth is that both situations require confidence.
You need the confidence to say no when a pose isn’t safe.
You need the confidence to explain why a particular image may not be possible.
And you need the confidence to reassure nervous parents that their baby is absolutely fine.
One of the first things I tell every family is:
“Whatever we have planned today may not actually happen.”
That might sound strange, but it instantly removes pressure from the session.
Confidence comes with experience, but it also comes from having a handful of simple poses that work consistently. If you’re just starting out, I have a guide covering some beginner-friendly newborn poses.
Babies don’t read shot lists.
Babies don’t care about Pinterest.
Babies certainly don’t care about Instagram.
The baby decides how the session will go and the photographer’s job is to adapt.
Learning to manage expectations is one of the most valuable skills you will ever develop as a newborn photographer. It protects your clients, protects your reputation and makes the entire experience more enjoyable for everyone involved.
7. The Cost Of Newborn Photography Goes Far Beyond The Camera
Oh my god, I could talk about this one for hours.
In fact, I will probably end up writing a completely separate article about starting a newborn photography business because this topic alone deserves its own discussion.
One thing nobody tells you when you start newborn photography is how quickly your spending gets completely out of control.
You see another photographer using a beautiful blanket. You buy it.
Then you realise the blanket needs a matching wrap. So you buy that too.
Then the wrap needs a matching bonnet or headband.
Then the whole setup would look better with a different basket.
Before you know it, you’ve spent hundreds of pounds and convinced yourself it was absolutely necessary.
Trust me, I was one of those photographers.
For years, I kept buying props, blankets and gadgets that I thought would somehow transform my portfolio. Some of them got used once and then sat on a shelf collecting dust.
Eventually, I learned that simplicity is often the best approach.
But even when you’re keeping things simple, newborn photography requires a huge amount of equipment. Props, wraps, blankets, posing aids, studio heating, insurance, training and backup equipment all add up very quickly.
Unlike some other genres of photography, newborn photography often requires an entire room full of specialist equipment before you’ve even picked up the camera. Parents often see the final image. They don’t always see everything that sits behind it. It’s no wonder newborn photographers charge more than many people expect.
8. Editing Can Take Longer Than The Session
Many people assume the work ends when the camera is packed away.
The reality is that the editing often takes as long as, or longer than, the session itself.
Newborn photography requires a lot of attention to detail. Tiny scratches, flaky skin, baby acne, colour corrections and all those little distractions that naturally happen during the first few weeks of life often need careful editing.
When I first started, I spent ridiculous amounts of time editing.
Partly because I was still learning and partly because I was trying to make every photograph absolutely perfect.
Eventually I realised something important.
Parents don’t zoom in to 400% looking for a tiny blemish on their baby’s cheek.
Parents care about the emotion in the photograph.
They care about remembering how tiny their baby was.
These days I outsource much of my editing because I value spending time with my own family more than spending endless evenings staring at a screen.
That doesn’t mean editing isn’t important. It absolutely is.
But experience teaches you something very valuable: get it right in camera and half the work is already done.
You can improve a good photograph in editing.
You can’t magically turn a bad photograph into a great one.
9. Accidents Happen… A Lot
If you’re going to photograph newborns, there is something you need to accept very early on.
You will get peed on.
You will get pooped on
You will probably get sick on too.
It’s not a matter of if.
It’s a matter of when.
Every newborn photographer has accident stories.
I have plenty.
The funny thing is that babies usually have excellent timing. They somehow manage to wait until the fresh blanket is on, the perfect pose is ready and everything is finally looking exactly how you imagined.
Then disaster strikes.
The first few times it happens, new photographers tend to panic.
Experienced newborn photographers simply reach for another blanket and carry on.
It’s all part of the job.
In fact, parents are usually far more embarrassed than photographers.
Trust me, after a few years in newborn photography, very little surprises you anymore.
10. Safety Is More Important Than The Perfect Shot
If there is one thing I hope every parent and photographer takes away from this article, it’s this:
No photograph is ever worth compromising a baby’s safety.
Not for an award.
Not for Instagram.
Not for social media likes.
And certainly not for your ego.
Many popular newborn poses are actually composite images created from multiple photographs and careful support. What looks simple often requires a great deal of planning, patience and experience.
One challenge we now face is the rise of AI-generated newborn images. Parents regularly show photographers poses they have found online without realising that the image was never actually photographed in the first place.
The danger is that these unrealistic images can create unrealistic expectations.
As photographers, part of our responsibility is knowing when to say no.
No matter how much a client wants a particular pose.
No matter how much we want to create something impressive.
No matter how many likes it might get online.
Over the years I have become far less interested in complicated setups and far more interested in creating meaningful photographs. The relationship between the baby and their family will always matter more than the latest trendy pose. I would much rather create a simple photograph safely than risk a baby’s wellbeing trying to impress other photographers.
Safety always comes first.
Every single time.
One More Thing Nobody Tells You…
These photographs become more valuable every year.
When parents first book a newborn session, they’re usually thinking about the next few weeks.
Years later, they’re looking at those same photographs completely differently.
The tiny fingers.
The sleepy expressions.
The way their baby fitted perfectly into their hands.
What once felt like a luxury becomes one of the few tangible reminders of a stage of life that disappeared almost overnight.
Nobody really tells you that when you start.
Eventually you realise that newborn photography isn’t really about props, poses or perfect editing.
It’s about preserving memories that can never truly be recreated.
And that is probably the most important lesson of all.
