If you’re looking for a newborn photographer in West Sussex, you may be doing it while your baby is still very much tucked away, wondering what life is going to look like once they arrive.

And that is actually a very good time to start thinking about it.

I photographed newborn babies at my East Grinstead studio for many years, and although I no longer market a standalone newborn photography experience, I’ve kept this resource because there are things worth knowing before choosing how you would like this very short stage of your baby’s life remembered.

Because newborn photography isn’t simply about finding someone who can photograph a tiny baby. It’s about deciding what you want those portraits to mean to you years from now.

When should I start looking for a newborn photographer?

Before your baby arrives is usually the easiest time.

Once they’re here, life suddenly becomes very full. Days and nights blur together, visitors arrive, feeding takes over and something as simple as replying to an email can feel surprisingly ambitious.

Looking while you’re still pregnant gives you time to explore different photographers and decide whose work and approach feel right for you.

You don’t necessarily need to know exactly what you want. That’s part of what your photographer should help you work out.

When are newborn portraits usually taken?

Traditionally, posed newborn photography is often created during the first couple of weeks after birth, when babies tend to sleep for longer periods and naturally curl into some of the positions associated with newborn portraits, but there isn’t one magical day on which your baby suddenly becomes photographable.

Different photographers work in different ways. Some specialise in carefully posed newborn portraits, while others photograph babies more naturally or when they’re slightly older and beginning to become more alert.  For me it’s all about the connection with your baby and capturing who they really are and who you are as a family over lots of poses and props.

Rather than worrying about whether your baby will be the “right” age, look at the photographer’s work and ask how they photograph babies and why they work that way.

What should I look for in a newborn photographer?

Start with how their work makes you feel.

It can be very easy to compare props, colours, outfits and packages, but try to imagine the portraits several years from now.

◊Do you still think you will love them?

◊Do they feel like your family?

◊Can you imagine seeing them on the walls of your home when that tiny newborn is suddenly five, ten or eighteen?

Then look beyond the photographs themselves.  Read about the photographer and find out how the experience works. Look at how they talk about the families they photograph and whether you feel you could relax with them.

You are trusting someone with a very new and very precious little person, so feeling comfortable with them matters.

Does my baby need to sleep for newborn portraits?

No baby has read the photographer’s schedule. 😂

Some sleep, some feed, some need cuddles and some decide that this particular day is far too interesting to waste by closing their eyes.

A photographer who works with babies should expect that.

If you’re drawn to very specifically posed newborn photography, sleep may be more important to achieving that particular style. With a more natural approach, being awake isn’t necessarily a problem at all.

The important thing is understanding the style you’re choosing before you book.

Do newborn portraits have to be posed?

Not at all.

There are many different approaches to newborn photography, from highly styled and carefully posed portraits to much simpler photographs centred on your baby’s expressions, tiny details and their relationship with you.

Neither is inherently better the big question is which will matter most to you.

When you’re looking through photographers’ websites, don’t just look for beautiful newborns. Look for consistency. Can you imagine your baby in those photographs and can you imagine still wanting those portraits on your wall years from now?

Should parents be in newborn portraits?

I have always believed the people around a child are part of their story.

You may feel exhausted and you may not feel particularly camera-ready. You may think you’d rather have photographs of the baby and stay safely on the other side of the camera.

But your child isn’t going to look back and see any of the things you’re worrying about because they’re going to see you with them.

That doesn’t mean every portrait needs to be a family portrait. It simply means it’s worth considering whether you’d like your child to have some visible evidence of what being held, loved and wanted looked like at the very beginning.

What about brothers and sisters?

They’re part of the story too.

A new baby doesn’t arrive in isolation. They arrive into a family whose shape has just changed.

Older siblings may be excited, curious, unimpressed or a glorious mixture of all three errr that’s real family life!

If having siblings photographed together matters to you, ask how your photographer approaches it rather than assuming it will automatically be included.

Should I choose the same photographer for maternity and newborn portraits?

You certainly don’t have to, but there can be something lovely about allowing one photographer to follow the story.

By the time your baby arrives, you’ve already met them and you know how they work. They know something about you and the people who matter to you.

Your baby’s story didn’t really begin on the day they were born, there was already a relationship developing while you were waiting for them.

I may no longer actively market newborn photography as a standalone experience, but I still love continuing the story from maternity to newborn for my maternity families. There is something very special about creating the portraits of the waiting, and then welcoming you back with the tiny person we were talking about all along.

Before You Meet Them

After years of photographing babies and families, I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the part of the story that happens before a baby arrives.

The waiting.

The changes you notice almost daily.

The little movements nobody else can see.

The conversations you have with someone you haven’t actually met yet.

There is already a relationship there.

My Maternity Portrait Experience at Woodland Hill is designed around that part of the story, usually between 28 and 34 weeks of pregnancy.

You don’t need to know how to pose or what to do in front of a camera. We talk before your experience, plan it around you, and create portraits that belong to your family’s story rather than simply recording what your bump looked like.

Because they were already part of your story.

EXPLORE THE MATERNITY PORTRAIT EXPERIENCE →

Newborn and Baby Photography in West Sussex

Woodland Hill Photography is based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and I have photographed newborn babies and growing families here for many years.

Today, my newborn photography most often continues a story that began with a Maternity Portrait Experience. I love welcoming families back after their baby arrives and creating the next chapter together.

If you’re expecting a baby and are thinking about both maternity and newborn portraits, we can talk about that from the beginning. Or, if you’re simply researching newborn photography, you can explore the Newborn Photography resources for more advice and stories from the Woodland Hill archive.