Digital backdrops are something I offer as an optional extra at newborn sessions, and I know they split opinion. Here’s my honest take on them and how they actually work.
I was on the fence about them for a long time. My preference has always been to create things for real in the studio, and that’s still true. But there are a couple of practical reasons why digital options make sense alongside that.
The first is space. I can’t own every prop I’d love to use, and even if I could, the studio also needs to have room for actual people in it. Digital backdrops let me offer set-ups that would be physically impossible, impractical, or in some cases genuinely unsafe to recreate in real life. The bed in the photo above is a good example. It exists as a digital backdrop, and the results speak for themselves.
The second is editing skill. Digital composite work is only worth offering if the quality is there, and I’ve put serious time into making sure it is. The finished images need to look like they belong together, not like a baby has been dropped onto a stock photo. Getting that right takes practice.
When you book a newborn session, you’ll receive an email beforehand with a range of digital backdrops to choose from, if you’d like to include one. It’s completely optional. We take the base image during your session, and the composite is created in the edit. It becomes a fun addition to your gallery without adding any extra time or pressure on the day.
