This little lady was just six weeks old but that’s already too late for a traditional newborn photo shoot.  Even though she’s still very tiny, she’s already very engaged with the world around and her and a very sociable little girl indeed – quite full of smiles!

For a newborn photo shoot, your baby needs to be between five and ten days old ideally and definitely under three weeks old (you do get a little more time when your baby is born early) to capture those sleepy and tucked up shots.  That’s why I recommend booking your session while you’re still pregnant so you don’t need to think about booking a photographer in those hazy days when you’re just back from the hospital.

After this point, while your little one will still sleep for a large portion of the day, they’ve definitely begun to be aware of what’s going on around them so moving and posing them becomes very difficult without waking them.  That’s not to say that there aren’t great photos that you can get past this age but it definitely falls outside of the newborn category.  It is much more likely to be a wakeful portrait session shot in short bursts as your little one won’t be used to be being awake without some form of food or contact for very long.

Little Katie however, was a very chilled out little lady indeed.  We did manage to sneak some sleepy shots when she first arrived but then, as expected, she was wide awake and keen to get involved in proceedings and so that’s how we continued with the photo shoot.  She was one of the most smiley tiny people I’ve ever had in the studio and so, of course, we took full advantage of this fact getting some great shots with various props and outfits that really captured her outgoing little personality.

A beautiful family photo shoot capturing this little girl while she’s still so tiny and proving that you don’t need to miss out on photos just because that very short ‘newborn photography’ window has passed.