If you Google newborn photography and take a look at the images that pop up, the vast majority of them will be of babies fast asleep.
It’d be true to say that generally newborn photography is focused on capturing babies while they sleep and that’s what allows us to create those dreamy images of them tucked up on their tummies, snoozing in swaddles or relaxing on props of all types. There’s a few reasons for working with newborns when they’re asleep…
Firstly, newborns don’t do a lot else for the first couple of weeks. If you’re reading this at four in the morning while trying to persuade a fussy new baby to go back to sleep so you can get some rest, you probably just laughed out loud. Totally get it. It certainly doesn’t feel that way when you’re in the bubble but you know what I mean. When they’re full, and comfortable, they pretty much just sleep. It’s not like they have a lot else on their agenda and they need lots of rest to process the massive transition they’ve just been through. If you’ve ever tried to keep one awake (let alone pose them and flash studio lights around them) you’ll know it’s going to result in overwhelming them pretty fast which will just lead to a pretty big meltdown. Sleeping is what they do best, and so we let them shine.
Secondly, when they are very new, they haven’t had to use their eyes yet. They are unfocused as they can only see a few inches in front of their face. So when you take pictures of them when they’re awake, you do tend to get a bit of a squinty or cross eyed look. You can with practice and patience get pictures of them with their eyes open and even but most of the pictures will get junked because of what their eyes are doing. Sleeping cuts this problem right out for obvious reasons.
The third reason why we work with newborns asleep is that along with not mastering focusing their eyes, they have no idea what their limbs are doing. It does sounds like I’m giving them a bit of a hard time for not mastering skills we take for granted but I’m not honestly 🙂 So this lack of motor control means that if they are left to their own devices, their legs and arms will wave about quite a lot. It’s essential for their development as this is how they start to learn to find out about the world around them and how to move through it but in terms of photos, it’s a bit of a nightmare in terms of catching them still, and without a leg in the air or an arm in front of their face. Where babies are more wakeful, we tend to work with them swaddled for exactly this reason but sleeping has the same effect of stilling those mobile little limbs.
Of course the final (and real) reason that we work with them sleeping is that they look so darn cute! But the others are also true so, if you were wondering, now you know…
Newborn Photography
A newborn photo shoot is best when your baby is between 5 and 10 days old as this is when they are at their maximum sleepiness and poseability to capture those dreamy shots. For this reason, I definitely recommend that you book when you are pregnant as this is one less thing to worry about scheduling when you’ve just got home from the hospital. We make an appointment for your due date plus 7 days and then adjust it as needed.
My newborn shoots include your three favourite digital images which you select from your online gallery a few weeks after your photo shoot – I don’t make you attend a sales or viewing session. Sessions take place in my warm and cosy studio in Crawley Down and cost £95.