I was really looking forward to meeting this gorgeous 10-day-old baby girl for her newborn photoshoot – the first in her Baby’s First Year package.


When I arrived the gorgeous little bundle of joy had just woken from an unexpectedly long nap and was having a feed so I set myself up next to the full length patio doors across the back of their living room to make the most of the natural light. By the time baby was finished her feed though the skies had blackened and the heavens had opened so the natural light had turned a miserable grey but as a documentary newborn photographer I’m always prepared for anything! And it turned out that anything on this session was a lot of poo explosions and resulting outfit changes and cluster feeding!


But that’s the beauty of documentary family photography. I am always entirely baby-led and adopt a reportage approach to family photography. In my time as a family photographer I have photographed newborn and older babies of all shapes and sizes, sleepy babies, wide awake babies, screaming and unsettled babies, totally content and go-with-the-flow babies. Patience is the name of the game with newborn photography and if baby needs feeding, then baby feeds, if baby needs changing then we stop for a change.

I don’t have a preconceived idea of exactly what images I’ll be taking that I absolutely have to get which means I can be flexible around baby’s needs.


At this session baby was so very hungry I simply couldn’t miss the opportunity for some gorgeous breastfeeding images as well as the chance to grab some of those intimate details of dad gently stroking baby’s foot to comfort her.