A newborn session, hour by hour

First-time parents usually arrive braced for something clinical and fast. A newborn session is neither. Here is the shape of one, honestly.

Before you arrive

Feed at home, then feed again in the car park if you can. A full baby sleeps, and a sleeping baby is most of what makes these photographs work. Dress in something easy to remove — buttons, not a vest that has to come off over the head.

The first thirty minutes

Nothing photographic happens. The floor is already at 26°C, the white noise is running, and we spend this time letting the baby settle and talking to you about the frames you want. Rushing this half hour costs an hour later.

The middle

We work in short bursts between feeds — wrapped frames first, because they settle the baby, then the parent frames, then siblings if there are any. Every burst is ten or fifteen minutes long, and then we stop.

Roughly ninety minutes of a three-hour newborn session is waiting. That is not wasted time; it is the session.

What to bring

• More nappies than you think, and a change of clothes for yourself
• A dummy, if you use one — it comes out for frames and goes back after
• Anything with sentimental value you want photographed: a shawl, a name plate, a grandparent's bangle
• Nothing else; wraps, blankets, baskets and props are here and washed

You will get proofs within seventy-two hours and the finished set in ten working days. If the baby has a difficult day and we do not get what we wanted, we rebook at no cost. It happens, and it is nobody's fault.