What Actually Happens During a Newborn Session at My Hilbert Studio?

Because leaving the house with a newborn is already enough of an event.

Before you have a baby, leaving the house for 9:30 means you leave the house and arrive at 9:30.

After you have a baby, 9:30 somehow involves a feed, a nappy change, another nappy change, finding the dummy, packing seventeen things you probably won’t use and getting everyone into the car just as the baby decides they’re hungry again. 😂

Add a toddler into the mix and honestly, getting out the front door deserves its own award.

So when you arrive at my studio for your newborn session, I’m not expecting you to walk in with a perfectly settled baby and your whole family ready to immediately start taking photos.

You just need to get here. We’ll work out the rest.

What happens when you arrive?

First, you can put your stuff down.

There’s no need to walk through the door and immediately hand me your baby while everyone scrambles into position. 😂

We’ll take a minute. If baby needs a feed, feed them. If they need changing, change them. If your toddler needs a little time to look around and work out where they are, they can have it.

My studio is at my home in Hilbert, so it isn’t a huge commercial studio with people coming and going. It’s just us.

Once everyone is ready enough — and I say enough very deliberately — we’ll start.

There’s no requirement for your baby to arrive asleep, fed at exactly the right time or somehow already prepared for their photos.

What if my baby needs feeding?

Quite often, this is exactly where we start.

If baby is hungry when you arrive, feed them.

Breast or bottle — it makes absolutely no difference to me. We can get you comfortable, give baby the time they need and start photographing when they’re ready.

And if they want another feed twenty minutes later? We stop and feed them again.

Newborn babies aren’t particularly interested in the schedule we had in mind for the morning. 😂

I have a bottle warmer in the studio if you need it, along with a change table, nappies and wipes.

Feeding, changing, settling and cuddling aren’t interruptions to your newborn session. They’re part of having a newborn.

So what do we actually photograph?

There isn’t a rigid checklist that we have to race through in a particular order.

We’ll photograph your baby on their own. Their tiny hands, feet and all those little details. Baby with Mum. Baby with Dad. Your family together. And if there are older brothers or sisters, them too.

Sometimes we’ll start with family photographs. Sometimes baby is asleep and it makes sense to photograph them first. Sometimes your toddler is having a brilliant five minutes and I’m absolutely taking advantage of it. 😂

We work with what your family gives us.

I’ll guide you throughout the session, where to stand, where to put your hands, how to hold baby, so you don’t need to arrive knowing what to do in front of the camera.

The aim isn’t to work through a list in the “right” order. It’s to photograph your baby, your family and all of you together.

What if my baby is awake?

Then you’ve brought me… a baby. 😂

Your baby does not need to sleep through their newborn session.

If they’re awake and looking around, we photograph that. Their eyes. Their expressions. The way they look up at you. The way they settle against Mum or Dad.

If they get tired and drift off later, we photograph that too.

I’m not going to spend your entire session trying to force an awake baby back to sleep because I need them asleep for a particular photograph.

Awake is not a problem we need to fix.

And if your baby is already a few weeks old and you’re wondering whether that means you’ve left newborn photos too late, I’ve written a whole post about that too.

What about older siblings?

If you’re bringing a toddler or older child, they’re part of the session too.

I’m not expecting them to sit quietly beside us for the entire time while we photograph the baby. They can come in for family and sibling photographs, have a break, go and play, and come back when we need them again.

If they’re having a particularly good five minutes, we use it. 😂

And if they don’t want to hold the baby, sit still or smile at me? We work around it.

I’ve actually written a whole post about what happens when your toddler doesn’t want to cooperate during newborn photos, because this is probably one of the biggest worries parents have before a session.

What do we wear and what do I need to bring?

Honestly, you don’t need to arrive with half your house packed into the nappy bag.

I have a client wardrobe in the studio for Mum, as well as wraps, outfits and little pieces for baby, so you don’t need to go shopping for an entirely new wardrobe just for your photos.

I also have a change table, nappies, wipes and a bottle warmer here.

Of course, bring the things your baby normally needs — their milk or feeding supplies, dummy if they use one, and anything specific you know helps them settle.

But otherwise? Bring yourselves and bring the baby.

We’ve got the rest covered.

What if we need to stop?

hen we stop.

Your baby might need another feed. A nappy change. A cuddle. They might decide they’ve had enough of whatever we’re doing and need a minute with Mum.

That’s fine.

Your baby hasn’t read my schedule. 😂

We’re not trying to get through a newborn session as quickly as humanly possible. We can pause, settle them, feed them, change them and then keep going.

Sometimes those little pauses also give us some of the photographs I love most — baby curled into Mum, Dad settling them, tiny hands wrapped around a finger.

It’s all part of the session.

What happens after the session?

Once your session is finished, you get to go home, put the comfy clothes back on and continue figuring out what day of the week it is. 😂

Then it’s my turn.

I’ll go through your session and prepare your proof gallery for you. Your gallery will include the best photographs from our time together — baby, family, siblings and all those little details in between.

From there, you simply choose your favourites based on the collection you booked.

You don’t need to make any decisions on the day.

You can look through everything at home, take your time and choose the photographs you love most.

So what do you actually need to do?

Get yourself here.

Seriously. That’s the main job. 😂

You don’t need to time the perfect feed, get your baby to sleep before you arrive, practise poses, teach your toddler how to behave for photos or know what you’re supposed to do once you walk through the door.

Bring the baby. Bring the family. I’ll guide you through the rest.

Your newborn session is allowed to include feeds, nappy changes, awake babies, sleepy babies, toddler breaks and stopping for a cuddle when somebody needs one.

Because that’s what life with a newborn actually looks like.

My newborn sessions take place in my home studio in Hilbert, Perth, close to Byford and Armadale and around 15 minutes from Piara Waters.

So if you’ve been wondering what actually happens during a newborn session at Four O — now you know.

You just need to get here. We’ll work out the rest. 🤍