This is such a practical question and I love it. Because a little bit of preparation can make a huge difference to how your session goes.

I’m Lucy, I’m a newborn photographer just outside York, I’ve been doing this for five years, I’ve worked with hundreds of families across Yorkshire, I have over 150 five-star Google reviews, and I’m a mum of two.

So I’ve seen every version of a pre-shoot morning, the calm ones, the chaotic ones, the ones where someone cried in the car park before they even came through the door ones

Here’s my honest, been-there, seen-it-all list of what to avoid before your newborn photoshoot.

Don’t stress about getting the house ready

I shoot in my studio, so your house is completely irrelevant. But I’m including this one anyway because I know how many new mums spend precious, limited energy in the days before their shoot trying to clean, organise, and get everything looking perfect at home.

Please don’t.

You have just had a baby. Your house is allowed to look like someone has had a baby in it. Use that energy to rest, to sleep when you can, to eat something proper, to let someone else make the tea for once.

The studio is ready for you. Your only job is to arrive.

Don’t try a new outfit on the morning

This one sounds small but trust me, it isn’t.

The morning of a newborn shoot is already a big step, especially if it is your first little one. There’s a feed to get through and probably a nappy change mid-feed. Adding an outfit crisis on top of that is something I really, really don’t want for you.

If you’re borrowing something from my studio wardrobe, which you are absolutely welcome to do, I have dresses in every size, just rock up in whatever is comfy.

If you’re wearing something of your own, decide a day or two before. Try it on. Check it feels comfortable. Check you can feed in it if you need to. Then hang it up, forget about it, and one less thing.

Neutral tones are always the way to go – whites, creams, soft earthy tones. Nothing busy, nothing bright, nothing that’s going to compete with your baby’s face. If you’re not sure, send me a photo of what you’re thinking and I’ll tell you honestly. I’d always rather have that conversation beforehand than have you arrive in something that doesn’t feel right.

Don’t overstimulate baby beforehand

I know everyone wants to meet the baby. I know grandparents are visiting and friends are popping round and everyone is desperate for a cuddle. But in the days before your shoot – and especially the morning of – try to keep things as calm and quiet as possible.

A baby who has spent the morning being passed around a room full of excited relatives, however well-meaning, is a baby who arrives at the studio wide awake, overstimulated, and very difficult to settle.

A baby who has had a calm, quiet morning at home, fed, warm, unhurried, is a baby who arrives at the studio ready to curl up and be gorgeous.

I’m not saying lock the door and hide. I’m saying: protect the morning. Keep visitors for the evening after your shoot. Let the day be gentle.

And if life doesn’t cooperate and it is a chaotic morning anyway – don’t panic. We’ll work with it. I always do.

Don’t skip the feed

This is possibly the single most important thing on this list.

Come with a full baby. A freshly fed baby is a settled baby, and a settled baby makes for the most beautiful, peaceful images. If you can time a feed so that it finishes roughly as you’re arriving at the studio, that is absolutely ideal.

Even better, plan to feed again as soon as you arrive. We’ll get you settled on the sofa, get you a cup of tea, and you can feed while I get everything set up. There’s no rush. There’s never any rush.

And please, feed yourself too. Bring snacks. Bring whatever you need. I have biscuits and drinks at the studio, but if you’re breastfeeding especially, you need to be properly nourished and hydrated. Looking after you is part of looking after your baby – don’t forget that.

Don’t rush

Give yourself more time than you think you need to get out of the house. Then add another ten minutes on top of that.

I’ve had families arrive flustered, breathless and apologetic after a stressful journey, and it takes a genuinely good twenty minutes before the tension leaves their shoulders. Twenty minutes of their session, of their baby’s settled window, of the time we could have been making beautiful images — spent decompressing from a rushed morning.

I never mind. I always have time. But I want you to arrive feeling calm and ready, not like you’ve just run a race.

Leave early. Drive calmly. If you’re early, sit in the car for five minutes and breathe. Listen to something you love. Have a moment to yourself before you come in.

Arrive ready to relax.

And if something goes wrong on the way, if there’s traffic, or a nappy explosion at the front door, or you forget the dummy and have to go back, just message me. I promise I won’t be watching the clock. We’ll just start when you get here.

Don’t expect perfection

This is the most important one of all, and I want you to really hear it.

Come expecting an experience, not a production line.

The best photos I have ever taken have not come from perfectly planned, perfectly executed sessions where everything went exactly to schedule. They’ve come from the real moments. The unplanned ones. The feed break where dad looks down at his baby and doesn’t know I’m watching. The moment where mum closes her eyes and just breathes. The baby who screamed for forty minutes and then fell into the most peaceful, perfect sleep.

Those are the photos that end up on walls. Those are the ones that make people cry at their reveal. Those are the ones they’ll still be looking at in thirty years.

So don’t come in trying to control it. Don’t come in with a list of poses you need to tick off. Don’t come in worried that your baby won’t perform.

Come in, put your shoulders down, have a biscuit, and trust me.

I’ve done this hundreds of times. I know what I’m doing. And I promise you – whatever your session looks like, we will make something beautiful out of it.

We always do.

One last thing

Whatever the morning looks like before you arrive – however the feed went, however the journey was, however you’re feeling – when you walk through my studio door, you can let it all go.

You’re here. Your baby is here. That’s the only thing that matters.

The rest I’ll take care of.

If you’re looking for natural, baby-led newborn photography in York or across Yorkshire, Lucy Rose Studios offers relaxed newborn sessions, family portraits, luxury albums, bespoke wall art, and a studio experience designed around real families, not rushed schedules, timers, or pressure. Just beautiful memories, created at your baby’s pace.

Feel free to explore my website for more information and to see some of the photography I’ve captured. Have questions? Send me a little message here!

Best wishes,

Lucy xx