When you’re researching newborn photographers, it’s so easy to end up with ten browser tabs open, all showing different prices, and absolutely no idea what any of them actually mean. £400 here. £900 there. £1500 somewhere else.

What’s the difference? What do you actually get? Is one of them just better fizz at the reveal appointment?

I get asked this constantly, and I think the honest answer deserves more than a quick reply in my inbox. So let me properly walk you through what’s included when you book with me – every bit of it – because I think you deserve to know exactly what you’re paying for before you hand over a single penny.

Unlike some who keep their pricing vague or hidden until you’ve already had a consultation, every package and price is laid out clearly in my enquiry guide from the very start. No hidden extras, no awkward surprises further down the line. You’ll see exactly what each collection includes and exactly what it costs, in pounds and pence, before you ever need to ask. I think that’s only fair – you’re making an important decision for your family, and you deserve to make it with all the information in front of you.

I’m Lucy, a newborn photographer based just outside York, a very proud mum of two, and a firm believer that you should never have to guess what you’re buying.

Time.. and LOTS of it

Let’s start with the bit you actually experience: your session.

Every newborn package includes a full session – usually 2 to 3 hours, though sometimes it runs longer and that’s completely fine.

I only ever photograph one family per day which means there’s no next client pacing around outside, no clock on the wall I’m secretly checking, no part of me thinking “right, we need to wrap this up.”

If your baby needs a feed halfway through.. we feed. If they need two feeds.. we have two feeds. If your toddler has a meltdown about wanting the fluffy wrap, not THAT wrap.. we deal with it, calmly, and then carry on. None of that comes out of your time. It’s all just… part of it.

But the thing that people don’t always realise is that the session itself is honestly the smallest part of what you’re paying for.

The hours before and after are where most of the actual work happens, and you never even see it.

The full studio experience

Long before your session day, there’s been months of back and forth. Texts about due dates. Emails about outfit choices. The odd 9pm message from a nervous mum-to-be asking “is it definitely not too early to book?” (It’s never too early, by the way.)

The studio itself gets prepped specifically for you – not just generally tidied, but properly set up. Temperature checked and adjusted (newborns need it warm, like properly warm, the kind of warm where I end up in a vest top in February). Wraps and props washed and dried. The wardrobe pulled together based on what you’ve told me you’re drawn to.

By the time you walk through the door, a lot of thought has already gone into making sure your time runs smoothly.

Once you’re here, everything is provided. A full wardrobe of outfits for mum, dad and baby – so please don’t lose sleep over what to wear (I promise, I’ve got you covered, literally). Wraps and blankets – all luxurious, clean materials carefully selected to be safe and soft against any newborn babies skin.

It’s warm. It’s calm. There’s tea. There are biscuits. Genuinely good biscuits, not the bargain ones.

And there’s me, doing the actual job – which brings me to the bit that I think people underestimate the most.

Training and safety – the invisible bit

This is the part that’s hardest to put a price on if I’m honest.

A lot of the gorgeous curled-up newborn poses you see online are safely achieved through specific techniques, careful support, and, for some of the more elaborate ones, composite editing, where multiple safe images are blended together rather than one risky pose being held.

That knowledge doesn’t come from owning a nice camera.

It comes from years of training, practice, and genuinely caring about doing this properly every single time, with every single baby.

When you book someone trained and experienced, you’re paying for the guarantee that nothing will go wrong. That your six-day-old will be handled exactly as carefully as my own children were. That’s not a nice-to-have, it’s the whole foundation of what I do.

Editing

Here’s a number that surprises almost everyone: editing a single newborn session typically takes me ten to fifteen hours. Sometimes more.

That’s every single image, individually culled, edited, retouched and colour graded – not run through a one-click filter. Properly, carefully, image by image, until every single one looks the way it’s meant to.

It’s the bit you don’t see happen, tucked away on evenings after my own kids are in bed, but is a huge chunk of why a session costs what it costs.

Your viewing and ordering appointment

About one to two weeks after your session, you’ll come back in for your own personal viewing appointment – and yes, this is included, not an extra.

You’ll see your full gallery properly for the first time, big on the screen, with a drink and something sweet while it all sinks in. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched someone go quiet in that moment. It gets me every single time, even after hundreds of sessions.

This is also when we go through albums, wall art, frames and digital collections together – at your pace, with zero pressure, and plenty of guidance from me on what tends to work best in different homes.

Your images

Every package includes your a digital gallery to download and keep.

But, and I say this in every single one of these conversations, please don’t let the digital gallery be the only place these photos exist. A download folder doesn’t get looked at. An album does. A piece of wall art does. I’ll always help with any printing you need to help with, because in five years’ time, that’s what you’ll actually be glad you have.

A newborn session has never just been ‘some photos’ to me. It’s months of communication, hours of preparation, years of training, a calm and properly equipped studio, ten-plus hours of editing, a guided ordering appointment, and a final product that’s built to last decades, not just sit in a folder.

If you’re comparing prices between photographers – and you absolutely should – please ask what’s included. The number on its own rarely tells the full story.

Honestly, just ask me. I’d rather spend twenty minutes on the phone talking you through everything properly than have you guess and walk away unsure.

I offer relaxed photoshoot 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!