Choosing a newborn photographer is one of those decisions that feels very important and completely overwhelming. There are so many photographers now, so many different styles, so many different price points and you’re trying to make this decision while also growing or raising a person…

So let me make it a little easier.

I’m Lucy, and I’ve been photographing newborns and babies just outside York for years. I’ve welcomed hundreds of families through my studio door, and I’ve had enough conversations with parents about why they chose me, or why they almost didn’t, to know exactly what matters and what doesn’t when it comes to making this decision.

So here’s my free guide to finding the photographer for you!

Start with style and be specific about what you love

This is the most important step, and most people skip it.

Before you look at a single photographer’s website, spend twenty minutes scrolling on Pinterest searching “newborn photography” and saving every image that stops you in your tracks. Don’t overthink it, just save what you love.

After twenty minutes, look at what you’ve saved and you’ll start to see a pattern.

Are they dark and moody? Bright and airy? Soft and neutral? Are they mostly posed shots of sleeping babies, or are they connection shots of parents holding their newborn? Are they in a studio or at home?

This matters because every photographer has a style and the best photographer in the world for one family might be completely wrong for another. You need to find someone whose portfolio consistently looks like the images you saved on Pinterest. Not just their three best shots – their whole body of work.

If you book a photographer whose style doesn’t match what you actually love, you’ll spend years looking at images you like but don’t quite love. And these are images you’ll be looking at for the rest of your life.

2. Check their portfolio properly

It’s very easy to make a highlight reel look incredible. What you want to see is consistency.

Look at their full galleries, their blog posts, their Instagram grid going back months/years. Does the quality hold up across different babies, different families, different sessions? Do the images all feel cohesive, like they came from the same photographer?

A photographer who consistently delivers the same warm, beautiful, considered images session after session is a photographer you can trust to deliver that for you too.

3. Ask about safety training

This one is non-negotiable.

Some of the most iconic newborn poses you see online – the curled froggy pose, the hanging pose, the head-in-hands pose – are composite images. They’re created by merging multiple photographs together because the pose cannot safely be held. A photographer who doesn’t know this, or who attempts these poses without proper training, is a genuine safety risk to your baby.

Before you book anyone, ask them about their newborn safety training.

A good photographer will be completely happy to answer this question. Anyone who seems defensive or vague about it is a red flag.

Your baby’s safety is always more important than a beautiful photo. The two should never be in conflict – and with a properly trained photographer, they won’t be.

4. Think about the experience, not just the images

One big thing I’ve learned is the families who are happiest with their newborn photography are almost never the ones who just wanted nice photos. They’re the ones who understood they were booking an experience.

A newborn session isn’t a quick in-and-out job. It’s two to three hours, sometimes more, in someone else’s space, with a brand new baby, in one of the most vulnerable and overwhelming seasons of your life. The photographer you choose needs to be someone you feel genuinely comfortable with. Someone who puts you at ease, who doesn’t rush you, who creates a space where you can breathe.

Ask yourself does this person seem warm? Do they communicate well before your session? Do they make you feel like a priority rather than a booking? Do they have the time and space to let things unfold naturally, or does it feel transactional?

Read their reviews – not just the star rating, but what people actually say. If the same themes come up again and again (warm, unhurried, made us feel so comfortable, never felt rushed), that tells you something really important about the experience you’re going to have.

5. Understand what’s actually included

Pricing in newborn photography can be genuinely confusing, because photographers package things very differently.

Some charge a low session fee but then sell images individually.

Others include a full gallery.

Others include printed products.

Others charge for everything separately.

Before you compare prices between photographers, make sure you’re comparing like for like. A session that looks cheaper might actually cost significantly more once you add the images you actually want. A session that looks more expensive might include everything – gallery, album, wall art – with no surprises later.

Ask every photographer you’re considering: what exactly is included in the price I’m paying? How many images will I receive? Are prints and albums included or extra? Is there a viewing appointment?

Transparency matters here.

A photographer who is clear and upfront about every cost before you book is one you can trust throughout the whole process.

6. Check whether they’re the right fit for your family specifically

Not every photographer is right for every family, and the best photographers know this about themselves.

Do you want a studio session or an at-home session? Do you want natural and relaxed or more posed and styled? Do you want someone who photographs everything – weddings, events, portraits – or someone who specialises exclusively in newborns and families?

Specialisation matters in newborn photography more than almost any other genre.

Settling a newborn, safely posing a baby, managing the pace of a session around feeds and nappy changes and tired parents – these are skills that come from doing it over and over again, with focus and dedication.

A photographer who photographs everything may be brilliant, but a specialist who has spent years doing only this will bring a depth of experience and calm that’s hard to replicate.

7. Trust your gut

After all the research, after the portfolio checking and the review reading and the safety question asking, trust how you feel.

If you look at a photographer’s work and feel something. If you read their words and feel like they get it. If you imagine sitting in their studio with your newborn and feel safe and looked after – that matters.

The best newborn photography happens when there’s a genuine connection and trust between a family and their photographer. You can’t manufacture that. But when it’s there, you feel it.

A little note..

If you’ve read this far and you’re now wondering whether Lucy Rose Studios might be right for your family, I’d love to find out.

I specialise exclusively in newborn, maternity and family photography, and I’ve spent five years building a studio that feels like a genuine escape – warm, calm, completely unhurried, with one family per day and absolutely no rushing. I have full newborn safety training, over 155 five-star Google reviews, and a complete studio wardrobe so you never need to worry about what to wear.

But more than any of that, I genuinely love what I do, and I would love to meet you!

Find out more and get in touch here!

Best wishes

Lucy xx