The Sessions
Newborn Photography in Cambridge
Simple, timeless photographs of your baby in the first days — made at your baby's pace, in a warm and quiet studio near Cambridge.
Since 2010.
My name is Francesca and I am a newborn photographer based in Papworth Everard, near Cambridge. I have been photographing newborn babies since 2010.
My style is simple, organic and timeless. No headbands, no baskets, no props competing for attention — just your baby, exactly as they are, and the details that will have changed by next month.
Papworth Everard · CambridgeYour Newborn Session
Led by the baby, not the clock
My approach is entirely baby led. I never force a baby into a position, and I never build a pose that is not natural and comfortable for them. Your baby sets the pace of the session and everything else is arranged around that — feeding, settling, starting again.
There are three newborn experiences to choose from, and each includes the session and the photographs together. You can see exactly what each one contains on the newborn photography prices page.
What is the best age for newborn photography?
The ideal time is within the first two or three weeks. In those days a baby still keeps the curled positions they held in the womb, and sleeps deeply enough for the classic sleeping photographs.
There are also details in those first two weeks that last only a very short time. Lashes, the shape of the lips, hands that have not yet unfolded. Those are the photographs you will look back at.
When should I book?
After the 20 week scan is the usual moment. At that stage we only book your due date, which secures the session. When the baby arrives you email me the actual birth date, and we set the real date around it.
Is three weeks too old?
No. There is no wrong age for photographing a new baby.
If those first days have already gone, nothing is lost — what changes is the kind of photograph. After about three or four weeks a baby's sleep pattern and behaviour begin to shift, which gives more awake images, more eye contact, and more of the bond with mum and dad.
I have written about exactly what changes in photographing babies at six weeks.
Can mum and dad be in the photographs?
Yes, always — and I will encourage it. Mum and baby, dad and baby, and the whole family together are my favourite photographs of any session, and they will be your child's favourites in twenty years.
Can our other children come?
Please bring them. I am a mother of three and sibling photographs are among the ones I love most. They are included from the Classic package onwards.
The studio has a room given over entirely to brothers and sisters — a toy room where they can play while they are not needed. There is more about it in this piece about the studio.
What should we wear?
Simpler is better. Neutral colours — white, cream, oatmeal — and plain fabrics, so that nothing competes with your baby.
Once the session is booked you receive a welcome brochure with more detail on what works and what does not.
Should we bring props?
I would rather you did not. Newborn props bought online are usually the wrong size and too shiny for photography.
I have everything we need in the studio: soft blankets and wraps to cover the nappy and build a natural nest around the baby. There is a small selection of hats and headbands for parents who want them, but the photographs I believe in are the ones without.
How do I get my baby ready?
You do not need to do anything, and please do not add one more thing to your week.
If it fits your day, feeding your baby shortly before you leave helps — it gives the milk time to settle before we start. If it does not fit, do not worry: I work around the feeds either way.
What if my baby cries?
They will, at some point, and it is completely normal. A newborn who cries is a newborn telling us something.
It is the one thing that makes me stop — not because anything has gone wrong, but because I want to work out why. A nappy, a feed, wind, or simply wanting to be held for a minute. We deal with whatever it is, take as long as that takes, and then we carry on.
I do not expect your baby to perform. I expect a newborn who has just arrived into a new family. My job is to make sure the studio gives them everything they need to be comfortable, and to give you both all the time that takes — that is what the session is for.
I have photographed many babies every month since 2010, and no session has ever ended without a beautiful gallery. What changes is the time it takes. Some come together quickly; others need more stopping and starting. A baby who needs more breaks is not a baby whose photographs will be any less lovely — it is simply a longer morning.
What time of day are sessions held?
Newborn sessions are normally held in the morning — it is the easier half of the day for most families, particularly when there are older brothers and sisters. Your baby does not need to arrive in any particular state; that part is my job.
If a morning does not work for your family, a midday or afternoon session can usually be arranged. Please mention it when you enquire, so it can be planned in advance.
Where does the session take place?
In my studio in Papworth Everard, a village in Cambridgeshire ten minutes west of Cambridge, kept warm for the baby, with parking at the door.
It is often a shorter drive than the middle of Cambridge: eight miles from St Neots, nine from Huntingdon, with the A14, the A1 and the M11 all close by. Families come from across Cambridgeshire and from well beyond it — Bedford, Saffron Walden, Bury St Edmunds — and regularly from London.
If the drive is the thing stopping you, say so when you write. A session at your own home is possible too.
I did not have newborn photographs of my own children. It is my biggest regret
The worries that stop people booking
Almost every mother who decides against a newborn session decides against it for one of three reasons. I know them well, because they are the reasons I did not book one myself.
"What if my baby will not sleep?"
I have never once seen this as a problem. Babies are unpredictable and wide awake newborns arrive in my studio regularly. An awake baby simply produces a different set of photographs — often with open eyes looking straight at you, which many parents end up preferring.
And time usually solves it anyway: even the most awake newborn tends to fall asleep after the first hour. The Classic and Total sessions are longer for exactly this reason, and when you book one of them I do not book another client that day, so we can stretch the session if your baby needs it.
"I look exhausted and nothing fits."
I have been there too.
Your body has just done something extraordinary. It will find its shape again, and in the meantime it deserves to be photographed rather than hidden. Finding poses and light that suit you is not an extra — it is the job.
"It is too much to leave the house."
It is a lot. But it is two hours, once, in the only fortnight this baby will ever be this size.
Choosing a newborn photographer
Not necessarily me. These are the things worth checking about anyone.
Look at a full portfolio, not a few images. A portfolio shows a photographer's best work and their style. Does it speak to you? Would you still like these photographs in fifteen years?
Then look at whole sessions. A blog or a set of complete sessions tells you what an ordinary booking actually produces — not the single best frame, but all of them. Look at consistency, and at whether you like the sibling and family photographs too, since you will be in some of them.
Check the approach, not only the style. Some photographers are prop-led and heavily posed. Others are baby-led. Both can be excellent; they are not the same experience, and one of them will suit you better.
Read reviews somewhere the photographer does not control. Google reviews, not testimonials chosen for a website.
Understand the pricing before you fall in love with the images. Some photographers charge a session fee that includes no photographs, and you choose and buy the images afterwards at a viewing. That can work out well or very expensively, and you will not know which until you have seen the pictures.
I do it the other way: fixed packages that include the session and the images together, priced upfront. There is no viewing appointment and no second decision to make. Your images arrive at your home.
Then have an actual conversation. Ring the photographer. Ten minutes on the phone tells you things no website can.
My newborn portfolio
Very small people in their first days, photographed since 2010. Colour and black and white, and almost never a prop in sight.