Newmarket
Newborn and family photography for Newmarket
Forty minutes along the A14 to a quiet studio for the newborn weeks — and Devil's Dyke, the Heath and Anglesey Abbey for the family photographs after.
From Newmarket, my studio in Papworth Everard is about forty minutes, almost all of it on the A14: past Cambridge, and then a few minutes south through the villages. You park at the door.
Newborns, babies and families are what I have photographed since 2010, and this page covers both halves: the studio for the first weeks, and the open country around Newmarket for the family photographs later on.
A town that is up early
Newmarket is a racing town, and racing towns are awake before everyone else. My newborn sessions happen in the morning too — not because a baby needs to be in any particular state, but because most families find the first half of the day easier, especially with older children.
The studio is warm and quiet, with a sofa for you and a playroom for brothers and sisters. We go at your baby's pace: feeds, cuddles, changes, and back to it. Most Newmarket babies are born at the Rosie in Cambridge or at West Suffolk in Bury, and the early weeks at home are the ones to aim for. If they have passed, there is still no wrong age.
Newmarket families can book an hour (the Mini Newborn Collection), two hours with brothers, sisters and grandparents (the Classic Newborn Collection), or two hours with every photograph kept and a heART Fusion film (the Total Newborn Collection). See what each includes.
Family photographs around Newmarket
My family sessions are outdoors, at the end of the day, and not everyone lined up looking at the camera: an hour of walking, playing and being together. Usually that means the farmland behind my studio. If you would rather stay near home, Newmarket has some of the best open country in the region.
Devil's Dyke. The long Anglo-Saxon earthwork that runs past the town, with chalk grassland on its banks and views in every direction. On a summer evening, walking along the top of it, it feels like the edge of the world — and it gives a family session a path to follow.
The Heath. Wide, open, and unmistakably Newmarket. Parts of it belong to the horses, so we choose a spot where people are welcome, and plan the time around the strings coming home.
Anglesey Abbey, on the Cambridge side of Lode. The National Trust's gardens are known for their snowdrops in February and their dahlias in late summer: two moments in the year when a family photograph has something remarkable behind it.
Some of these places ask for permission for professional photography, and the drive out is charged on top. I organise both.
Maternity and first birthdays
Maternity sessions happen in the studio or in the fields around it, around 32 to 36 weeks. After the newborn weeks, families come back for baby sessions and a cake smash on the first birthday. Classic and Total collections carry a voucher towards the next one.
Questions from Newmarket
Isn't Cambridge closer?
On the map, yes, but you drive through it or around it to get anywhere. On the A14, the studio is past Cambridge rather than in it, with a parking space at the door.
Can you photograph us at home in Newmarket, or in Exning or Burwell?
Yes: newborn and baby sessions can happen at home, with the travel agreed at the start.
When is the best time for a family session by Devil's Dyke?
Late spring and early autumn give the softest evenings. High summer is lovely but late: in June the best light comes after many young children's bedtime.
Tell me your due date, or the season you have in mind, and we will plan from there. Get in touch.