How to Choose Your Newborn Photographer
Booking a newborn photographer has become one of the most important things an expectant parent does. From the moment you see that positive test, you want to do everything just right, and capturing those very first days of your baby's life is part of that.
There is no second chance at newborn photographs. Your baby will change so quickly, and those first days are gone before you know it. Researching and booking your photographer while you are still pregnant is always the right decision. Once your baby has arrived you will be busy feeding, settling and trying to sleep, and that is really not the time to be comparing studios and reading reviews.
The best newborn photographers book up weeks, sometimes months, in advance. Start looking early and take your time making the right choice.
How to Research the Best Newborn Photographer
If you have never booked a photographer before, it can feel a little overwhelming knowing where to start. Here are the most useful places to begin.
Word of mouth
If you have friends who are new parents, ask them. Did they love their baby's photographs? Was the experience calm and relaxed for both them and their baby? Was the photographer warm, reassuring and easy to deal with? Did they come away with beautiful portraits they are proud to display in their home? Personal recommendations are genuinely the most valuable place to start.
Instagram and social media
Most photographers are highly visual and will have an active Instagram presence. Use the search function to find photographers near you. Hashtags like #newbornphotographerdundee or #babyphotographersdundee are a good starting point, but remember that many studios, including Mabel & Møøse, work with families from across Scotland and beyond, so cast your net a little wider than just your immediate area.
A maternity photoshoot
Booking a maternity session is a wonderful way to get to know your photographer before your baby arrives. It gives you a real sense of how they work, how they make you feel, and whether their style is right for you. It is also the first chapter of your baby's story.
A professional studio will always have a website as well as social media. Look through their portfolio and get a genuine sense of who they are. Read their About page. Check their Google and Facebook reviews and see what other parents say about the experience, not just the photographs. You will be visiting this studio not long after giving birth, which can be an emotional and vulnerable time. Finding a photographer you feel comfortable with and confident in really matters.
What to Consider When Choosing Your Newborn Photographer
The experience, not just the photographs
The photographs are of course the most important thing. But the whole experience matters too. You should be able to look back at your baby's photoshoot and remember a wonderful, calm, unhurried morning where you felt completely looked after. Those memories become part of the photographs themselves.
Think about the practical things too. Is the studio easy to get to? Is parking straightforward? At Mabel & Møøse you park on the driveway, there are no steps, no busy car parks and no getting the pram out of the car in the rain. If you have an older child, is there somewhere nearby for one parent to take them for a walk if they need a break? A settled, happy family makes for the best photographs.
Is the studio a dedicated, comfortable space? Is there somewhere to feed your baby in privacy and comfort? Is there a sofa where you can relax while your photographer works? These things matter much more than you might expect on the day.
Does the studio provide outfits?
Look at the studio's portfolio carefully. Is it consistent? Do you know exactly what you are going to get? A good studio will have a clear, recognisable style and a wardrobe of outfits for both baby and parents that fits that style. At Mabel & Møøse everything is neutral, minimal and Scandi in feel. You are welcome to bring your own clothing or borrow from the studio wardrobe, and you will always be given guidance on what works best.
Newborn photography safety
Safety will be mentioned on almost every newborn photographer's website, and rightly so. It is worth knowing however that photography in the UK has no governing body and no regulated safety qualification. There is no equivalent of a medical licence. This does not mean that photographers do not take safety seriously, the vast majority absolutely do, but it is worth looking carefully at a photographer's portfolio and asking yourself whether the baby in the images looks comfortable and natural.
At Mabel & Møøse babies are never forced into positions. They are gently encouraged into poses that are completely natural and comfortable, the kind of positions you see your baby in every single day. Scandi style newborn photography is inherently gentle. No props, no forced poses, no pressure on tiny joints.
Photography style
Newborn photography styles vary enormously. Some studios specialise in highly posed, prop-heavy setups. Others, like Mabel & Møøse, favour a clean, minimal, natural approach. Neither is wrong, but you should choose a photographer whose style you genuinely love and whose portfolio is consistent enough that you know exactly what you are going to get.
At Mabel & Møøse the style is timeless. Neutral tones, natural light, no fuss. Images that will look just as beautiful on your baby's twenty-first birthday as they do today, and that will suit any home.
Family and sibling photographs
It is easy to focus entirely on photographs of your baby and forget that you might also want to be in the pictures. Family photographs, the ones with both parents holding their newborn, are often the images that become most treasured over time. Think about your own parents and how much you value any photographs of them when they were young. When you book a newborn photoshoot you are giving your baby a gift for their future as much as a memory for yourself.
If you have an older child, think carefully about the age gap. Photographing a ten day old baby alongside a two year old is a very different skill from photographing them with an eight year old. At Mabel & Møøse the focus is on babies with younger siblings, broadly between twelve months and five years. Young children cannot be posed and it takes experience and patience to capture those natural, magical moments between them.
It is also worth choosing a studio where every family feels completely welcome. Families come in all shapes and they all deserve beautiful portraits. At Mabel & Møøse every family is celebrated equally and you will always feel completely at home.
Detail photographs
Some of the most treasured images from a newborn session are the details. Tiny toes, miniature fingers, the softness of new skin. These close up shots require a particular skill with lighting and focus and not every studio specialises in them. Look carefully through a photographer's portfolio and if you do not see detail shots, it is likely they do not offer them.
Editing style
Every photographer has an editing style that gives their work a distinct look. Make sure the style you see in their portfolio is the style you want for your own photographs. At Mabel & Møøse the editing is clean, natural and white, preserving your baby's true skin and hair colour rather than adding filters or altering tones.
Editing and retouching are not the same thing. Retouching is about removing distractions, a blemish, some flaky skin, perhaps a post-birth spot on a tired mum's chin. At Mabel & Møøse retouching is minimal and done individually on every image. Your baby's sweet milk spots will still be there. The things that make them perfectly, imperfectly new will be kept. Only the distracting details are quietly removed.
How do you receive your photographs?
This is one of the most important things to understand before you book, and it varies widely between studios.
All digital files
Some photographers supply everything as digital files, usually at an all-inclusive price. On the face of it this can seem like the best value option. In reality most parents never do anything meaningful with digital files. They sit on a hard drive or in the cloud, occasionally shared on social media, but rarely printed or displayed. If they are printed, it is usually through an online printer and the results rarely do justice to the original image. Skin tones can shift, quality drops, and the photograph does not look the way it was intended to look.
Online gallery viewing
Some studios present your photographs through a private online gallery where you can choose prints or digital files at your own pace. It is a convenient system but in practice life gets in the way. Galleries expire, partners are back at work, choices get made in a rush without the guidance of someone who knows what will look best in your home. It can work well but it requires you to be organised and proactive at what is often the busiest and most exhausting time of your life.
In person Reveal Sessions
A Reveal Session is something quite different. You and your partner come back to the studio a few weeks after your photoshoot to see your baby's portraits for the first time together. It is a genuinely special experience. Watching your baby's face appear on the screen. Seeing a photograph of your partner holding your newborn and realising what you have both created together. Seeing a portrait of yourself as a new mother and finding it beautiful when you did not expect to.
At Mabel & Møøse the Reveal Session is part of every booking. I offer afternoon and early evening appointments to work around partners who are back at work. You will be able to see, touch and feel the print collections, look at framing options and with my guidance decide what will work best in your home. You will never be left to make those decisions alone.
The session fee includes your photoshoot, your Reveal Session and one favourite photograph as a mounted print. Additional prints, framed wall art and print collections can be ordered at your Reveal Session. Full pricing is available on the website and I am always happy to send it to you in advance.
Choosing your newborn photographer is one of the loveliest parts of preparing for your baby's arrival. Take your time, trust your instincts and choose someone whose work you love and whose studio feels right for you and your family.
If you have any questions at all I would love to hear from you.