When’s the best time to photograph my newborn?

Working as a newborn photographer in LA, there’s one question I hear over and over again: When is the best time to photograph my newborn?

It might be earlier than you think!

While your baby is technically a newborn for the first two months, they change drastically during that time. If you are looking for sleepy, curly newborn photographs, you’ll want to have your newborn photographed in the first two weeks. I generally schedule newborn sessions within 6 and 12 days of your baby’s birth.

The first two weeks is the best time to photograph your newborn

In my opinion, the “magic window” for photographing newborns is the first two weeks of life. There are a few reasons why this is the best time to get the curly, sleeping newborn images you’re looking for. First, baby’s bones have not fully hardened yet, and they are still happy to curl up in the positions they found comfiest in the womb. Second, babies sleep a lot and deeply during this stage of life, so it’s easy to move them and change blankets and wraps without disturbing them. If you are hoping to document your baby as they were when you first met them, this is the best time to do it!

Book your session early in your second trimester

If you are hoping to have your newborn photographed within the first two weeks, the most important thing you can do is book your newborn’s session as early as possible. I advise my Los Angeles newborn photography clients to book their sessions early in their second trimester.

Wondering how it works if baby comes early or late? Babies don’t care about due dates, so I plan for this. We pencil in your due date to make sure we hold a spot for you and then ask you to call within a couple of days of your baby’s birth to schedule your actual session date. I take on a limited number of newborn clients each month so that I can make sure I’m available to photograph your baby in that “magic window” of 6-12 days.

My baby is older than two weeks. Is it too late for a newborn session?

Not everyone can have their newborn photographed in the first two weeks. Sometimes parents don’t realize they want newborn photographs until they see how quickly their baby grows. In other cases, a newborn may need to stay in the hospital for a few weeks.

Photographing an older newborn is slightly different from photographing a one or two-week-old baby. Once your baby is older than about four weeks, you can expect that they will be much less likely to curl up into those fetal positions and will be awake for more (sometimes all) of the session. However, the images we get will still be gorgeous. You should absolutely still have your “older” newborn photographed!