Newborn and Family Photography in West London

I’ve been having such a lovely time this week, processing pictures from a recent newborn and family photography session in West London. I love photographing newborns, there’s an emotion to it that’s quite unlike any other type of photo shoot and it’s such a privilege to be among the first few people meeting a little person as they get used to the world and to take photographs that record these fleeting early days.

It’s even more fun when I’m returning to regular clients, and I have the joy of watching older siblings get to know the new baby. There’s a delightful chaos about life with a newborn and a three-year-old which is an absolute joy to photograph.

I love how much personality shines through in newborn pictures, it’s early days and so we don’t really know these little people yet, but there will be a look, a gesture, a wonderful snoozy smile that we will see again and again as they grow up. I often feel that I love newborn pictures best when I look back on them a bit further down the line, when I’ve got to know the children and I can see so much of what makes them wonderful in these early first pictures.

Creative newborn portraits, both of sleeping babies and when they are awake, I’m always wondering what will be a typical expression when they are older. This shot with the little one looking so alert, hand gesturing as if to say ‘hello, hi, I’m here now’ really caught my attention. There’s so much personality in his expression and I wonder if this will be one of those shots that resonates over the decades, I do hope so.

So much of photographing families is about photographing love and it’s what draws me to this genre of photography above all others. There’s love for family members, love between parents and between siblings, there’s the sheer exuberance of the love that children have for the things that they enjoy doing – going fast on a swing or playing with a favourite toy. Photographing these connections and interactions is always so much fun.

Having a new baby brother or sister is such a huge moment in a child’s life and I love to make sure that I get to spend lots of time with older siblings during our newborn shoots. Older children tend to come and go a bit during a newborn shoot, spending some time hanging out with the new baby and some time playing with toys on their own. As with any photo shoot with three-year-olds it’s good to let them set the pace and this way you get wonderful joyful images that really show their personalities. Over the course of a morning, we get the whole range from the little grin as she strokes her brother’s head in a family photo to the slightly apprehensive look on the shot of the two children on the bed, older sister holding her little brother’s hand, a protective look in her eye.

Games are always a big part of any photo shoot and there’s always time for a game of hide and seek even on a newborn shoot, I love this grin as we play peek-a-boo behind the curtiains. We even fitted in a quick trip to the park at the end of our photo shoot and I love how heading outside creates a burst of energy and a wonderful variety to a set of images.

The final shot of the day, two sleeping babies is a delight. It’s the kind of image that sums up this time in their lives so well. Happiness, love, and exhaustion in one photograph, a perfect picture to end to a wonderful newborn and family photo shoot, I hope you like it as much as I do.

If you would like to arrange a photo shoot for your own newborn, you can find out more about my shoots with newborn babies or children of other ages in the families section of my website. Then do get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.