The Newborn Window Isn't As Small As Everyone Says - A Hove Photographer's Honest Take

When people hear I'm a newborn photographer, the first thing they picture is a studio. A beanbag. A baby curled inside a wooden bowl wearing a tiny knitted hat. I understand why - that's what a lot of newborn photography looks like. But it's not what I do. I come to your home, I follow your lead, and I photograph what's actually happening. Which means the window for a session is a lot more flexible than you might think - and the idea that you have to book before two weeks is, in my experience, only half the story.

Yes, the early days are fleeting. But they don't end at day 14.

The "golden window" you'll read about on most photography websites refers to the first 5–14 days, when newborns are at their most curled-up and sleepy. That window is real, and if you want those tucked-in, deeply-asleep images, earlier is better.

But here's what those same websites don't tell you: weeks two, three, four - even six or eight - are every bit as worth documenting. The baby is still tiny. Your home still has that particular quality of barely-organised new-parent life.

What I actually look for in a newborn session

I shoot documentary-style, which means I'm not arranging your baby in a basket or asking you to pose on the bed with coordinated outfits. What I'm looking for is the real stuff - the way you hold them when you're not thinking about it, the look that passes between two parents when the baby finally settles, the older sibling peering over the edge of the Moses basket with total uncertainty about this new situation.

These are the things that are gone before you notice them going.

So when should you actually book?

Honestly? As soon as you feel ready. For some families that's day eight. For others it's week four or even later. I've done beautiful sessions with babies who are six, eight, ten weeks old - babies who are starting to be alert, who fix their gaze on your face, who have discovered their hands. There is no wrong answer, and there is no missed window - only different windows.

What I will say is this: don't wait until everything feels sorted. The house doesn't need to be tidy. You don't need to have slept. You don't need to feel "photo ready" - whatever that means. The session is designed to fit around you and the baby, not the other way around.

A session in Portslade

Yhe pictures in this blog post are from a recent newborn photoshoot in were in Portslade. A lot of the families I work with are dotted around Hove and the wider Brighton & Hove area - and sessions like this one are a reminder of why I love working close to home.

Irma Arrowsmith is a documentary; lifestyle family and newborn photographer based in Sussex. She works across Brighton & Hove, Portslade and the surrounding areas. If you'd like to talk about a newborn session - at whatever stage you're at - you can get in touch here.