The honest answer is the second trimester, and the reason has nothing to do with our diary.
Newborn photography has a window of roughly five to twenty-one days. In that period babies still curl the way they did in the womb, and they sleep deeply enough to be moved between setups. After about three weeks they become more alert and considerably less flexible — wonderful for you, and difficult for anyone trying to pose them.
Book the window, not the date
Babies are indifferent to calendars. So we hold a slot around your due date and fix the exact day once you are home and settled, with no rebooking fee. It is simply how newborn photography has to work, and a studio that insists on a fixed date before the birth has not thought it through.
What the session actually involves
Two to four hours, most of which is not photography. It is feeding, settling, warming and waiting. The studio sits at 26–28°C with white noise running, which is uncomfortably warm for adults and correct for a newborn. Dress in layers you can remove, and expect to feed at least once.
One thing worth being sceptical about
If a newborn portfolio is full of babies balanced in improbable positions, a good number of those images are two photographs composited together. The ones that are not were made by taking a real risk with somebody's child. We do neither — settled, supported posing only, with a trained handler present throughout the session.
If you are reading this at 34 weeks and feeling behind: you are not. Send us your due date and we will hold something.