Yes, I’ve been using Photoshop since the mid-ninties so have about 25 years of experience.
Minor edits are within the cost, more intricate work will incur an additional cost but this will be discussed before undertaking.

Newborn sessions are relaxed and slow-paced as I work around the needs of your baby. Ideally, baby will be awake when you arrive and ready for big feed so they are ready for a nice long sleep! My style is a combination of posed and more natural images of baby using wraps, bonnets, hairbands and soft animals and hearts and I will aim to photograph baby both in props and on my beanbag in a variety of comfortable and safe poses. I also love to photograph the new baby with siblings if they have any and parents too.

I recommend booking your newborn photography session when you have had your 20 week scan so we can pencil in a date based on your due date.

Please let me know when your little bundle arrives (I love to receive photos too!), and we can confirm your session, ideally within the first 10 days of baby’s life and ideally before they are two week’s old if possible.

As babies aren’t usually interested in their due date my calendar is pretty flexible, so when baby arrives please get in touch as soon as you are able and we can look at suitable dates. If your baby is older than 6 weeks I would book them in for a older baby session rather than a newborn session.

If baby is breastfed I advise Mums to avoid spicy/acidic/gassy food for 24 hours before the session. Also, try to keep baby awake for as long as possible before the session and ready for a big feed on arrival. Please dress baby in something easy to remove and keep their nappy as loose as possible to avoid marks on their skin. 

I have a vast array of wraps, outfits and props which help create my style of imagery, which is presumably why you are thinking of booking me, so I will predominantly use these to create images you will love. If you have a sentimental teddy or a favourite outfit/blanket, please bring these with you as we may be able to incorporate these into the shoot to create unique imagery that is special to your family.

It is best to bring a dummy with you, even if baby is not using one as some babies require the comfort of a dummy whilst being moved into position and this can really help cut down the time taken in soothing baby. If you haven’t used a dummy with your baby yet, rest assured that using one for a few minutes during your session is highly unlikely to cause nipple or feeding confusion but if you really don’t want me to use a dummy of course we won’t.

Sessions can last anywhere from 2 – 4 hours (on occasion it has been more) as these are completely baby led and your baby’s every need will be attended to in order to ensure they are comfortable and happy throughout their time in the cabin. I only schedule one newborn session each day to allow time to ensure parents and baby are completely relaxed. This may be one of the first times your little family will have left the safety of your own home so if you take a bit longer to leave the house or get stuck in traffic I don’t want you to worry about being a bit late. Also, if your baby takes a bit longer to settle I don’t want anyone to clock-watch, we should all be focusing on baby and having a lovely time.

It is so important that you love your images which is why, when you book your session, you can choose from my muted colour schemes so you can ensure you are happy with the colour tones used and that they will blend into your home when it comes to wall art too!

It is so important for me to get to know and understand your baby so I can read their cues and respond appropriately. I want your baby to look peaceful in the images so it is important they get used to me holding, soothing, changing and feeding them (if bottle fed of course)! I have two children of my own and I have been photographing newborns and older babies for years so I am very comfortable tending to their needs.

I want you to feel at home in The Cabin, so take your shoes off, relax with a hot drink or glass of water and put your feet up! I have a lovely comfy sofa in the studio (that pulls out into a bed if you really want a good rest) covered in cushions and blankets for you to snuggle up in! Then, you can either watch your baby in all of the adorable poses and props and marvel at how beautiful they are, catch up on social media and news with our dedicated WiFi network, or get a little bit of rest and shut eye. The cabin will be very warm as this helps to keep baby settled so dress in layers so you don’t get too hot. Rest assured if I feel baby needs to come back to you for a feed or settling I will do so, it will aid the session if I am trusted to soothe your baby while you enjoy the time off!

If baby is happy to do so, I will be posing them naked so there is always a high chance of accidents and I’m more surprised if it doesn’t happen! It has happened before and it will happen again many times so it really isn’t a problem and you don’t need to feel guilty! 

This is only natural and doesn’t tend to last the entire session. If baby cries and no amount of soothing, changing, feeding and winding changes this we can simply reschedule your session as it may be that they are coming down with something. More often, with some time, patience and perseverance all babies will settle and we will be able to create beautiful images – awake or asleep.

Although it may take longer to edit out any marks from their delivery such as forceps, scratches from little baby nails or flaky/spotty skin this is all part of the newborn editing process and will be delicately removed during post-processing. I do tend to leave hands and feet with flakes if they are quite flaky as I believe these are sweet details that are unique to your baby that will be lovely to look back on. I’ll often discuss with you when I meet your baby which elements you might want to show in the images and which you would want removing or softening.

I have a very squishy sofa full of cushions and blankets that will ensure you are more than comfortable during the session and if you need to raise your feet I can provide a footstool too. If you have a special cushion to sit on to alleviate pressure below please bring this with you. If mobility is an issue please ensure you bring someone to the session with you.

You are welcome to take a couple of behind the scenes photos of me photographing your baby during your session to remember this special time in your baby’s life, however these shouldn’t be close ups of just the baby in a set up as these are the images you have paid me to take and a phone photo will not do them justice!

Please do not take any photos of any other elements within the cabin, both for privacy reasons but more so as seeing the cabin for the first time is all part of the experience of booking a session with Mama Bear Photography, so we like to keep some details a nice surprise for future clients. 

Your baby’s safety is my number one priority. I will not put your baby into any poses that they seem uncomfortable in or without following safety guidelines such as creating composites of images that look like baby is supporting their own weight (which they never will be). I will handle your baby gently throughout and will not rush them at any time during the session. Not all babies are comfortable in every pose. They can ‘squeak’ a little during some poses which is natural, however if baby shows any signs of discomfort I would immediately disregard that pose. I maintain a watchful eye on their colouring, circulation and breathing to always ensure they are perfectly safe and happy.

Our standard sessions are themes or setups that we have done before, this means we don’t have the same costs or outgoings as we do with our custom sessions so we can offer these for a lower price. You can find our standard session setups in our cake smash gallery.
Custom sessions are completely new setups, custom to you and never before photographed, this means we are buying all of the props/backdrops just for your session and our costs and outgoings can be quite high depending on the theme. This is reflected in the higher price for these sessions.

Bring your baby hungry! Don’t starve them, but try not to fill them up otherwise they wont want to eat any cake!

Lots of fun and lots of mess! Some baby’s take a little while to acclimatise to being in the studio but we have bundles of patience!

No. We used to work closely with a local baker to provide cakes for you but due to her retirement we made the decision to drop our prices and not include the cake anymore. This was due to a few different reasons, the main one being that we couldn’t find a baker who could make our cakes to the same standard or cost we had before which would have meant upping our cake smash prices, so we decided to leave the cake choices to you! Supermarkets have a fantastic selection of boxed cakes ranging from £10-15. 

As soon as possible! We get alot of last minute requests that we have to turn away and we hate doing that!

Lots of wipes, a change of clothes, a sippy cup or bottle with some water for your little one, snacks and a towel if you are having a splash afterwards!

Come in a onesie or something easy to remove, bring a little outfit for the smash if you like or we can provide one of our outfits.

After your session please allow up-to 7 days for your gallery to be ready. We hand edit every one of your images to make them the best they can be.
We then upload these to a private gallery, you can then select your favourites for download.