Do I Need a Nursery for Newborn Photos? Absolutely Not.

One of the questions I hear from expecting parents is whether they need to have their nursery finished before their newborn session. The short answer? Absolutely not.

A beautiful nursery can certainly be a lovely part of your newborn photos, especially after all the thought and care that went into creating it. But it is never a requirement for an in-home newborn session. Your baby is the reason I am there. Not just your nursery.

Maybe the crib is still in a box.

Maybe the nursery chair has not arrived yet.

Maybe your baby will be sleeping in a bassinet in your bedroom for the next six months, so finishing the nursery has fallen pretty far down the priority list.

Or maybe you simply do not have a dedicated nursery at all.

None of those things will keep us from creating beautiful newborn photographs in your home. When I arrive, I look for the spaces that have the best light and make sense for your family. That might be your bedroom, living room, nursery, or even a small corner near a window. Sometimes the most unexpected little spot ends up giving us some of my favorite images from the entire session.

You do not need a picture perfect home or huge, beautifully decorated rooms. For newborn photos, we often need much less space than you would imagine. A bed with neutral bedding, a comfortable chair near a window, or a small area with beautiful natural light can be more than enough. I am also very good at strategically moving the things we do not want in the photograph. The diaper caddy, water bottles, burp cloths, breast pump parts, laundry baskets and everything else that comes with having a brand new baby can happily sit just outside the frame. Your house is allowed to look like a baby lives there.

Of course, if you spent months choosing the wallpaper, finding the perfect crib, folding tiny clothes into drawers and imagining your baby in that room, I absolutely want to photograph it. The nursery can become a beautiful part of your baby's story, but it does not need to look like it belongs in a magazine. What makes those photographs meaningful is not the perfectly styled bookshelf or the color of the walls. It is you standing beside the crib with your newborn in your arms. It is Dad rocking the baby in the chair. It is an older sibling peeking through the crib rails. Those are the things you will remember.

Someday, when you look back at your newborn photographs, you are not going to notice that the artwork had not been hung yet. You will notice how tiny your baby looked against your chest. You will notice their little profile, the way their fingers curled around yours and how impossibly small they once were. You will remember what those first weeks felt like. So if your due date is getting closer and the nursery still has a to-do list taped to the wall, please do not let that stop you from booking your newborn photos. The nursery can wait. Your baby being this tiny cannot.