Fresh 48 vs Newborn Photography: What's the Difference and Should You Book Both? | Melbourne Newborn Photographer

If you're planning newborn photos, you may have also come across Fresh 48 photography and wondered what the difference is. While both sessions document those early days with your new baby, they capture two very different parts of the newborn stage.

What is Fresh 48 photography?

Fresh 48 photography takes place within the first 48 hours after your baby is born. These sessions are usually held in hospital or at home and are focused on documenting your baby's very first days.

Fresh 48 photos are natural and unposed, more documentary style than traditional newborn and family photos. They capture the little details, your baby's tiny hands, their first cuddles, sleepy faces, feeding, their first outfit and the way they fit into your arms.

It's also about your family becoming a family of one more. Older siblings meeting their new brother or sister, parents having those first cuddles and all the little moments happening around you can be photographed as they naturally happen.

There is no expectation for your baby to sleep or pose. The aim is simply to document this incredibly new stage exactly as it was.

What is newborn photography?

Newborn photography usually takes place during the first few weeks of your baby's life. I recommend around 5–21 days, although I can photograph babies up to around 6 weeks old.

A newborn session gives us a little more time and flexibility to create a mixture of beautiful photographs of your baby and your family. We can capture their tiny features, curled up poses, cuddles with you and photographs with siblings.

My newborn sessions are relaxed and baby-led. Babies can be fed, cuddled and settled whenever they need to be, and there is no need to worry if your baby cries or needs a break.

So, what's the difference?

The easiest way to think about it is that Fresh 48 captures the beginning in a documentary style photoshoot, while newborn photography captures those first few weeks, is a longer session and gives a greater variety of poses and photos.

A Fresh 48 session documents the raw, brand-new moments immediately after your baby arrives. Your baby still has all those fresh newborn features, you're getting used to being a family, and everything is completely new.

A newborn session happens a little later, when you've had some time to settle in at home. Your baby may be a little more settled, and we have more opportunity for photographs of your baby, parents and siblings together.

Neither replaces the other because they tell different parts of the same story.

Why book both?

If you love the idea of documenting your baby's arrival, booking both can be a beautiful way to tell the full story.

Your Fresh 48 session captures those first hours and days, the hospital stay, the first cuddles, introducing siblings and those tiny details that only exist for such a short time.

Then your newborn session gives you photographs from those first few weeks, once you've had a little time to settle into life together and gives you an opportunity for beautiful family portraits in a lifestyle or studio session.

When you look back at the photographs, you'll be able to see just how much changed in such a short amount of time. Your baby's features, expressions and size can change so quickly during those first weeks, and having both sessions means you don't have to choose between documenting their arrival and documenting them as a newborn.

You also get to remember how it felt, not just what your baby looked like. The tired cuddles, the excitement, the tiny hands wrapped around your finger, your older children meeting their new sibling and the little moments you may not remember clearly years from now.

Which one should you book?

If you're choosing between the two, think about what you most want to remember.

If you want those raw, first-day memories and the story of your baby's arrival, a Fresh 48 session is perfect.

If you'd like beautiful, gently posed and guided photographs of your baby and your family during those first few weeks, a newborn session is the better choice.

And if you want to remember both the beginning and those precious first weeks, booking both gives you the complete story.

Having photographs from both stages means you'll always be able to look back and remember just how tiny your baby was, how they fit into your arms and what life felt like when you first became a family of one more.