There is a window, usually a few weeks long, when a baby sits confidently and cannot yet crawl away. From a photographer's point of view it is close to ideal.
Why it works so well
They are alert and interested in faces, so you get expression. They will hold a prop and look at it, which gives you something to photograph other than a stare. And they stay approximately where they are put, which sounds trivial and is the entire reason elaborate sets are possible at this stage.
Before it, the baby cannot be positioned upright. After it, they leave.
It closes faster than expected
Some babies go from sitting to crawling in a fortnight. If you want a sitter session, tell us as soon as your baby sits steadily rather than waiting for a convenient weekend — we will move other bookings to fit it in, because the window genuinely does not wait.
What to book
This is the stage for the elaborate theme. Jungle with the fabric animals at eye level, under the sea in the clam seat, the floral arch, the storybook moon. All of them assume a child who sits and engages.
It is also the best stage for a first proper family portrait, for the same reasons.
Practical notes
Sessions are short — forty-five minutes to an hour of actual shooting. A sitting baby tires faster than a sleeping newborn, and the good frames come early.
Schedule around a nap, and after a feed. A tired baby at this stage does not power through; they simply stop.