Scroll through Instagram, Pinterest or Google looking for newborn photography inspiration and you'll find some amazing images.

Tiny babies apparently balancing on props. Newborns with their heads resting perfectly on their hands. Babies curled into impossibly neat little positions. Newborns photographed alongside dogs or being perfectly supported by siblings who are very much still babies themselves.

And, increasingly these days, you will find images that will never have involved a real baby, real prop – or even, a camera.

AI-generated photography has become astonishingly realistic.

Add to that the editing and compositing techniques professional newborn photographers have been using for years, and there is something I think every new parent should know:

A finished newborn photograph isn't necessarily a record of how that baby was physically posed. And it certainly shouldn't be treated as an instruction manual – or, in some cases, even as evidence of a photographer's own photographic work.

Sometimes the safest newborn photograph involves a little illusion

I've specialised in newborn photography since 2007, and safe posing has always been at the heart of the way I work.

Ironically, some of the images that look the most effortless can require the most thought behind the scenes. I may have an adult immediately beside the baby but removed from the finished photograph. A hand may be supporting or guarding a baby's head and edited out afterwards. Two or more photographs may be carefully combined to create one final image. This is known as composite photography.

The important thing is that the safety happens when the photograph is taken.

Photoshop isn't there to rescue an unsafe setup afterwards. Here's a real example from one of my own newborn sessions.

The fact baby wasn't alone at any time whilst the shot was taken is an important distinction, particularly now that we're surrounded by increasingly convincing edited and AI-generated imagery.

Why the supporting hand stays

Because the photograph is never more important than the baby.

If I want a hand supporting a baby for safety, that hand stays there.

I have Photoshop. I don't have an 'Undo' button for a baby.

Newborns can move remarkably suddenly. Even the youngest baby who may have been fast asleep can startle, stretch, roll or throw their head backwards without warning.

That's why “they were only unsupported for a second” isn't a safety technique. Neither is assuming a newborn can't move because they haven't moved yet. And this doesn't only apply to babies posed alone.

What you see in the final photograph and what happened safely in front of my camera can be two very different things.

Some newborn poses should never be attempted exactly as they appear

One of the best-known examples is the so-called “froggy” pose, where a newborn appears to sit with their chin resting on their hands.

When produced safely by photographers who choose to offer it, this type of image is normally created as a composite, with the baby's head supported throughout.

A newborn should never genuinely be expected to balance the weight of their own head on their wrists. A newborn's head is proportionally large and heavy compared with the rest of their body, while their neck muscles are still developing and are unable to reliably support it. If a baby topples from this position, they don't have the strength or reflexes to protect their head and neck from the sudden movement.

Sadly, I regularly see behind-the-scenes videos on social media showing this pose being attempted by a particular 'photographer' without that support. I've even seen babies topple over while being photographed. It is truly shocking.

On this person's page experienced newborn photographers will often fill the comments explaining why this is unsafe, yet alongside those warnings are hundreds of comments and likes from understandably unaware parents saying how adorable the pose looks!

And that's the problem.

If you don't know what safe newborn posing should look like, how would you know that what you're watching isn't safe?

A beautifully finished photograph - or a cute behind-the-scenes video – is not proof of safe practice.

Personally, the froggy isn't a pose I offer. My style has always been much more baby-led, and there are plenty of beautiful ways to photograph a newborn without attempting it. But it demonstrates something extremely important:

You cannot look at a finished photograph and assume that is how the photographer positioned the baby – and you most certainly shouldn't assume that something is 'safe' simply because you've seen another photographer do it.

Baby-led posing means sometimes the answer is “no”

Every newborn is different. Some curl beautifully. Some love being wrapped. Some want their arms free. Some sleep through almost anything. Others have very definite opinions about the whole business!

A baby's size, age, muscle tone, flexibility or simply how they're feeling on the day can all affect which positions they're comfortable in. I never believe in forcing a newborn into a pose simply because it is on my planned shot list. And if a parent shows me an inspiration photograph, my first question isn't:

“Can I copy this?”

It's:

“Can I create something like this safely and comfortably for this particular baby?”

Sometimes we can. Sometimes we adapt it. Sometimes we do something completely different. That's baby-led newborn photography.

“But I saw this newborn photo online…”

This has become a much more complicated sentence than it used to be.

Even a few years ago, an image found online might have been heavily retouched or composited, but there was usually a real photograph somewhere underneath it.

That can no longer be assumed.

Generative AI can now create extraordinarily convincing photographs of newborn babies. Backgrounds and props can be generated or replaced. Babies can appear in situations they were never placed in - and completely fictional babies can be created without a camera ever being involved.

That doesn't make AI inherently bad. It can be a useful creative tool. But it does mean “I've seen a photograph of it” is no longer evidence that something actually happened, that the photographer sharing the image can safely handle a real newborn – or that the pose in question would be safe to recreate with your baby.

To prove how real AI looks these days let's try something. Can you tell which of these babies is real? Have a good look at both photographs below before you read the answers. One contains a genuine newborn baby photographed by me. The other baby has never existed.

Answer:

Baby A - This baby isn't real. The baby, swing and scene were generated using artificial intelligence. It looks remarkably like a professional newborn photograph, but no baby was actually photographed to create it. And that's exactly why we need to be increasingly careful about assuming that something we've seen online could – or should – be recreated with a real newborn. Or that it was created by a professional photographer who will work safely with a newborn baby.

Baby B - This is a real baby. This photograph is one of my own composite newborn portraits. The baby is completely real and was photographed by me in my studio. The finished scene was created through careful editing and compositing, but there is an enormous difference:

The baby was photographed safely in the real world.

Could you tell which was which before reading the answers?

As AI-generated imagery becomes more convincing, I think this distinction is going to become increasingly important – particularly when parents are browsing photographers' portfolios or saving inspiration images. A beautiful portfolio tells you what somebody can show you. It doesn't necessarily tell you how the photographs were created – or even whether everything you're looking at was photographed at all.

That doesn't mean parents need to become suspicious of every beautiful newborn photograph they see. It simply means it's reasonable to ask questions.

- Is the work you're looking at the photographer's own photography?

- Are composites used?

-How are difficult poses created?

-What safety measures are used outside the finished frame?

A professional newborn photographer should be perfectly comfortable answering them.

Inspiration is wonderful – but it isn't a posing instruction

I love seeing inspiration images that parents have saved. But my job isn't simply to copy a picture. It's to create something with the same feeling while keeping your baby safe and comfortable throughout the session.

Sometimes that means adapting a pose. Sometimes it means creating a composite. And sometimes it means saying:

“Let's do something even better that suits your baby.”

What about newborns photographed with dogs?

This is another perfect example of the difference between creating an image and creating it safely.

I love including family pets in newborn sessions, but however gentle and trusted a dog may be, it is still an animal capable of unpredictable movement.

Add a young sibling into the equation and sometimes the safest solution is very simple:

Photograph everyone separately.

Which is exactly how I created this portrait:

As you can see, three separate photographs become one family portrait.

It looks as though baby, sibling and dog were all photographed together – but they never needed to be.

The finished image gives the family exactly the portrait they wanted without relying on a young child or a dog to remain perfectly still beside a newborn.

Nobody looking at the final photograph would necessarily know how it was created.

And that's precisely the point. What happened in Photoshop is far less important than what happened in the studio. The baby was safe.

Photoshop can actually make newborn photography safer

There's an important distinction here. Photoshop should be used to remove the visible safety measures – not replace them.

That might mean removing a parent's supporting hand, combining separately photographed subjects, tidying blankets and backgrounds, or creating a finished portrait from several safely photographed elements.

What it should never mean is putting a baby into an unsafe situation because “we'll fix it afterwards.” The safety comes first. The editing comes afterwards.

So how can parents tell whether a newborn photographer works safely?

This is where things become interesting. You can't necessarily tell from a portfolio alone. In fact, as the photographs on this page demonstrate, a beautifully polished portfolio may tell you very little about what happened behind the scenes.

SO ASK!

A professional newborn photographer should be perfectly happy to talk about how they work.

-Ask how they keep babies safe when using props.

-Ask whether apparently unsupported poses are composites.

-Ask what happens if your baby doesn't like a particular position.

-Ask whether they will adapt a requested photograph if they don't believe it can be created safely.

And now there's another perfectly reasonable question:

“Are the newborn babies in your portfolio real babies you've photographed?”

A few years ago that would have sounded like a completely bonkers question. In 2026? Not so much.

I would much rather explain why I won't attempt a particular photograph than create it simply because someone has asked me to. The photograph is the end result – safety is everything that happened before it.

I've photographed newborn babies professionally since 2007, and photography has changed enormously during that time. Cameras have changed. Editing has changed. Styles have changed. Photoshop has become more powerful, and now AI is changing our understanding of photography all over again.

But one thing hasn't changed.

A newborn baby's safety has to come before the photograph. Every single time.

So enjoy those gorgeous images online. Save ideas. Bring inspiration to your newborn session. Just remember that the safest way to create the photograph you love may look very different behind the scenes.

And sometimes, that's exactly how it should be.

Safe newborn photography in Coventry & Warwickshire

I'm Lorraine Jardim of Ellie J Photography and I've specialised in newborn photography since 2007 from my studio in Fillongley, Warwickshire.

Families travel to my studio from Coventry, Solihull, Kenilworth, Warwick, Nuneaton, Leamington Spa and across Warwickshire, and newborn safety is at the heart of every session.

My newborn sessions are baby-led, with parents, siblings and family pets welcome to be included.

If you'd like to know more about how my newborn sessions work, my approach to newborn safety or current availability, please get in touch.