New Year, New Look

I know its been a while since I've blogged. I got out of the habit of writing and just couldn't get back into it. Well all that is going to change this year. Lots of things are going to change this year.

Thats one of the things I love about the new year. No matter what happened in the previous year you can sort of draw a line under it and start again. So that is what I am doing.

So far I've had a great start to the year. Spent a wonderful week in London at the SWPP Convention where I had my first opportunity to take part in the judging of the annual print competition. It was such an incredible experience to be a part of choosing this year's very worthy winners and I feel very honoured for having been invited.

Along with this I again had a couple of speaking engagements which also went very well. As always I panic before hand (and even say 'never again') and as always I come away on such a high that I immediately offer to do it all over again.

The best part about the whole week though is the incredible friendships I've developed over the years (6 years in total so far). Its like going home to a family reunion each year. I sincerely hope this carries on for many years to come. What a great way to get January out of the way too. There is no time for that lull after Christmas and before long it will be spring.

Now to mark one of my changes for the year ahead I've decided to give myself a little challenge. I've read of people doing a 365 challenge where they are meant to take a photo every day of the year. For me that is just madness. Then I read of someone doing a 52 challenge, taking a specific photo each week of the year. Well knowing myself and my ability to fail at such challenges I set myself the target of 12. That's one special photoshoot a month where I try to create something unique while at the same time stretching and perfecting my skills.

And here are the photos I created in my first special photoshoot of the year. I hope you like them as much as I do (although I am a little biased as this is my daughter).

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Male Nude Masterclass at the Societies Convention in London

Here are the results from my masterclass at the convention just over a week ago. During this talk I set out to show 3 different lighting techniques using just 2 lights and a white background. I sometimes use more than 2 lights but I wanted to show that good photos can be produced with the minimum of kit. For the first we used a beauty dish to light our model with a second light for the background to give us a high key result. Had I been in my studio I would have used 2 lights to light my background but for such a tight crop the one light (centralised) was clearly good enough. For the second I used a softbox (strip light) on one side with barn doors on the second light on the other side. In hindsight I wish I had a grid with me to soften the light coming from the barn doors side. Not being in my studio I didn't have all my kit to hand so had to use what was available on the day. I found the bare bulb a little too strong here. Notice how we managed to get the whi

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com

Portraits Even a Teenager Boy Loves

Finally I've had the opportunity to photograph a young man in my studio again. And funnily enough this was the second time that week which is absolutely superb. In both cases these young men were just as enthusiastic to be involved as I was, which is something I don't often get when I'm working with very young children, my usual subjects. With young children I find my energy in their cuteness. But with young adults I get energy from their excitement over how the portraits are working out. I get such a buzz from the experience and that can keep me going for hours, often editing the photos straight after the shoot for hours more. Shoots for teenagers is something I've been wanting to focus on for some time. Its not something that I often get asked for though unfortunately. It tends to be parents of very young children who want to capture moments that are slipping through their fingers at lightening speed. Maybe its teenage moodiness that means these moments don&

Family Portraits with Fine Art Flair

I have a love and hate relationship with family portraits. I love the finished piece and creating something that is truly special to the family. I love that in years to come something I made is going to be a cherished and valueable memento for this family. What I struggle with, is getting all members of the group to look their best at exactly the same moment in time. You would be surprised at how difficult this actually is, particularly when it comes to 6 children. But I always get there in the end, whether it is the luck of a moment or with the aid of Photoshop. I ensure that everyone in the portrait is looking their best, even the dog. Seeing as this family is actually made up now of two families we also did portraits in their respective groups which I chose to do in different style to their main group. I love adding a bit of style for the overall main group and what you see above is something that is proving popular with my clients. I love adding props and giving a sort of Vani

Family Photos with Flair - Vanity Fair Style Family Portraits

This style of portrait continues to be the eye catching success I had always hoped it would be. Once again I created a beautiful family portrait that I am really proud of and I know this family loves too. Over the years I have developed this style through influences such as Vanity Fair and the many photographers I follow, though I hope that there is something in here that is entirely my own. Having my work easily identified as my own was a goal of mine from the start. Getting to the point where people will want not just a portrait but a Christina Lauder portrait is where I've always wanted to be and I'm hoping I'm on way. These portraits were created for the family of two professional photographers who wanted some portraits of their own. Family portraits isn't really something one can do of oneself, at least not easily. So they needed the services of another and I was honoured to be chosen for the job. They chose me not just for my style but also for my ab

Christina Lauder Portraits

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