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).

Comments

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

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

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&

8 Unique Portrait Ideas for your Teenager

Teen portraits are becoming a thing. Much like Prom has reached this side of the water, the ever popular teenage portrait industry that has swept across North America is coming to the UK too. And why not? This is an important milestone in our children's lives. I for one want to capture this time in my child's life and I suspect I'm not alone here. They have strong personalities, they have hobbies and interests worth documenting and they might not be living at home for much longer. In this blog post I am sharing some of the teen portraits I've created in recent years to hopefully inspire families with kids of this age to come in and have some done for themselves. The possibilities with this age group are so vast I can't help get a little excited for each shoot I do. 1. Dance Lots of people are involved in dance or performing arts of some sort and for those involved, creating something that relates to their interests will provide a lasting memory and valuab

My Memorable Week with Christina by Cerys Cross

Hi, my name is Cerys and I spent the week with Christina on work experience. I am a student at John Cleveland College and we had the opportunity to work with someone to gain experience for the ‘real world’. I chose Christina, as photography really interests me and I intend developing my skills. Throughout the week I have learnt many new techniques and skills, such as, studio lighting, using natural light, how my camera works, Photoshop and more. This interested me and I was always intrigued to learn more. To begin the week, Ellie and I captured portraits of each other. These weren’t of very high quality, as we didn’t have much skill in this field. Fortunately, Christina educated us and taught us how to position different lights, reflectors and backgrounds. This opened our eyes to new ideas and we became more confident. Once we felt we had sufficient amount of photos, Ellie and I imported them all onto the computer where we chose our favourite photographs. We were lucky enough

Christina Lauder Portraits

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