My Eye Opening Work Experience by Chloe Grantham

After my build up of excitement, my week of work experience has really opened my eyes to a whole new level of helpful and interesting skills on how to create and capture a picture perfect photograph. I came to Christina knowing a few things about photography but not a lot and not in great depth at all. Since I have been working alongside Christina I have learnt a range of different things. This included activities such as learning how to process photographs using Photoshop, which actually has been one of the skills I have always wanted to learn about. I have also learnt how to apply the right sort of filters and so there set to the suitable lighting and opacity which is how strong the filter is.

One of the activities I enjoyed the most was when I was lucky enough to take some of my own photos of a close friend of mine using Christina's equipment. I had a lot of fun trying different levels and re-arranging the lighting and so on. I am very proud of some the images I created and it has helped me for future references. This helped me gain a lot more detailed knowledge on what settings to have the camera at and what type of lighting is suitable for certain types of photo's. I feel a lot more educated on the subject of photography and I have gained more confidence with experimenting different ways on how to capture a high quality photo.

The skills that I have gained and the things I have seen and done during this week will be carried with me forever in the future as I will now be able to go on to more photography related events and develop my skills. I can proudly say I am extremely glad I picked Christina to do my work experience because I don't think I would have been able to gain such strong skills with anyone else. The environment I have been working has been so welcoming and I have looked forward to coming everyday. Before I arranged my work experience I was very intrigued into the style of photographs that Christina produced and took a large liking to them. So being able to see photo's being processed and to know how her images were fulfilled was such a great experience to have been apart of. It has also made me realise that I would absolutely love to have photography as a job and to own the type of equipment that I have seen here. It is a true enjoyable hobby of mine to take and edit photo's so this week has added to that hugely. Here are a few more of the photographs I produced.

I really like how this photo has turned out, I love the use of different angles that Christina introduced me too. Different angles are made by positioning the camera at different levels such as above the subject level or at the bottom of the subject. It's really helped fulfill the image I wanted which was an urban/rock style.

This is one of my favorite photographs, I just love this pose and after quite a few attempts I got the crop much better than the first version I made of this image.

This may not appeal to everyone but it really does to me because I like the facial structure and the basic pose and expression. It gives it an unusual/edgy look.

With this photo it took a lot of decision making to know whether I wanted it to be in black and white but I am very happy and proud with what the outcome of my decision was.

Overall I am extremely pleased and proud of these images that I produced, and I am very excited to try similar things in the future.I will honestly miss being able to come to work alongside Christina and having the opportunity of having the access to the high level of equipment and doing something I adore everyday. I feel honoured to have been able to have attend Christina Lauder's photography studio I am very greatful to have been accepted to for this week. I will always remember it and it will be one of my many loved memories :)

Comments

Burbage Carnival 2009

For the past few years my husband and I have been attending the Burbage Carnival and remarking to ourselves at how much better it could be. The carnival seemed to be declining in recent years. Earlier this year I met someone (Harvey) who mentioned that he joined the committe. When I asked him why he said he had been remarking that the carnival could do with some improvements. The response he received was rather than complain why don't you join the committee and do something about it. Its hard to argue with that. The following week I found myself, along with my husband, at the Burbage Carnival meeting. And we've been attending (most meetings) ever since. With this being our first year we didn't want to dive in head first. We contributed where we felt we could but it was great to see that what little we were able to offer still made a difference on the day. We're now very much looking forward to seeing just how much of a difference we can make next year. I just hope it ...

Limited Edition Storybook Portrait Sessions

Well in the end I didn't take this promotion as seriously as was required in so much as I didn't allocate any budget for advertising. I relied only on the few posts on Facebook and as such I only did 2 sessions, which to be perfectly honest, was all I could handle this year given that I'd not properly planned for these sessions in an already busy time of year. However, what I did do proved to me that this is something that deserves proper attention and a concerted effort to push this promotion forward. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it, from shopping for props, to the sessions and then the editing. I really love the fun that these sessions provide and the look of the finished images. Spring will see a second go at this special collection with plenty of advertising in the run up to our event. I will get another chance at shopping for additional props and tools to run this limited edition promotion and I can't w...

Wellies, Wellies and More Wellies

Over the past couple of years I've been photographing Jileon Ltd's wellies for their website. And over the last couple of months I have had quite a bit to do for them. Jileon is a great client of ours, giving us regular work that I can undertake in my own time and in my own way. It makes for such a relaxing change from having to make small children smile in a short span of time. Particularly since they can't get up and walk away just at the moment when all elements of the perfect image come together. The only real challenge in photographing wellies for me seems to be the dreaded reflection that is unavoidable when photographing shiny objects using flash. But without this challenge where would be the fun? Jileon Ltd is a Hinckley based distributor of mainly wellington boots. They do also distribute other things but typically it is just their wellies that I photograph. If you wish to order a pair please vi...

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...

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...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog