Live Demos at The Photography Show with Bowens

I'm back and looking forward to it. This year I will be on the stage with my fellow members of TeamBowens where I will be demonstrating live with the new Bowens XMT battery powered lights. I am loving using this new kit and can't wait to show how simple they are to use. Battery powered is definitely the way to go. No more cables!

Anyway, I digress. For one of my demonstrations I will be showing how I light the majority of my portraits using just 2 lights in a wonderfully simple setup that anyone can do. I'll be using 2 large softboxes to create some lovely soft light portraits and I'm thrilled to say I'll have my daughter on stage with me as my subject. For those who know me you may remember that she hasn't been the most co-operative subject over the years.

However, that all seemed to change in January when I asked her to let me test out the new lights with her. Once I allowed her to offer posing suggestions and we started working as a team collaborating on ideas something seemed to click into place. She's now a much more willing subject. Of course being paid has something to do with that I'm sure. Its amazing how much money it takes to keep up with the clothes and makeup requirements of a 13 year old.

For the second demonstration I will be using my daughter's dancing skills to create an artistic dance piece. I will again be using the same lights however instead of 2 we will begin with 1, working our way up to possibly as many as 4 lights and in a very different way to my usual portrait lighting setup.

Now some of you will be thinking that dance photography isn't of interest to you so I'd just like to mention that the lighting I will be demonstrating has further applications. This same sort of lighting I have used in family portraits, maternity portraits (see below) and one of my favourite applications, the fine art male nude (I'm not going to include any here in case it offends anyone).

(This is an example of how this same lighting technique has been used for other applications)

Besides my demonstrations there will be loads others from the rest of the team that will surely inspire and educate. I have plans myself to stick around and watch some of the others as I always find something to learn in watching the other demonstrations. We all do different things and often use the lights in very different ways.

Click here to see the timetable for this years Bowens stage.

Comments

Zoe returns, this time with baby!!!

This was a great opportunity for me to experiment in my new studio. Zoe let me do this with her baby bump a couple of months ago with great success so we took the time again, this time with her new baby. Some experiments were successful and some where not. But that comes with the territory. You can't find new and exciting ways to shoot without finding a few bad ways too. I'm just greatful that the only mess we needed to clean up in the end was a little wee. It could have been a whole lot worse.
As usual, Zoe photographs so well and I am again so pleased with the results. She is going to have some great images to show her daughter when she grows up. Zoe looks absolutely fantastic, and without any signs of having been pregnant just a few short weeks ago. Of course, apart from her bump she hardly showed any signs of even being pregnant. If only all women could be this lucky.

I had forgotten how easy it is to photograph newborns. They can't run or crawl away. Th…

Portraits of a Beautiful Young Woman and Her Guitar

You may remember a while back when I did a casting call looking for teenage boys and girls. Well this is the girl I chose. I had quite a specific look in mind, one which included really long hair. I have always had a thing for long hair. The choice also became quite simple when this young lady put herself forward as she is someone I've been photographing through school for several years and she is a past member of the Hinckley Athletics Club where she has been coached by my husband for nearly as many years. He's always had a soft spot for her, being one of his first members which helped my decision. When I have projects where I want to work with a model rather than a paying client I like to use friends or past clients whenever possible as it enables me to give something to those who have been loyal to me.

Wallis has been a pleasure to work with. She is a stunning, confident young woman. In addition, she could bring props with her that I love. I've been wanting to photogra…

Its a Dog's Life

When life gets tough I always look at dogs or my cats and think how lucky they are. I know not all are treated well but those lucky enough to be in a good home, like the ones who come into my studio, have a really great life. They look so happy and its a wonderful thing to see.

I honestly love photographing dogs. They are a joy to work with and its almost impossible to produce a bad portrait of a dog which does of course make my life a little easier. I am someone who really needs to love the work I create. I can't help but love the portraits I've created of all the dogs I've photographed over the years. And this shoot was certainly no exception.

I found it a real pleasure using a lighter background this time too. I do often gravitate towards darker looks but seeing as this dog had a light coloured coat I thought I'd produce lighter images. This gave me the chance to use a canvas I painted a couple of years ago but never really used and I absolutely love it now. I don…

Isabelle's Photography Experience

I'm Isabelle Stratford from Redmoor Academy and I've been doing my work experience here at Christina Lauder Photography with my friend Sophie. I'm very interested in photography and currently taking it at GCSE and working here throughout the week has helped me learn several different things about the profession.
Sophie and I testing out the set up and lighting for prom
Our first day consisted of mainly watching Christina edit some photos and her explain different elements of what she does which then prepared us for the rest of the week when we began doing our own things. She also showed us many of her favourite final edited images that she keeps as samples and told us where she'd got her inspiration from to shoot in the style that she loves. To help her Sophie and I also completed some small tasks that needed doing like filing and clearing up. On Tuesday a client came in for a trial shoot in preparation for a prom so we helped set up for that but then watched as Chris…

4 Merits, 3 Finalists, 2 Awards and a Masters!

This past week at the Societies of Photographers Convention in London was just about perfect in every way. As always I look forward to this event with mixed emotions. As a judge and speaker anxiety levels can be high. And I always know that through both working and socialising it can be an exhausting experience that is often hard to get through. However the high I finish on is simply incredible and worth all the sleepless nights and hard work, in large part due to the incredible people with whom I get to spend this week.

(Photo Credit: Mike McNamee - Sitting on a panel)
(Photo Credit: Mike McNamee - The entire judging team including print handlers)
Being amongst the judging team just gets better and better each year. It is very intimidating sitting on that panel and being resposible for assigning a score and then often providing a critique to substantiate it however the rewarding feeling when doing it well is immense. I know I am still a relatively new judge but hope I can improve each…

Christina Lauder Portraits

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