Christina Lauder Portraits

If so, why not capture it in a beautiful portrait so you can cherish these memories forever? I designed and built this set for a client. She came to me with a son and daughter and during the consultation we discussed the interests of the children, as I always do. Our ideas for portraits for her daughter were going to be easy. She loved the idea of modelling pretty dresses so her shoot was sorted. Her son on the other hand was more difficult. Where ever possible I try to incorporate something about the children into each portrait. That can mean books, sports, dance, musical instruments or anything a person has an interest in. In this case he hadn't yet developed any interests, other than pirates. Now my client didn't want me to go to too much trouble. We agreed it wouldn't be easy to make anything pirate themed look as though it fit my style and level of quality. A shop bought costume wasn't going to cut it. But I just had to try. I love dark wood in my portrai...

Each year I get the pleasure of photographing little ones at their playschool. Its not an easy age group to photograph since they are all usually rather frightened of the strange person holding a camera and flashing lights at them. But they are an age group that is full of character. Each one is different (some more challenging than others). When I am able to make a connection though, it is hugely rewarding. This lovely young lady knew exactly what to do and I was able to capture loads of her. She gave me that beautiful serious face as well as loads of happy smiling ones. I'm actually a really big fan of the serious ones so she was a dream. Although these portraits are different to my studio portraits I still always try to bring out the best in the children with a little of what I put into my studio work.  For me posing, lighting and styling are still important elements. I just can't take the time to do as much as I would for studio portraits, nor is it possible to...

This was a dream session for me. Not only did I have 3 beautiful young ladies, but they also brought with them a fantastic wardrobe and their very own hair stylist too (mum owns her own salon). So all the elements for beautiful portraits were there. And I was thrilled to get this opportunity. Its easy to think of having portraits when you have a new baby or when you get married or have a special family occasion where you get the entire family portrait done. But its less often that people think of having their growing children photographed. After all I suppose, they are photographed at school. I even do some of those school photographs. However, those portraits are made in less than a minute per child and they are assembly line style portraits while they are wearing their school uniform. They are never going to be as special as what can be created with unlimited time and outfit changes in the comfort of a private studio. Its in this environment that I can take the time to...

Every year I do a load of school portraits and I rarely get the chance to share them as I never share anything without permission. Gaining permission is just that bit more difficult when you don't meet face to face with many parents. So I just don't bother. But this year I thought I'd give it a go and get some permissions as they are just too lovely not to share. (You know you got it right when you show Mum and she gets tears in her eyes - this family has been coming to me for years now and I love watching them grow)  School portraits give me a chance to work very differently than usual. In some ways its not how I like to work at all but in others its a chance for a little freedom. You see for me, I like to be a perfectionist with my work. And being such can be draining. This usually means creating just a few really great portraits for my studio clients and having all the time in the world in which to do so. With school portraits on the other hand, there is only so...

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...

Each year around this time I do portraits for a few playgroups locally. And each year I create portraits I just love to share. I'm not able to share many as I need permission and as I don't often meet the parents I have to send out some model release forms and wait to see who sends them back. I only ever share work once I receive permission to do so. Its never easy doing these types of portrait sessions. While small children have a natural beauty that needs no enhancements we are dealing with limited time and small children who are often frightened of the situation. I am usually a stranger to them. And my big lights can be scary. But I have patience and for playgroups, unlike schools, I have a little more time to work with them so that I can usually, but not always, bring them out of their shell and get something I think is pretty incredible. You might notice that not all the kids are smiling here. Thats because sometimes some children just won't smile for me. No ma...

I am so thrilled that more people are wanting portraits of their older children. Its quite common to have newborns and babies photographed but much less so with older children and I've never really understood why. A child reaching their teenage years is such a wonderful stage that goes equally as fast and is equally as special as the toddler stage. For me and my daughter it was the stage just prior to her becoming a young woman. It was the last time that she was my cute little girl and I'm thankful I have many photographs to remember this time. And as such, I think its a wonderful time to organise a portrait session to record this milestone in their lives. I've been building up a collection of dresses that my clients are always welcome to use. When young girls visit my summerhouse and have a browse through the wardrobe they will always stumble across something that strikes their fancy. Some like the pretty pink dresses, some like the black lace dresses. But there i...

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...