Christina Lauder Portraits

My name is Eleanor Davies and I am a student at William Bradford Community College. I am considering persuing a career in the media, which is why I was interested in spending a week with a photographer such as Christina. Throughout the week I have experienced numerous aspects of photograhpy. From visiting and shooting a local playgroup to editing photos, I have discovered that it takes a lot more effort and time than you would think! The first few days of the week were spent editing proofs for a primary school, which - although time consuming - gave me a chance to familiarise myself with photoshop. Most of Wednesday was spent at a playgroup in Burbage. I learnt how to set up equipment ( and how much equipment you actually need!) and how each piece plays an important part in producing a high quality picture. Photographing the children proved to be challenging yet entertaining - they were very reluctant to sit still and smile! Wednesday evening we visited the Oak FM studios in Coalvi...

Last month I had the pleasure of photographing my step daughter and her friends before their prom. Bethany invited 7 of her friends around for photos at our place before the event. Its not often that she's glad I'm a photographer but I think on this occasion she was. Not that she'd ever tell me that though. The girls each arrived one by one and as can be expected they arrived to much screaming, hugs and giggles, all pretty much in awe at how beautiful and different they each looked from their day to day appearance. And they did look beautiful. Oh to be young again. It took me back to my prom a number of years ago (the exact number of years is not important). It was a great time for me, one that took weeks of preparation, so I can imagine how excited these lot were on this occasion. It was great fun photographing each of these girls. With flawless skin I have only a vague recollection of ever having and perfect hair and makeup they were dream subjects, each with their ...

Last week my favorite client was of the four legged variety. Gem, the new puppy belonging to one of our Burbage Carnival princesses, arrived with costume changes. And although not quite with a smile she was still ready to perform. That may or may not have had something to do with the pot of treats ready and waiting. Either way, I think we got what we needed. I didn't really know what to expect when the request to photograph a puppy was first made. I've only done this once before and that was a few years ago. It wasn't easy that time. But I thought positively and hoped for the best and I couldn't have been happier in the end. Even though she didn't always look where I wanted her to she did sit where I wanted her to which is more than I can say for some of the children I photograph. After 3 costume changes and a few nudes the shoot was complete. They say you should never work with children or animals (which is nearly impossible in this line of work) but I coul...

(Photo by Jess Whelan) Well I have finally received all the model release forms I needed to post these images to my blog. I have been looking forward to posting this for weeks. The work you see in this post has NOT been shot by me. Every image here was taken by students of Hastings High School during their activities week, in which I was privelledged enough to be apart of. It was an inspiring week that made me feel so happy to see so many young students so enthusiastic for the craft. Its hard to remember a time when I felt as in awe of photography as some of the students clearly did here. This gave me a new enthusiasm for the craft myself. (Photo by Tia Downs) I had four main objectives when I agreed to help out on this week of activities. The first was to show the students how to take better pictures using their own cameras. All too often we stick to the auto settings provided on all new cameras as it is the easier way of doing things and in most cases it does produce reasonable res...

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 ...

A little while a go I had the pleasure of photographing 4 week old Marcus. He was the perfect subject, being only 4 weeks old and unable to walk away. And his little pj's were simply gorgeous. I even had the pleasure of a cuddle at the end while his mother and I had a chat. I'm looking forward to seeing him again at our next visit. We're in the process of developing a new product range which will include a series of portrait sessions to take place within the first year of a baby's life. So we will be seeing plenty more of Marcus in the coming months.

This week I had a great time photographing Charlotte. I choose to make it a relaxing session taking very much a consultative approach. Together we worked through the session as a team and not just a photographer and subject. And the results, I feel, are spectacular. For me it is my best work to date and I can't wait to see how some of these images fair in the SWPP's monthly competition. The image above is by far my favorite. And I can't wait to get the sample for the studio. I am pleased with all aspects from composition to lighting and expression. In fact I absolutely love most of the images with the hoody. I must remember to try this again. Our aim was to create a portfolio for Charlotte as she is coming to the end of her 3 year course with the Phil Winston Theatreworks College in Blackpool. She required head shots as well as commercial shots so we spent the morning playing around with various outfits, backgrounds and lighting set ups. It was a great chance for me to...