Christina Lauder Portraits

I had a friend come in recently to ask if I could help him create a birthday gift for his wife.  But it wasn't for the usual portrait. He presented me with a photograph of Sting and asked if I could recreate this image using himself.  You see, he resembles a young Sting and his wife is a fan of Sting so he thought it would be a nice idea to frame the two along side each other and give it to her for her birthday.  What a fab idea. I think you can see for yourself that he does indeed look a little like Sting. So we set out to create the image.  It was a fun challenge because I always love looking at images and figuring out how they were lit. Its not as simple as you might imagine to be so precise as I have been here. I think I nailed it to be honest though and I learned a little something in the process. (A quick snap of the actual frame just before it was picked up) I like to think my business is not just about one particular style or genre.  I unders...

Well done to Bowens for putting on a seriously impressive display at The Photography Show this year.  The crowds were never ending and for me it was such an honour to be included in the line up.   (the night before it all began, a very exciting and scary time) I can not believe its over so quickly, not that it felt that way at the time.  Forty five minutes has never felt so long as it did while standing on that stage in front of a couple hundred people, all staring up at me hoping I won't be wasting their time.  Judging from the feedback and the vast number who remained till the very end I must have done something right. (Me on stage - what a feeling that was, terrifying and thrilling at the same time - Thanks for the image Greg Thurtle) Well I thought I'd share a few of the images from my time there. Some so that those who didn't attend could see what it was like and some of the images produced on the stage so those who did attend could see close ...

I am so very proud to announce that Bowens, in light of my recent success, has asked me to join their team of ambassador photographers. For those not in the business, Bowens is a leading manufacturer in studio lighting and the brand of lighting I chose to use when I first started my business 10 years ago.  With my first kit still going strong it is an honour to be able to share my knowledge on the subject of studio lighting using equipment I firmly believe in. This is going to give me such great opportunities over the coming months.  The first being at The Photography Show in March where I'll be giving demonstrations each day over the 4 day event on the Bowens Stage. I'll be doing 2 different talks, the first being on Lighting Ratios. This will involve dispelling the myth that this is something too confusing to even consider learning. In all honesty this is a subject I wish I had taken more seriously a long time ago because I feel I'd have progressed much more quic...

As many will know, I regularly enter the Societies Monthly competition and it is how I've been able to win my awards these past 2 years.  Each month we have the opportunity to submit images online. We're allowed to enter one image per category.  The aim for us photographers is to have images that are awarded Gold because these images will go forward to be judged in the end of year categories.  In the region of 13000 images are entered throughout the year from photographers around the world so it is a big deal to me to be selected as having one of the few best images. And of course knowing that there is a chance I will win a proper award (by proper I mean Photographer of the Year for my category) makes doing the work I do so much more exciting. Hopefully this year will see a few more of these. 

This face should be familiar to anyone watching my work.  Emily-May is a lovely little girl who was not only chosen by me to contribute in my Fellowship panel of portraits but has often been chosen for catalog shoots that include Matalan and Harrods, commercials that include Sainsbury's and theatre productions that include the Sound of Music at the Curve in Leicester.  She's one to watch for sure. Her parents were always willing to bring her over whenever I needed her, despite her already heavy schedule.  So of course when they asked me to do her headshots to keep Emily-May's portfolio up to date I thought it was the perfect chance for me to offer my thank you. They hadn't expected me to do them for free (which was nice to know) but I wanted to do these for them because I think its important to show people you appreciate the effort they make. And because Emily-May is so easy to work with it was a great opportunity for me to build my own portfolio of headshots ...

While working on my Fellowship panel I had the opportunity to create a very special portrait for one of my clients.  Again, like I said in a recent post, this is the sort of thing I really want to be creating all the time.  For me a portrait isn't just about a face or a smile but it tells something about the person in the portrait.  This little girl has been attending ballet for some time and with any luck will continue for years to come.  So I wanted to create something that would capture this stage of her life while producing something beautiful.  It also makes it easier to photograph a child if they can be doing something natural to them.  I created this ballet barre out of junk in our back garden (thanks to my husbands almost compulsive need to hoard) specifically for my Fellowship at the end of last year but I hope it will get lots of use in the coming years. Here are some similar ballet portraits that I did a few years ago of my...

Since I began as a photographer it has been my goal to provide more than just a photograph.  I don't want to provide snap shots of a person but instead create something about the person.  Just yesterday I heard an educator in the field refer to one of his friends who said that a photograph is OF someone but a portrait is ABOUT someone.  And that is what I want to create for my clients, portraits about them, whenever I get the opportunity. I've recently, thanks to my Fellowship, developed a style that is perfect for photographing a child that shows a little about themselves.  And while creating my Fellowship I was fortunate enough to have a client like one of the images and ask for it for her daughter.  She said her 3 year old loves dolls and doll prams and that shot would be perfect for her.  So I asked her about her son and what he likes to do so I could come up with something for him.  "He plays rugby", she sai...