Christina Lauder Portraits

Tip #1: Remove unnecessary clutter from your background This can be done in one of two ways. First, physically remove the unwanted item from sight. This could be a bin, a pile of paper work, a sock annoyingly left by one of the children (for some reason children never want both socks on at the same time) or maybe you've left a can of furniture polish out when you got distracted by one of the million tasks that children create, as in this photo below of myself and my mother from many years ago. This is actually one of my favourite photos from my childhood but ever since I spotted the can of furniture polish on the coffee table I can't stop seeing it. I have even been tempted to Photoshop it out. At least its in the distance and a little blurred in the background. Or it may be that all you have to do is change the angle you are pointing the camera. Look at your surroundings and make a quick assessment as to whether or not you can make a cleaner and more attractive background...

  Last week Vickie returned home to visit family so we took the opportunity to have a play with the lights again. I love using this time to try out things that I wouldn't want to trial with a client. And I'm glad I did. I was able to create work similar to that which I've admired on many occasions, not really being certain how it was created. By taking what I knew about lighting and applying it in a way I suspected would give me the results I wanted I actually produced what I wanted. Imagine that. For the photographers out there, I used either 1 or 2 lights (started with one then added another) behind Vickie pointing towards her hair but positioned quite close to her so that they were nearly pointing towards the camera also. This produced a slight lens flare that gave that milky coverage that softened the light just how I wanted it. For those that don't know, this experimenting and practicing is part of running a photography business. Of course I don't hav...

Its been a while since I've entered the monthly competition. My motivation for entering the competitions has left me for a bit. But hopefully that is all about to change. And I'm kicking it off this month with my first Gold of the year. And here it is. Plans are now on the way for creating more potential winners. Coming up with new ideas is so much harder than it looks. I'm not giving up just yet though.

'Bring Back the Printed Image', I've had these words in my head for ages now. I've spent a lifetime cherishing the printed photographs I have had the pleasure of viewing, owning, and sharing. Seeing this trend for physical copies of photographs declining I thought I'd try to help spark some new interest. And maybe even run a competition to help things along. More on this in a minute. (This is one of my favourite photographs of my mother. I think its amazing to look back on the past and imagine what it was like back then. Sometimes its hard to imagine our parents as anything other than our parents who always seem old because we can't quite imagine them ever being our own age. To see them so young, as in this picture it reminds you that they were young once too.) You may be thinking, 'why does it matter if they are in print?' And I suppose it doesn't really. But there are key reasons I see printing as being essential, reasons I'd like you to ...

This year I chose to photograph my playgroups and nurseries in the new year rather than in amongst the Christmas rush. Instead we used Mother's Day as the deadline which enabled me to relax and simply enjoy the experience. With January and February being a quieter time of year I could concentrate on taking my time with these children. I definitely noticed a difference.  I was back to really enjoying what I do and I believe it made a difference to the quality of the portraits I produced too. It didn't matter if I spent all day at these playgroups as I had no hectic schedule waiting for me on my return. I've never been one to like rushing through portraits. Sometimes it takes time to get a child to open up and allow me to capture their true self. I met some real characters this year. I also tried to let go of the need to have children looking into the camera. I started to find that really special moments could be captured if I let the children interact with each oth...

At first the thought of working with a very young child and their newborn sibling scared me. Its hard enough working with either on their own let alone trying to get them to co-operate together.  How would this even be possible? A 16 month old little girl can't come close to holding their baby brother. So I had to get creative and think of a way to get the 2 together both safely and beautifully. Well I think I did it. I have to admit though, the above is actually 2 separate images. This little girl was a bit too young to understand how careful with the pram she would need to be so rather than take any chances I first photographed big sister with just the pram on its own and then followed with baby brother on his own while dad looked after big sister. Then I worked my magic in Photoshop to put the 2 together. This is a common occurrence when photographing young babies. Its always better to be safe than sorry and I'm quite thankful I have the tools and skills to do such things...

(The Frame Game, located beside the Hinckley Train Station and with parking out front) For nearly 10 years now we've been using The Frame Game for all our framing needs. In the past I've shopped around and visited other framers for quotes. As a business owner its part of my job to make sure I have the best product for my customer at the best price I can find.  Although I occasionally come across slightly lower pricing the cost savings has never been enough to lose the quality that I have always had from The Frame Game.  As always you get what you pay for and I am paying for quality products that I never have to worry about. Jo, the owner of the Frame Game, has fantastic attention to detail. I know that when I pick up my orders I never need to examine them. I trust they will be done to my standards and in these 10 years I've never had to ask her to reframe anything. (Notice that she is holding the glass up to clean beneath it - I offer low reflection glass and ...