Two Lovelies ~ Katie & Rosie

The other day I had the pleasure of photographing my neighbour and her good friend. I had some new backgrounds and a new lighting technique to try out so I thought I'd invite the girls around to have some fun in the studio. And of course a couple of 15 year old girls were only to happy to play models for the afternoon.

Virtually all the elements in these photos involved things I've had in my studio for months, some for years, yet I've never taken the time to use them properly. Over the past few weeks I've done several shoots where I have purposely stretched myself, finally taking the time to put into practice methods I've understood for ages but never actually used. Now that I have I can't believe its taken me so long.

It feels great having new and stunning lighting techniques at my finger tips. Its just as good as buying new kit. In fact its better because it cost me nothing. And the backgrounds will give me plenty of new options for shoots in the future too.

I had a great time photographing these girls. Their enthusiasm was absolutely wonderful and I don't think I've seen a more polite couple girls. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves too. They arrived around 12noon and with the exception of a break when they went home for dinner, they didn't actually leave until 9pm. The longest session I've ever had. Of course it did include a lesson on Photoshop for them. We were all excited about seeing the finished results so I figured they might as well stay while I worked on the images.

I think we can expect to see more of these girls. Particularly since I've tasked them with coming up with some ideas of their own. I am really looking forward to working with them again.

Comments

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe ...

Winner of the Master Photographers Association's UK Family Portrait Award

This year for the first time I decided to join the MPA (Master Photographers Association). As a qualified member this entitled me to compete amongst other professionals throughout the UK. Last night the awards ceremony was held at the Hinckley Island Hotel (amazingly close to home for a change) where I received the news that my family portrait won its category. I am over the moon that it was a unanimous decision from all judges who felt it stood out against all others in the category making it the clear winner. And to have John Stoddart, a man who has photographed a great number of A list celebrities, present the award telling me this is a fantastic image was the icing on the cake. I'll admit that I have never really regarded family groups as my strong suit. They are hard work and not always the most challenging creatively. Until now that is. This project which I consider to be a joint effort along with my clients involved much planning and creativity. Together we came up...

Playing Dress-ups and Creating Fine Art Portraits with These Lovely Young Ladies

Now this is exactly what I like to do. This was not only a fun and creative session but it was also quite relaxed and low stress as each of these girls were old enough to both be patient with me and follow instructions. This allowed me to use my skills to pose and direct as needed, rather than what can happen with very young children who either don't understand the instructions or who really just want to do their own thing. Although the very young bring their own magic to a shoot, like a cuteness factor that can't be beat, being able to take my time and direct my subjects means I can create the vision that is in my head. Probably what is most frustrating about the very young is that I can often see exactly what I want to create but without a little help from the child its not always possible. In this case all four girls worked very well and I think they all enjoyed themselves too, even the youngest performed beautifully and I couldn't be happier with all their portra...

My Associate Panel

As I mentioned in my last blog, I achieved my Associateship in Portraiture with the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers). I just thought I would share with you the panel I submitted. Having sat through the assessment I see that there are a couple of images that I wish I hadn't chosen, more so due to not having enough variety rather than the lack of quality. but overall I am pleased with my submission. I always thought that once I achieved my Associateship I would be done with qualifications. Working towards a Fellowship just seems so unattainable. I don't think I can just sit here not striving towards a goal though. Besides, my husband has already set 5 year plan. So I guess I've not seen the end of qualifications just yet. But don't be expecting any news on this front for quite some time though. A fellowship is on an entirely new level and its going to take a lot of work.

Special Portraits of a Special Little Boy

Last year when I was working on my Fellowship panel I put out a casting call for children who would be suitable for the portraits I had in mind. In doing so I received a message to consider this little boy for my project. Unfortunately he was a little young at the time, being under 2 when really 2 was the minimum age I was willing to consider and in the end it turned out that 3 was the youngest I chose to work with. And this was for the simple reason that I needed the children to be able to follow instructions so that I could be very precise in my posing of them. But I couldn't resist this little boy and felt I wanted to work him. You'll probably notice that the image above looks very similar to the one above it. I couldn't make my mind up which I liked best. To be honest I like the hand placement of the second image and the expression of the first. This is how closely I look at my portraits so try my best to make all elements just so. In each portrait I create I co...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog