Christina Lauder Portraits

This time we worked with a more alert baby, even though she was within the 2 weeks we recommend for newborn sessions.  But to be honest, I do like getting a selection of both.  Its nice to get the chance to see their eyes as well as those beautifully peaceful sleeping portraits.  Making eye contact is just difficult and smiles are nearly impossible, which are only wind related if we managed them at all anyway.    I always try to get a few detail shots in order to capture their tiny little fingers and toes.  These can be quite difficult with an awake baby as they move so much and I need to rely on autofocus to make sure these details are in focus and with such a narrow depth of field this can be difficult.  And rather than just a hand or a foot I like to get some of baby's face in the shot as well which poses another problem with an awake baby, they just don't stay still for very long so their hands and feet aren't always in the right place.      This pr

And this one got a lot more smashed, eventually. We started off with our usual no cake portraits just to ensure we got something with clean faces.  And its a good opportunity to use a favourite outfit to celebrate the occasion.  We don't spend long here though as we don't want to have them fed up by the time we get to the cake.  On this occasion though, this little boy wasn't terribly impressed by the cake at first.  I was surprised to find it difficult to get him to even try the cake but once he got in he really went for it.  Unfortunately for me and Mum, his lack of interest in the cake persisted and he ended up roaming around a lot, which resulted in a trail of cake that encompassed the majority of my studio floor.  Given that I generally shoot while sitting on my floor I couldn't avoid the mess.  We were all covered in cake in the end.  At least I didn't have to go anywhere.  I felt a bit sorry for Mum having to make her way home in that state. 

This week I had the great opportunity of photographing Vickie who is training to be a makeup artist.  Which also provided Vickie the opportunity to understand what it will feel like for her future clients when they are in front of the camera.  I'm looking forward to the possibility having Vickie work with me as a make up artist in future.  From time to time I organise sessions where I can put my skills to the test and try something new.  Its important to me to continually work on my skills and keep up to date with current trends so that I can always offer my clients the best and hopefully something unique and tailored to their requirements.  I took this opportunity to try out old kit I never get around to using.  I'm so used to using the same old setup that from time to time I like to stretch myself so that I can become more comfortable with a wider variety of tools.  Being able to use this variety of equipment means I can bring greater variation to my work.  This type