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 understand lighting and ho

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 up what

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 quickl

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.