My Eye Opening Work Experience by Chloe Grantham

After my build up of excitement, my week of work experience has really opened my eyes to a whole new level of helpful and interesting skills on how to create and capture a picture perfect photograph. I came to Christina knowing a few things about photography but not a lot and not in great depth at all. Since I have been working alongside Christina I have learnt a range of different things. This included activities such as learning how to process photographs using Photoshop, which actually has been one of the skills I have always wanted to learn about. I have also learnt how to apply the right sort of filters and so there set to the suitable lighting and opacity which is how strong the filter is.

One of the activities I enjoyed the most was when I was lucky enough to take some of my own photos of a close friend of mine using Christina's equipment. I had a lot of fun trying different levels and re-arranging the lighting and so on. I am very proud of some the images I created and it has helped me for future references. This helped me gain a lot more detailed knowledge on what settings to have the camera at and what type of lighting is suitable for certain types of photo's. I feel a lot more educated on the subject of photography and I have gained more confidence with experimenting different ways on how to capture a high quality photo.

The skills that I have gained and the things I have seen and done during this week will be carried with me forever in the future as I will now be able to go on to more photography related events and develop my skills. I can proudly say I am extremely glad I picked Christina to do my work experience because I don't think I would have been able to gain such strong skills with anyone else. The environment I have been working has been so welcoming and I have looked forward to coming everyday. Before I arranged my work experience I was very intrigued into the style of photographs that Christina produced and took a large liking to them. So being able to see photo's being processed and to know how her images were fulfilled was such a great experience to have been apart of. It has also made me realise that I would absolutely love to have photography as a job and to own the type of equipment that I have seen here. It is a true enjoyable hobby of mine to take and edit photo's so this week has added to that hugely. Here are a few more of the photographs I produced.

I really like how this photo has turned out, I love the use of different angles that Christina introduced me too. Different angles are made by positioning the camera at different levels such as above the subject level or at the bottom of the subject. It's really helped fulfill the image I wanted which was an urban/rock style.

This is one of my favorite photographs, I just love this pose and after quite a few attempts I got the crop much better than the first version I made of this image.

This may not appeal to everyone but it really does to me because I like the facial structure and the basic pose and expression. It gives it an unusual/edgy look.

With this photo it took a lot of decision making to know whether I wanted it to be in black and white but I am very happy and proud with what the outcome of my decision was.

Overall I am extremely pleased and proud of these images that I produced, and I am very excited to try similar things in the future.I will honestly miss being able to come to work alongside Christina and having the opportunity of having the access to the high level of equipment and doing something I adore everyday. I feel honoured to have been able to have attend Christina Lauder's photography studio I am very greatful to have been accepted to for this week. I will always remember it and it will be one of my many loved memories :)

Comments

Zoe returns, this time with baby!!!

This was a great opportunity for me to experiment in my new studio. Zoe let me do this with her baby bump a couple of months ago with great success so we took the time again, this time with her new baby. Some experiments were successful and some where not. But that comes with the territory. You can't find new and exciting ways to shoot without finding a few bad ways too. I'm just greatful that the only mess we needed to clean up in the end was a little wee. It could have been a whole lot worse.
As usual, Zoe photographs so well and I am again so pleased with the results. She is going to have some great images to show her daughter when she grows up. Zoe looks absolutely fantastic, and without any signs of having been pregnant just a few short weeks ago. Of course, apart from her bump she hardly showed any signs of even being pregnant. If only all women could be this lucky.

I had forgotten how easy it is to photograph newborns. They can't run or crawl away. Th…

London in Spring, Whats Not to Love?

Well I know there is still a lot not to love but I'm choosing to see the great things about London at the moment. I am having a ball this year visiting London as often as I can. Which is unusual for me since I usually prefer the comfort of my own home, in rural old Leicestershire. Staying home and avoiding people has always been the easy option. But this year, possibly due to the wonderful weather we keep having, has me longing for venturing out.

Again, just like my last trip, I headed out with my good friend Panikos Hajistilly. Living in North London he finds it easy to meet up for our shoots. This time though I had more of an idea of the sights I wanted to use as the backdrops for my portraits. With it being spring I was in search of colour, preferably flowers. Admittedly. I didn't quite get what I was looking for. The white fronted terraced houses with pink magnolia trees we did not find unfortunately. But I did make it to Peggy Porchen's which was a must see on my list…

Portraits of a Beautiful Young Woman and Her Guitar

You may remember a while back when I did a casting call looking for teenage boys and girls. Well this is the girl I chose. I had quite a specific look in mind, one which included really long hair. I have always had a thing for long hair. The choice also became quite simple when this young lady put herself forward as she is someone I've been photographing through school for several years and she is a past member of the Hinckley Athletics Club where she has been coached by my husband for nearly as many years. He's always had a soft spot for her, being one of his first members which helped my decision. When I have projects where I want to work with a model rather than a paying client I like to use friends or past clients whenever possible as it enables me to give something to those who have been loyal to me.

Wallis has been a pleasure to work with. She is a stunning, confident young woman. In addition, she could bring props with her that I love. I've been wanting to photogra…

4 Merits, 3 Finalists, 2 Awards and a Masters!

This past week at the Societies of Photographers Convention in London was just about perfect in every way. As always I look forward to this event with mixed emotions. As a judge and speaker anxiety levels can be high. And I always know that through both working and socialising it can be an exhausting experience that is often hard to get through. However the high I finish on is simply incredible and worth all the sleepless nights and hard work, in large part due to the incredible people with whom I get to spend this week.

(Photo Credit: Mike McNamee - Sitting on a panel)
(Photo Credit: Mike McNamee - The entire judging team including print handlers)
Being amongst the judging team just gets better and better each year. It is very intimidating sitting on that panel and being resposible for assigning a score and then often providing a critique to substantiate it however the rewarding feeling when doing it well is immense. I know I am still a relatively new judge but hope I can improve each…

Isabelle's Photography Experience

I'm Isabelle Stratford from Redmoor Academy and I've been doing my work experience here at Christina Lauder Photography with my friend Sophie. I'm very interested in photography and currently taking it at GCSE and working here throughout the week has helped me learn several different things about the profession.
Sophie and I testing out the set up and lighting for prom
Our first day consisted of mainly watching Christina edit some photos and her explain different elements of what she does which then prepared us for the rest of the week when we began doing our own things. She also showed us many of her favourite final edited images that she keeps as samples and told us where she'd got her inspiration from to shoot in the style that she loves. To help her Sophie and I also completed some small tasks that needed doing like filing and clearing up. On Tuesday a client came in for a trial shoot in preparation for a prom so we helped set up for that but then watched as Chris…

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog