My Inspiring Week With Christina by Ellie Booton

Hi, my name is Ellie, from John Cleveland College, and I have spent a week with Christina for my work experience as I am keen to continue with photography in the future and to develop my skills further.

Initially, Christina introduced lighting, including the use of natural light and reflectors, to Cerys and I and how to effectively use it to produce a successful portrait. Cerys and I spent time perfecting our portraits of each other by experimenting with different positioning, for example facing towards and away from the light. In addition, Christina educated me on the different settings and how to use my camera, including adjusting the aperture to decrease or increase the depth of field and also the ISO and when it is best to use a high or low ISO, which was extremely useful as I can now produce much better quality photographs- it has opened me up to a new world of photography I didn't know existed. I felt this helped me hugely to improve my current skills and I will also be able to take this further with me as I improve with photography throughout my life.

In addition, for the majority of photos we had taken, that we were particularly fond of, we got to process and perfect them further. We used programmes such as photoshop, lightroom and colour efex. I really enjoyed doing this as it helped me to see which effects looked best for different types of images and also to experiment with lots of different ideas I had. Also, I learnt the effect of increasing and decreasing parts of the photographs I had taken by adjusting the exposure, clarity and vibrance, saturation and occasionally the contrast; this helped me to understand the best ways to edit different kinds of photos. Overall, my favourite aspect of this was having the ability to be creative with my favourite images.

Due to having a project at school based on Cindy Sherman, Cerys and I took photographs which we could use for this. We researched the style of images Sherman had taken, the untitled film stills series, and attempted to recreate something based on this with the skills Christina had previously taught us. Using the techniques Christina taught us on editing programmes, I added film grain and black and white filters in order to create a Cindy Sherman styled image. I particularly enjoyed doing this as, whilst being away from school and doing something relatively new, I still got to base my week of work experience on my school work and can continue working with my projects from Christina’s studio when I am back at school.

Throughout the week, I was fortunate enough to experience the other parts of being a photographer, as well as taking photographs, by sitting in meetings Christina had with customers such as: a meeting at her studio discussing a young child being photographed in the future and visiting a school to discuss the possibility of doing their school portraits for staff and children. I liked doing this as it gave me a taster of what would be to come if I did continue with my aspiration to be a photographer and gave me more of an understanding of the way running a business works.

My favourite part of the entire week was by far photographing the LOROS colour fun mile in Hinckley town centre. This gave me a real experience of being a photographer and made me realise how enjoyable photography really is. In particular, I loved the atmosphere and how excited people were to be photographed giving me more inspiration to be a photographer. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great however this certainly didn't hinder the excitement and the incredible atmosphere. I, personally, loved this event as it was in aid of LOROS, a charity which has once cared for two close relatives of mine in their last few days during their brave fight with cancer.

On our last day with Christina, we decided to complete the week with a photoshoot using studio lighting where we experimented with different shots and got to edit our favourite images as we wished. I liked doing this as I felt I could use all of my skills I've learnt throughout the week to complete a final product that I can look back on and use and remember how great this week has been.

Overall, my week with Christina has been so so amazing and has given me so much more experience which I can carry with me in the future- I am so grateful of Christina helping Cerys and I this week and allowing us to do our work experience at her studio. I loved every second.

Comments

Burbage Carnival 2009

For the past few years my husband and I have been attending the Burbage Carnival and remarking to ourselves at how much better it could be. The carnival seemed to be declining in recent years. Earlier this year I met someone (Harvey) who mentioned that he joined the committe. When I asked him why he said he had been remarking that the carnival could do with some improvements. The response he received was rather than complain why don't you join the committee and do something about it. Its hard to argue with that. The following week I found myself, along with my husband, at the Burbage Carnival meeting. And we've been attending (most meetings) ever since. With this being our first year we didn't want to dive in head first. We contributed where we felt we could but it was great to see that what little we were able to offer still made a difference on the day. We're now very much looking forward to seeing just how much of a difference we can make next year. I just hope it ...

Limited Edition Storybook Portrait Sessions

Well in the end I didn't take this promotion as seriously as was required in so much as I didn't allocate any budget for advertising. I relied only on the few posts on Facebook and as such I only did 2 sessions, which to be perfectly honest, was all I could handle this year given that I'd not properly planned for these sessions in an already busy time of year. However, what I did do proved to me that this is something that deserves proper attention and a concerted effort to push this promotion forward. I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it, from shopping for props, to the sessions and then the editing. I really love the fun that these sessions provide and the look of the finished images. Spring will see a second go at this special collection with plenty of advertising in the run up to our event. I will get another chance at shopping for additional props and tools to run this limited edition promotion and I can't w...

Wellies, Wellies and More Wellies

Over the past couple of years I've been photographing Jileon Ltd's wellies for their website. And over the last couple of months I have had quite a bit to do for them. Jileon is a great client of ours, giving us regular work that I can undertake in my own time and in my own way. It makes for such a relaxing change from having to make small children smile in a short span of time. Particularly since they can't get up and walk away just at the moment when all elements of the perfect image come together. The only real challenge in photographing wellies for me seems to be the dreaded reflection that is unavoidable when photographing shiny objects using flash. But without this challenge where would be the fun? Jileon Ltd is a Hinckley based distributor of mainly wellington boots. They do also distribute other things but typically it is just their wellies that I photograph. If you wish to order a pair please vi...

Family Photos with Flair - Vanity Fair Style Family Portraits

This style of portrait continues to be the eye catching success I had always hoped it would be. Once again I created a beautiful family portrait that I am really proud of and I know this family loves too. Over the years I have developed this style through influences such as Vanity Fair and the many photographers I follow, though I hope that there is something in here that is entirely my own. Having my work easily identified as my own was a goal of mine from the start. Getting to the point where people will want not just a portrait but a Christina Lauder portrait is where I've always wanted to be and I'm hoping I'm on way. These portraits were created for the family of two professional photographers who wanted some portraits of their own. Family portraits isn't really something one can do of oneself, at least not easily. So they needed the services of another and I was honoured to be chosen for the job. They chose me not just for my style but also for my ab...

A Most Wonderful Portrait Session with 3 Lovely Ladies

This was a dream session for me. Not only did I have 3 beautiful young ladies, but they also brought with them a fantastic wardrobe and their very own hair stylist too (mum owns her own salon). So all the elements for beautiful portraits were there. And I was thrilled to get this opportunity. Its easy to think of having portraits when you have a new baby or when you get married or have a special family occasion where you get the entire family portrait done. But its less often that people think of having their growing children photographed. After all I suppose, they are photographed at school. I even do some of those school photographs. However, those portraits are made in less than a minute per child and they are assembly line style portraits while they are wearing their school uniform. They are never going to be as special as what can be created with unlimited time and outfit changes in the comfort of a private studio. Its in this environment that I can take the time to...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog