And yet Another Client Returns with Their Second Baby for Portraits

At first the thought of working with a very young child and their newborn sibling scared me. Its hard enough working with either on their own let alone trying to get them to co-operate together. How would this even be possible? A 16 month old little girl can't come close to holding their baby brother. So I had to get creative and think of a way to get the 2 together both safely and beautifully.

Well I think I did it. I have to admit though, the above is actually 2 separate images. This little girl was a bit too young to understand how careful with the pram she would need to be so rather than take any chances I first photographed big sister with just the pram on its own and then followed with baby brother on his own while dad looked after big sister. Then I worked my magic in Photoshop to put the 2 together. This is a common occurrence when photographing young babies. Its always better to be safe than sorry and I'm quite thankful I have the tools and skills to do such things.

What makes this image even more special is that there is continuity between this portrait of the sibling group and the newborn portraits that big sister had of her own a year and a half ago. They both included my favourite pram. And now this image shows just how much this little girl has grown since her session.

(portrait from the 2014 session of big sister as a newborn baby)

I always love including the baby weighing scales too. I love the look and I like that the weight is pretty accurate so it tells something about baby as well. This time I used a new set of drawers that I recently painted. I love collecting furniture and this is something for which I am always on the look out.

And of course I was able to provide some of the more simple details shots that are so wonderful to look back on in time. They grow so fast and these cute tiny little hands and feet won't be tiny for long. I think they work perfectly in a collection of images such as the one below.

Once again, it is so nice to see past clients return. I love knowing that they valued my work enough to want to do it all over again and at the same time I get to see how these beautiful little babies have grown.

If you are expecting a child and interested in having one of these sessions please don't leave it too late to get in touch. The ideal time for portraits such as these is when baby is less than 2 weeks old and you'll want to make sure we have the space to accommodate you when the time comes so its best to get in touch before baby is born.

To get in touch please contact me via my website here or give me a call on 01455 611069.

Comments

Male Nude Masterclass at the Societies Convention in London

Here are the results from my masterclass at the convention just over a week ago. During this talk I set out to show 3 different lighting techniques using just 2 lights and a white background. I sometimes use more than 2 lights but I wanted to show that good photos can be produced with the minimum of kit. For the first we used a beauty dish to light our model with a second light for the background to give us a high key result. Had I been in my studio I would have used 2 lights to light my background but for such a tight crop the one light (centralised) was clearly good enough. For the second I used a softbox (strip light) on one side with barn doors on the second light on the other side. In hindsight I wish I had a grid with me to soften the light coming from the barn doors side. Not being in my studio I didn't have all my kit to hand so had to use what was available on the day. I found the bare bulb a little too strong here. Notice how we managed to get the whi

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com

Portraits Even a Teenager Boy Loves

Finally I've had the opportunity to photograph a young man in my studio again. And funnily enough this was the second time that week which is absolutely superb. In both cases these young men were just as enthusiastic to be involved as I was, which is something I don't often get when I'm working with very young children, my usual subjects. With young children I find my energy in their cuteness. But with young adults I get energy from their excitement over how the portraits are working out. I get such a buzz from the experience and that can keep me going for hours, often editing the photos straight after the shoot for hours more. Shoots for teenagers is something I've been wanting to focus on for some time. Its not something that I often get asked for though unfortunately. It tends to be parents of very young children who want to capture moments that are slipping through their fingers at lightening speed. Maybe its teenage moodiness that means these moments don&

Family Portraits with Fine Art Flair

I have a love and hate relationship with family portraits. I love the finished piece and creating something that is truly special to the family. I love that in years to come something I made is going to be a cherished and valueable memento for this family. What I struggle with, is getting all members of the group to look their best at exactly the same moment in time. You would be surprised at how difficult this actually is, particularly when it comes to 6 children. But I always get there in the end, whether it is the luck of a moment or with the aid of Photoshop. I ensure that everyone in the portrait is looking their best, even the dog. Seeing as this family is actually made up now of two families we also did portraits in their respective groups which I chose to do in different style to their main group. I love adding a bit of style for the overall main group and what you see above is something that is proving popular with my clients. I love adding props and giving a sort of Vani

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

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog