Skip to main content

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Teenage Girl

There is nothing I like more than working with a young adult and making them realise they too are just as beautiful as the models that appear in magazines. Having access to a professional photographer who knows how to light and pose can make all the difference when it comes to liking yourself in pictures.
In this case this young lady wasn't keen on being photographed. Its not something she particularly enjoyed and certainly didn't look forward to. In fact I had to convince her to trust me. As with so many people, she wasn't all that thrilled to have to see herself in pictures. The more I work with adults both young and not so young the more I'm finding that not many like seeing themselves in pictures. I myself being one of them.
I'll admit, photographing professional models is easier. Not because they are more beautiful but because they have a skill. They know how to pose for the camera. And probably more important than that is they are comfortable in front of the camera. I will often take the first couple of images of a subject (a non model) and think 'how can I make this person love their portraits when what I'm getting looks very uncomfortable?'
And thats just it and what I'd like everyone considering having a shoot to understand, the initial images hardly ever look right. Anyone sitting in front of a camera like this for the first time is going to be uncomfortable and that will always show in the portraits. But in every shoot I've ever done, once we get into it this changes and the portraits evolve into beautiful finished pieces. I don't think I've ever got a great portrait from the first 5 or so images I've taken in a shoot.
And this is exactly what happened with this young lady. But by the end of the session she was a different person altogether. She started to anticipate what I wanted and I could actually see her body begin to relax. And with that came the natural smiles. She could  now smile because she was more comfortable being there with me. By the end of the shoot I found it difficult to stop because I was getting so much usable work. I could have just kept going. I only finished when I did because she had somewhere else to be.
Unfortunately I cannot show you many of my favourite images from this session just yet and that is because we used her prom dress for this shoot. I don't think its fair to show the images for this until after she has worn the dress to prom. But trust me, she is gorgeous in her prom dress and I can't wait to share them. So I will be sharing these portraits but not until after the big day which is at the end of June.
Which brings me to my next point. I love the idea of doing prom photos but I don't mean on the night of their actual prom, although I am now booked to do those as well this year (blog on this coming soon!). What I mean here is I want to carefully create proper portraits of young ladies (or young men for that matter) in their attire prior to their prom when they have all the time in the world for me to work with them and do it properly. Its common for people to have hair trials before the big day so why not take that opportunity to arrange a portrait session. I've done this before in the past and its something I've always wanted to encourage but until now hadn't gotten around to. I will still be creating high quality portraits on the night of the prom for Hastings High School this year however these will be a lot more rushed and limited in posing possibilities than what I can provide in a private studio portrait session .

So what I would like to offer to get the ball rolling is this. For the first 3 people to book a prom session I will do the session for free and include £75 credit towards the final order. We have gorgeous print boxes that can include the digital files as well. (Click here to see our blog post with our new products.) It is a great opportunity to capture a special time in your growing child's life. And I have no doubt that they will be thrilled to have amazing portraits to share on their social media.

If interested please contact us via our website here or send us an email to christina@christinalauderpotraits.com and we'll send you our current price list so you can see all we have to offer.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

  Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe ...

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...

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 m...

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...

Its a Dog's Life

When life gets tough I always look at dogs or my cats and think how lucky they are. I know not all are treated well but those lucky enough to be in a good home, like the ones who come into my studio, have a really great life. They look so happy and its a wonderful thing to see.  I honestly love photographing dogs. They are a joy to work with and its almost impossible to produce a bad portrait of a dog which does of course make my life a little easier. I am someone who really needs to love the work I create. I can't help but love the portraits I've created of all the dogs I've photographed over the years. And this shoot was certainly no exception. I found it a real pleasure using a lighter background this time too. I do often gravitate towards darker looks but seeing as this dog had a light coloured coat I thought I'd produce lighter images. This gave me the chance to use a canvas I painted a couple of years ago but never really used and I absolutely love it...