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

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...

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well again it has been a while since I last updated the blog. It was just crazy busy in the lead up to Christmas, with completing all outstanding orders and completing work on the studio. It is yet another New Year's resolution that I maintain this blog on a more regular basis. It is my goal that this year there will be no need for apologies for any lengthy absences. Since the completion of the studio I can already feel my life turning around. I feel happier, less stressed and much more organised, both personally and professionally. Our home is becoming a home again, now that all the photography gear has been moved out. And now I am able to store all my photography gear in one place it is making my life much simpler. I now know exactly where everything is and it is at my finger tips. What a difference this is making to my life. As I read the Facebook statuses of friends moaning about Mondays and getting back to work I actually find myself looking forward to going to work. Especial...

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...

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...

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...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog