Another Fab Fine Art Shoot with Another Lovely Young Lady

I am so thrilled that more people are wanting portraits of their older children. Its quite common to have newborns and babies photographed but much less so with older children and I've never really understood why. A child reaching their teenage years is such a wonderful stage that goes equally as fast and is equally as special as the toddler stage. For me and my daughter it was the stage just prior to her becoming a young woman. It was the last time that she was my cute little girl and I'm thankful I have many photographs to remember this time. And as such, I think its a wonderful time to organise a portrait session to record this milestone in their lives.

I've been building up a collection of dresses that my clients are always welcome to use. When young girls visit my summerhouse and have a browse through the wardrobe they will always stumble across something that strikes their fancy. Some like the pretty pink dresses, some like the black lace dresses. But there is usually something they gravitate to straight away. And this gives me a good indication of what sort of person they are and an idea of the portrait I'd like to create.

This young lady was not a pink sort of girl but loved the black lace as well as some of her own clothes, which I always encourage. A combination of my clothes and the clients clothes I feel works best. And ideally something that can show the interests a child has in his or her life. For my daughter it was dance, for boys it is often sport, another child has come in with horse riding gear and for this young lady it was her gymnastics leotard.

As a mother myself, I love seeing portraits that will not only remind us of what our children look like at this time of their life, but also the activities they participate in. What made them smile? How did they enjoy spending their time? What makes them proud? I want to capture that so when they look back on their portraits they will remember not just what they looked like but also how they felt.

As an artist getting to work with people who can take direction is a fabulous thing. When I create portraits I am doing just that, creating. I am not snapping images. I want the chance to be able to refine elements of my images so that I can possibly create the perfect portrait. I want to do this not just for my client but for myself as well. With babies this can be difficult and in some cases impossible. But with a child who wants to be there its not only easier its also quite fun. I finish a shoot, sometimes a four hour one, not tired but often elated, on a high because I am thrilled at what I created.

This session was purchased as a Christmas gift for this young girl since they knew it was the sort of thing she would love to participate in. As a child I know I would have loved it too. The chance to dress up and have so much attention placed on me would have been exciting.

And now, as a mother the chance to have special portraits of my child is just so important. I am lucky that I do this for a living so I can have special portraits of my child whenever I want. But like everyone else, I still have to save up and allocate money when I want something printed and framed. Just the other week I updated one of my frames with a recent portrait of my daughter, and much to my delight I replaced one ballet portrait with another. Its something I have been and will continue to admire for years to come. And the old one is safely stored away for me to come back to whenever I want (its also in a family photo book that I look through frequently - if you haven't gathered already, printed images matter to me and are so much nicer to look at than digital files).

I requested that Mum joined in on this shoot as well. Its something I have been almost insisting on lately as I think portraits such as these will become immensely valuable as time goes on. For those not keen, which is most to be honest, I make it as painless as possible and we take about 20 minutes at the start of the shoot with the aim of creating only a handful of really special images for them to choose from. No one has been disappointed yet and I hope I get to hear from some of these families many years from now about how much this portrait means to them.

If this is something you've been meaning to do then why not get in touch to hear more? You are welcome to come and meet with me, see the studio, our products and our wardrobe. It costs nothing for this meeting and you might end up being very glad glad you came.

So as per usual, please get in touch if you'd like to hear more. Links to contact details are all below.

Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Website

Comments

5 Reasons you Should Consider Getting a Professional Headshot

Headshots, or profile pictures are becoming a requirement of so many tools we regularly use or reference today. From Facebook to Linked In, Instagram to Twitter and often any website that represents a company for which you work or own will have a place to include a photograph that is meant to show your audience who you are. And how you present yourself there will tell your audience so much about you. 1. A profile picture is your first opportunity for your audience to see you. Its often the first impression you make and we all know you only have one chance at a first impression. A professional photographer has the skills to show you in the best, most suitable way to give a great first impression. (These headshots were created for recruitment firm Optima UK who asked to have their logo placed behind them. I think it makes these headshots quite eye catching and they should do their job well.) 2. Using a professional to create your headshot will ...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog