Chicago (the Musical) Inspired Portraits

Every now and again I like to do some portraits for personal growth. I use this time to try new things and to just have fun in the studio. Ashleigh is one of my daughter's dance teachers and someone who helped me come up with posing ideas for Kenzie when she modeled for me on the Bowens stand at the Photography Show back in March. So I thought why not invite Ashleigh in to do some dance portraits for her. And this is what we came up with.

Ashleigh not only teaches but still performs regularly and is currently preparing for this season's Panto down south. So when it came to her portraits we wanted something that both suited her style and would lend itself well to something a little dramatic. The first thing that came to mind for Ashleigh was Chicago. So some searching online for inspiration and this is where it got us.

My vision involved black and white, high contrast, spot lights and smoke. Seeing as it was my first time using smoke pellets I have to say I am quite pleased with the results and I will definitely be using them again. It did however make the studio rather smoky and meant we needed to take a short break to let the smoke clear a little before carrying on. In fact it probably took several hours in order to clear completely. But what a difference the smoke made. I love it.

In the image above I'm reminded of a smoky jazz club and I must say it was exactly the look I was going for. We were initially unsure about adding the hat but again I feel it works so well. It really seemed to help Ashleigh get into character for her role in these portraits.

As usual, when I have someone in who says they play guitar I have to suggest they bring it in for some photos. I love the look a guitar of any sort adds to the images and this one was beautiful. Dark wood has such an appeal to me so this one was perfect.

I choose to keep these portraits in colour, partly to due to my love of dark wood and partly to keep these separate from the Chicago style images.

As I've said so many times before, variety really is the spice of life. This session gave me just what I needed and I hope to do many more that challenge me as this session has. If you've been after something a bit different please do get in touch. The possibilities are endless and who knows what wonderful work we can come up with.

Comments

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 ...

My Fellowship in Child Portraiture, Baby Photographer of the Year and All Things Convention Related

Its been a very busy year for me. Hence the reason I've not been keeping this blog up to date. That's about to change though. I anticipate this coming year to be even busier but I plan on getting a lot more organised and keeping on top of things like this. For now though I'd like to tell you all about last week. I keep trying to think of some words to describe this past week and I keep coming back to 'I had the time of my life' and breaking into song in my head. Apart from when my daughter was born I haven't had a better time in my life. This week was spent at the Societies Convention where in excess of 14 thousand photographers from around the world meet to take part in print competitions, submit qualification panels and join in on various classes and events. The week began as one of the most stressful of my life. I've never felt nerves like it. I'd just spent the best part of a year planning and preparing my 20 image panel to presen...

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 ...

We're Proud to Announce the Launch of Our New Website!!

I have spent the past several months being disappointed with our existing site. It did the job for a while and at the time was certainly the only site I could fathom owning. But things have moved on, as they always do and I was in need of something new. What that was, I wasn't too sure. I knew it was out there though so I went searching. This January, at the SWPP convention I found exactly what I wanted. So I spent the past several weeks building up the trial version, making it just right. I went through old portraits choosing only my favourites and then spent time preparing favourites from many of my recent sittings. This is something I am really proud of and today it went live. http://www.christinalauderportraits.com/ We will be updating this site on a regularl basis, along with my blog which was a new years resolution which so far I have kept. So please keep checking back with us to see whats new. In fact yo...

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...

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog