Christina Lauder 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...

(The Frame Game, located beside the Hinckley Train Station and with parking out front) For nearly 10 years now we've been using The Frame Game for all our framing needs. In the past I've shopped around and visited other framers for quotes. As a business owner its part of my job to make sure I have the best product for my customer at the best price I can find.  Although I occasionally come across slightly lower pricing the cost savings has never been enough to lose the quality that I have always had from The Frame Game.  As always you get what you pay for and I am paying for quality products that I never have to worry about. Jo, the owner of the Frame Game, has fantastic attention to detail. I know that when I pick up my orders I never need to examine them. I trust they will be done to my standards and in these 10 years I've never had to ask her to reframe anything. (Notice that she is holding the glass up to clean beneath it - I offer low reflection glass and ...

Every so often I invite people I've worked with in the past to come in for a fun shoot so that I can try new things or get some practice with something for which I'm lacking confidence. This time I chose to work with Vickie.  Vickie is not only beautiful and highly photogenic, but she also happens to be an amazing make-up artist. She really knows what she is doing when it comes to applying makeup which is much more of an art than I ever realised. Having had the opportunity to watch her getting ready for her wedding last summer I can see just how much skill and talent is involved.  Its also quite amazing how you can transform someone's features with contouring applications that add shadows and highlights much like I do with my lights or an artist does with his paint.  Vickie has never modelled before but each time I work with her I see just how much of a natural she is. This helps make it easy for me to just concentrate on the lighting, while pr...

The dates have been set for this year's workshops. For the first time ever I actually decided to set dates right at the start of the year. I just meant to announce the dates earlier than this. But with the London Convention, recovery from the convention, photographing 3 playgroups, followed by an ever so annoying cold I contracted from said playgroups (one of the many joys of working with kids) I am now only announcing my dates. Dates for Workshops at my studio Tuesday March 1st Tuesday April 19th Tuesday May Tuesday July 5th Each day will begin at 9:30 and finish at roughly 4:30 (although I am prepared to let this run over if necessary).  The cost is £195 per delegate and it includes refreshments and lunch.  Subject: Foundations in Portrait Lighting - In Depth and Hands On Beginning with the basics in lighting and working up to more complex techniques this workshop will provide a solid foundation in lighting principles making this ideal for both the begi...

(Awards Night by Aled Davies) Each year this event highlights for me just how fast time is passing. Its a milestone marker a bit like a child's birthday. It seems like it will be forever for the next convention to come around as we say goodbye but before we know it we're hugging everyone hello once again in the halls of the now very familiar Hilton Hotel on Edgeware Road in London. We've spent so much time there that place now feels like home for one week every January. (My masterclass on Photoshop - I was quite pleased with the turnout) This year I presented 2 talks, one on Photoshop Tips and Tricks as well as one on Lighting. Both of which were well attended and well received. I'm often amazed how many people turn up to hear what I have to say. For those in the Lighting Superclass I wanted to share a few of the images created during that session. In hindsight I wished I had asked someone to make notes of the noteworthy images so that I could show everyo...

Narrowing it down to my absolute favourites is really quite difficult, and I worry that its a little disappointing for clients if they don't see their images included. Its hard to say what makes a favourite image. A lot of it I will admit comes down to technical qualities. Where many people wouldn't care about this aspect as its my job I'm always aware of it. Working with children sometimes makes it difficult to get technical perfection as they can move so easily taking them out of the light I've placed so carefully. I do love images from all of my sessions but I can't post them all so here are a just a few where everything seemed to come together perfectly. I actually have a couple more but one I don't have permission to use here and a couple others are from my last portrait session of the year but I can't share them just yet. I've not yet asked permission and I always let my clients see everything before I share anything ...

The Societies Convention in London is being held from January 20th to the 24th this year. As always I am so looking forward to it. Not only is a great opportunity to receive formal training from some of the best in the industry but its also a chance to learn and gain immense knowledge from so many people from all over the world while enjoying a drink (or 3) at the bar. I always come away from this trip feeling as though I've just attended a family reunion. I've made so many wonderful friends who so often are there for me through the year. It is such a worth while event and for anyone not sure whether to make the trip I can assure you its made a load of difference to me.  Anyway, I am posting this to tell you that I am again running two classes this year, The first is software related and is a 2 hour masterclass.  The second is a hands on lighting 4 hour superclass.  Masterclass: You Don't Know What You Don't Know When: Thursday January 21st from 1:00 to 3...