Christina Lauder Portraits

I love getting the opportunity to create portraits about someone, a photograph that is more than just an image of what they look like at the time but instead is something about who they are. In this case this young boy loves his football and attending training and playing matches is a big part of this family's life. So in years to come, these portraits provide more in the way of memories than just a portrait of what he looks like. These will take them back to memories of standing on the sidelines, in good weather and bad, watching this young boy develop into the man he's on his way to becoming. For me, this makes this sort of work not only more interesting but also much more valuable. I of course still like creating images without the activities being a part of the scene but when it comes to photographing children, I love that these activities can be included and I believe it can make them so special. Not only that, but its a great way to allow the child to have fun doi...

I feel this year I've not worked hard enough at creating new material worthly of winning any competitions but I'm determined to keep going. Being creative and coming up with new ideas isn't easy thats for sure. But I did manage to come up with one that I thought had something special.   Here is the link to the page with this months Gold winners.   As always there are some amazing images. And here is my image. I must get working on some more before the year is out.

(My favourite image from the session - I love it when clients bring along props. This cuddly toy just might become a very significant keepsake in this little girl's life) It is great when I get a second opportunity to work with clients because the relationship we build just gets easier and better with time. Julia had come in for maternity portraits as part of a training session for one of my students. Her and her son worked incredibly well during this exercise which, unlike private client sessions, tend to take longer and with less attention to themselves. Her little boy could not have been any better. His patience still astounds me. He did exactly what I wanted enabling me to produce this great portrait.  I love the connection between these two and know that this will be a fantastic image to look back on in years to come. I mean, can you imagine what they will both think of this in 20 years time when they both look so different and Mum can no longer look down at her son....

From today until September 30th we are running a promotion for pet photography. Book with us before then and receive a complimentary portrait session for your pet (whatever variety that may be - although if you bring me something crazy please manage your expectations of what I might produce. But I am willing to try just about anything). We'll also give you a £100 voucher to put towards your order (not redeemable for cash). As I discovered very recently, pets are valuable members of the family who end up sorely missed before we know it. We lost our cat Mittens who was hit by a car a couple of weeks ago. I'm quite glad I have lots of photos of her, but amazingly the last proper portrait I have of her was when she was just a kitten. I think its time I attempted portraits of our remaining two cats before its too late for them too. (This is just a quick one of Luigi, one of our remaining cats. Its just as hard to photograph cats as you'd imagine. There is no following in...

Its been a while since I photograhed any pets and when I had the opportunity the other week I was reminded of how much I enjoyed it. Pets can have so much personality, and as always, I love a change. (How I envision a collection from this session being framed) This is Phoebe, a wonderful rescue dog. I was amazed to hear that Phoebe was actually small for her breed. I had been warned this before she had arrived. And while I agree that she isn't as large as she could be she was still larger than I expected. But what probably surprised me the most was how incredibly gentle and docile she is. I hear she has a bark that's quite threatening, though I never heard it. She just doesn't have the demeanor to go with it. I can certainly see why she is loved so much.  For the photographers reading this I thought I'd provide some techie details. As I hadn't done pets in a while and I have just acquired some new kit (the beautiful new Fuji X-T2) I thought I'd...

I have been one of the few fortunate ones to be selected by Fuji to test Fuji's newest mirrorless camera from the perspective of an SLR user. Today Fuji have announced the release of this camera, the X-T2, (X-T1 being its predecessor). It was such an honour to be selected for this task and I truly enjoyed the experience. I've been hearing such great things about Fuji's cameras over the past couple of years I've wanted to try one myself but when you own a perfectly good camera, in my case the Canon 5D MKIII, its hard to justify trying an entirely new system. As any photographer will confirm, in this industry there is always new kit we want to purchase. So getting to test one out for free was really quite awesome. Now I am not going to say that I prefer one over the other at this stage. My use of the Fuji is still relatively new. To be perfectly honest they both have very good selling points and I'd struggle to say one is better than the other. But if I were just...

In preparation for an upcoming speaking engagement I'm looking to photograph several expectant mums. You'll get my usual time and attention and you'll take away a 24" canvas wrap of your favourite image along with the digital file all for just £250. Thats a total savings of £300! The ideal time to be photographed is around 32 weeks but this will depend on when your bump starts to show. Everyone is different. I'm happy to take later or earlier as long as there is a good sized bump to photograph. The Small Print (that I am making large because this is important): There is one slight catch. I will need permission to use some of the images for this speaking engagement and ideally I'd also like permission to use some in my marketing material. Nothing will be used without prior approval and if we decide to create something particularly intimate you are welcome to keep those private.  If you or someone you know is interested please get in touch. Phone 01455...