Christina Lauder Portraits

In addition to creating portraits of children while participating in their favourite activities, I also like to capture them in a more sophisticated light, often wearing something of their choice that they are comfortable in. In this case this lovely young man choose this suit jacket, t-shirt and jeans which I thought was absolutely perfect. And I could see he was proud to be wearing it. Putting a person, whether it is a child or adult, in something they are comfortable wearing is so important. If they don't feel comfortable it will show in their portraits. And that is the last thing we want. I discovered this recently with my daughter when I tried her out in a new dress I had acquired for the studio and quickly realised I was wrong. I couldn't make her be someone she isn't. She isn't a pretty dress sort of girl and it really showed in her portraits. I've decided to scrap those ones now and get her to wear something she is comfortable in (likely to be a sweats...

I was once torn between a 10 year love affair with my Canon and a blossoming romance with a newly acquired pre-production model of the Fujifilm X-T2. After posting my initial thoughts on the X-T2 I decided to give it a proper go, leaving the Canon sitting in the drawer, rather than shooting with both throughout sessions. It was scary at first but after just a few more weeks playing around with my new toy I can honestly say I've found a clear winner. The Fuji has the edge over the Canon in ways that leaves the Canon rather unappealing. Returning to it provides no thrill or excitement which is not how I want to feel when picking up a camera. My Canon 5D MKIII is solid and reliable I'll admit. Its been everything I needed since I bought it. I began with the MK I and upgraded to the MKIII. I thought I'd want nothing else but a Canon. I thought I'd stick with it right to the very end. It had everything I needed and could ever need. Or so I thought. I'd been hearin...

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...