Christina Lauder Portraits

Each year around this time I do portraits for a few playgroups locally. And each year I create portraits I just love to share. I'm not able to share many as I need permission and as I don't often meet the parents I have to send out some model release forms and wait to see who sends them back. I only ever share work once I receive permission to do so. Its never easy doing these types of portrait sessions. While small children have a natural beauty that needs no enhancements we are dealing with limited time and small children who are often frightened of the situation. I am usually a stranger to them. And my big lights can be scary. But I have patience and for playgroups, unlike schools, I have a little more time to work with them so that I can usually, but not always, bring them out of their shell and get something I think is pretty incredible. You might notice that not all the kids are smiling here. Thats because sometimes some children just won't smile for me. No ma...

I can't say enough how much I adore photographing this breed of dog. They just seem so photogenic to me, with so much character and such a lovely temperament. I think I could photograph these sweet things everyday. This one was a little frightened being on the wooden boxes. We weren't sure really why. It wasn't too tall that she couldn't jump down if she wished but for some reason we struggled to get her to settle. She just remained glued to the spot, which I suppose helped us in a way. In my attempt to get her to settle we tried a variety of boxes to see if she felt more stable on different ones and I think we finally got there. There is something about having the dogs sitting or standing on these wooden boxes that really appeals to me. And the ones in the boxes I think are just so sweet. The beanbag was a little easier. She certainly looked more comfortable but keeping her there was a little more difficult. When she wanted down she just left. But for the most...

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 i...

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com...

I've been wanting to put something out there on this matter for sometime but I've never felt I could put into words how it makes me feel. Its a little hard to describe. On one hand my brain is telling me it shouldn't matter that much to me but the feeling in my stomach when it happens tells me something else entirely. (Pictures are just to add a little interest and break up the text - couldn't think of any images specific to copyright theft and thought I might as well include some pretty pictures as well) Well today I read a story from a friend who had a guest of a wedding client produce a canvas from a Facebook download of one of their images. When informed that this was copyright theft she couldn't care less. And this really bothered me. It sparked me into thinking its time I put out there my feelings on the matter. I want more people to know what this means and how it makes anyone who creates digital work, which is easily stolen, feel. To get to the poin...

I am the photographer selected to photograph the prom for Hastings High School this year on June 30th, 2017 at Weston Hall in Bulkington. So I thought I'd introduce myself and let you know what you can expect on the night. I like to think that as a photographer who grew up in Canada I know a little about the look and feel of prom night. Using inspiration taken from Vanity Fair, Vogue and the likes of  Annie Leibovitz and Mark Seliger, to name just a few, I will be approaching this event with the aim of providing fashion type portraits that will capture  the youthful attractiveness of the students as well as the character and atmosphere of the event.  I want the students to be wowed by their portraits and to receive something they couldn't capture themselves.  The photos I am including here are along the lines of what you can expect from your prom night portraits, although these were created in a studio environment with unlimited time. I will be using the same...

This year we thought we'd suggest full studio sessions for prom portraits. Its a common thing for girls to have hair trial days so why not take advantage of great hair and a new dress by booking in for some professional portraits. During a private session we have all the time in the world to provide a true fashion shoot experience. This will allow for outfit changes, background changes and multiple posing and compositions with some fantastic fully retouched images at the end of it all.  But don't feel this is just limited to girls. Boys are just as important as the girls and in some cases just as keen to have the fashion shoot experience. This really is a great time in a child's life to document before they head out into the real world and become fully fledged adults.  To go along with this we have a little offer as well. Our usual session fee of £75 has been reduced to £50 with the added extra of a fully retouched, mounted fine art 8x10 print. And for the first ...