Christina Lauder Portraits

Much of what I do has been about babies and little girls and recently I've begun encouraging mothers to be included in portraits with their daughters as I find it is so important to capture the mother/child relationship, or father/child relationship for that matter. It was posting one such image that attracted this next client and got her to book in with me as she wanted something to mark her son's 21st year with a memory to cherish before he goes off to live his life as an adult. I often feel that these are more for the children to appreciate later in life and I tell my clients this when they are hesitant to have their portrait done. I think its hard to ever see our parents as anything but old because to us they are always old. When we are little 30 is ancient. Then as we grow, whatever age they are still seems so far away to us. So parents are just always old. Having a special portrait will serve as a wonderful reminder of an earlier time in our lives and help us remem...

Finally I've had the opportunity to photograph a young man in my studio again. And funnily enough this was the second time that week which is absolutely superb. In both cases these young men were just as enthusiastic to be involved as I was, which is something I don't often get when I'm working with very young children, my usual subjects. With young children I find my energy in their cuteness. But with young adults I get energy from their excitement over how the portraits are working out. I get such a buzz from the experience and that can keep me going for hours, often editing the photos straight after the shoot for hours more. Shoots for teenagers is something I've been wanting to focus on for some time. Its not something that I often get asked for though unfortunately. It tends to be parents of very young children who want to capture moments that are slipping through their fingers at lightening speed. Maybe its teenage moodiness that means these moments don...

My name is Ella Carter and I am from  Hastings High School. I spent the week doing my work experience with Christina Lauder portraits. I chose to do my work experience with Christina because I have a great interest in photography and I wanted to know more about the career. I've done my work experience with my friend Libby Noden who also has an interest in photography. On the first day we mostly watched Christina edit photos on the computer using Photoshop and Lightroom. By watching Christina develop some images and talk us through what she was doing made me realise the hard work and effort which has to be put in to get the perfect image. Also, it has taught me new skills which I can use in my own work and in the future. The next day, Libby and I helped set up and photograph the french bulldog puppy. Personally, this was my favourite day because we had the experience of watching Christina do her work and watch how she takes and develops her photos. Also the different props and ...

My name is Libby Noden and I am from Hastings High School. I chose to do my work experience with Christina because I am highly interested in photography and modelling. Doing work experience at Christina Lauder Portraits has made me realise that the working world is totally different to what i though it was like. I've done my work experience with my friend Ella who is also interested in photography. One of the photos I have took and edited. Photography is all about how a photo is formed from the camera to computer. Photoshop is also a big part of being a photographer. Luckily, part of my experience was learning how to use Photoshop and this will have a big impact on me as i am taking photography for GCSE. On the first day, we watched Christina edit and prepare for a viewing. We also used Pinterest to come up with ideas for our own shoot. On the second day, we helped Christina with a photo shoot with a small French Bulldog which was very fun and different. After that, we cont...

My name is Sophie Clarke and I am from Redmoor Academy. I spent the week doing work experience with my friend Isabelle at Christina Lauder Portraits. I chose to do my work experience with Christina as I have a very keen interest in photography and I wanted to know more about being a photographer as a career. From spending the week with Christina, I have now learnt that being a photographer isn’t just about taking photos; there is so much more behind it. Isabelle and I testing the lighting and set up for prom On the first day, we mainly watched Christina develop some of her images  on the computer using software such as Photoshop, Lightroom and Colour Efex. This has now taught me new skills because before I didn't really have any knowledge about these, so I will now be able to use what I have learnt in my own work. The next day, in preparation for a trial prom shoot, Isabelle and I helped set up and put the props in place. Whilst Christina was photographing the client, s...

I'm Isabelle Stratford from Redmoor Academy and I've been doing my work experience here at Christina Lauder Photography with my friend Sophie. I'm very interested in photography and currently taking it at GCSE and working here throughout the week has helped me learn several different things about the profession.  Sophie and I testing out the set up and lighting for prom Our first day consisted of mainly watching Christina edit some photos and her explain different elements of what she does which then prepared us for the rest of the week when we began doing our own things. She also showed us many of her favourite final edited images that she keeps as samples and told us where she'd got her inspiration from to shoot in the style that she loves. To help her Sophie and I also completed some small tasks that needed doing like filing and clearing up. On Tuesday a client came in for a trial shoot in preparation for a prom so we helped set up for that but then watche...

This month I ran a quick competition on Facebook to promote pet portraits. This is something I've taken a serious interest in over the past year and I'm keen to get the word out that I can create something really special of your pet. And I say pet because I am interested in photographing more than just dogs. It just happens that people are more likely to have portraits of their dogs than any other type of pet. So this was the winning dog chosen at random from all those who submitted a picture of their dog and followed the instruction of liking our page and our post. And I must say I couldn't be happier with the luck of the draw. The colouring of this dog works so well with my current favourite style of portrait. I adore the images you see here so much I can't stop myself from coming back to look at them time and time again. It almost makes me want to go out a buy a dog like him so that I can have portraits like this of my own pet. But I shan't be ha...