Posts Tagged Children Photography
Photographing Kids presention at Focus On Imaging 2010: Slideshow 2
Posted by Paul in For Website, General, News on March 10th, 2010
For anyone who attended our ‘The business of photographing children’ seminar yesterday on the Graphistudio stand at Focus On Imaging (and for anyone else who would like a look), here is the second of the two AV slideshows.
Enjoy!
Photographing Kids presention at Focus On Imaging 2010: Slideshow 1
Posted by Paul in For Website, General, News on March 10th, 2010
For anyone who attended our ‘The business of photographing children’ seminar yesterday on the Graphistudio stand at Focus On Imaging (and for anyone else who would like a look), here is the first of the two AV slideshows.
Enjoy!
Lucy, Steve & George: Photography session at the Mausoleum in West Wycombe
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on February 20th, 2010
Ah, I’m sitting clearing up disks and backing up data. Not the most fun you can have but it’s absolutely critical (we had a disk fail a few weeks ago and, although we did indeed have everything we needed to recover the data, it was a nervous moment!)
It does have to be said that I’m pretty much as bad at cleaning up disks as I am cleaning up the desk around my Mac and printers – my biggest problem being I’ll find something interesting and immediately get distracted by it! Which is exactly what happened here – I was moving some files around and caught sight of these album files for Lucy & Steve.
Although most people probably associate albums with wedding photography, rather than lifestyle or fashion, we actually produce nearly as many lifestyle and family books. Why not? A lifestyle shoot does, after all, create a whole load of priceless images that are just as important, particularly if they’re from a family session, and will last a lifetime. And they look great in a beautiful album!
So here’s one from last year: Lucy, Steve & George. We photographed Lucy & Steve’s wedding so it was wonderful to see them again – particularly with the addition of George. We chose the location as the Mausoleum that rises high above West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. A stunning location! I loved this shoot and we have some truly gorgeous images of all three of them – particularly George who is a real character!
Just brilliant!
Cheers
P.
The Faulkes family in the snow.
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on February 13th, 2010
So, have you ever wondered what portrait photographers do when it snows? I don’t mean a little bit of snow, I mean when it really really snows.
That was what had happened that this particular shoot. It had been in a diary for a while to photograh Rebecca Faulkes and her family over at their farm near Thame in Oxfordshire. and, much to my excitement (and hopefully their’s too) it had snowed! OK, so for anyone reading this in, say, Washington at the moment, it may not be quite the same snow that you’re currently experiencing – but the few inches we had, happily brought the country to its knees.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too much of a problem to get over there (our trusty old Shogun has done us proud this winter) but keeping everyone warm enough to be photographed was an entirely different matter!
Still, snow is such a fantastic environment in which to photograph – particularly for portraits – as it creates an unbelievably natural wraparound light. Just look at the portraits below to see what I mean. And, given it’s unbelievably rare in this country, it makes these portraits even more unusual and special! Though watching out for shivering, streaming eyes and runny noses was also a necessity!
I loved this shoot and I love the photos we captured.
Let us know what you think.
Karen, Dave, Sam & Maia
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on January 10th, 2010
Just occasionally, I do have to admit, I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to capture when we set out on a session. I have all these ideas in my head but I just know we’re going to do something different somehow. It makes me nervous. But very creative. And very excited.
This was one of those sessions.
I’ve photographed Karen & Dave and their family before and had been looking forward to the session for weeks. But it was to be a studio session rather than location as the weather had been awful all week. I do love working in the studio – it’s much more technical than location (in as much as you have to control rather than locate the backgrounds and lighting) and it’s hugely rewarding. However, it’s not my ‘home’. Outdoors will always be my natural environment as I think children, in particular, are much more at ease when they can run unrestricted, only needing to stop and be photographed when we find some stunning light.
However, I needn’t have worried.
Sam & Maia stepped into the studio as if it were the most natural environment in the world to them. And the pictures we captured of the whole family are everything I think you’d want from a photo. Some are funny, some are moody, some are formal while others are essentially moments I grabbed as i saw them.
But they all tell a lovely story of this time in Karen & Dave’s family.
And the frame we just delivered is gorgeous!
Priceless. 
One foggy morning in the woods
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on January 8th, 2010
There are only a few irrefutable facts in life. You will eventually get a water meter. You will pay taxes. If you went to a Welsh school, you did do country dancing (in my case, with a lack of enthusiasm that barely kept up with my distinct ineptitude.) And you cannot, no matter what you believe, control the weather.
Rain? No problem.
Harsh sunshine? No problem.
Snow? No problem.
Richter scale gales? No problem.
Fog. Ah yes, that stuff of Stephen King thrillers. Cold. Clammy. Haunting. Fog.
I’ve never really photographed in fog as such – I have taken photographs of fog. But that is not the same thing at all. Photographing group portraits through fog is an entirely different beast.
For a start, it’s finger-numbingly cold. Not that romantic, crystal clear, frost type cold that makes you feel good to be alive. No. This is a wet, penetrating chill that eats its way through your clothing and sucks the feeling from your digits. The type of cold that makes your eyes (and nose!) drip and drizzle uncontrollably. And, in an obvious twist of the unfortunate – certainly if you’re a photographer – you can’t really see too much. True, the flat, wrap-around light it creates makes for the most enigmatic and gentle face portraits imaginable. However, if you cannot see your clients through the gloom then this is not much use.
Still, nothing ventured as they say.
So here we were in Wendover Woods in Buckinghamshire with the Baldwin family. And it was absolutely worth the risk. I grant you it took the rest of the day for my fingers to come back to life, but the shots we got were gorgeous. Really unusual and atmospheric. And, as the fog ebbed and flowed around the hill tops like some ghostly ocean sloshing around the foot of some magical inland coast, we had moments of inexplicably stunning sunshine which flung warmth and light at us with such force that it took your breath.
And then by way of apology, would close in again leaving us pulling coat zips back up and tightening hoods and scarves.
A true winter shoot that produced beautiful and distinctive images.
Caroline, Ray, Emily and Lily at Coombe Hill
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on September 27th, 2009
Ah, now this was one of those sessions.
The light, the location, the family. It all just fell into place and we had a ball.
Lily was clearly the star of the show and played for the camera from start to finish (it was hard to know when to stop as we could have carried on getting stunning images until it went dark!) but we have really lovely images of everyone both individually and as groups.
One of the reasons we like Coombe Hill so much (apart from the fact that it is generally a very beautiful place to be) is that there is so much variety in which we can capture images, from the grassy area as you go into the National Trust area, to the woodland, to the high almost moor-like area on the top to the deep forested area reminiscent of many a Hollywood Sherwood forest! And to top it all nicely, the last shot was taken in the carpark itself! No opportunity wasted!
Oh, and there’s nearly always an ice-cream van parked up there somewhere which keeps the kids and adults alike happy!
As I said earlier, this was one of those sessions!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
The Krauze Family
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on September 10th, 2009
It’s late and I’m writing a blog.
I’ve just spent a very happy 20 minutes trying to get my head around my own Facebook profile and, much to my embarrassment given my technology background, failed miserably. I think have just asked quite a few people I know (and possibly one or two I have absolutely no knowledge of whatsoever) to be ‘friends’ of mine. If only real life were so easy huh? Just login and say ‘be my friend’. Actually, come to think of it, my boy Jake does exactly that – he simply walks into a situation – any situation – and excitedly makes new friends. Oh for the confidence of youth!
Anyway, unsurprisingly, I’m digressing. Back to the job in hand. (Is it any wonder I get behind with my blogs when I spend so much time talking about anything but the topic I set out to write about?!)
So, where was I? Ah yes, the Krauze family.
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect with this shoot as it was in a location above Nether Winchendon that we’ve never photographed before. I shouldn’t have worried though as the light was beautiful up there and we found an absolute wealth of locations in which to work.
At the end of the day this job is all about the light as that is, technically, all a photo is. A split second of light reflected from whatever it is your capturing. You’ve got to love photography for that utter simplicity.
I love these images for the characters in them though as much as the light. This was a fantastic session, full of energy and life and I think that it shows in the images. And just when I thought we’d caught everything, one of the lads pulled off the perfect ‘Dick Van Dyke’! A good day by anybody’s standards!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Haddenham Youth Football Club Funday
Posted by Paul in Commercial, For Website on September 6th, 2009
Well, it’s been an early start this morning as I’ve just been over to grab some pictures for the guys at the Haddenham Youth Football Club Funday. I’m always amazed by the club – everything from the dedication of the all the coaches (and the lads who play) to the enthusiasm and support from the parents who are there with them. Also, at this particular funday, they do a rather commendable bacon bap and coffee!
A month or so ago, we’d persuaded three of the lads from the club to give us a hand grabbing a shot for the programme – with some fantastic results!
I’d had this idea of a shot of one of the lads scissor-kicking a ball over the top of the camera as I thought it would be really dramatic and eye-catching. So, having hauled ourselves in a suitable goalmouth in the pouring rain, we rigged a couple of remote flash guns to see if we could get the shot.
The shots we caught are absolutely fantastic (all three of the lads are exceedingly talented when it comes to the beautiful game) but it was at the very end when we grabbed just a quick image of the boys soaking wet and covered in mud that, and I have to say somewhat unexpectedly, the best photo of the day emerged. Funny how it happens that way sometimes. You work hard at getting the image you had in your head (and, in this instance we did get some great shots!) but so often it’s an image that sort of creeps up on you and takes you by surprise that is ultimately the killer picture. 3 lads, 3 footballs, a liberal coating of fresh goalmouth mud and a constant drizzle of August rain and you have the perfect image.
And that’s the one we used in the advert.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
PS. Should just add that the Funday was awesome – hats off to everyone involved in its organising and the running of the day. Just brilliant!
PPS. Should also add a huge ‘thank you’ to Ciaran, Tom and Evan for providing their not inconsiderable talent and skill to help us get the shot
Erik, Nicky, Holly and Ellis at Coombe Hill
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on August 3rd, 2009
I have photographed Erik, Nicky and their family a couple of few times now and it just seems to get better each time!
We chose Coombe Hill for this particular jaunt and it was a great choice. The light up there is always different, always exciting and this day was no exception. You can see it in the photos we have (note that the bluey green images are created using a hi-power video light. A neat little gadget that gives us some wonderful images!)
I love these images – particularly the really panoramic wide-crops. I have always had a thing about cinema-style images and somehow these photographs just lent themselves to it. Beautiful.
We’ve just finished designing a gorgeous album from the images from this shoot and I’m hoping to be able to show it online later. We’re hugely proud of it the way it’s going to look – it’ll be an absolutely stunning family book!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Neil & Nikki Pre-Wedding Session
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on August 2nd, 2009
Ah, this was just magic. One couple very much in love, their wonderful character of a boy and some beautiful weather. Marlow is always a beautiful town but, when you’re having such a ball it seems somehow even nicer.
Neil, Nikki and Tom were fantastic to photograph – very easy going and very much a close family unit. Tom, in particular, loved being in front of the camera and the photos we have of him are just stunning. It’s going to be an absolute pleasure to photograph their wedding!
PS. I should just add that we had the pleasure of photographing Neil and Nikki’s wedding on Saturday (we’re a bit behind on our blogging – but I didn’t want to miss this one out) and it was every bit as gorgeous as we knew it would be!
Susan & Family – Bucks Herald Competition Winner
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 28th, 2009
You never quite know what the outcome will be when you run a competition. After all, you really don’t have any control over who will win and what it is they are looking for in a shoot. You hope that the winner will be thrilled with the prize and will be a really nice person to work with. But you can’t be sure.
So it was, with naturally some degree of apprehension, that we ran a competition with the Bucks Herald – the prize being a session with us and a not inconsiderable quantity of prints/frames of the winner’s choosing.
And then we waited to meet the winner.
We should not have worried. It was with a great deal of satisfaction that Susan, the lucky winner, turned out to be another wonderful client. I know I bang on about this all the time, but I can’t stress enough how proud I am of the client base we’ve built up over the years. This is an utterly people-oriented business and it only works because we have a lot of very personable clients that make my job the pleasure that it is!
We held the session at Susan’s family home in Chilton on the most gorgeous day. You have to say that the weather this season has been stunning so far – albeit with the odd serious storm thrown in (we arrived back last night during the most monumental thunder storm to discover water pouring across the floor of my office from one side to the other – no idea how it got in and absolutely no idea how it flowed out again!).
Anyway, on this particular day back in April, with glorious sunshine and a stunning location up on the hills, how could this be anything other than a wonderful session?
And it was exactly that. A wonderful session.
Three generations of the same family and a set of pictures that will be treasured for a lifetime. Oh, and a mental note that competitions are definitely a good thing.
Just perfect.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Emma, Oliver & Henry at Wendover Woods
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 14th, 2009
I love this time of year – though, yes, I do freely admit that I probably say that throughout the year. Can’t help it. Every season – and particularly the changes between the different seasons – seems to bring a new perspective on the photography and a whole new set of interests for us.
This session was up in Wendover Woods, possibly one of our favourite haunts. It works for us on so many levels – the light, the woodland, the freedom etc. (oh, and you can get a nice cup of tea at the end!)
Oliver and Henry seemed to thoroughly enjoy the shoot from start to finish and we have an absolute bucket load of gorgeous images of them having a great time. I lent them one of my cameras to have a go with which, inevitably, means I also have quite a few pictures of me taking pictures of them!
Loved this shoot. Lovely client, (eventually) fantastic light and ultimately, great photos. Oh, and a nice cup of tea. Perfect.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Jane, Michael, Katie and Sophie in the Bluebells at Christmas Common
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on May 16th, 2009
Well, it’s Saturday morning as I’m sitting writing this and we’re (gradually) catching up with ourselves on the blog front (it was the Waddesdon school prom last night and, having got back home in the small hours after shooting several thousand photos I do admit to typing this at a considerably slower rate than normal!)
Anyway, this shoot was a gorgeous session we had a couple of weeks ago over in the Bluebells at Christmas Common.
It’s always an ‘interesting’ place to shoot up there because it’s invariably crowded – particularly when it looks as pretty as it does at this time of year. But, with a little bit of scouting around, I managed to find a spot that had beautiful light and was really quiet.
Jane, Michael, Katie and Shophie were absolutely lovely to work with and I think, in particular, you can see the spirit of the two girls in the images. One of the reasons I love this job so much is that I get to meet so many different characters and personalities and I can happily report that, after a brief (and I do mean brief) moment of uncertainty, Katie and Sophie got right into it and probably suggested more images to take than I did! Fantastic! I really love it when that happens because it shows that no-one felt uncomfortable or under pressure in front of the camera. Just a lovely afternoon, great company, stunning light and a bag-load of beautiful images.
Life is good. Busy. But good!
Cheers
P.
Claire & Iain’s Pre-Wedding Session in Wendover
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on May 8th, 2009
Or should I say, Claire, Iain, Joe, Saskia, Imogen and Heather’s session in Wendover?
I think you can see from the photos here that, well, we had a reasonably good time. Possibly. Just a little. Laugh? No. Not really. Oh go on then, I admit it. We laughed. A lot. Actually, I don’t think we did anything other than laugh.
Not a bad day at the office then!
I loved this shoot: lovely family, beautiful location, stunning weather. Best job in the world. And we have soooo many images to choose from it’s unreal.
We’re well and truly into our wedding season for this year and we’re having an absolute ball – but I can’t help but think that Claire and Iain’s will be one that might well be a highlight of the year!
I’ll keep you posted.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
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