The Memories Thru a Lens Blog

As anyone who reads my blog will know that sometimes Im a bit slow at keeping it updated, which is why the pictures in the following post may look like they weren’t taken in the last few weeks of sunshine and warmth!

My approach to children’s portraiture is a little removed from the usual white background images you see everywhere these days.  For me taking a portrait of your child is all about capturing the essence of the child and capturing that one look that tells you everything about them, or that one look that tells you they have done something they shouldn’t.  I don’t believe this can be done is a stark white studio, instead it takes time for your child to get comfortable with me and be comfortable in their surroundings so doing the shoot in a location they already know means have the battle has been one.

Which is why I found myself up on the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire to capture one gorgeous little girl, she is a real cutie and absolutely loved the camera, which bodes well for getting the relaxed portraits I am after.  Also being a Pepper Pig fan as soon as she saw muddy puddles it was all Mo could do to keep her out of them, it did make a lovely shot though and I made sure we had some in the can first with nice white tights before the mud splattered them.

I of course added a little bit of my secret magic to the images, the Ridgeway makes a lovely backdrop particularly in the spring when the colours are warm and inviting.  Although a few of the images where jsut crying out to be black and white, sometimes black and white just adds another dimension to the photographs, hopefully you will agree.

Here are a couple of my favorites.

I had the pleasure of doing a pre-wedding photo shoot at the Donnington Grove, Berkshire a few Saturdays ago.  Neil and Charlotte will be getting married there in July and wanted a pre-wedding photo shoot so they could get in the mood for the big day, plus there are so many good places to take photos at the Donnington Grove we needed to have a good walk around to see how long we will need on the day for their bride and groom portraits.

It was a lovely sunny day which is good and bad, its great because all of the colours there are so vibrant; the greens of the golf course against the blue of the sky, but also not so good because bright sunshine means harsh shadows which is not so good on faces, but I wouldn’t be much of a photographer if I didn’t know how to cope with that.

Im really looking forward to shooting Neil and Charlottes wedding, they are a fantastic couple to work with and the intimate touches in decor they have chosen for their special day will really make for a very special album.

Here are a few favorites from their pre-wedding shoot.

As anyone who knows me will testify I am always looking for something different when it comes to my photos, I shy away from the standard white background shots if I can as I think there are for more interesting and artistic ways to take photographs.

Which is why I love getting the opportunity to take portrait photographs with the fabulous blue backdrop of a swimming pool, now don’t get me wrong not all swimming pools are suitable for portrait photography, but luckily for me a local prep school has a Waterbabies class in their glorious and well lit pool, with floor to ceiling windows at either end the plethora of light is amazing.

What child doesn’t like swimming, so its the perfect the opportunity for capturing natural children’s or babies portraits, I know some would argue that the white background studio shots are so vibrant and thats what makes them so popular, but to me the colours you get in a swimming pool easily rival a boring white background.

I just love the blues in this shot…..

Children grow up and change so quickly which is why I love to photograph them, capturing through photographs, their personality as it is at that particular phase in life.

Its always a fun affair too, I never shoot in a studio I shoot in the great backdrop of the outdoors or bring along my mobile studio to your home; if you are looking for the high key white background images that can look really great for children’s portraits.

This is what Simon & Claire where looking for when then asked for me to photograph their cute daughter, luckily we had loads of space as they had access to a local social club so I set up and little one loved being able to show off on the white stage!

As always it was a nice relaxed photoshoot, I think being female helps with this, children seem to relax easily which enables me to get those lovely natural expressions and smiles that the parents are looking for, as opposed to those big toothy grins that kids seem to think is a good smile!

Here are some of my favorites.

In one of my last posts I explained how I add my photoshop magic to my wedding photography and portrait photography and this post will explain a bit more about my style of photography.

Anyone who is looking for a photographer to capture their wedding day of the wonderful memories of their child growing up will often be asked if they know what style of photographer they are looking for; indeed I will often be asked what style of photographer I consider myself to be so that the potential client can weave their way through the field of potential photographers out their and pick the one that best suits what they are looking to achieve in their photographs.

When asked what my style of wedding or portrait photography is I would say I am bespoke and artistic, but why would I say this.

Firstly lets address bespoke; the dictionary definition of this is “made to order” which I feel couldn’t describe my service better, to me each and every client be it for wedding photography or portrait photography is different and deserves to be treated as such.  So I don’t head off to a wedding shoot or portrait shoot with a list full of poses that I use each and every time, instead I judge on the day and the person and adapt how I take photographs to that, so therefore each and every shoot is made to order.

So that brings me to artistic; now the dictionary definition of this is “having a creative skill” do I have creative skill in my photography?  Well that would be a question for my clients but what I do know is that I certainly put my own creative mark on all the images I take.  First its the actual shot being taken, how I do this is something I find very hard to describe I simply look around, look at my subject then look through my lens and out the shot comes.  Luckily for me its the most natural thing in the world to capture a photograph, a skill which I certainly cherish.  Next I edit the photo adding my photoshop magic, I guess this is where my creativity really comes into its own to make the shot a work of art that when my clients see it will love it and be proud to hang in on their walls.

To follow are  some images that I really feel are artistic…. enjoy!

Its been a busy few weeks with me, weddings and portrait shoots not to mention editing the images and of course designing the albums. I will post some images of the weddings and portrait shoots as soon as the clients have had a good look at them. in the mean time here is one little photograph of a gorgeous little boy looking like he has just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Anyone who has children will know as soon as you point a camera at them, or say smile you get an awkward toothy grin that the child believes is a beautiful smile but for the view of the picture not so much which is why I never tell a child to smile in their portrait photo, I let them do their toothy grin for a few shots to get it out the way, but then the real shoot can begin which is all about laughter and fun. It always helps to have a parent or parents beside me to get the natural expressions which is how we got this lovely like expression on this little ones face.

Its not often my friends ask me to take some photo’s of them, but when they do I really enjoy it. I love what I do and being able to do it for those close to me is great.

Its quite a strange feeling when something comes naturally to you, for me taking photographs, weddings and portraits in particular just comes naturally to me, I somehow just know what angle to take the photo from to get the shot Im after, what’s strange about it though is that not everyone can do it and before you realise you have a talent you believe that everyone can just get the photos right, just as you do. Now I’m not saying my friends are bad photographers on the contrary they often take some great pictures but I also know when I take some for them they love the photographs as they don’t feel they could have taken the same shot.

The only trouble is, unfortunately, my friends photos often take a back seat to my work so they normally have to wait a little while to see them, which is what happened when I took some portrait photos of one of my very best friends Jill. Mainly its because I always add a a bit of post processing magic to my photographs and it takes time to get them ready for viewing, I wont say how long it took me to get these portrait photographs ready for Jill as you will all think Im a terrible friend!

Im sure Jill thought they where worth the wait though….

I love snow, really I do that is of course when I have the luxury of not having to drive in it.  It blankets the world and manages to give it a serene look and sound about it, much as I do love a laze on the beach, given the choice I would rather be hacking up the white stuff on the slopes.

So to wake to the beautiful blanket of snow this morning in Newbury was fantastic, of course snow will always make a fantastic back drop to wedding photographs or portrait photographs if anyone wants to venture out.  I was lucky enough to cover Ian & Karas wedding in December when the last big snow fall came over at Missenden Abbey, so we captured some fantastic wedding photographs in the snow there, which I will post up soon as soon as the bride and groom have had first peek.

In the meantime as it is my daughters first winter and first experience of snow we simply had to wrap up this morning and get out there to show her the beauty of the world bathed in snow, not to mention grab some portrait photos of her to add to the other 5500 images I have managed to take of her in 6 months, Im sure all photographers who are parents do the same thing!

December is always a busy time for wedding and portrait photographers as more and more people are getting married in the winter months and of course families would like lifestyle portraits so they can give their friends and family the pictures for Christmas.

One thing I look for when taking wedding or portrait photos is something different, a background that is unusual but makes the picture.