After a week of Work Experience at Russell Colman Photography we interviewed each other with a few questions about the time we’ve spent here.

What have you been doing this week?

Well when we first got here we helped on a commercial job for a travel firm which gave a good insight into the business. Then in the afternoon we learnt about aperture and played around with what different aperture does to a photo. One day we were given 11 themes to interpret and get photographs of. The themes were; Love, Colour, Monochrome, Light, Shadow, Texture, Beautiful, “the real Amy”, “The real Izzy”, “Future Amy” and “Future Izzy”. This kept us entertained for most of the day, it was a real learning curb and we both really enjoyed it. I think that tomorrow we are doing some studio shot’s, which should be good.

Colour by Amy

Texture by Izzy

What have you enjoyed most?

When we did the project where we took photographs based on themes, it gave us a chance to be inventive, original and to try out our own ideas. It also meant we thought more about the actual pictures we were taking, the composition of them and the effect which they have.

Shadow by Amy

Amy by Izzy

Is there a specific type of photography you like?

Amy: I particularly like portrait photography because you can really capture people’s beauty and experiment a lot with different filters, aperture, surroundings, they can be really fun and full of movement.

Izzy: I like portrait photography too; you can really portray the personality of a person, they don’t just have to be sit around and look pretty- although you can still be pretty obviously, but they don’t have to be serious, they can be fun and lively, you can really experiment and be inspired. I also love travel photography, the colours are often so vibrant and it can really give an amazing insight into the culture.

colour by Izzy

Titanic by Amy

Do you have any photographic influences?

Amy: I really love shots of the countryside and Lake District; they’re really beautiful and inspiring.

Izzy: There is a book I was given a few years ago about photography, which is one of the main reasons I got into it as a hobby. I am often inspired by other hobbies and interests of mine.

Do you enjoy living in the Lake District? – and if so, why?

Amy: I do, because there are lots of experiences and activities to participate in. It’s a beautiful part of the world.

Izzy: I do, most of the time… it’s beautiful, but it rains so much! But other than that it’s great, especially if you like the outdoors.

Peaceful by Amy

Shadows 2 by Amy

Beautiful by Izzy

Jetty by Izzy

What have you learnt in your time here?

We have learnt about aperture and depth of field, light and shadow within photos. We also thought about how to make people feel comfortable when having photographs taken. We learnt to work the big posh Canon cameras and about processing photos. I could go on but to keep it concise we’ve learnt a lot.

Which pictures do you like and why?

Amy: My 3 favourites have to be the one I took for “Beautiful” I love how the low aperture means you really focus on Izzy’s face and the shadow from her hair really frames her face nicely in the light. I also like how natural it looks, no extreme make-up to pull your attention away. I really like the one’s we took on our first day, when we were by the lake, the surroundings are so beautiful and the dull colours compared to bright clothes contrast really effectively. There is one that Izzy took of me on the jeti that I think is really striking as well.

Izzy: Out of the photos I have taken I think my three favourites that I have taken are my one for “Beauty”, I love the amount of light reflected in Amy’s eyes and I think the low aperture really draws you towards the centre focus of her eyes. Another of the ones I’m quite proud of is one of the one’s we did on the first day when we were just starting to learn about and experiment with aperture and Amy is sat on a wall. I love the abstract tree in the background and I think the monochrome makes it look even better than it would in colour. My final choice is the one for my future, which as is obvious from the picture I did not actually take simply as it was not possible so got Amy to take for me. I think the almost aged appearance of the photo contrasts the fact that it’s meant to be my future really well. I also think the wooden background and the muted colours, other than on my earring and top make it a really interesting image.

Future!

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you very much for having us Russell! It’s been really fun and inspirational. It’s been a brilliant week.

One of the things I really love about our family work is when children come back to to us for an updated portrait sitting.

Children change  so quickly – both in the way they relate and respond to the world around them, and, more obviously, in how they look physically.

We first photographed Masie back in 2009 when she was just a baby.

She came back last week and, as is often the case with younger children, she wan’t too sure if she really wanted to have her photograph taken at first.

We prefer not to set a time scale on portrait sittings – the most important thing for us is that the families we are taking photographs with are relaxed and feel at ease whatever their age.

Masie kept us waiting for an hour or so (and went through several chocolate biscuits!) before she decided everything was ok.

I am glad she did because she was a delight!

Mum wiped her chin free from crumbs and we managed to capture her just the way she is now, curls and all!

We are looking forward to catching up with her older sister next week during half term.

I’d better get the biscuits in…

Sally, Sophie and Lily have been with us this week on student placement.
They have been a great help during a busy week.
They have worked on post production work from a recent wedding and also assisted Steve Barber our foto imagica colleague on some product photography and with some portraits of our friends from Ibex Internet.
Oh, and they have also made a video and taken one or two photographs themselves………

They answered some questions to let people know a little bit about themselves and what they have been doing:

Continue reading “The Three Amigos!” »

Abby has joined us this week on student placement from Queen Katherine School in Kendal.

Although this is a fairly quiet time of the year for us we have  still found plenty to do with two portrait sittings and a shoot we did to help out the local junior school with their theatre production photographs.

As well as helping on the sittings Abby  found some time to develop her photography skills. Here are her answers to some questions we asked followed by some photographs she took.

• What’s it like living in the lake district?

To me living in the lake district is great! Apart from all the rain we have been getting lately.The reason why  the lake district is so great to me is that it offers lots of opportunities.For example we have an advantage that we have loads of lakes to swim in during the summer. But most of all it has a lot of natural beauty that anyone can enjoy.

• What kind of photography do you enjoy most ?

I like all kinds of photography weather it is people or just ordinary things. However I think that my favorite is abstract because it is so different to any other kinds of photography.

• If you became a professional phtographer what do you think you would specialise in and why ?

That is quite a hard question to answer because I haven’t been able to discover all types of photography yet. But from my experiences so far I would have to pick abstract because of what i said earlier on . Although I would like to do some work with people, maybe weddings photography.

• Who are your photographic heroes and influences ?

I haven’t really got a hero. But every photographers work whether it is from a magazine or in a photo frame  influences me because it  gives me inspiration and helps me create ideas for my own photography.

• What have you learned this week ?

I have learned about the aperture , exposure , shutter speed , photoshop and Iphoto. I have also learned that it is great to be an inventive photographer and  to always have something original .

• What has been the highlight?

My highlight has to be the shoot of a pregnant lady named Becs . This was my highlight because it was so great to see how actual shoots work , I  also got to help by using the reflector to bounce  light back  onto to Becs. Another reason why it was my highlight was seeing the end product that I had helped with after all the editing had been done the results were staggering, the pictures turned out  great !

• Tell us something about the photographs you are showing here.

The one of becks was one of the ones from the shoot  , I really like this one because the originality of it , also i like it because i helped with that picture by pulling the scarf.

The other ones are done by me , I took these pictures when set a task. I chose these four out of many because  I  like that they are very abstract, I  also like them because they are of ordinary things  i.e a puddle or ivy on a wall but they look rather different .

The flower and the metal hook are taken when changing the aperture . By changing the aperture of the shot of the flower, the flower is now very in focus .

Abby

One of the studio pics of Becs

Ivy and wall

The puddle

Sometimes it’s great just to get out and make some pictures.

This was the first weekend for ages when we had no portrait sittings or a wedding to shoot  ( I am not complaining!)

Looking out of the studio I could see the mist lifting and the most fantastic  late afternoon  light over Bowness bay. Golden.

Here is a selection of some of the images.

I hope you enjoy them and please leave a comment.

Our special Christmas Gift Packages are now available again !

This year we’ve put together some great portrait offers for you to either treat yourself with or buy as the ultimate family experience for friends and loved ones….

All packages can be purchased over the telephone and we’ll send out a beautiful voucher with wording of your choice.

Christmas Gift One

Photography session and framed and mounted desk-top portrait £170 (normally £190)

Christmas Gift Two

Photography session and 12×8 inch framed and mounted portrait £260 (normally £290)

Christmas Gift Three

Photography session and a contemporary, box-framed canvas portrait £370 (normally £420)

Christmas Gift Four

Photography session and two 14×10 box-framed canvas portraits £375 (normal price £425)

Christmas Gift Five

Photography session, framed and mounted desk-top portrait plus a beautiful14x10 inch (print size) wall mounted portrait £385 (normally £445)

Christmas Gift Six

Photography session, framed and mounted 18×12 portrait and 12×8 framed and mounted portrait £555 (normally £635)

Christmas Gift Seven

Photography session and a classic, 30×20 canvas wrap portrait £645 (normally £745)

So Don’t worry about what to get your loved ones…………..

did somebody mention christmas?

Jojo has joined on student placement this week.  Her Dad is a photographer too, specialising in location and landscape photography accross the whole of Britain although he likes taking photographs nearer to home in The Lake District. Pick up a post card next time you are visiting and it’s likely it would have been shot by Jojo’s Dad!)

Jojo has joined us because she is much more interested in Portraiture and today she worked alongside us taking photographs of Issy and Mary.

Like James and Frankie our previouse students, Jojo has lot’s of energy and is very excited to be with us. She might go on to make a career out of photography but isn’t sure yet.

She is the third of four students we have booked in this month and I was worried about filling each students time with meaningful tasks (and also how much of mine would be taken!)

And the truth is that it is a little time consuming but in a GOOD way. The payback for giving up some time for us here at the studio is to have some fresh ideas and new eyes around the place and to be reminded how exciting it is to be a photographer.

Anyway….as in the way of these things I was musing over this and thinking about that and how it is intersting to see the world through the eyes of others and then I was fumbling with a quote from Sontag or Berger or Adam about how the camera makes the world new (?) you get the idea…..when my inbox pinged and an artist friend of mine left me this quote:

”  To see what’s here, finally to look and to know you’re looking, to feel time passing, to be alive to what is happening in the smallest regions of motion. “(Don Delillo)

In the past 10 years, I’ve worked in two very busy and successful portraiture studios. The two photographers I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside, (the latest being the lovely Russell !) are extremely gifted at creating beautiful portraits of children and their families.

However, one thing that has always stood out to me is that most of our clients are the parents of young children and babies. Not that I’m complaining ! It’s lovely to be part of a photo-shoot with a newborn baby and doting parents. A real joy, in fact.

But for some reason, teenagers and older children seem to be a bit thin on the ground… Is it because, for the parents, the novelty of having children has worn off ?!  Or is it the reluctance of the kids themselves to get in front of the camera ?

I’ve two daughters myself, now in their late teens and, from time to time, I arrange to have their portraits created – perk of the job! I think they were about 13 and 14 when it first hit me… I looked at the screen and saw before my eyes the women they were yet to become. It was a strange feeling. My two daughters, still “children” yet something in their faces showed what was not yet visible to the naked eye. The camera had caught what I had failed to pick up on !

Our children are as we ourselves are….a work in progress. It’s good to keep a record of the whole journey.

www.russellcolmanphotography.com

Take a look at some of “our teenagers”…

Becky

Finn and Mimi

Kirsty

Josh and Ollie

Ruby's 16th birthday

The Barnes brothers