We love it when kids raid the dressing up box before they come in for their portrait shoot and have recently had some brilliant ensembles passing through our doors! It’s a great excuse for parents to buy the outfits, and they can be bought along to add another element to the session. When children are dressed up in their special costume they have an air of confidence that really shines through in the photos.

Not only is it perfectly fitting for the Halloween season, but it’s also a lovely idea to use the photos to make cute Christmas cards. If you would like to have your own cards made, it’s best to allow plenty of time to have your photo shoot, and for the cards to be designed. We could recommend coming for your shoot at least 3 weeks before you need to send your cards out.

Here are some of our favourite costumes to inspire you!

We often get asked to photograph large groups of people, especially when families get together. It’s often quite difficult to get your relatives in one place at the same time, and so a family photoshoot is a really great way to capture these moments.

Whilst we can do large group shots in our studio (typically about 8 adults maximum), it’s also really nice to go on location. The benefits of this are that you can choose to go somewhere really special to you, and kids tend to feel more relaxed in a familiar place. Also we are not limited in terms of space and can really utilise the surroundings to create interesting set ups and poses.

As the holiday season tends to be the one time of year when families visit each other, we always open for one day between Christmas and New Year so that families don’t miss out before their relatives go home. This year we’ll be available for shoots on Friday 30th December.

Something to bear in mind if your shoot involves very young children – don’t have too many different combinations of poses in mind, as whoever is last on the list may get some very grumpy looking kids! It is best not to push them too hard all in one shoot, and instead maybe have an extended family shoot on one day, and then an immediate family shoot on a different day where we can also focus on nice individuals, siblings together etc. Once you are customers of ours, all shoots become 1/2 price so its not going to cost the earth and you will get much stronger photos for both the extended family and yourselves.

Berkshire portrait photographer, family photographer

We’ve been keeping busy this summer with lots of location shoots.  However, you have probably noticed the weather has been somewhat unpredictable.  This can be a concern for those on our cherubs scheme as the third shoot is on location.

Most people envisage a location shoot outdoors, however we have gotten some fantastic results photographing indoors.  Shooting indoors has many benefits; we don’t need to worry about our unpredictable British weather, there is much more lighting control indoors giving some fantastic results and kids and their parents are often more comfortable being photographed in their home environment!

When shooting in homes especially, we are able to incorporate kids toys, get great smiles by letting them do things they wouldn’t normally be allowed to (jumping on the bed), play peekaboo using the couch and create family photos without mum and dad having to leave the couch.

So when scheduling your location shoot, don’t just think outdoors at a park.  Some of our most interesting shoots have been indoors at customers homes, relatives houses and hotels. This way we don’t need to worry about the weather!

Over the summer we have been running our popular Kids of Sunninghill scheme in which for a £20 donation to Sebastian’s Action Trust, our customers can have a photoshoot and their children featured in our Kids of Sunninghill coffee table book. All photoshoots have taken place on location in the local area, which is great not only for portraying a snapshot of a generation, but showing the Sunninghill area at a particular point in time.

However, we have had some customers who really wanted  a session in our studio, and so we came up with the brilliant idea of combining shoots! This can be a real bonus for both us, and the client. We get to spend more time with their children both in the studio and on location which is great for forming bonds with them. When the customer comes to view their photos, we can combine both shoots so they can view them at the same time. We can offer a wider choice of photos as well as the customer being able to benefit from both our regular, and our Kids of Sunninghill packages.

Here are some recent families who opted to do both Kids of Sunninghill and a regular portrait session. The first family had two very energetic shoots in the studio and then in South Ascot where the boys showed off their BMX skills! With the second family we got some lovely sibling shots at Victory Fields.

If you would like to participate in Kids of Sunninghill, it’s not too late! We are running the scheme until the end of August so please call our studio on 01344 870033 for more information.

www.artisstudios.com

Kids of Sunninghill, Berkshire portrait photographer

We often get enquiries about photographing large groups of friends in our studio, often for a birthday party or graduation celebration. As there has been such a demand recently we have decided to add portrait parties to the packages we already have on offer. So far they have proved to be really successful and a lot of fun!

For our most recent portrait party, Scarlett decided that for her birthday she would bring in seven of her best friends for a shoot. They were able to play their own music through our iPod speakers to help create that party atmosphere and make the experience their own. We got some lovely group shots which we’re sure she’ll look back on with some great memories, and also some stunning individual shots of the girls. They had a brilliant time striking their best poses!

Portrait parties are a great way to celebrate birthdays, hen nights etc. or just an excuse to have a great time with your friends! For £150, you and up to seven friends will have  1 and 1/2 hours in our studio and this includes an 8″ x 12″ print of your favourite group shot for the main organiser, and each guest will receive a 5″ x 7″ copy of that photo. In addition to this everyone gets an individual shot of themselves which they can use on their Facebook profile. We provide sweets and music but if you would rather bring your own music we have a CD player and iPod dock. For that extra special touch, the Nail & Body Zone offer a special rate for our parties if you would like to have your hair and makeup done too!

If you would like more information or would like to book your own portrait party, just give us a call on 01344 870033.

Here are some of our favourite photos from some of our portrait parties!

www.artisstudios.com

Portrait party photography, Berkshire portrait photographer

For location shoots, we love to take photos at the client’s house, however a common concern is that their home isn’t photogenic enough! This really is rarely the case and we can usually get great photographs in any home. The best thing is that the shoot will be really personal to them, and being in a familiar place can make it a much more relaxing experience for the customer.

This Kids of Sunninghill shoot is a great example of how we can get beautiful photographs home. Like others before her she was also worried that her house would not look interesting enough for the photos. We visited a few different locations with them, and when it came to the ordering session, mum and dad’s favourite photos were the home ones!

We really enjoyed the shoot as this family are a local client who have been coming to us for a few years now. They took part in the Cherubs baby club for their first child, and have just started it again with their new addition. They really wanted their children to feature in the charity Kids of Sunninghill book, and so they also signed up to this new scheme!

It was a really fun shoot and we really managed to capture the personalities of each of their children well. Their 3 year old son was really active and boisterous throughout, playing with his toy swords. In a complete contrast we got some very sweet photos of his baby sister playing in amongst some yellow flowers, and these are the two that will end up in our Kids of Sunninghill book.

www.artisstudios.com

Berkshire Portrait Photographer, Baby Photographer

Bookings for our exciting new Kids of Sunninghill project are now coming in thick and fast, and we’ve been very lucky with all the fantastic weather we have had recently. This particular shoot was a real pleasure to photograph as they are a previous customer of ours who are always incredibly supportive of local charities, and so when we told her about Kids of Sunninghill she was eager to sign up straight away!

We photographed her three children in and around their stunning home in Sunningdale. Their garden had lots of different aspects to it and so it was really easy to find interesting places to photograph. As well as many group shots we also ventured inside and photographed them individually in their bedrooms which provided a little glimpse into their interests and personalities. We are doing a special offer for Kids of Sunninghill customers for a 20 page book of images, which appealed to them as there were so many images they loved that they just could not cut down!

www.artisstudios.com

Berkshire Portrait Photographer, Ascot Portrait Photographer

We are lucky enough to do a job that we not only love, but one that brings many amazing opportunities.

This month we were invited to Madrid by some former clients to do a 3 day family lifestyle photo shoot.  They were so pleased with the photos we provided them whilst they were in the UK, they flew us out to add a new chapter to their photo collection. The Paris family moved to Madrid 2 years ago and wanted us to capture their time there before they flew back to the states.

We really wanted to do a shoot that would summarise their 2 years in Madrid and to create a shoot that would be really unique and personal to them.

This involved a busy 3 day schedule including:

Land in Madrid and off to capture their sons last football match held at a very exclusive Reebok centre,

Photograph the daughters last gymnastics practice,

Spend a day taking the family to their favourite spots in Madrid,

Photographing the family in their beloved (albeit empty) apartment with the last of their personal items,

Edit all the images in time for a viewing session before rushing to the airport to fly back.

Although it was a whirlwind trip we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and loved taking the time to get to know the family.  By living with them for 3 days we really got to know the kids personalities and they became really comfortable with us, resulting in fantastic, fun, really natural photos.

We love lifestyle shoots and hope to encourage these full day shoots in the UK too.  For us it’s a real honour to be invited into families lives and to photograph moments that will last for generations.

www.artisstudios.com

International Portrait Photographer, Madrid Portrait Photographer

When people consider pet photography, they tend to think of the dog first and forget about the cat thinking it an impossible task. Hopefully these photos will prove them wrong!

We have a lovely lady who we first met last summer when she began breeding Burmese kittens, and has decided to come to us regularly for a new photoshoot for every litter her cat has. The latest was a really cute litter of six. It was a crazy hour or so in the studio with kittens running rampant and all hands to the deck – including those of our bookkeeper! One of the best setups we find is to line them up on a fairly high plank to try and deter them from jumping off (although this doesn’t always work!) and then catch their attention with cat toys. It often means photographing two or three cats at a time and then cleverly stitching them together in Photoshop later. We think it’s a great idea and once all the kittens are sold she will have a stunning wall piece  to remember them by.

In general cats can be quite timid creatures and if yours is one of those then don’t be put off! For cat photography we can always shoot on location and come to your house so that they can stay in their familiar surroundings, so don’t worry about being limited to the studio. As you can see below we can get gorgeous photos of your cat both in and out of the studio, as long as they feel at ease.

www.artisstudios.com