So you’ve had a lovely time at your photo shoot and now you are sitting in your viewing session trying to decide which photos you would like and how to display them. I’ve been there myself so I know how it can be so hard to narrow down to just a few, and it’s tempting to say “I want them all!”. You also may not have the space to hang all the images you love on the wall, or perhaps your family can’t agree on the best photo, so what better solution than to have all your favourites in an album?

We are very pleased to unveil our brand new style of album, which is already proving to be a big hit with our customers. It can come with a black or a white cover and with it’s luxurious, thick textured pages and high quality prints, it really does justice to the beautiful photographs you will cherish for years to come. We offer various sized albums and depending on how many images you wish to use, you can have an image per page or multiple apertures in different layouts, but don’t worry, we can give lots of help and advice along the way! As you can see, the photos below speak for themselves.

Amy

www.artisstudios.com

Berkshire portrait photographer, Ascot family photography

We had such a successful collaboration with our local vets back in 2009, that we felt that it was about time to update there Pet Photography Book with some more photos of their customers. So to raise money for a very deserving charity, The Cinnamon Trust, we are offering all pet lovers registered at Sunninghill Vets the chance to have a great photo taken with you and your pet in exchange for a £25 donation to charity. This gets you a £115 gift voucher to spend at our studio, which covers you for either a studio or location shoot, and then your favourite photo as a print.

This is available to all Sunninghill Vet’s customers. If you are not already registered with them, as an extra incentive to join they are also offer any new members a free health check to give you and your pet a chance to meet the vets and friendly team! They offer the highest quality medical care and a really personal caring service. For more info, have a look on their website at www.sunningvet.co.uk.

These vouchers will be available from the vets from now and must be used before August 31st, 2013. Head over there to pick one up, or give them a call on 01344 299899. For more info on the photo shoot and what the voucher gets you, have a look at our Promotions Page or give us a call on 01344 870033.

To get something a bit different for the vets to have up on their walls we did a special shoot with Hector the dog and Gladys the rabbit. Now many said that we were mad to try it, but have a look at some of the results as well as a few other favourite pet photos from the last year.

Disclaimer: No rabbits were even close to being harmed in the making of these photos, thanks to the wonders of photoshop! (Besides, it was Gladys who was chasing Hector!)

Kat

www.artisstudios.com

Sunninghill Vets Photographer, Berkshire Pet Photography

One of my favourite things about retouching is when we get in a restoration. I can take an old or damaged photograph and return it to it’s former glory! Not only does it often provide a different challenge for me in terms of retouching, but I can take great satisfaction in knowing that those memories can be passed on through the family and preserved for many more years to come. Personally, I am very interested in my own family history, and seeing photos of my great great grandparents is fascinating. I cannot stress enough the importance of saving these images, as the longer they are left the more they can deteriorate, and therefore harder to restore.

Some photographs I have recently worked on came from a lovely gentleman from Belfast, whose wife has sadly passed away. Some were from their wedding day, and another was more recent, but they were varied in terms of the work needed.

The image above started out quite faded, but all that was required was a simple clean up of dust and specks, a boost of contrast and change to true black and white. As it was also being enlarged I sharpened it slightly.

This image was slightly more complicated in that in addition to the usual clean up, there was also some heavy creasing across the photo, and so detail had to be reconstructed on the cake and also the groom’s face.

This is a much more recent photo but out of the three was one of the most complicated, as it was requested that the husband was taken out so it was a photo of just his wife. Again, some reconstruction was involved along with some clever cropping! I also did a full version of the image in which the date in the lower right of the photo was removed.

Our happy customer wrote us a great testimonial saying, “I, no doubt, could get this work carried out here in Belfast but being aware of your professionalism and expertise I know I can be confident of your workmanship.”

So as you can see there is a lot that can be done to improve old photographs, whether it’s a simple clean up and enlargement, or removing people and objects, and reconstructing areas. If you have any photos that are in need of some TLC then please feel free to pop into our studio. We can take a look and make some suggestions as to what can be done.

Amy

I am lucky enough to do a job that I love and everyday I get to meet new and interesting people and work with them to produce some really great photo shoots.

I have put together some of my favourite images from the year but this was by no means an easy task and there are too many favourite moments to choose from.

Nevertheless here is a run down of my 10 favourite images from 2012.  They are presented in no particular order, it was harder enough to narrow down just to 10 let alone pick a favourite!

1.  I had a brilliant shoot with Lily and her younger brother in Savill Gardens, Virginia Water back in the Spring.  Both kids were fantastic, well behaved and completely gorgeous!  This photo does not do justice to how pretty Lily is, but I love the innocence of this photo.  We had tonnes of brilliant shots from this shoot but this was one of those moments where I found a great spot, in great lighting and the rest just happened naturally! Her trusty teddy bear tends not to leave her side but that’s what makes the photo even more endearing.

2.  This was one of those moments in a shoot where everyone involves just thinks “YES!!” knowing that we not only nailed the shot but even exceeded our expectations.  These dogs were fantastic in their shoot and you wouldn’t believe just moments before they were running around the room like maniacs.  With the help of their owner (a veterinary nurse who knows how to handle her dogs) and a lot of patience we waited for the dogs to tire themselves out before attempting a ‘cuddly, sleepy’ photo.  Equally what makes this photo great (especially for the owners) is that little Milly, a Jack Russell x chihuahua puppy, refuses to settle down despite being knackered!

4.  This is a shot from a recent shoot with one of our returning families who periodically return to us to have professional photos of their children.  The kids were at brilliant ages (3 years and 6 years old) and we had a lot of fun in the shoot.  I particularly love this shot during a game we were playing where you can just see the kids conspiring against mum and dad.  This was one of the parents favourites too as it captures exactly who they are at this age!

4. With this shoot we really wanted to capture this students personality and interests.  Adriana was really interested in travel and nature so a location shoot was the perfect choice.  After doing various photographs for well over an hour, we chatted lots and got to know each other.  I found out that she was really adventurous and known by her friends as the one who will give anything a try.  We found this brilliant tree with really intricate branches and she was completely up for climbing it for some brilliant photos. I boosted the light source in the background to give an ethereal feel to the scene and it made the perfect photo for Adri who is originally from Venezuala.

5.  This little man is one on our very popular cherubs scheme.  Mum and Dad brought some fantastic props and outfits along for his 2nd cherubs photo shoot and although there were lots great shots to choose from, I love George in this one!  I love trying to find props and styles that complement fancy dress on children and I think the high back chair and his natural, pointy fringe makes him one of the cutest little vampires ever!

6. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with renowned animal psychologist Dr Roger Mugford at his ‘Company of Animals’ farm earlier this year.  I was asked to photograph his many pets that he has and absolutely loved all the animals on Rogers farm but especially the little lambs.

This perfect moment happened rather unexpectedly as we were walking through the farm, approaching what seemed to be a standard child’s play house, before I knew it a little lamb curiously popped his head around the door and I discovered Dr Mugfords housing situation for his orphaned lambs.  Luckily I was all set to go and captured this brilliant moment with this curious lamb.

7. Although I predominantly do portrait photography, I still shoot a lot of weddings with Kat to keep my skills honed in that area.  When it came up I relished the chance to do a wedding styled shoot in the studio. This lovely couple never got the professional photos they wanted at their wedding so wanted to get some done afterwards.  I love the feel of this photo and although we occasionally drape the vale over our couples at weddings, its much easier in the studio when you do not have the wind to contend with.  I have applied a subtle yellow/red toning to the image to give it a vintage, classic feel to a very romantic image!

8. As families get older many people forget or can’t find the time to get everyone together for a photo shoot.  However I find that sometimes when siblings and family members have busy, hectic schedules some of the best moments are captured when they all get together for a photo shoot and just relax and have fun.  Here is a brilliant shot of 3 sisters, each have busy schedules that take them all over the globe, who got together for a photo shoot with their parents.  The interaction was brilliant and the parents will cherish the friendship between them that comes across in this shot!

9. This was one of those shoots that had been booked in the diary for a while and there was very little flexibility to move the shoot, so despite the rain we all headed out for an wet, urban shoot.  Luckily for me Seth was fantastic and there was lots of smiling and having fun despite the rain (or perhaps because of it!).  I love this shot because of the classic, grey, british weather contrasted by Seths beaming smile.  We accentuated the rain drops by adding extra sharpening to the shot and desaturating some of the tones.

10. Last but definitely not least is the gorgeous Beau at his second cherubs shoot.  His mum had this fantastic vintage material with 1950′s cars on it.  So to incorporate this into the shoot we had to get him to play peek-a-boo with the fabric which he was brilliant at.  We applied a ‘half sepia toning’ to add to the vintage feel that the fabric gives.

2012 was a fantastic year for us and we have loved every shoot we have done.  We hope to constantly strive to get better and keep doing what we love, creating great photos for people!

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!

Hannah

It’s here again! One of our favourite events of the year, the annual Sunninghill Victorian Street Fayre which will be held this Sunday 18th November from 12 noon – 4pm.  Come on down as the weather is set to be sunny and there is lots to do for the whole family

As always we have some fantastic offers going on.  We will be hosting a stall on the high street where we will be selling our incredibly popular gift vouchers for portrait shoots. For a £25 donation to the local charities, Sebastian’s Action Trust and The Ascot Day Centre, we will give you £115 credit to spend on a photo shoot with Artis Studios – perfect to use to use on yourselves or given as a Christmas gifts.

You can also visit our studio and get a free victorian style facebook photo.  Simply grab your favourite props, have your photo taken, leave us your contact details and we will have your photo on facebook that same evening.

These offers will only be available on the day so don’t miss out! Here are some photos from those that bought a Victorian Fayre gift voucher last year.

Back in August we took on our first (and long awaited) Photography Apprentice.  We have wanted to increase our photography staff for a while to help cope with the demand of our busy portrait business.  After months of recruitment we decided to try to find a photography trainee via the national apprenticeship scheme, and we were not dissapointed by the calibre of people.

We knew almost the moment we met Phoebe that she would fit in well with our studio and 2 months on she has proved to be a great asset.  When trained, Phoebe will be a photographer on our incredibly popular cherubs scheme.  She has been watching all of Hannah’s shoots so far to get a sense of the ‘Artis’ style and has completed several of her own shoots.  We have been really pleased with the results and wanted to share a few on the blog.

Any of our facebook fans will know we are constantly in search of volunteers who have children at the appropriate age for the cherubs scheme (1-4 months, 7-9 months and 12-16 months).  We are still looking for more volunteers for Phoebe to practice on and in return not only will you get a free shoot, but also a free 6″x8″ mounted print.  To sweeten the deal further we also offer a 50% discount on any further products.

Call the studio on 01344 870033 or email kat@artisstudios.com to volunteer.

www.artisstudios.com

Baby photographer, Berkshire family photographer

We are really pleased to announce the return of our popular Portrait Days – free photo shoots on location for one day only.  This time the location is The Oakley Court, Windsor and it will take place on Fathers Day, Sunday June 17th, 2012.

This is a great idea for Fathers Day and you can make a whole day of it by not only enjoying a free photo shoot at Oakley Court, but you can also get 10% off their fantastic Sunday Carvery by booking a shoot with us.  All who dine at the Hotel can also then use their golf course, tennis courts and croquet lawn free of charge.  The perfect day for all Dads!

To take part simply call us to pick your time slot and we will talk you through the rest.

Spaces are limited and this will be the only event of this nature we will be running this year – so book now!   Call 01344 870033 to book or email hannah@artisstudios.com

As much as we love our job, like most people we occasionally need time off! This year I have gotten to enjoy a couple of great days off but inevitably my camera comes out.

Back in February I got to go on my second ever snowboarding trip.  Still being a complete beginner I thought a slightly less crowded, more beginner friendly resort was in order and picked Kranjska Gora in Slovenia.  My other reason for Slovenia is that I had heard that it was great for photographers and Lake Bled was a must see.  I was not disappointed!

My week away consisted of lots of falling, lots of sitting in the snow and a few brilliant days out including a trip to Lake Bled (see below photos) and a european Husky racing tournament (see below).  I loved the end results and even though I put off some of the dogs by practically laying in their path, I think the photos were worth it  My husky photos have done very well in a recent photo competition with one coming second in a snow sports category.

Another day off I had earlier this year that led to an unexpected opportunity, was when I attended a Florence & the Machine gig at Alexander Palace.  I only packed my point and shoot camera (Canon S90 for those who are interested) which is still a fully manual camera, just a lot more compact.  I had a fantastic view point of the stage and loved some of the shots I got, so much so I decided to ‘tweet’ the photos to the bands to show them.  I was honored (and pretty suprised) when a fashion blog requested to use my images instead of the official PR shots in their post about the gig. (Examples below)

So it just goes to show you never know when a great photo moment will arise and it’s always good to be prepared!

Hannah