For the 2nd Cherubs session, we typically shoot on a bright white background and it’s all about the smiles, fun and games. However one of our favourite techniques which we also use in regular portrait shoots is to set them against a darker background and blow bubbles! This is great for a number of reasons. On a grey or black background the lighting we use is more directional and so it’s important to try and keep babies in the same spot by grabbing their attention. The bubbles work brilliantly for this, standing out against the darkness, and often inspires different reactions – one a look of complete awe, and the other of immense excitement as they try to chase and catch the bubbles! Here are some of our favourite bubble shots from recent 2nd Cherubs and kids photoshoots.
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Whilst out walking Jasper recently we bumped into a lovely couple and their dog and got chatting and we invited them in to have some photos taken. They decided to book in for a shoot at the studio with their beautiful two year old rescue Staffie crossed with Rottweiler and Boxer! Although this sounds like a really scary breed, he was quite the opposite! As well as being extremely soppy and docile, he was so well behaved and followed Hannah’s instructions really well – a natural model!
Before they had the shoot the couple commented that their friends would laugh at them for having professional photos taken of their pet. In fact Pet Photography is extremely popular these days as our animals are just as much a part of the family as anyone else. We tend to say that if a photo makes you smile, then why not?
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Over the Christmas holidays we opened for one day to do portraits, and this saw us on a brilliant model shoot at Virginia Water. The ground was still thick with snow and it was a very foggy day. This combined with the good looks of our model in his Led Zeppelin t-shirt produced some fantastically atmospheric images reminiscent of the recent Twilight films.
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What a whirlwind of a year this has been! It’s hard to believe how fast it has gone and we have really enjoyed every moment of it. Of course we have our amazing customers to thank for this, some who return to us again and again and new clients who we hope will come back as well.
It really is lovely to watch families change and grow – couples whose weddings we have shot come back with new additions, and there is also our popular Cherubs scheme which has been revamped and really taken off this year. We love it when we get to look back on all three shoots and see just how quickly the tiny babies have turned into little bundles of energy!
Not only has the studio seen a lot of action, but we have also had the pleasure of photographing some beautiful weddings which have taken us all over the country. This has included a recent snowy Farnham Castle, to a rural themed Summer wedding on a Cambridge farm, and fireworks in Gloucestershire. Kat also won an award for a spur of the moment dance floor shot of the bride and groom at a wedding at Wiston House in Sussex.
Highlights in the first half of the year included hiring our first full time member of staff to help with the ever increasing workload! In April we ran another photography class to help you to get the most out of your cameras. This has proved very popular and we hope to run more next year. Another great success was the portrait day we held on Fathers Day at the Royal Berkshire hotel where we offered free photoshoots within it’s grounds.
We had a very busy summer selling charity vouchers, raising money for the Cheapside and Ascot pre-school and the Diana Brimblecombe Animal Rescue Centre which saw a rise in pet photo shoots for us, both in the studio and on location which are always a lot of fun! However, the most anticipated moment of the summer was an overseas assignment to Sri Lanka where we got some really amazing photos! It was an unforgettable experience.
In the Autumn we were very excited to launch a brand new website which we think looks great! Instead of having one website for all our work we decided to split it into three separate websites for portraits, weddings and cherubs. As well as being a lot easier to navigate we could give each category it’s own branding. For a second year running Sunninghill hosted it’s Victorian Street Fayre which we took part in by selling vouchers. There was a huge turnout with a great atmosphere and we raised over £500 for the Ascot Day Centre and local charity, Sebastians Action Trust.
We had a very busy lead-up to Christmas and after enjoying a well deserved break we look forward to whatever the next year will bring.
Happy New Year!
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