Choosing the perfect style
With so many different styles of portrait and family photography available these days, you’re probably finding choosing a photographer for your perfect portrait quite a difficult decision.
In this blog, I explore why we like to take portraits, why we should be looking for the best, and why you would ultimately choose a fine art photographer such as myself.
Why do we take so many photographs?
Whether it’s the constant snapshots we take on our phones or printed images from decades ago, we all like to spend time looking back through photographs of our nearest and dearest. . These in themselves are often enough to evoke an emotional response in us, the viewer. It sends you back in time to the moment of the captured image and can often spark further memories to create that lovely warm feeling of being in the moment with the person or people in the shot. Photographs bring to us closer to old memories of happier times, and allow us to re-live moments of care and affection between loved ones.
What it means to have a quality photograph to look back on.
Although we are surrounded by digital images all day, everyday, there is something about that photograph we have taken the time to print out which stirs emotions in us as humans. The fact that it’s physically there in front of us, we can touch and feel it, makes it highly valued, even in this digital age. A high quality printed image allows us to bypass any distraction we may face with lesser quality images – either the focus distracts us where it isn’t necessary, or the depth of the image pulls your eyes away from the subject, so you are not focused on what matters. It provides you with a forever photograph to share in the present and, of course, pass on to generations to come.
What makes a Fine Art portrait so special?
By choosing a Fine Art Family Photographer, your experience from beginning to end is one of exceptional quality. Fine art photography is about more than a simple photo. The whole premise is that the image is put together, styled and created by the photographer as an artist, not just by the camera. The creative process involved, centred specifically around each individual, is designed to capture a mood, emotion or idea or enhance a particular element of the subjects character. Careful thought and planning goes into creating the style of each shoot, with plenty of input from the family, in order to produce the maximum impact in the final images. It is usual to spend several days working on each photograph to achieve the high end finish of your beautiful fine art portrait.
“The camera need not be a cold mechanical device. Like the pen it is as good as the man who uses it.
It can be the extension of mind and heart…”
John Steinbeck
My passion for Portraiture
It comes from within, my desire to use my creative skills to give you lasting memories. And, possibly more importantly, from my own family. My father, as a lecturer in graphic design at Stockport College, shared with me his love of unpicking how superb images are put together, all the little elements that others may miss. More recently, my beautiful twin girls have been my muse in exploring this particular branch of photography. I hope I can bring you the same joy the images of my girls have given my family and friends.