Here are a few images from a recent shoot with Leicester Prep School, Stoneygate College. And yes, they’re of the lovely Claudia (you have to admit she’s a pretty good model and model release is never a problem). I’ve always been a great believer that school and nursery photography doesn’t have to be mottled backgrounds and pasted on smiles – so give the pictures a modern look whilst making it enjoyable and painless for the children – as well as myself. I was surprised to count the other day that I will have done over 30 nursery and school shoots by the end of this year and hope to build on this success into next year.

I stumbled across this blog about archive images from the BBC’s Face-to-Face series that was originally aired between 1959-1963. I’d seen footage of the cringy Hancock interview and a few others before but the stills work well on their own, particularly the darkened studio shots with the isolated lighting on the subject. The Martin Luther King image is also interesting as he’s almost framed by the statue and producer.

I’m really excited to tell you that I now have the use of an excellent new studio facility on the Queens Road in Leicester for family and children’s portrait photography. It’s an old school hall with more space than I know what to do with! It can hold multiple backdrops, has a full professional lighting set up, a waiting area with leather chairs and dedicated changing/make-up room. There’s also plenty of private parking behind the building.

It’s absolutely ideal for families in Leicestershire that want professional portrait photography at reasonable costs in a relaxed and informal environment.

I shall be open for business at weekends and evenings when most portrait customers want to book but also during the week (all subject to availability of course). Studio portrait sessions last approximately one hour and please call 07739 035923 or email nick@osbornephotography.co.uk if you’d like a full pricelist or to book your session. You can also see a description of portrait products I offer here.

I’ve been keeping busy throughout November and December with, amongst other things, lots of nursery shoots. To be accurate, 12 nurseries shot over three weeks with over 400 children and 100 staff.

Despite a few hiccups out of my control, like my computer giving up in week one and no post getting to my printers in Mansfield for a week due to snow(!),  we’re on course to get all products back well before Christmas. A big thank you to all of the nurseries involved if you’re reading this. And a special mention to some of the parents at Broughton Astley Tots Group for offering and granting model release to enable me to add to my nursery gallery, much appreciated.

I’m always keen to try different looks created by new lighting set ups. I was pointed towards this interesting blog by Swedish photographer, Stefan Tell (thanks Mark from Decoder) and had to experiment with the two-light set up with black background – with my first attempts above.

Revisiting this for a second session, we thought we’d made it even harder  by having Kate wearing a black dress and other dark clothes! Getting the separation of the head and clothes from the background proved to be the biggest challenge as there’s the balance between getting your separation and light seeping on to the background. So, it works for some better than others. You can see these and a few more in this gallery.

I think a more directional light (snoot or grid) is probably needed to ensure that the backlight remains on the head and shoulders. I shall try that next time round but for all of these I used the softboxes I have. This simple and effective look would certainly suit corporate profile shots…

I’ve been looking into portable lighting options using my existing Speedlite and was recommended the Lightsphere II system the other day by a very enthusiastic Canon representative during a mentoring session in the Nottingham Calumet store (I took even more notice as it’s not even a Canon product). He explained how an experienced tabloid photographer swore by it and recently managed to get the only great shot amongst the press pack in dreadful light conditions using his Diffuser. It’s a pretty well-known system pioneered by US photographer Gary Fong. They always show you the before and after shots with these products but, being a cynic, I never quite believe the results; so here’s my own test with direct flash, bounce and using the Diffuser. Aside from a tweak of the exposure (and the same applied to all three) these are completely untouched so you can judge for yourselves. For me , there’s no doubting that the Diffuser results in more even light across Katie’s face, more natural skin tones and a more even background.

There are many products out there on the market – the LumiQuest Softbox III for instance – so I’m sure it’s a case of experimentation and finding one that suits you in terms of both portability and end result. In the short term though, I’ll be sticking with my Cloud and Clear Diffusers…