Zara - Portraits of a Princess

There has already been much oohing and aahing today at the beautiful images of Princess Catherine as she tied the knot with Prince William in Westminster Abbey - we wish them both a very happy marriage, which hopefully the media will allow them to enjoy without too much intrusion. But I want to introduce you to another gorgeous princess - Zara - who came into our Lisburn studio earlier this week with her mum Jenny. Zara was a fantastic sitter, playing to the camera in great style - the new Duchess of Cambridge would be well served if she were to ask Zara for some posing lessons! We had a great time together and I had quite a task to pick out a selection of favourites - but here they are for you to enjoy:















Hope you like them,
David

Kayla and Matthew's Studio Portrait Shoot

I can't tell you how much fun I had photographing Kayla and her little brother Matthew - it was an absolute thrill! Shooting children (if I can put it like that lol!) is always a real scream but these two bundles of joy were simply great to work with. I've picked out just a few of the wonderful images we made, and the first one shows just how well they got on together - much to the surprise of Mum and Dad, too:

Gallagher Family Portraits

It's a good bet that during the week I'll be shooting a family portrait or two, often more. When the whole family comes together for a shoot, whether it's in the studio or away on location, it's a great opportunity to create something really special that will add significantly to a family's artistic pictorial history. Even as I'm shooting, I can imagine the images we're creating being studiously admired in another 70 or a 100 years - just as today we enjoy looking back on the old photos we all have around our homes, some of them on display in ornate frames, others perhaps stashed in a suitcase in the attic.

The Gallagher family visited the studio a little while before Christmas and I'm grateful to them for granting permission for me to show some of their pictures here, starting with this beautiful shot of the whole family (without doubt one of my favourite images from a busy 2010):



This image of the girls is a thoroughly modern arrangement - don't think I have any old family photos in the attic that were posed like this. I wonder what future generations will make of it:



Here are the boys in a rather more traditional pose:



And finally, mum and dad showing the closeness they've shared down the years:



A lovely family and a real joy to photograph,
David

The Three Beautiful Hogan Girls

Our great friends Siobhan and John asked me to photograph their three beautiful daughters recently. I've known each of the girls since they were babies and the girls are very close friends of our sons. So it was a real privilege to have the opportunity to create some gorgeous portraits for them. Here is just a brief glimpse of the images we made, starting with Aiobhinn, Orna and Chiara together on a lakeside jetty:












David

Making A Splash

I took this image on a recent afternoon walk with the family at Emy Lough in County Monaghan. The boys took a spontaneous paddle in the lough with a couple of friends. I love the way this shot captures Finn's sense of enjoyment - it exudes something about childhood that I think everyone will recognise:

David

Aoife's First Communion Portraits

After a short break in England, I returned to the studio today. A busy schedule was rounded off with a wonderful First Communion portrait session. Aoife was lovely to photograph, posing beautifully in the studio, and then outside where the shutters on a neighbouring unit gave us a modern twist on what is usually a fairly traditional-looking shoot:

Well done, Aoife, for being great fun to work with,

David

June - Family Portrait Month

June is nearly upon us and that means it's time for Family Portrait Month. Throughout the month, we're offering a reduced session fee - down from £75 to just £25 - for all family sittings. Whether you choose to have your pictures taken in the studio, at home or on location is entirely down to you. And with print prices starting at just £15 now is the time to stop putting off your family portrait and book yourselves a session.

Call NOW on 9267 0620 or email info@davidlesterphotography.co.uk - we know you won't be disappointed!

This offer may not be used in conjunction with other offers, nor is it redeemable for cash. Normal studio conditions apply.

Finn's Portrait

Every now and again I like to put a family image up on the blog, and here's the latest. This is my youngest son Finn and as he likes to tell everyone he's four and a half, not four! This shot was taken a couple of weeks ago, at our home in Glaslough, Co Monaghan, and shows Finn taking some much needed rest and recuperation during a lull in his long-running battles with various Pokemon characters:

David

Katie's Portrait Shoot

Katie came in for a portrait session last week and we had a great time capturing a range of naturally lit images in my new studio. Softly diffused daylight streams into this room and, as you can see, it has lent an amazing sparkle to Katie's already beautiful eyes.

This was only the second time I'd photographed in this part of the studio and I'm really excited about the results - can't wait to shoot more in there!

Hope you like them, Katie, and I look forward to sharing the other shots with you soon,

David

Lily and The New Logo

For a little time I've been toying with the idea of getting myself a new logo and thanks to the excellent team at TK Consultancy in Lisburn (otherwise known as my new next door neighbours) I'm delighted to announce that I now have one. This is its initial outing and I can think of no better image for it to adorn than this lovely portrait of my beautiful niece Lily.

Three More Shots of Orlaith

As promised, I'm posting a few extra images from my shoot with Orlaith last week. I'm looking forward to sharing all the finished images with Orlaith's family very soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy having these to look at online:









I got some excellent news this morning which I'll be announcing here in the next few days, so do come back soon to hear all about it,
David

Orlaith's Portrait Session

Just enough time before I vanish for a short Easter break to post some pictures from Orlaith's portrait session this afternoon. We had a real giggle and made some wonderful images together. I'll post a few more soon but here's two to be getting along with for now:






Happy Easter,
David

Special Offer

I'm pleased to report that the Ulster Star published a short feature on David Lester Photography, following the gold image award I obtained from the SWPP recently. I hope plenty of people saw it and look forward to welcoming new customers as a result.

If you did see the feature and are thinking about having that portrait you've been putting off, let me tempt you in with a 10% discount off any portrait shoot if you book your session to take place before the end of April 2010.

David

Gold Award Images

Wow, today has been a great day! I've just learned that one of my images has won a prestigious Gold award from the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) in their most recent monthly print competition. The image is of baby Joseph and here it is for you all to enjoy:



The shoot with Joseph was a lot of fun and it must have brought out the best in me because the image below was also awarded a Gold at the turn of the year while I was in the process of moving my business over to Northern Ireland. As I didn't get to post it then, I'm taking this opportunity to do so now. It's a little more serious than this month's winning image but still very cute all the same:



It's not all baby photos here, though. My work also gained 2 silver awards this month, in the 'Pets' and 'Contemporary Weddings' categories. If you'd like to put yourself forward for my next competition panel call the studio now to book your session on 028 9267 0620 - you never know, you may be a gold winner, too, like Jospeh.

David

Emma's Portrait Shoot

On Monday this week, Emma came in for a portrait session and we set out to create a variety of looks. Here's a selection of the images we made - I think you can see from this set that we achieved what we set out to achieve:















Emma was great fun to work with and looks great in these shots - that killer look in the last image was achieved by placing her boyfriend, Alex, in her line of sight. As you can see, it worked a treat. Thanks for being such a great model, Emma.
David

Gemma

A few weeks ago I posted an image of Gemma and promised to upload several more. Well, here they are - half a dozen shots of Gemma looking truly radiant. Gemma and I didn't have much time on this session but, despite a strong wind that played havoc with her hair, we came up with some wonderful images. I hope you like them:

I think you'll agree Gemma has a great look and I'm looking forward to working with her again soon,

David