David Calvert Photography

New Blog Address

2009-09-25T17:45:00.007+01:00

We've now moved our blog to something much bigger and better!

With immediate effect, our blog can now be viewed at: www.calvert.biz/blog

Awards Update #2

2009-09-19T12:43:00.007+01:00

Some really fabulous news came in the post today. I learnt that out of 13 images I submitted into the Master Photography Awards (one of the UK’s biggest award ceremonies for professional photographers), 11 of them won Awards of Merit. Merits are awarded to photographs that show high standards in impact, composition, colour management and workmanship. The images are judged by some of the UK’s leading photographers and for them to gain a Merit award, the judges must score an image 80+ points out of 100. I am particularly proud of this result as entering the Master Photography Awards is a good way of getting an accurate assessment on how good the quality of your work is.

Shown above are some of the images that won Merit Awards.

Still on the subject of winners, the editor of ABC Magazine has now chosen the next Cover Star. A huge congratulations goes out to 4 year old Moira from Harpenden! I’m really pleased with the winning photograph, as it has a very different look to previous photographs that have appeared on the cover of ABC Magazine. For the time-being, we are keeping the winning photograph under wraps until it appears on the next issue of ABC magazine, which hits the streets at the beginning of November.

ABC / On Holiday

2009-08-29T17:40:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I photographed the final entrant for our ABC Coverstar competition. The editor of ABC now has the difficult task of deciding who will appear on next cover of ABC magazine (due out in November). As usual, there are a LOT of very strong contenders! Shown above are three lovely children I recently photographed for the competition.

As from September, we start looking for the next Cover Star, so if you would like your child considered to appear on the March 2010 issue of ABC magazine, get in touch! March 2010 sounds a long way off, but ideally we need to get you booked in fairly soon as the forthcoming months are very popular with clients looking to give portrait photographs as Christmas presents. We already have bookings for late September and October.

I am now on holiday for a well-deserved break and the studio will re-open on Monday 14th September. If you need to get in touch, I will hopefully be able to respond to emails fairly quickly, but this may not be possible in the second week as I'm not sure what the web access will be like.
See you soon!

All images and text: Copyright © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved.
David Calvert. Hertfordshire portrait photographer. Family portraits, baby portraits, pregnancy photography.

Awards Update

2009-08-21T10:20:00.004+01:00

As mentioned in my previous posting, our industry is currently in awards season, where wedding and portrait photographers around the country submit their work to The Master Photography Awards, which is one of the UK's largest award ceremonies for professional photographers.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to learn that one of my submissions to the competition has been nominated for a major award - namely the David Mathias Portrait Award. I'm no stranger to this category as I have been nominated for this award twice before and won the category outright in 2007, so I'm very pleased to be nominated for it again!

My wife is particularly pleased with my nomination, as she's had her eye on a 'gorgeous' dress and this is a great excuse to go out and buy it, as she will need something nice to wear at the award ceremony in October. I'm wondering if my dinner suit still fits me...

End of a Busy Week.

2009-08-14T16:50:00.007+01:00

I'm coming to the end of a very busy couple of weeks. The response to our Kodak promotion was very good and we have got some great shots to submit to the competition. Fingers crossed that one of them goes on to win the big prize!

As previously mentioned, we are now in Awards season. Myself and many other photographers around the country have been preparing their images for the Master Photographer Awards (formerly called the British Professional Photography Awards). In past years, I haven't done too badly, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this year. I should know my 'fate' in the following weeks!

Also, I must take this opportunity of thanking my clients for the lovely messages I have recently received from them. Here are a few excerpts:

"I think the photographs of Isobel are brilliant... ...Thank you once again, we both enjoyed the shoot immensely and I was very impressed with your studio and professionalism."

"Everyone appreciated your work as well. I personally liked all photographs, especially the first 6 are amazing, and Myra's one is Awesome."

"Hi David, Just to let you know that the pictures arrived safe and sound this morning. We love them. Thanks a million. x"

"Thank you again for all those wonderful pictures. They were all lovely."

Finally, shown above is a selection of portraits I've recently taken. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

All photographs / text: © David Calvert 2009.

David Calvert. Portrait photographer Hertfordshire, Bishops Stortford, Ware. Family portraits, baby portraits, pregnancy photography

August / September Sittings

2009-08-03T10:23:00.008+01:00

Quick update...

For anyone thinking of entering our fantastic Kodak Awards portrait promotion, at the time of writing this post, I only have two slots available. These being; AM, 7th August and AM, 12th August. After these dates have gone, the promotion will be closed and August will be fully booked. These spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you would like your child photographed for free and would like the chance of winning a cool grand, call me now on 01279 843050.

As for my future availability for portrait sittings, I am now taking bookings for sittings commencing Monday 14th September onwards.

August Sittings

2009-07-27T10:39:00.005+01:00

August looks like its going to be a very busy month! There has been a steady flow of calls to the studio from mums and dads who are eager to take advantage of our latest portrait photography promotions!

August is now fully booked for our ABC Cover Star promotion. The next available slots for this promotion are in September. Sittings undertaken from September onwards will be submitted to ABC magazine for consideration for use on their Spring 2010 issue.

With regards to our Kodak Portrait awards promotion, where you could win £1,000.00, due to a high demand for portrait sittings, I have extended the closing date to 14th August. However, spaces are now very limited and I would estimate that all slots will be filled by the end of this week. Book now to avoid disappointment!

August Portrait Sittings

2009-07-21T18:22:00.002+01:00

Shown above is a lovely little fella called Jude who I photographed a few days ago. Jude's mum took advantage of our great portrait promotion where you could win £1,000.00. If you fancy the chance of winning a cool grand, there is still time for you to enter - but only just. Spaces are now VERY limited. Full details of this great promotion can be seen here .

We are now taking bookings for August. So if you want to get some fabulous portrait photographs of your children during the school holidays, now is your chance! Call us now on 01279 843050 to book your portrait sitting.

Finally, I'm taking next week off for a well-deserved break. However I will be regularly checking my voice/emails and I will respond to them as quick as I can.

All photographs / text: © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved.

School Holiday Portrait Shoots

2009-07-08T12:04:00.002+01:00

First up, here's a photograph of a lovely young lady called Megan who came in for a shoot the other day. Her mum and dad entered her into our ABC Cover Star competition.

Secondly, it won't be long until the school holidays are upon us. Spaces for portrait shoots in the early part of the holiday period are now starting to fill up. If you are looking to have a portrait sitting between late July and early August, I would recommend that you book now, as this time is proving to be popular. Call us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting.

This time of year is competition season for professional photographers, where we get together the best work we've all done over the last twelve months and enter the shots into some high profile competitions - such as the Master Photographer Awards and the Kodak Awards. Trying to predict what the judges will like is always extremely difficult to do, but its always great fun - and an important part of keeping your work at a high standard, as only the very best quality photographs will win.

Talking of the Kodak Awards, remember, there is still time to take advantage of our great portrait photography promotion, where you could win £1,000.00. Full details are here.

All photographs: © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved

Introducing Lily & Juli

2009-07-02T14:03:00.007+01:00

At last I am able to introduce you to Lily and Juli from Watford - our new ABC Cover Stars!

I met these beautiful girls back in April and they were great to photograph. Their win is well-deserved!

The search is now on for the next Cover Star. So, mums and dads, if you have any children aged 6 months - 11 years and live in Herfordshire, they could appear on the next cover of ABC magazine. For full details on how to enter your child into the ABC Cover Star competition, call me now on 01279 843050.

Kids Wanted - Win £1,000.00!

2009-06-30T11:44:00.003+01:00

This is your last chance to win £1,000.00!

For a strictly limited period, we are offering a FREE portrait sitting to photograph your children.

We will submit one image from the sitting into the 2009 Kodak Portrait Awards. If your image is selected as the outright winner of the portrait category, you will win £1,000.00! Runner-up prizes of Kodak digital cameras are also up for grabs.

To qualify for this great offer, your child being photographed must be aged between 0-12 years old. Sittings are undertaken weekdays between 10.00am & 5.00pm.

For every entry made, we will make a donation to PACE, a fantastic charity who help children with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

Spaces are strictly limited and your sitting must take place by 7th August 2009. To book your sitting, call us now on 01279 843050 and mention the Kodak Awards as a reference.

Photographs / text © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved.

Sneak Previews

2009-06-18T16:51:00.006+01:00

Firstly, my apologies to the mums and dads who I told I would a blog a shot from their recent sitting. Its been pretty manic here and this is the first time I've been able to sit down and post up a few shots.

First up is the beautiful 5 year old Myra. She was a pleasure to photograph and we got this absolutely cracking shot of her. I think she looks stunning in this shot. Well done Myra, you did a great job!

Next we have 10 year old Isobel who came in as part of our ABC portrait promotion. As we are now shooting for the Autumn issue, the clothing had to reflect that season - so Isobel wore her warm coat. Not an easy thing to do when it was rather hot in the studio already!

Finally we have another Isobel. Indeed, the third Isobel I've photographed in the last week! She was fabulous during the shoot - happily chatting away to herself. Her eyes were gorgeous and she had eyelashes a lot of women would kill for!

Just a quick reminder about our current portrait photography promotion. All studio portrait sittings for up to 5 people are currently half price, plus you get a free 7" print too! To qualify for this great offer, you must have your sitting by the end of June. I still have a few spaces available, but you will need to book sooner rather than later as spaces are going quickly. Call me now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting.

The Great Outdoors.

2009-05-31T17:20:00.004+01:00

As we all know, last years weather was pretty awful. Thankfully, this year is looking much more promising. As a result, I'm trying to do more outdoor shoots. So here's a couple of shots I've done recently. Its been so nice to get out in the lovely weather! If you would like an outdoor portrait sitting, contact me now on 01279 843050 for more information.

Onto the ABC Cover Star competition. I am delighted to tell you that we now have a winner - indeed, two winners! Sisters Lily (4) and Juli (18 mths) from Watford will appear on the next cover of ABC Magazine. Congratulations girls, you are worthy winners! I will post up the winning photograph of them in about 3 weeks time. Thank you to everyone else who entered. I hope you loved your photographs.

We are now shooting for the Autumn issue of ABC magazine, so if you would like your child to be considered for that issue, contact me on 01279 843050 for all the details.

All photographs: © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved.

Kayla

2009-05-20T16:47:00.006+01:00

I thought I'd put up this photograph of a beautiful little girl I photographed today. Little Kayla came in with her mum through the ABC portrait promotion that I'm currently running. During the sitting I got this absolute gem of a shot.

I mentioned in a previous post that I love getting shots of children not smiling, as it captures another side of their personality - and I think this is a classic example of this.

By the way, if you like what you see here, why not become a fan of our Facebook page? You can find us here.

Photograph: Copyright © David Calvert 2009. All rights reserved.

Decisions, Decisions...

2009-05-16T17:53:00.004+01:00

Over the last week, I've had quite a few emails and calls from mums and dads who have entered their children into our ABC Coverstar competition asking if the winner has been chosen. At the time of writing this, the answer to that question is... no - although I believe Roz, the editor of ABC Magazine is very close to making the final decision.

Its been quite interesting. What normally happens is that the editor compiles a shortlist of her favourites, I send high quality versions of the selected images for her to carefully scrutinise and a winner is chosen. This time around, the shortlist has changed twice and requests to see more shots from the sittings has been asked for. I thought this might happen as all of the children we photographed were fantastic and worthy of appearing on the front cover. As I said in my last post, we are spoilt for choice!

As soon as I am told who the winner is, I will announce it here on the blog - and at a later date, I will post up a shot of the winner.

In the meantime, shown above is the beautiful Amani who recently came in for portrait sitting.

ABC Cover Star Competition

2009-05-04T18:36:00.004+01:00

I can’t believe its nearly a month since my last blog!

April has been a very busy month for portrait sittings – pretty good considering there is supposed to be a recession on at the moment! May is also starting to fill up, which is good.

A very big thank you to all the mums and dads who have entered their children into our ABC Cover Star competition. This time around I’ve had some fantastic children to photograph – probably the strongest line-up we’ve ever had. The editor of ABC Magazine now has the very difficult task of choosing who is going to appear on the next cover. Its not going to be an easy decision as we are spoilt for choice!

If your portrait sitting took place between mid January 09 and May 1st 09, your child’s photographs have now been sent to the magazine for judging. If you have booked an ABC portrait sitting that is due to take place after May 1st, your images will be submitted to ABC magazine in a few months time and will be considered for use on the autumn issue of ABC. If you would like more details on our ABC portrait promotion, please call us on 01279 843050 for details, or contact us through our website.

I’m (sort of) having a break this week, but I will be around to pick up and respond to emails and phone messages.

Finally, I will leave you with just a few of the lovely children I have photographed over the last few weeks.

Lily & Juli

2009-04-06T15:34:00.006+01:00

Quick post today...

I thought I'd show you two absolutely georgeous children who came in for a shoot a few days ago. May I introduce to you the lovely Lily & Juli. The girls mum has entered them into our ABC Coverstar competition and we got some great shots.

Remember, if your child is aged between 6 months and 11 years old and lives in Hertfordshire, they could appear on the next issue of ABC Magazine! For all the details, call us now on 01279 843050.

April Bookings

2009-04-02T10:39:00.008+01:00

April is going to be a busy month for me!

If you are looking to have a portrait sitting during April, spaces are now very limited. If you received a copy of our e-newsletter and want to take advantage of the exclusive offers mentioned, call us now to book your sitting. Spaces are reserved on a first come, first served basis.

These offers are exclusive to people who subscribe to our newsletters. If you would like to take advantage of these exclusive offers, contact us now and we'll put you on our mailing list.

Pictured above is a shot I recently did at a pregnancy portrait sitting. Hope you like it.

(Don't) Smile Please...

2009-04-01T12:18:00.005+01:00

There's one thing I never do during a portrait shoot with children... and that's to tell them to smile. That might sound rather odd, but if you do ask a child to 'smile', you often end up with an unnatural looking cheesy grin - or no smile at all! Getting a photograph of a child smiling because they found something funny is far better. That normally means me having to pull loads of funny faces and making lots of noise!. Shown above is Lily who found my face-pulling most amusing!

After saying that, some of the best photographs I've ever taken are of children not smiling at all. Often when children are not smiling in photographs, you can capture another side of their personaility. As an example of this, pictured below is Izzi who came in with her mum the other day. I got some lovely happy shots of her, but I particularly love this shot of Lily just being herself.

Family Portrait Week

2009-03-16T11:38:00.004Z

We are proud to be associated with Family Portrait Week that starts today.

This is an exciting new concept dedicated to bringing families together to capture a moment that you can keep forever, whilst also raising funds for The Variety Club of Great Britain, one of the UK’s major children’s charities.

By making a donation to the Variety Club, you will be rewarded with a complimentary professional portrait session and 5” x 7” print of your choice. We are one of many qualified members of the prestigious Master Photographers Association who have made this possible by giving our time and materials to create this special gift.

As a thank you for your donation of £25 or more to the Variety Club, you will be issued with an e-Voucher to use with any participating Master Photographer - such as ourselves. The e-Voucher will entitle you to a photographic session and a 7x5 inch mounted print of your choice. The e-Voucher may be redeemed at any time until the end of December 2009. Only 1 e-Voucher may be used per family. Terms and conditions for this promotion can be seen here.

To make your donation and to get your e-Voucher, click here and then call us on 01279 843050 to make your booking.

Official Family Portrait Week website.

David Calvert Photography website.

Little Jeanie.

2009-03-14T18:19:00.004Z

Last Christmas, I had the pleasure of doing a pregnancy portrait sitting for Emma (shown above). The shoot went very well and we got some great shots.

Today Emma was back in the studio with her husband Andy and their wonderful new addition to their family – a lovely little girl named Jeanie.

It was a very productive shoot and Jeanie was fabulous to photograph. The two shots shown below were taken at the very end of the sitting. Jeanie had just had a quick ‘snack’, but the pleasure of a full tummy and a hug with daddy made her drop off to sleep!

Introducing Leon!

2009-03-03T17:02:00.003Z

Well, here’s our next ABC Cover Star!

A big congratulations to Leon from Hertford!

Leon (shown above) and his mum visited my studio last November as part of our ABC Cover Star promotion. We all had a great time during the sitting and he did a fab job. After much deliberation, the editor chose Leon as our winner. Well deserved too!

Shooting for the next cover star has already started. Shown below is 5 year old Morgan who recently came in with her mum. If your child is aged between 6 months and 11 years and lives in Hertfordshire, they could get the chance of appearing on the next cover of ABC Magazine! Remember, the sitting is free and you also get a free print too. For offer details contact us now on 01279 943050.

Is Your Portrait Worth £1,000.00?

2009-02-19T18:13:00.006Z

Shown above is a photograph I took yesterday. Effie, who’s a dancer, asked me to take some new publicity shots of her. Towards the end of the shoot, we thought we’d have a go at photographing some of her dance moves – and this is one of the shots. I’m really pleased with it. Well done Effie!

Onto other things…

I’d like to tell you about our great new portrait photography promotion.

All clients who have a family portrait sitting with us have the chance of winning £1,000.00! We shall submit one image from your sitting into the 2009 Kodak Portrait Awards. If your image is selected as the outright winner of the portrait category, you will win £1,000.00. In addition, for every entry made, a donation will be made to PACE, a fantastic charity who help children with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

On top of that, we are extending our current portrait offer. For a limited period, all studio portrait sittings for up to 5 people are priced at only £9.95. That’s a saving of £40.00!

To book your portrait sitting and for offer details, contact us now on 01279 843050.

New Facebook Business Page

2009-02-14T16:46:00.010Z

Just a quick note today…

On top of my normal website, I now have a Facebook Business Page.

If you are a client of mine and are on Facebook, why not become a ‘Fan’ and leave a message on my Wall? Other Facebook users are welcome to pop over too!

Facebook members can visit my page here.

Its Sooty!

2009-01-29T11:27:00.007Z

Any families with young children who have visited my studio will recognise my 'assistant' in the above photo. Its not unusual for little-ones to sometimes be a bit shy when they come and have their portrait taken. To help break the ice, Sooty introduces himself to everyone and 'helps' to take the photographs. He's very good at getting children to relax and enjoy the experience. Parents find him fun too!

Practical Photography Magazine - the UK's leading photo monthly magazine, have done a feature on a few professional photographers (including myself) on what piece of non-photographic kit they rely on to help their shoots go smoothly. My feature is on my favourite bear. You can see the feature in the current (March) issue of the magazine.

Attenshun!

2009-01-28T11:45:00.003Z

Here’s a shot I did yesterday for a client who is doing a promotion for the forces. The client required three children wearing Army, Navy and Airforce hats. Some of you might notice Paige who’s wearing the RAF hat. She is our current ABC Cover Star. When I received the brief for this shoot, Paige and her little sister Lucy instantly came to mind as being ideal for this shoot. With the help of their schoolmate James, we had the perfect line-up. All three of the children were great to work with and took instruction extremely well. As a result, the shoot went very smoothly. Many thanks to the kids parents, Tony and Andrea for helping me out.

Still on the subject of the ABC Cover Star competition, I am pleased to say that our next winner has been chosen. For the first time in a year, a boy will be appearing on the next cover of ABC Magazine. His name his Leon and he’s 4 years old. Congratulations Leon and a big thank you to everyone else who entered the Cover Star competition. Leon will grace the next cover of ABC magazine which will be out in March.

Still on the subject of ABC, my previous posting stated that entrants had to be aged between 4 and 11 years old. This has now changed. I am pleased to announce that after discussions with the editor, children aged between 6 months to 11 years who live in Hertfordshire can now enter the competition! If you would like your child to be considered to appear on the Summer issue of ABC, call us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting and for offer details. Remember, the sitting is free and you get a free print too!

Winter Portrait Offer / ABC Coverstar Competition

2009-01-14T17:33:00.004Z

I thought I’d tell you about some special offers we have at the moment. All studio portrait sittings between now and the end of January are at a special offer price of only £9.95 (normal price £50.00). Also, if you are having a pregnancy portrait sitting during January, not only can you take advantage of the above offer, but we will also photograph the new addition to your family free of charge! To qualify for this offer, you must have your free sitting within 3 months of your child being born. For full details and to book your sitting, contact us now on 01279 843050.

At the end of last week, we submitted the contenders for our ABC Coverstar competition to ABC Magazine. The editor now has the difficult job of deciding who will appear on the front cover. The winner will be announced soon.

Mums & dads… Would you like your child to appear on the front cover of a magazine? Well here’s your chance! We are looking for beautiful, photogenic children aged between 4-11 who live in Herfordshire to grace the cover of the summer issue of ABC magazine. If you would like your child to be considered to appear on the next cover, call us now on 01279 843050 for full details and to book your sitting. The best thing is that the sitting is free and you get a free print too!

Back to Work!

2009-01-05T17:16:00.006Z

Firstly, happy new year to you all! After what seems an age of doing nothing but eating, drinking and sleeping, its time to get back to work!

I heard last week that Olan Mills – a well known chain of portrait studios located in the UK has ceased trading and gone into administration. Its always sad to hear when a business goes under, but its worse when its someone from your own industry.

I understand that gift vouchers issued by Olan Mills are no longer redeemable and a lot of their customers could lose out on their sitting. Whilst we cannot accept Olan Mills vouchers, we can, in a small way help out. If you are the recipient of an Olan Mills voucher, we will give you a free portrait sitting. This offer is subject to terms and conditions. Please contact us on 01279 843050 for more details.

On a lighter note, do you fancy the chance of winning a cool £1,000.00? Very shortly, we shall be announcing how you can do just that through the 2009 Kodak Portrait Awards. Stay tuned!

Happy Christmas!

2008-12-23T16:15:00.003Z

Well, that’s it for another year!

The last client of 2008 has just collected their photographs. Despite a few very last minute changes to a couple of orders, all deadlines were met and everything went without a hitch. A big thank you to all my suppliers who did a great job getting everything turned around in time. Also a big thank you to my clients for making it a great year for me.

I’m now closed for a well-deserved rest and we shall be re-opening on Monday, 5th January.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas and I’ll leave you with a selection of portraits I’ve taken over the last few weeks.

See you next year!

Choose Film...

2008-12-05T19:05:00.004Z

Firstly, apologies for the delay in updating my blog, I’ve had to give priority to sorting out the large amount of orders I’ve received over the last few weeks.. November turned out to be a very busy month. Surprising really, when the news has been filled with so much credit-crunch related doom and gloom. Thanks to all my clients who have been getting their reprint orders in early. This really helps to ensure prints and framed images are delivered in good time before Christmas.

Had a great shoot on Tuesday, a past client of mine – Mikayla, who’s a dancer came in for some new publicity photographs. Also joining us was make-up artist Chantel Halpin who’s based in Bishops Stortford.

What was different to this shoot was I shot it using film and my Mamiya RZ67 camera. Indeed, this was the first shoot I’ve done using this combination for over two years. Whilst digital cameras produce fantastic results, film has a look and ‘feel’ that digital cameras can’t produce.

Shown on this posting are a few of the shots we did. Because the photographs are shown at a low resolution, you probably won’t be able to see any of the filmic qualities, but believe me, when you see the high resolution versions, the clarity and ‘look’ is amazing.

I’m really going to make an effort to use film more.

Making a Point...

2008-11-08T10:06:00.008Z

The great thing about photographing babies is observing the things that they do. Pictured above is a lovely little boy called James who I photographed a few days ago. He was going through a phase of pointing at things and waving his arms about. Put all these shots together and you get a great record of this lovely boy in action!

Onto something a little different. We are extremely fortunate to be located in some beautiful countryside. The view from my studio door can often be spectacular. Many of my clients comment how lovely the area is and how lucky I am to work here. Only yesterday, I was waiting for a client to arrive and it started to rain. This resulted in an amazingly vivid rainbow. Shown below is that rainbow, plus a couple of shots I've taken over the last year. All of them taken a matter of feet from my front door.

2008-10-31T18:38:00.008Z

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I only have two spaces left for Saturday sittings in November, so if you are thinking about having a portrait sitting done, now is the time to book! Alternatively, we still have spaces for weekday shoots, but at this time of year, these will soon be filled. Call us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting.

Nice week this week, On Wednesday, I was joined in the studio by a young lady called Charlotte who wants to become a photographer. She sat in on a family portrait shoot and I taught her a few post production techniques. One of the shots I took at that sitting is shown above. It was an interesting experience, I've never taught anyone about photography before, but I must say I very much enjoyed it.

Finally, shown below is our first contender to be the next ABC Cover Star. This is 5 year old Jasmine. She was great to photograph and we got some lovely shots of her.

Oh, one other thing... A little message to the 3 people who stole money from my wife's handbag in Bishops Stortford this morning. The police have some very nice images of you - courtesy of the numerous CCTV systems in the town. Expect a visit from the boys in blue soon...

Introducing.... Paige!

2008-10-26T12:26:00.012Z

I would like to introduce to you Paige(11) from Puckeridge! Paige was one of dozens of wonderful children who we photographed over the last 3 months, all of which were contending to appear on the front cover of ABC Magazine. As mentioned in a previous post, the editor of ABC was spoilt for choice as to who she could put on the front cover. But after much discussion, Paige was chosen as the outright winner.

Congratulations Paige, we hope you enjoy your moment of glory!

We are now looking for photogenic children aged between 4-11 who live in Herfordshire for the next issue of ABC. If you would like your child to be considered to appear on the next cover, call us now on 01279 843050 for full details and to book your sitting. Remember, the sitting is free and you get a free print too!

Bookings for November are coming in and slots for Saturday sittings are now very limited. We still have some spaces for weekday sittings, so if you are thinking about giving a portrait as a Christmas gift, now is the time to book. Sittings are at a special offer price of only £10.00 (normal price £50.00). We also have some great offers on reprint multipacks too! To qualify for these great offers, sittings must take place by 15th November. Call us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting!

I also spotted one of my clients on TV the other day. Paul was performing with top singer Katherine Jenkins . I did some publicity portraits for Paul a while ago and we had a great shoot (see shots below). I do a lot of photography for actors, models and dancers and I regularly see my clients pop up on programmes such as Spooks, Hotel Babylon, X-Factor, The Brits and Prime Evil. In the case of Prime Evil, my client - Tom, only had a small but memorable part... He got eaten!

Christmas Portrait Deadlines

2008-10-13T09:36:00.009+01:00

I've been asked by a number of clients what our cut-off times are for Christmas delivery.

The dates are:

Framed prints / Ice Cubes & Blocks / Metro Blocs: Orders must be placed with us by 22nd November 2008.

Loose prints, unframed: Orders must be placed by 6th December 2008. Depending on our printers workload at the time, we may be able to extend this by a few days.

Remember, our special £10.00 sitting fee offer ends on 8th November. Some spaces are still available, so call us now to book your sitting.

Finally, shown above is a shot I took last Saturday of a lovely little boy called Jake. He was wonderful to photograph!

All photographs & text: © David Calvert 2008. All rights reserved.

October Sittings & Awards

2008-10-07T12:33:00.006+01:00

Quick update....

Bookings for October are now coming in and although we still have spaces for weekday shoots, Saturday sittings are very nearly full. We only have a couple of Saturday slots available. In addition, Saturday morning spaces for November are starting to fill up too. If would like to take advantage of our Christmas special offers on sittings and reprints, you need to book now to avoid disappointment. Call us now on 01279 843050 to reserve your space!

Finally, we've just learnt that we've won two more awards! Two of my shots won Awards of Merit in the Under 5's and Contemporary Portrait categories at the British Professional Photography Awards (BPPA) - the UK's most prestigious award ceremony for professional photographers.

Merits are awarded to images who, in the judges opinion are superior in impact, composition, colour management and workmanship. One of the shots that got the Merit award is shown above. This is the fourth year running that I have won some form of award at the BPPA, so I'm rather pleased!

Chistmas Coming Early...?

2008-09-19T16:20:00.010+01:00

I mentioned in my last post about us preparing for our Christmas campaign and how some of us don’t want to be reminded of Christmas so early in the year. I have found it quite interesting that in the last couple of weeks, we’ve had quite a lot of enquiries, bookings and orders placed from clients intending to give portraits for Christmas. Portrait sittings for Christmas has started much earlier this year for some reason. Indeed, only the other day we had a client who did all of their Christmas shopping with us. The family looked rather pleased that it had all been done!

Spaces for October sittings are already filling up, so if you intend to give a portrait as a gift for Christmas, book now to avoid disappointment, as it looks like the next couple of months are going to be very busy! Call us on 01279 843050.

On the ABC front, we received notification from the editor as to who will appear on the next cover of ABC Magazine. A lovely girl called Paige will grace the next cover in November. Thank you to everyone who entered the competition. ABC told me that yet again, they were spoilt for choice, but there can only be one winner! We shall post up the winning image sometime in the next 3-4 weeks.

Finally, less of the talk, here’s a small selection of portraits we’ve taken over the last month.

Greed is Good...

2008-08-29T11:41:00.010+01:00

(sort of) Had this week off, but as usual I ended up doing a spot of work.

Did a great shoot on Tuesday with an operatic company who wanted me to photograph them acting out the Seven Deadly Sins. Here are two from the shoot, namely Greed and Gluttony. All of the cast were great to work with and despite having to do a large number of set-ups, their professionalism meant that we got through everything very quickly.

Also started working on our Christmas campaign. My marketing person Chantal has been very busy designing various things Christmas related. I know it may sound ridiculous having to do this so far in advance of the big day, but we have to get everything in early or we will miss vital copy deadlines that publications put on us.

I appreciate that none of us want to be reminded about Christmas so early, but if you are thinking about giving a portrait as a Christmas gift, it is important that you book your sitting well in advance. Ideally your sitting should take place by the end of October and spaces are filling up already. Based on how busy we were last year, you should book now or in the very near future.

Finally, here’s one more shot that I entered into the British Professional Photography Awards. I absolutely love this image. Its not often you catch an expression like this...

Bad News & Good News.

2008-08-22T16:10:00.007+01:00

Well, I’m coming to the end of an extremely busy week. On the shoot front, we were fully booked. I’ve also had to fit in completing my entries for the Kodak Portrait Awards and preparing images for the editor of ABC Magazine, who now has the difficult task of choosing who will grace the front cover. The top photograph shows the lovely 2 year-old Sophie, who I photographed for the competition this morning.

The bad news is that the 2008 Cover Star competition is now closed. The good news is that after talks with ABC Magazine, we are pleased to announce that we have extended the promotion into 2009! Shooting for the next cover will start almost immediately. This time, we are looking for beautiful children aged between 4 and 11 years old who live in Hertfordshire. For more details on how your child could appear on the cover of ABC Magazine, contact us through our website, or call us on 01279 843050.

Finally, I thought you would like to see a few shots that I’ve entered into the British Professional Photography Awards. These are all taken from commissioned portrait sittings. A huge thank-you to our clients who helped to make these shots look so great.

Happy birthday to me.

2008-08-01T19:26:00.003+01:00

Just realised that its 5 years today that we moved from London to Much Hadham to establish my business. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! I remember the very first sale I did. It was for £2.80. A client from south London needed a slide scanned and I was the only person who he could find that could do the work in the way he wanted. Thankfully, my sales are substantially larger than that now!

I think its fair to say that a couple of my competitors initially wrote me off as not being serious competition to them, but 5 years and numerous national awards later, they soon changed their minds!

So how am I going to celebrate? A big party? No. Just with a take-away curry and a few cans of beer. I'm very easy to please...

Here's to the next 5 years!

Too Hot...

2008-07-26T18:31:00.005+01:00

We've just launched our summer portrait promotion. All studio portrait sittings during August are only £10.00, that's a saving of £40.00! Plus we've got some special offers on our reprint prices too. Visit our website and click on the Portrait Offer button for more details.

Been busy behind the scenes too, I've near enough finished my prints for the British Professional Photography Awards - and they look great. Let's hope the judges think that too! We have also been working other things too, which we will be rolling out in the weeks ahead - such as some subtle changes to our 'corporate ID'. I'm very pleased with the results and the fruits of my designers hard work will soon be revealed!

Last Call to Win £1,000.00!

2008-07-22T09:13:00.002+01:00

Would you like the chance of winning £1,000.00? When you book a portrait sitting with us, we can enter a photograph taken at your sitting into the Kodak Portrait Awards. If your photograph is chosen as the outright winner, you win £1,000.00! Its as simple as that!

If you would like to be entered into the competition, let us know when you call to book your sitting. For every entry we submit, we donate £1.00 to PACE - a great charity who helps children with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. But hurry, to enable us to enter you into this competition, your sitting must take place by 16th August 2008. Call us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting!

No Sleep 'Til.... Bradford.

2008-07-20T12:16:00.004+01:00

Well, its back to normal after speaking at the prestigious Ten2One roadshows around the country. Turnout was good and people seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I was pretty happy with my presentation and everything went smoothly. Quite surprising really as on the night before my second talk in Coventry, I (along with a few other people) got food poisoning!

It was great to meet and chat with all the delegates – in particular a fellow speaker Mark Seymour (a brilliant wedding photographer) who is a past chairman of the world-renowned London Portrait Group. He told me some great stories of his encounters with the greats like David Bailey, Bob Carlos Clarke, Patrick Litchfield and John Swannell – all of which I am a huge fan of. I happened to mention to Mark that I loved Swannell’s work. When we met up a week later to do Ten2One in Bradford, he gave me a book signed by the great man himself. It was lovely surprise – thanks a million Mark! Doing Ten2One was great fun and an honour to do, but it has taken up quite a lot of my time over the last month, so its nice to get back to normal.

I’ve got a lot to do over the next few weeks. I’ve got some shoots to do, a load of post production, some work to do with my new marketing person – and prepare some prints for the forthcoming British Professional Awards. More about that soon!

Introducing... Lauren!

2008-06-28T17:38:00.010+01:00

I have great pleasure in introducing the winner of our ABC Cover Star competition - Lauren from Hertford!

She is a worthy winner and was an absolute delight to photograph when she and her mum visited our studio in January. As previously mentioned, Lauren's mum was thrilled when I called to give her the good news!

If you want the chance of your child appearing on the next cover of ABC Magazine, contact us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting. Remember, the sitting is free and you will also get a free print too!

Not going to get much time off this weekend. I'm currently preparing for the talks I'm giving around the country about my work. I have been invited by the Master Photographers Association (MPA) to speak about my work at the highly prestigious Ten2One roadshow. Ten2One brings together ten leading image makers who speak about their work and their business. It is sponsored by some of the world's largest imaging companies such as Epson, Hasselblad and Nikon. It is a huge honour to be asked to speak at this high-profile event. The first date is at Croydon this Monday and the roadhow also hits Coventry and Bradford in the coming weeks.

If you are a professional photographer and you would like to attend, details of speakers, venues and dates can be seen here.

Text and photographs © David Calvert 2008.

Don't say cheese...

2008-06-25T09:25:00.006+01:00

Well, I'm back from a lovely holiday in the south of France. Pity it rained for 3 out of the 6 days we were there!

Looking at my diary, things are going to be busy in July, I've got loads of babies and children to photograph. To enable me to get some fabulous photographs of your little-ones, there are various things you can do to help me.

With babies and very young children, make sure the sitting time you book does not clash with times they go down for a nap. Tired children are not conducive to great photographs! When you visit our studio, bring your usual supply of milk and nappies. If you need to do a nappy change, feed or need milk warmed up, its not a problem. What also helps is that you bring some of your children’s favorite cuddly toys too.

With older children, do not make a big deal about the shoot prior to their arrival at our studio. Getting children to practice smiles beforehand often results in false and awkward looking expressions. Naturally produced expressions look far better. Avoid giving your children sugary drinks and snacks before or during the session. Do not bribe your children with promises of treats if they are good before or during the shoot. This again can have a negative effect as they will want the treat now rather than later!

During the shoot, avoid telling your children to ‘smile’, ‘say cheese’ etc. We appreciate that you may be trying to help, but in our experience this distracts them from the camera and again can have a negative effect.

Prior to every portrait shoot we do, we send out a Frequently Asked Questions sheet to help our clients with their portrait sitting. It also gives other useful tips and information on ordering prints and other aspects of our services. If you would like a copy, feel free to contact us or phone us on 01279 843050.

Text and photographs © David Calvert 2008.

Model Behaviour

2008-05-27T17:41:00.004+01:00

I get a lot of parents asking me if their children would be suitable models. I always give the same answer - there is no harm in trying. However I always tell parents to proceed with caution.

Getting into the modelling industry through a reputable agency is extremely difficult. You may have a genuinely beautiful child (and I’ve had the pleasure of photographing many fabulous children – like the young lad pictured above), but their ‘look’ may not be what they are looking for. But as I said, you may get lucky.

Before you proceed with approaching an agency, I would recommend that you check out this website: http://www.albamodel.info . It gives some great tips and advice on how to get your child into modelling. More importantly, it tells you how to identify a bogus ‘agency’ and the scams that they operate. I hope you find it useful.

With regards to our ABC Cover Star competition. I’ve had a few mums and dads asking if the winner has been chosen. The answer is yes. After much deliberation, phone-calls and emails, the editor of ABC chose Lauren (4) from Hertford as the winner! Needless to say, when I broke the news to Lauren’s mum, she was over the moon! Nearer the magazine’s publication date we will post a picture of her for you to see.

Rebecca (the editor of ABC) told me that she was spoilt for choice and it was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately, there can only be one winner. Thank you to everyone that entered and I hope you all enjoyed your free print from the sitting.

We are now shooting for the winter edition of ABC, so if you would like to enter your little one into the competition, contact us now on 01279 843050 or pick up a copy of ABC magazine for entry details. Remember, the portrait sitting is FREE and you get a FREE print too!

Text and photographs © David Calvert 2008.

Good Luck Everyone!

2008-04-30T16:42:00.004+01:00

Shown above are a small selection of some the gorgeous children we've photographed who are contending to be the next cover star of ABC Magazine!

We've sent the photographs we have taken in the last few months to the editor of ABC for her to choose the winner. Although no decisions have been made yet, the initial feedback from ABC is that '...many of the children could make eye-catching covers'. I'm just glad it isn't me who has to make the final choice - but I am glad its me who calls the lucky parents to tell them that their little one will grace the cover of the magazine! We shall be revealing the winner in the next month or so.

Our work is not yet done though. From tomorrow, we start shooting contenders for the next cover which will be out around November. So if your child is aged between 6 months to 10 years old and lives in Hertfordshire, we want to hear from you. Remember, the shoot is FREE and you get a FREE 7" print too! For full details, Contact us now on 01279 843050 to book your sitting.

Good luck everyone!

Erin's Rock!

2008-04-10T16:44:00.004+01:00

If you've read my previous posting, I was telling you about a 10 week-old baby called Erin who I recently photographed. If her mum & dad wanted to settle her down to sleep, they played her heavy metal music. Towards the end of the shoot, Erin got a little tearful. We played some Ozzy Osbourne and sure enough she stopped crying and dropped off to sleep!

This week I had another young lady called Erin (pictured above) in the studio. Erin came along with her mum and her brother Louie to be photographed for our ABC promo. It turned out that Erin and her family were huge rock fans too. So during the session I blasted out their favorite band... Muse. Great stuff! All I need now is a client who loves Rammstein or Judas Priest and my life is complete!

One other thing, we've just launched a brand new client viewing gallery. The new password-protected area allows clients, their family and friends who can't make it to the viewing to view their photographs online. You can now view your photographs in both colour or black and white, compare one image with another and order reprints. Payment for prints can be made securely online or over the phone.

Photographs will remain online free of charge for 2 weeks from the date of the viewing, with an option to extend this time for an additional charge. Clients can access the new gallery here.

The Ultimate Sin...

2008-03-31T12:36:00.006+01:00

One of the great things about this job is the people you meet. The other day I had a great portrait shoot where I photographed 10 week old Erin. She was wonderfully well behaved little girl, but after an hour of photographing her, she understandibly got a little tired and made it known by having a cry. After about 5 minutes of screaming, her dad asked me if I could play some music, as she always calms down when there is music playing in the background. I went to my CD collection and started to look for some nice quiet calming music. I asked what Erin would like to listen to and her dad's answer was a bit of surprise.... "She absolutely LOVES heavy metal - it sends her to sleep every time" he said. We like to crank it up to number 11 here at Calvert HQ and dad decided upon Ozzy Osbourne's 'Ultimate Sin' album, and sure enough as the stomping guitar riffs of the title track filled the air, Erin stopped crying and dropped off to sleep. Amazing stuff!

The ABC shoots continue to come in and we now taking bookings for May & June. Visit our website for details on this great promotion!

Fancy the chance of winning £1,000.00? The Kodak Portrait Awards have just been announced. If you book a family portrait sitting with us, we can enter photographs taken at your sitting into these awards. If your photograph is declared the outright winner - you get £1,000.00! Its free to enter the competition and for every entry we submit, a donation of £1.00 is made to PACE, a charity that provides intensive learning programmes, tailored to the individual needs of children with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. Details about this great charity can be seen here. To book your sitting, call us now on 01279 843050.

Introducing Olivia...

2008-03-06T18:11:00.007Z

We are absolutely delighted to introduce to you our first Cover Star - Olivia(3) from Stevenage!

Olivia was one of many wonderful children who were entered into the ABC Cover Star competition, where mums and dads from Hertfordshire get the chance of getting their little one on to the front cover of a magazine.

We are now shooting for the summer issue of ABC, so if your child lives in Hertfordshire, why not enter them into the competition? Remember, the shoot is FREE and you get a FREE print, all worth a total of £120.00! For full details, give us a call now on 01279 843050.

February was another busy month which was great and March is looking very busy too. Indeed, on the ABC shoots, March is almost full and we are now taking bookings for April and May.

I've been busy behind the scenes too. We are currently in the process of introducing some fabulous new products to display your photographs in. If you would like more information, drop us a line!

Also thanks for your emails saying how much you like our new Power Portraits™ website. If you haven't seen it and you love dramatic portraits, why not take a look?

It's Good to Talk...

2008-02-21T16:26:00.002Z

After a very busy few weeks, I managed to get out of the office the other day.

I was invited by the Scottish region of the Master Photographers Association to do a presentation about my work at a lovely venue just outside Edinburgh. I've got to say I really enjoyed myself - apart from the aborted landing we had when we were flying into Edinburgh Airport! Good turnout too which was nice. A big thank you to David Bryce for his excellent hospitality.

I kicked off the day-long seminar and judging from the messages and emails I've received, everyone seemed to enjoy my talk. In the afternoon, my good friend and colleague Maria Murray did an excellent talk about her portrait photography.

Still talking about... talking, I have been invited to speak at the highly prestigious Ten2One conventions happening in July and August. Run by the Master Photographers Association (MPA) and sponsored by some of the biggest names in our industry (Hasselblad, Nikon, Fuji, Epson etc), this is a two day event staged at three venues around England. The MPA bring together ten photographers who they consider to be at the forefront of their particular field of photography, so to be invited to be one of the ten is a massive honour. Its funny, I remember attending Ten2One for the first time in 2006 and being in total awe of the work being showcased - and here I am in 2008 being one of the speakers!

I will be presenting a talk about my range of portraits I brand as Power Portraits™. If all goes according to plan, I will also be doing a live demonstration of both my lighting set-ups and post production techniques. Pretty nerve-wracking when some of the country's best wedding and portrait photographers will be looking over your shoulder!

Ten2One is open to professional photographers and for full details of the excellent line-up and how to get tickets, click here.

Getting Real...

2008-02-08T17:27:00.000Z

Well, is been another manic week. Quite surprising really as January & February are notoriously quiet with portrait photographers. I seem to be bucking the trend which is nice.

I had a very interesting chat with a client the other day. Knowing that I photographed loads of babies, she asked me how many children I had photographed who were wearing real nappies - rather than the disposable type. I could only recall one client who's baby was in a real nappy. She then gave me an amazing statistic. Around 56 MILLION nappies are thrown away in the UK every WEEK.

I have absolutely no intention of preaching to anyone on how they should run their lives, but I think you will agree that throwing away billions of nappies into landfill cannot continue forever and something has to be done. So we are going to do our bit and offer an incentive to mums and dads. If you are looking to have a studio portrait taken of your new addition to your family and they wearing a real nappy for their portraits, we shall waive your sitting fee. That's a potential saving of up to £50.00.

If you want to find out a little more about real nappies, visit the Real Nappy Campaign website.

ABC Update

2008-01-15T18:00:00.000Z

A BIG thanks to all the mums and dads who have booked their children in for our fabulous ABC Cover Star contest. The response has been absolutely amazing! The slots we have allocated for February's ABC shoots are just about full and we are now taking bookings for slots in March.

Pictures for the March issue have now been submitted to the magazine and we shall announce who our first Cover Star is in the next few weeks. We are now shooting for the July and November issues of ABC Magazine. If your sitting took place on or after 8th January 2008, your pictures will be considered for one of these issues.

Remember, children between six months and eleven years old who live in Herfordshire are eligible for entry into this great competition, but we would particularly like to hear from mums and dads who have children aged from five to eleven years old. This will help us to submit a good selection of shots over a wide age range. Remember, all entrants get a free sitting and a free print worth a total of £99.00! To book your sitting, call us today on 01279 843050. Details on how to enter this competition can be seen on our website.

Our brand-new Power Portraits™ website will launch in the next day or so. Power Portraits™ are for clients who are looking for stronger, darker and moodier portraits of themselves or their family. Visit the site at http://www.powerportraits.co.uk/ for more details.

If that wasn't all, we are working on some fabulous new projects and promotions. My marketing manager won't let me tell you about them quite yet, but we just know you are going to love what we've got planned over the forthcoming months!

Easy as ABC...

2008-01-07T18:04:00.000Z

Firstly, happy new year to you all!

Well, after a fantastic week of eating far too much (I've put on half a stone) and generally doing nothing, its time to go back to work again!

January is normally one of the quietest times of the year for portrait photographers - but it looks like its going to be a pretty busy month for me. Last week we officially launched our first promotion of the year. We have teamed up with popular parenting magazine ABC to find their next cover star. For the next year, we have been asked by ABC Magazine to supply photographs of lovely Hertfordshire based children to grace their front cover. The response has been fantastic. All slots allocated in January for this promotion are now full and February is filling up fast.

The competition is very simple. If you have a child who is aged between 6 months and 11 years old and they live in Hertfordshire, they have the chance of appearing on the front cover of ABC magazine. The sitting will cost you nothing. At the end of each quarter, we submit a selection of shots of the children we have photographed, and ABC's editor will select one of them to grace the front cover. Participants will also receive a free print too! You will also get the opportunity to purchase additional prints from the sitting.

For full offer details or to make a booking, visit our website and click on the ABC Cover Star link.

On top of that, we will soon be launching a brand new website that will exclusively showcase a range of portraits we brand Power Portraits. More about this to follow shortly.

Done!

2007-12-22T11:29:00.000Z

Well, that's it! The last client of 2007 has just walked out of the studio with his set of framed prints.

This has been the busiest Christmas we've ever had. What has been great that despite some clients adding extra prints at the very last minute, everything has gone according to plan and everything was delivered on or ahead of our clients stated deadlines. A big thank you to our suppliers who have done a great job for us over the last year.

There is an article about me in this weeks British Journal of Photography magazine. Its pretty good - although the part where I recounted a story about a shoot lasting only 10 minutes, due to a badly behaved two year old being a funny experience is inaccurate - I actually said the opposite. Oh well...

So what's planned for 2008? Quite a lot actually! We've got some great promotions planned and ready to go. Plus I've been invited to do some high-profile talks around the country. More details about these will be announced sometime in February. I also intend to go for my Associateship qualification too. On top of that, we are in the process of planning some great projects, so be sure to visit us again soon for more details.

So that's about it for 2007, The offices will reopen around 2nd January. Have a great Christmas and a happy and peaceful new year!

Check, Check.

2007-12-09T19:49:00.000Z

Its been another extremely busy week. Not too many shoots, but spending loads of time doing viewings, deliveries and doing post production work for clients wanting their pictures ready for Christmas. Today alone I sent my lab around 50 images (all portraits) for printing to various shapes and sizes. These will be with me in the next few days where the print quality will be checked. Nothing goes out unless I'm 100% happy with it. I'm extremely fussy when it comes to print quality - ask the labs I use! Some of these prints will then be sent to my framer for framing. The pics are then checked again to ensure everything is fine with them. If all goes according to schedule (which so far everything is), delivery of the clients' prints will happen in the week before Christmas.

On top of the above, I also got interviewed by a leading phtographic magazine for an upcoming feature on child portrait photography which should be out before Christmas. More details as and when I get them.

Manic.

2007-11-30T19:33:00.000Z

Its been a while since my last post - due to the fact its been rather manic to say the least! As I write this, there is a rather large amount of framed and unmounted prints in front of me waiting to be despatched to my clients.

The last few weeks has been without question the busiest since I established the business four years ago. The shoots I've done have not been just for families wanting to give photographs for Christmas, but I've also done some work for commercial clients. I've really enjoyed it too.

As for clients wanting portraits for Christmas, all these slots are now booked. Although we can still do sittings before Christmas, we cannot guarantee delivery of certain items - although we will do our best.

As for the next week, I have a load of appointments booked in for tomorrow and shoots booked in for next week - along with a ton of post production to do as well. In addition to that, I've got to find some time to do the Christmas shopping!

Finally, a big congrats to a client of mine - Hannah Gray who's just landed a role in Eastenders. Well done Hannah!

Read all about it...

2007-11-11T19:18:00.000Z

I've had some good coverage in the local press about my win, which has been great. I've also received loads of lovely messages of congrats from friends and fellow photographers from all over the world. Thanks everyone, I was very touched by your kind words.

The last week started pretty quietly, which was good as I was able to clear the decks for the last part of the week which was extremely busy. Shoots ranged from photographing solicitors, families to plastic surgeons. On top of that I had viewings and post production to squeeze in. The forthcoming week is as busy - shoots, viewings and post production to do, along with a load of orders to process and despatch. But its the way I like it - nice and busy!

Winner!

2007-10-29T18:42:00.000Z

Well, I'm back from the awards in Newcastle - and what a great night it was!

Out of the three awards I was up for, I won two of them! (Parent & Child and David Mathias Portrait Award) That's pretty good considering the extremely high standard of work I was up against. Indeed, there was a lucky vibe at our table, by the end of the evening, there were rather a lot of trophies on there that other photographers had won.

I have to be honest, before my categories were announced I was extremely nervous. Don't know why, I just was. Strange considering that I was amongst friends and extremely talented colleagues.

The pic above shows myself, Maria and Denise celebrating after the ceremony. We all started out in this profession at roughly the same time and we've become great friends.

A big thanks to everyone at the MPA and BIPP who made it a very special night.

And the winner is.....?

2007-10-26T18:00:00.000+01:00

BIG weekend ahead of me. It kicks off on Saturday with doing work here at the studio and then on Sunday I, along with hundreds of other photographers fly up to Newcastle to attend the British Professional Photography Awards. This is the premier award ceremony for professional photographers in the UK.

Its particularly exciting for me as out of the thousands of photographs submitted to the awards by some of the UK's best photographers, I have four shots nominated over three categories. Those being; Best Family Portrait, Best Parent & Child portrait and the David Mathias Portrait award. The judges have said that this year is the best ever for quality and creativity, so its a huge honour that my work is considered to be some of the best submitted.

Do I think I'm going to win? I've no idea, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Crusty Noses.

2007-10-19T17:50:00.000+01:00

Productive day - indeed a productive week. Spent today doing a client viewing and preparing loads of shots for other viewings. I'm certainly becoming an expert in retouching crusty noses on babies!

During the week I also had a couple of meetings about some exciting projects that we are working on. One in particular I'm really excited about! What are they? I'm not allowed to tell you... yet!

Next week is looking good too - a nice variety of shoots, everything from babies to ballet dancers to male models. Plus a site visit for an upcoming commercial shoot. On top of that, I have to prepare shots for printing and viewings. Good stuff!

Birds Beware.....

2007-10-16T18:14:00.000+01:00

Time to send a signal out to the wildlife of Much Hadham. Bobby (my cat) is soon to be unleashed! After around 6 weeks of resting and recouperating after his altercation with a car, Bobby will hopefully be allowed out to terrorize the local wildlife this Saturday. He's made excellent progress over the last couple of weeks and he's almost back to normal. Thanks to everyone who emailed me asking how he is. The photographic world is obviously full of cat lovers!

Spent most of the day editing/retouching images taken over the last week. There are one or two shots that are exceptionally good. Its great for my clients and great for me, as it means there are even more shots that I can consider using for my forthcoming Associateship panel.

Getting even busier!

2007-10-11T12:45:00.001+01:00

Lots happening!

Started off the Christmas shoots last Saturday - lots of kids and babies running (and crawling) around the studio! Then I was in Leicestershire on Monday giving a talk to some professional photographers about my work. The talk seemed to go down very well, which was great. A big thank you to Julie Oswin and Steve Walton for their excellent hospitality and for making me feel very welcome.

As for the rest of this week, its doing more post production, with this Friday, Saturday and most of next week doing more shoots.

Look left, right & left again...

2007-09-07T17:57:00.001+01:00

I normally just write about what happens at work, but today I thought I'd write about my cat, Bobby. Here he is photographed in the spring.

At this precise moment, I should be on holiday in Carcassonne, France with my wife. But thanks to my darling Bobby, we are at home wondering what to do.

24 hours before we were due to fly off to France, little Bobby walked across a road without seeing if there were any cars coming his way. Unfortunately for him there was. As a result he received some severe injuries to his pelvis. He managed to get home - god knows how, as he couldn't move his back legs. So at midnight we were at our local vets hoping they could save him. The following day (the day we were due to depart), we had to drive him to a specialist veterinary surgery in Newmarket to have his pelvis put back together. The vet thinks all has gone well, but Bobby will need several weeks - possibly months care and attention before he's able to go out and brutally murder the local wildlife again. Due to our various commitments, we are not able to reschedule the holiday.

Hopefully, Bobs will be back with us this weekend (feeling somewhat sorry for himself) Thankfully we are insured, if I wasn't, my reprint prices would have to be doubled to pay for it all!

British Professional Photography Awards

2007-09-03T19:40:00.000+01:00

I've just had some fabulous news!

I've just learnt that four of my images have been nominated for three major awards at the British Professional Photography Awards - the premier award ceremony for professional photographers in the UK.

To say the very least, I am over the moon. The standard of work submitted (around 3000 entries) every year gets better and better. Only the very best work wins, so to be told that your work is some of the best submitted is a huge honour.

Tonight I shall quietly celebrate with a few cold beers!

Rain Outside - Sunshine Inside...

2007-08-23T18:02:00.000+01:00

Good day yesterday. I had a great shoot with baby Millan and his mum & dad. Its always great when you visualise an idea and it works on the day. The above shot shows Millan and his dad. I'm really pleased with it.

I also learnt that some of my work will be featured in Photography Monthly magazine - one of the UK's biggest selling photographic magazines. The feature is about black & white portraiture. I believe it appears in their October issue which hits the streets mid-late September.

After a series of false starts and disappointments, I today got something into place that I've been working on for months. But I'm not going to say what it is! All will be revealed in due course, and I am very confident that it will be key to the successful future of my business. I'm very excited about it!

The 'C' Word...

2007-08-16T12:28:00.000+01:00

I know its only August, but I'm already getting enquiries from clients wanting portraits to give as Christmas presents.

Just like everyone else, I don't want to be reminded about Christmas 4 months before the big day, but believe it or not, this is not as crazy as it sounds. To ensure that I can turn around clients orders in time for Christmas, portrait sittings ideally have to be done by the end of October.

You have to bear in mind that for portrait photographers such as myself, this is our busiest time of year. Due to very high demands for our (and our suppliers) services, things like editing, printing and framing can often take longer to do .

If you do want to give a fabulous portrait as a Christmas present, book it now! - even if you want the sitting in October. I will only have limited spaces available.

Be assured that I will definitely be running some special offers - and these will be announced in the next few weeks. These will include: reduced sitting fees and special prices on some reprint packages.

Your sitting date/time can be secured by paying a booking fee of only £10.00, so give me a call on 01279 843050, or contact me through my website to reserve your place!

Open wide and say.... ouch!

2007-08-11T09:21:00.000+01:00

Eventful week.

It started on a bit of a downer. I've had this tooth that's been giving me a spot of bother. I couldn't put it off any more and I had to - if you pardon the pun *bite* the bullet and get it sorted out. Naturally the NHS refused to do the job for me so I had to pay for it to be done privately. I was in the chair for 45 minutes and it cost me £6.66 per minute! It hurt me more in the pocket than in my mouth! But I have to say the dental surgeon and her nurse looked after me very well.

On the plus side, its been a good week for producing some nice shots. I had some great clients in which really helps. The above shot shows Cerys from Swansea. She came in for some publicity shots. She was great to work with.

In addition, I have finally submitted some shots to the British Professional Photography Awards. Originally I was going to enter about 6 shots, but I ended up submitting 12. I've got to say they did look great. Let's just hope the panel of judges think the same... I will find out in early September if any of them have been nominated for an award.

Finally, the new website is up and running! I'm really pleased with it and it seems everyone else thinks its great too.

New Website

2007-07-21T15:12:00.000+01:00

As mentioned in my last post, I'm getting a new website.

Work is progressing on it really well - and much faster than I thought. If all goes well, it will be up sometime next week!

Crop, Clone. Levels, Curves...

2007-07-12T19:19:00.000+01:00

The closing date for the British Professional Photography Awards (BPPA) is looming closer and closer. The BPPA is one of the UK's biggest award ceremonies for professional photographers. Last year there were over 3000 entries. I was fortunate enough to win 5x Awards of Excellence - more than any other photographer in the portrait categories. So the pressure is on to do as well as last year. I'm making good progress on making those adjustments to (hopefully) wow the judges, but after a while - and after seeing the same images over and over again, you tend to lose all sense of objectivity. I think the pictures are good...!

I've also decided to give my website a major revamp. Other than a few tweaks, its basically been the same design for nearly 4 years now, and I think it needs to change to reflect the style of work that I now do - and to attract the type of client I want. The new site will be better designed and will include a few new features that my clients will find useful. I'm really looking forward to seeing it being lauched, which hopefully will be in about 4-6 weeks.

New Blog Template!

2007-07-06T11:12:00.000+01:00

I've just moved over to this new blogging template - so forgive me if the layout doesn't look right.

As I don't know how to merge my old blogs into this new one, I've just pasted my previous ramblings below.

Hope you enjoy them!

Back to main website.

sniff

2007-07-06T11:06:00.000+01:00

(Originally posted: 19th June 2007

If you had any sense, you should buy shares in Kleenex. Because of my hay fever, I've been getting through tissues like there's no tomorrow....

In between sneezes, its been a busy time - some good things have happened, some not so good. The not so good thing was I was due to have my first member of staff start last week, but unfortunately poor Jowita broke her leg the night before she was due to start. So now her starting date has been put back until she gets better. Get well soon Jowita!

The good thing is that I've taken some great shots - in particular child portraits. Children can sometimes be a challenge to photograph. If they don't want to be photographed, they'll let you know. Subsequently you have to be patient and give them time to settle down and get used to the studio. Some studios I know only allocate 15 minutes for a portrait sitting. My opinion is you can't get good competition-standard shots in that time. As I will only do around 2 sittings a day, it means I have much more time to get to know the subjects that I photograph. Subsequently they relax and in return you get some really great shots. As an example, here's a shot I did recently. It was taken as a present for her dad.

This natural style of portraiture is becoming more and more popular with my clients, which is great for me because I absolutely love doing this type of work. So contact me if you would like to have a sitting for your little one.

Back to main website.

Back in Black

2007-07-06T10:58:00.001+01:00

(originally Posted: 24th May 2007)

Can't believe its around 2 weeks since my last entry - how time flies when you are having fun! I've done some nice and varied work - everything from photographing some floral illustrations for a Chelsea Flower Show exhibitor, corporate portraits on location and photographing gorgeous little babies. I did a particularly good shoot with a baby last Saturday. The family came all the way from Battersea with their little one. I was concerned that little Alexander may be a bit crabby after his 2 hour journey, but quite the opposite. He was beautifully behaved throughout the sitting and didn't scream once! Above is a little sneak preview of one of the shots I took...

I love doing this style of portraiture as you can get some great results. Most importantly, my clients love it too. This is what black & white photography was made for.As mentioned, Alexander's family came all the way from Battersea for the sitting. Although I have a lot of local based clients, I'm finding that more and more clients are coming to me from all over the country - because they can't find a local photographer they like. Just recently I've had clients visiting me from all over London, Sheffield, Kent, Surrey, Yorkshire - even one from South Devon. Its very flattering to know that they are prepared to travel for some hours for me to take their photograph.

I also did my first talk this week. I got invited by a group of professional photographers to do a presentation about my work. Initially I was somewhat nervous about standing up in front of some very well established and highly respected pros, but I have to admit that I did enjoy the experience. It was a good turnout too - considering that the talk clashed with the Champions League final.

The only bad thing that's happened in the last two weeks? My hay fever has returned!

Back to main website.

Square Eyes

2007-07-06T10:56:00.000+01:00

(Originally posted: 5th May 2007)

Well, the last two weeks have been fairly busy. Although I have been doing shoots, I seem to have spent most of my time doing post production - that basically means editing, cropping and retouching images (removing spots, blemishes etc). Looking at the work, the amount of images I have edited has gone well into the hundreds. Sitting in front of a computer monitor all day making detailed adjustments of pictures is a bit of a strain - especially when the weather outside has been so good. Pity I haven't had the chance to enjoy it that much....

On top of the day-to-day work I have a fair amount of other stuff to do. Our industry will soon be coming into competition season and our attention turns to sifting through the work we have done in the last year and submit our 'killer shots' into various competitions - the two main comps being the Kodak Wedding & Portrait Awards and the British Professional Photography Awards.

I occasionally get asked why I dedicate so much time to entering competitions. The reason is not about ego (although it is nice to win the odd prize..) its about producing high quality work. To stand any chance of getting anywhere in these competitions, your work has to be of the highest quality. That means constantly improving the standard of your work and trying out new ideas to keep ahead of the competition. In last year's BPP awards, there were over 3000 entries. The competition is fierce and to stand any chance of winning, your work has to be absolutely top-notch. I'm proud to say that in last years competition 5 of my photographs won Awards of Excellence. Not many people can boast that. But most importantly, its the client who also wins from me entering (and winning) these competitions - because they get better quality quality work that is much more interesting than some of the generic stuff you often see out there. If I see one more bleached out over-saturated shot of a kid leaping about like a thing possessed, I think I shall scream.

Win Win Situation!

2007-07-06T10:44:00.000+01:00

(Originally posted: 22nd April 2007)

Quite a good week for getting my work published and (sort of) winning things! Firstly, I learnt that I had come second in the Digital Photo Magazine Photographer of the Year 'People' round, which was a nice surprise. I won a rather nice Nikon compact camera. I've no idea how it works - and being a typical male, I won't sit down and read the instruction manual. So I guess I'll just fiddle with the controls for a while and hope for the best!

In addition, I came runner-up in Practical Photography's Photographer of the Year 'Emotions' round. No prizes there, but its still nice to see your images in print. I also won 2x Merits in the March round of the Fuji Envisage Awards. This means two of my clients are now in with a real chance of winning £1,000.00 at the end of the year.

Some time in the near future, I will write a piece as to why I think its so important for photographers to enter competitions. Its not just about boosting one's ego... On Thursday, I was in Romford on a tricky assignment.... That being photographing another photographer! In this case the highly talented Maria Murray, who over the last year or so has risen through the ranks to become one of the country's most respected child photographers. We both needed some new publicity headshots, so we agreed to shoot each other. Ironically, photographers don't normally like having their photographs taken, but considering what Maria had to deal with - she did a fine job. I think she liked the shots I did of her. It was a fun shoot - both of us poking friendly fun at each other's shooting and lighting technique!

I've also started the search for a new studio. Although my current set-up works well, its starting to get a bit cosy. I had a look at some converted stables located a few miles down the road. It almost ticked all the boxes, but the studio area was a little bit too small. The rent was somewhat high too - to say the least.

Busy week next week preparing, editing and retouching loads of images for printing.

Back to main website.

Read All About It!

2007-07-06T10:38:00.000+01:00

(Originally posted: 14th April 2007)

For someone who is based out of town and is located in the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside has many advantages - but it also has its disadvantages. One for example is that you get little or no passing trade (apart from the odd Pheasant that walks into my studio!). As I don't have a shop to display my wares, I have to get my name out there by other means. One being this website and the other through placing advertisements in the local newspaper. Advertising can be costly, so when the opportunity of some free PR comes your way, I, like any other business will try and make every opportunity of it.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to win 6x Highly Commended awards in the Fujifilm Envisage Awards . I sent out a press release to the local newspapers to publicise this. Normally you would expect to only get a couple of small paragraphs on the business page, but this time I got lucky, I ended up getting a whole page profiling my business and my win! To buy that sort of space costs a LOT of money, so to get it for free is fantastic! It works too. As a direct result of the feature, I've received 4 emails this morning from potential clients.

Thanks to Andrew Dawson and Paul Christian at the Herfordshire Mercury for doing such a great spread!

Back to main website

Douglas & Dora

2007-07-06T10:32:00.000+01:00

(originally posted 12th April 2007)

Let me introduce you to Douglas and his beautiful daughter Dora. Douglas and his partner Tamsin were one of my first clients. Both of them are highly respected choreographers and I regularly photograph their projects and the students that they teach.

Doug & Tam commissioned me to take some strong character shots of their new addition to their family. Its fair to say that Doug does not like having his photograph taken and subsequently he asked me to concentrate primarily on Tam and Dora - which I did, and I got some fabulous shots of both of them together. Doug spent most of the session pulling funny faces and making gurgling noises at Dora - which she enjoyed immensely!

When Dora announced (in the form of some VERY loud screams) that she no longer wanted to be photographed, Tam walked off set and started packing Dora's toys away. Doug sat on the posing stool and kept Dora occupied. Whilst I was starting to pack things away, I noticed Doug happily chatting away to Dora. ....There was the shot. I quickly grabbed the camera and... bang! I caught this tender moment between father and daughter.

I like to get things right. So subsequently before shoots I spend a lot of time planning what I am going to do. But there is nothing more satisfying when you get a cracking shot out of something that is totally spontaneous and unplanned.

Back to main website.

David Calvert Photography

New Blog Address

Awards Update #2

ABC / On Holiday

Awards Update

End of a Busy Week.

August / September Sittings

August Sittings

August Portrait Sittings

School Holiday Portrait Shoots

Introducing Lily & Juli

Kids Wanted - Win £1,000.00!

Sneak Previews

The Great Outdoors.

Kayla

Decisions, Decisions...

ABC Cover Star Competition

Lily & Juli

April Bookings

(Don't) Smile Please...

Family Portrait Week

Little Jeanie.

Introducing Leon!

Is Your Portrait Worth £1,000.00?

New Facebook Business Page

Its Sooty!

Attenshun!

Winter Portrait Offer / ABC Coverstar Competition

Back to Work!

Happy Christmas!

Choose Film...

Making a Point...

Introducing.... Paige!

Christmas Portrait Deadlines

October Sittings & Awards

Chistmas Coming Early...?

Greed is Good...

Bad News & Good News.

Happy birthday to me.

Too Hot...

Last Call to Win £1,000.00!

No Sleep 'Til.... Bradford.

Introducing... Lauren!

Don't say cheese...

Model Behaviour

Good Luck Everyone!

Erin's Rock!

The Ultimate Sin...

Introducing Olivia...

It's Good to Talk...

Getting Real...

ABC Update

Easy as ABC...

Done!

Check, Check.

Manic.

Read all about it...

Winner!

And the winner is.....?

Crusty Noses.

Birds Beware.....

Getting even busier!

Look left, right & left again...

British Professional Photography Awards

Rain Outside - Sunshine Inside...

The 'C' Word...

Open wide and say.... ouch!

New Website

Crop, Clone. Levels, Curves...

New Blog Template!

*sniff*

Back in Black

Square Eyes

Win Win Situation!

Read All About It!

Douglas & Dora

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