Portraits Info
Below are answers to some of the portrait photography questions we are frequently asked. If you
would like more details or have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us.
would like more details or have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us.
What types of portrait photography session do you offer?
We offer portrait photography sessions for babies, children, families, couples and pets. Despite being very well aware of the saying ‘never work with children or animals’ we really enjoy the challenge of creating fabulous images of them. Babies and children change so rapidly and so capturing special images at different stages gives you something to treasure when they’re all grown up. As for pets, we currently have three and both grew up with many more, and so understand how important a part your family they are (as well as knowing a technique or two for getting them to sit pretty for us!)
Where do portrait sessions take place?
Our portrait sessions are location rather than studio based. We find that taking photographs in your home or garden, or in a favourite park, wood, beach or corner of a city, makes our subjects far more relaxed and comfortable, and allows us to capture better and more meaningful images. What new mum wants to travel to a photographic studio? Better for your photographer to come to you. And which is more meaningful, a beautiful image of your cat curled up on its favourite chair and your dog on its favourite walk, or images of the same pets being made to sit still in front of a white screen in a strange location?
It may be that you already know where you would like the shoot to take place, but if not, we know some great places. We are based in Newcastle-Gateshead and so typically shoot portraits in the Tyne and Wear area. Favourite locations of ours include the Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside, Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park as all provide a multitude of interesting backdrops.
How does the process work?
Before any portrait shoot we will chat with you about what you want from your session, photographic styles you like and what you are likely to want to do with the images, so we can build up a comprehensive picture of your needs. We can also give advice on things like the best locations for the type of shoot you are after and what to wear etc where that would be helpful. We will arrange a convenient time and location for the shoot with you and the shoot itself will last up to one hour.
After the session we will post-process the images (we shoot RAW files then edit using Lightroom, Photoshop and Portrait Pro and convert to JPGs) and send electronic proofs to you so you can view the images at your leisure and decide which you want without us breathing down your neck giving you a hard sell - something we can't stand and never do!
How much does a portrait session cost?
A Foster Photography portrait session is priced at £150. This session fee includes the pre-shoot telephone and/or email consultation, location portrait shoot (lasting around an hour) and your favourite five images from the session, fully edited and provided to you as either professionally printed 10×8 inch prints or high resolution digital files with personal printing rights. Additional 10x8 inch prints or digital negatives can be ordered for £15 each.
What products do you offer, and why?
At Foster Photography we work hard to create images in our portrait sessions that are worthy of being treated as works of art. We love to see our images gracing the walls of our customers’ homes or made into beautiful coffee table albums.
Unlike many of our competitors however, we don’t believe in limiting you to ordering complete products only through ourselves. It may be that you already have a beautiful frame and are looking for an unframed print to grace it. Or it may be that you have purchased some canvasses or other products previously and want to order one of our images through the same supplier in order to ensure a consistent match.
By offering unframed prints and digital negatives, we provide you with the flexibility to create your own products, and we are happy to provide recommendations of great suppliers. Alternatively, we can work with you to create bespoke products where preferred.
What equipment do you use for your portrait shoots?
We believe in using only the very best professional photographic equipment in our work and have invested heavily to this effect. We use Nikon gear including professional full frame digital SLRs, numerous professional lenses (including zooms for unobtrusive shots, fast primes perfect for low light shots and a macro for close up detail shots), mobile lighting equipment and monopods and tripods.
Our use of digital rather than film equipment is perfect for our location style portrait photography. Digital means we aren’t constrained to a set number of exposures on a shoot and so allows for fun experimentation alongside more classic shots and enables us to produce a wide range of beautiful final images for you to choose from. After the portrait session, having digital rather than film negatives allows us to better continue to work with and enhance the images. We can create black and white or sepia copies of images, smooth skin, remove background distractions and add lots of other effects to make the pictures you choose really sparkle. In addition, the latest professional digital SLRs such as those we use produce high quality prints A3 sized and larger.
How do we book a portrait session?
If you would like to enquire about booking a portrait session with us then please get in touch. Once we have a feel for what you want from your session we will arrange an appropriate time and place for the shoot with you. The £150 portrait session fee can be paid by cheque, bank transfer or paypal in advance of the session and, once received, the booking is confirmed.
We offer portrait photography sessions for babies, children, families, couples and pets. Despite being very well aware of the saying ‘never work with children or animals’ we really enjoy the challenge of creating fabulous images of them. Babies and children change so rapidly and so capturing special images at different stages gives you something to treasure when they’re all grown up. As for pets, we currently have three and both grew up with many more, and so understand how important a part your family they are (as well as knowing a technique or two for getting them to sit pretty for us!)
Where do portrait sessions take place?
Our portrait sessions are location rather than studio based. We find that taking photographs in your home or garden, or in a favourite park, wood, beach or corner of a city, makes our subjects far more relaxed and comfortable, and allows us to capture better and more meaningful images. What new mum wants to travel to a photographic studio? Better for your photographer to come to you. And which is more meaningful, a beautiful image of your cat curled up on its favourite chair and your dog on its favourite walk, or images of the same pets being made to sit still in front of a white screen in a strange location?
It may be that you already know where you would like the shoot to take place, but if not, we know some great places. We are based in Newcastle-Gateshead and so typically shoot portraits in the Tyne and Wear area. Favourite locations of ours include the Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside, Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park as all provide a multitude of interesting backdrops.
How does the process work?
Before any portrait shoot we will chat with you about what you want from your session, photographic styles you like and what you are likely to want to do with the images, so we can build up a comprehensive picture of your needs. We can also give advice on things like the best locations for the type of shoot you are after and what to wear etc where that would be helpful. We will arrange a convenient time and location for the shoot with you and the shoot itself will last up to one hour.
After the session we will post-process the images (we shoot RAW files then edit using Lightroom, Photoshop and Portrait Pro and convert to JPGs) and send electronic proofs to you so you can view the images at your leisure and decide which you want without us breathing down your neck giving you a hard sell - something we can't stand and never do!
How much does a portrait session cost?
A Foster Photography portrait session is priced at £150. This session fee includes the pre-shoot telephone and/or email consultation, location portrait shoot (lasting around an hour) and your favourite five images from the session, fully edited and provided to you as either professionally printed 10×8 inch prints or high resolution digital files with personal printing rights. Additional 10x8 inch prints or digital negatives can be ordered for £15 each.
What products do you offer, and why?
At Foster Photography we work hard to create images in our portrait sessions that are worthy of being treated as works of art. We love to see our images gracing the walls of our customers’ homes or made into beautiful coffee table albums.
Unlike many of our competitors however, we don’t believe in limiting you to ordering complete products only through ourselves. It may be that you already have a beautiful frame and are looking for an unframed print to grace it. Or it may be that you have purchased some canvasses or other products previously and want to order one of our images through the same supplier in order to ensure a consistent match.
By offering unframed prints and digital negatives, we provide you with the flexibility to create your own products, and we are happy to provide recommendations of great suppliers. Alternatively, we can work with you to create bespoke products where preferred.
What equipment do you use for your portrait shoots?
We believe in using only the very best professional photographic equipment in our work and have invested heavily to this effect. We use Nikon gear including professional full frame digital SLRs, numerous professional lenses (including zooms for unobtrusive shots, fast primes perfect for low light shots and a macro for close up detail shots), mobile lighting equipment and monopods and tripods.
Our use of digital rather than film equipment is perfect for our location style portrait photography. Digital means we aren’t constrained to a set number of exposures on a shoot and so allows for fun experimentation alongside more classic shots and enables us to produce a wide range of beautiful final images for you to choose from. After the portrait session, having digital rather than film negatives allows us to better continue to work with and enhance the images. We can create black and white or sepia copies of images, smooth skin, remove background distractions and add lots of other effects to make the pictures you choose really sparkle. In addition, the latest professional digital SLRs such as those we use produce high quality prints A3 sized and larger.
How do we book a portrait session?
If you would like to enquire about booking a portrait session with us then please get in touch. Once we have a feel for what you want from your session we will arrange an appropriate time and place for the shoot with you. The £150 portrait session fee can be paid by cheque, bank transfer or paypal in advance of the session and, once received, the booking is confirmed.