HSPStudio

New Beginnings

2010-11-12T21:05:00.013Z

As I mentioned in the previous post, there are some serious changes going on at HSP.

We've taken a long time to think about the direction the business is going in, and we're finally ready to announce our decisions.

Goodbye, Oulton Institute!

The last year has been a funny old time, and we've watched as our business has virtually been turned on it's head. We opened HSP as Studio Portrait Photographers, but this year we've noticed that the majority of our work is now being undertaken outside the studio, leaving our biggest room empty whilst we feverishly edited in the 2 offices. As with everything we've done, we've added services as we've been asked to - and this year, among other outside work, the demand for our playgroup service and the success we've had with it has allowed us to re-evaluate what the company does and how it does it.

So, we've decided to move on from the Oulton Institute, and redefine HSP. If you've managed to see the website in the last week or so, you'll have noticed the difference. Instead of being stuck in the studio and waiting for people to come to us, we're getting out and about, and we're committed to using our experience with children over the last 4 years that we've worked together, taking great quality, relaxed and fun photographs of children, with a fast and reliable service, and providing playgroups, schools and nurseries with vital funds.

What's the difference?

Well, without a studio, we can no longer offer studio shoots, and we've done our last studio photo-party, but there's so much more we can offer now. Separating who does what helps us to clarify what we do and make it easier for us to market ourselves in the correct areas, so Jo and Caroline will be offering various services under their own names. We're both in the process of setting up our websites and we'll let everyone know the details as soon as we can.

Any service booked for the coming months with HSP will still be carried out, with absolutely no difference whatsoever.

We're not breaking up the company, we're focussing on making it more successful!

Er... hold on, can I still book a portrait shoot, or a wedding, or a product job?

If you'd like to ask about any of our services, or are still confused about what the heck we're doing, please contact us through the new facility on our website, or just email us on info@hiltonsandersphotography.co.uk. Leave us your phone number and we'll call you back.

The next phase of Hilton Sanders Photography Ltd is just starting! Thanks to everyone who's got us started and seen us through the first 2 and a half years, and to all of our lovely customers who are helping to take us forward into the future.

October was sooo busy...

2010-11-10T10:39:00.002Z

... that it's taken me until November to write about it!

Top of the list has been the 3 playgroups we've taken our new fundraising service to - Scribblers at the Sports Centre in Garforth, then the Toddlers Club at Garforth Methodist Church, and then all the way up to Oxford Road Playgroup in Guiseley. We've had loads of fun with the kids, and a great response from the families, raising loads of cash for the groups. See our website for more details - we're restructuring the business (more later) to specialise in shoots at playgroups, nurseries and schools.

Today I am delighted to be able to link our blog to a brand new website for the range of products we shot in the 3rd week of October - Kathryn de Prudhoe's Handmade Baby. The site uses our photos to show off Kathryn's beautiful handiwork. Having spent some serious time working with this gorgeous range of baby gifts and nursery items, I'd recommend it to anyone who even slightly knows someone who's expecting or has a tiny person in their lives. Instant brownie points are available to the giver of such lovely gifts! (Also, our friend Steve Kennell is behind the rather brilliant Icklesites, and built Kathryn's site... a true professional!)

And we were also proud to photograph Bailey Hunter's Race Night at the Marriot Hotel raising funds for Candlelighters on the 21st.

See? When it's quiet on the blog it means we're up to all sorts!

Stay tuned for big news in my next update!

C

On Ilkley Moor....

2010-09-23T16:27:00.005+01:00

We were up on Ilkley Moor last Saturday to shoot Joe and Fiona's wedding, and it turned out to be one of the most gorgeous and fun so far. It's always great when a couple are really keen to get some special shots in a favourite place, and we had a good laugh trying to get the planned shots before the rain rolled in.

Here's just a few shots as a taster. Looking forward to showing them the lot when they get home from their honeymoon!

Commercial, product and PR Work

2010-09-14T13:39:00.015+01:00

It's occurred to me that so far, I've not written anything about the work that turns out to be a considerable chunk of our business. I seem to have put loads on the blog, on Facebook and everywhere else that we have a profile about our portraiture shoots, the photoparties, and of course the weddings but nothing much about our commercial work. Whenever I talk to aspiring photographers, after they've talked about rock-bands and models and fashion, it's the exciting, beautiful, high-emotional-impact stuff that they want to do. They want to be recognised as being the artist who is capable of freezing one amazing moment of time into a stunning image. And we love that sort of thing too. But the majority of commercial photographic images produced every day are of products, or are documenting events of significance for companies and their employees. We do lots of this.

Jo and I met whilst working at a family portraiture studio, and learned how to quickly put people at their ease and explain what we needed from them, learned how to pose people to get relaxed shots, and how to set and change the studio lights so that 9 times out of 10 they were right for most customers. But we also realised that we were missing the challenge of being on the spot to capture fast moving and interesting events as they happened. We'd both previously enjoyed studio product work, which demands a slow, thorough studio preparation but can be enormously satisfying, for example trying to make a black box stand out from a black background and look alluring through careful use of lighting, or simply showing the full colour range of a line of t-shirts for a catalogue.

As we first talked about what the ideal photography job would allow us to do, it emerged that we both wanted variety and different challenges, and over the last couple of years since starting our own company we've had some corkers.

Every 3 months, we contribute photographs for the staff magazine at Unilever's packaging centre at Colton, illustrating stories about staff achievements and company developments. There are lots of technical challenges presented by low light, flammable gases and safety sprinklers, not to mention the general unattractiveness of factory machinery, but we overcome them for each issue, whilst wearing full personal protection equipment.

Recently, we've been commissioned to do more staff communications work, this time for Royal Mail. We love this type of work because it's always interesting and you never know what you're going to get sent out to cover. So far, I've been out to photograph the man who came 3rd in the sidecar races at this year's Isle of Man TT Races (the quite astonishing Conrad Harrison, who is a distribution driver in his day job), and to cover the arrival of Chris Moon (one of the most amazing people I'll ever have the pleasure of meeting, I'm sure) into Leeds Mail Centre as he runs 1000 miles in a month (36miles a day on average) raising funds for Royal Mail's nominated charity this year, Barnado's.

Everything we do at HSP is about getting the images the client wants, and with the right briefing and a good discussion beforehand, we can get the right result, no matter whether it's a lovely family portrait in or out of the studio, a beautiful record of a wedding day that no-one will ever forget, a catalogue shot to show off your merchandise or a shot to help tell a story in a magazine.

Whatever we can help you with, we're waiting for the request! Just give us a call and tell us your ideas!

Oh and another thing...well... two... no, three!

2010-09-02T16:31:00.006+01:00

Only a quicky this time....

Just a couple of companies (among many we've worked with) using our work on their websites right now.

Flying Colors - Team photos.

Golf Exclusive - Full clothing range.

And...

We were really touched to have received some super lovely feedback from Steve and Margaret, the new Mrs Torn's mother and father, after Rachel and Richard's wedding at Oulton Church. It reminded us that there was something we'd meant to do for ages, and so we've finally got round to adding a "Testimonials" page to the website.

This also brought on a re-jig of the tabs on the front page, with a "Blog" button so that more people can find this blog and read about our adventures, and so far it's bringing 4 times as much traffic here.

At last I know I'm not the only one reading this!

New stuff we've been doing....

2010-08-27T11:46:00.009+01:00

Over the last weeks or so, we've been asked to do a few jobs that have taken us beyond our usual work in the studio, and we've had loads of fun doing them. We love a challenge, and it's great to be able to offer more services to our clients. We'll be updating the website as and when we get round to it to reflect the new range of what we can offer, but in the meantime.....

Photo-Restoration

When a customer walked in with his scrap book and some old battered black and white prints which he wanted restoring so that he could give them to his best friend on the occasion of his wedding, Jo was very excited and got stuck in straight away.

These are just a couple, and the results were presented as prints and as digital files on disk, so the image is now fixed forever. One happy customer, and hopefully, one happy groom!

We charge according to the level of restoration that's needed, from faded paper and missing corners to scratches and creases. Give us a call if we can help you rescue a memory before it deteriorates, and we'll be delighted to give you a quote.

Portraits Shoots in the Park

... or anywhere pretty or special. We have the studio set up with the white curve, but we don't half get bored sometimes. It's so much more challenging as a photographer to be out in the open, and therefore more satisfying when you come back with some really individual and personalised shots. If you'd like some family photos somewhere fun or important to you, or if you'd like some with your beloved at your special location, especially if you're celebrating something lovely, we'd love to come along and help make the occasion unforgettable.

Let us know what you've got in mind, and where you want to go, and we'll quote you a price that includes the shoot and the edited images on a DVD with copyright, so that you can print them as many times and at whatever size you want.

Call us on 0113 2826116 or drop us a line at info@hiltonsandersphotography. We look forward to hearing your plans!

Richard & Rachel at Oulton Church

2010-08-16T16:26:00.002+01:00

Rachel and Richard got married last Friday at St John's in Oulton, the beautiful little church just down the road from the studio.

In the morning, the grey clouds started gathering, and as soon as I got there it began to rain steadily. By the time I was huddling under the bridesmaid's umbrella waiting for the old Rolls Royce to pull up, all I had chance to say was "The weather couldn't be worse, could it?" before the heavens opened. Thankfully, by the time the happy couple emerged, the sun had come out. But by the time we got up to Thorpe Park Hotel for the reception, the wind had caught up with us.

Our job as photographers is to capture the day as it happens, and so hopefully the shots show just how changeable the atmosphere was. In spite of what the skies tried to throw at us, the wedding went fantastically well, and we had loads of fun with a great couple and their lovely families.

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Torn!

Oulton Hall wedding shots

2010-08-10T16:51:00.007+01:00

Craig and Danielle got married on the 24th July just down the road at Oulton Hall, and Jo and I were there to follow them throughout their big day.

I don't know about them, but we had a great time, what with helicopter entrances, golf buggy rides, choreographed dances and such lovely families.

Here's a sneaky peek at a few shots. They're not back from honeymoon yet, and we're still editing to show them their full collection, but thanks to the extra they booked with their package, they've seen a few of them already when we projected them at the reception. We got cuddled to within an inch of our lives. Can't wait to show them the rest!

What's the point of paying a professional photographer?

2010-06-23T13:20:00.001+01:00

As I've covered before, it's a tricky business judging what makes a good photograph. There are so many intangible and subjective elements, like memories and emotions, at play when humans look at what was a fleeting moment fixed in time, before the photographic considerations of exposure and framing. These days, with digital photography continually becoming more affordable for the average person, and the amateur market models of cameras boasting levels of control over the image that were once only available to professionals, it's easy for almost everyone to take impressive shots. So in these technologically democratic times, why should anyone pay a professional? Can't everyone do what we do?

Well... no. I'm fond of borrowing a former colleague's answer and saying "Well I've got a spanner but I'm not a mechanic." We're paid to make our subjects look as good as possible, whether we're shooting a handful of dried fruit in a product job or capturing a wedding, and this means we must invest in and be in control of the equipment we use, and get the most out of it. Look at any great photo, from adverts to classic journalistic images, and you'll find crisp focus on the most important visual element, lighting which accentuates the textures with shadow and contrast to show off the "point" of the shot, and (if the subject has eyes) expression to communicate emotion and elicit sympathy.

One of our most important skills is knowing what to show and what not to. It's always a revelation to be allowed a glance into a fellow respected pro's files and see how many shots are taken and considered not worthy before the stunning final image makes it through the editing process. In any given shoot involving living subjects, there's always plenty that don't make it past the upload stage when post processing starts. Out go the blinks, the dribbles, the ones where the subject's moved at the last second and where another shot does the job better. If the lighting, the focus or the expression isn't right, then the shot is out. I've been asked by clients for a disk of the out-takes from shoots I've done, despite the fact that I've not considered the shots of sufficient quality to go into the selection I've shown, and I've refused, on the basis that that's not what I was paid for, and that our reputation is built on the quality of shot that we release. I'm immediately suspicious when I see alleged professionals advertising huge numbers of images from shoots that don't last very long. What sort of quality can you expect from someone who promises to give you 75 shots from a 30 minute shoot? That's more than 2 genuinely communicative, emotional, valuable and sellable images each minute! Do they shoot indiscriminately, recording what's in front of the lens regardless of whether it's relevant or descriptive, or do they look for the developing drama, focussing on the action and the story? Do they just turn the whole shoot over, including the "nothing shots"? What sort of value is that to the customer?

Unfortunately there seems to be confusion among some photographers (and I've seen the oldest established studios turn out some terrible stuff - poor lighting, badly positioned subjects, poor framing, unflattering expressions - and defend it as "style") and the general public as to what should be considered as quality work. The values of exposure, framing and expression can be selectively applied for effect where appropriate, but there's really only so far you can go before you're missing the detail of the action and the impact of the message. I suppose it's the ubiquitous availability of photography now that leads people to think that if they're going to pay someone to take photos, having lots of images to show for the money you pay constitutes quality and value.

I would suggest that in a market vastly over-saturated with enthusiastic part-timers and alleged pro's charging not very much for lots, that a wise customer should consider a few things ahead of price and quantity of images before choosing their photographer.

1) The quality triangle - Cheap/ Good/ Quick. You can only have 2 corners at any given time. Cheap and good will take time. Quick and cheap is rarely good. Quick and good is not cheap, and so on. Are they charging a fair price for the quality of their work? The price should be an indication of quality, experience and reliability. If you only want to pay a little, you'll be very, very lucky to find fantastic quality.

2) Are you confident that this person will do the job they say they will? Look at their past work. Does it show that they can produce the quality you want and expect? They may talk a good game, but it's results you need.

3) Reputation is priceless, and experience shows. Has anyone recommended them? How long have they been working professionally? How many times have they done this before?

I don't believe that it's essential for a photographer to come through dedicated college and uni courses the way I did to be any good. I equally distrust the crests of trade bodies which are supposed to guarantee the customer a recognised quality, but in practice can be purchased fairly cheaply by anyone setting themselves up as a photographer and can be displayed by anyone who's paid the price. Curiosity, passion and perfection are not things you can purchase or learn, and experience is everything.

So, a long rant this one, and of course as someone whose livelihood depends on people paying for photography, I'm bound to defend our prices. However, the recession and a rash of redundancies has sent a wave of passionate amateurs onto the market, and we believe we have a little more to offer customers who are looking for quality work.

Hilton Sanders Photography Ltd celebrates it's 2nd birthday round about now, and Jo and I are spiffingly proud of the work we've done. We've been shooting some families since before the company was founded, and most of our new business, and any new services we add come through recommendation and request. That says a lot. And if you want to read what people think about us, it's all here......

Freeindex.co.uk and Facebook

More from the Woodlands wedding....

2010-06-09T12:45:00.000+01:00

Jo and I have only just started when it comes to weddings. In the last few years, we've both shadowed and shot with other more experienced wedding photographers, racking up plenty of portfolio material and learning lots of useful tips and tricks, but as far as HSP goes, this Summer is the first where we're seeing weddings as part of our core services. When people have asked us to be their wedding photographers, we have made no attempt to hide this, and we make it clear that these are early days for us. In fact, when Michael and Deborah got married in May, it was only my 4th ever wedding as the main photographer. As seems to have become the norm, I was so nervous I couldn't sleep the night before, checking and rechecking the plans and going over my kit list in my head.

So the feedback and testimonial Deborah sent through this morning means a great deal to me. I loved shooting her and Michael's beautiful, relaxed and fun wedding, and all our careful planning made sure that we all knew what we should be doing at any given time. Here's a few more shots, and a lovely few lines that I'm very proud to add to the blog. Thanks guys, and all the best for a long and happy marriage.

Caroline

"Choosing a photographer for your wedding day is easy but choosing the right photographer who understands you both and what you want your photographs to be like can be the difficult part.

From the outset Hilton Sanders were just what we were looking for, fun, approachable, they understood our requirements, took the time to get to know our likes and dislikes and delivered fantastic quality photographs in the reportage style we wanted.

All in all a great service from a professional and dedicated team. Thanks again Caroline and Jo!"

Deborah and Michael

The Original Tyler Hilton - Office Dog!

2010-05-27T13:41:00.000+01:00

He probably hasn't a clue she exists, but he should be very honoured to share names with her. To be honest though, she's not actually very impressed.

Tyler Hilton (singer) seems like a lovely boy, and we wish him every success, but the real Tyler Hilton is our office dog. She's Jo's one year old miniature schnauzer, and she's been a full member of the team here since she was a little ball of fur, with special responsibilities for greeting new people (tail in the air and "urrrrr........wooof!"), welcoming people she's met before back to the studio warmly (few happy whimpers and a happy sounding urrrrrr with a waggy tail) and saying hello to the postman ("arf arf arf growl arf woof!"). She puts everyone at their ease and having her around allows us to have a bit of a breather with doggy play-time when things get stressed and hectic.

She's become a real favourite with customers and business acquaintances. Our bank manager schedules extra time for a doggy cuddle whenever she comes to see us, and kids love to talk to her while we're talking to Mum and Dad. Although those eyebrows can make her look cross, she has a very playful, gentle and even temper, and if she's noisy at all it's because she's saying hello and joining in the conversation. Being a schnauzer means she doesn't shed hair all over the place, and like Barak Obama's Portuguese Water Dog, she doesn't irritate allergy sufferers. Most of the time she stays in her basket in our office, and pads in and out of the viewing and editing room to see what we're up to. She refuses to go near the studio, though. Perhaps she prefers her photos to be taken using natural light. Some models insist.

This week people have been telling her that she looks like Dangerous Dave (the new Toto).

We think she's prettier. And her beard's longer. Tyler, at Hilton Sanders Photography, the 3rd member of the team.

Oh - by the way, I might as well mention that we welcome well behaved dogs to our studio shoots because we know how important the furry members of the family can be. If you'd like to bring your dog along for some photos, just let us know!

Woodlands Hotel Wedding - Sneaky peek!

2010-05-11T14:34:00.001+01:00

Wedding season has kicked off, and being as how this happy couple have just been into the studio to collect some studio portraits of their daughter and for a sneaky peek at the shots I'm editing up from their beautiful wedding last Friday, I thought I'd post a shot or 2 up on here.

Congratulations and thanks for the permission Mr&Mrs M!

2010-04-22T09:37:00.000+01:00

Sure enough, it looks like the babies are here. I predicted it in my post last year, and we're seeing a lovely crop of little ones - mostly aged between 2 and 5 months at the moment. These vouchers are going like hot cakes too! Call us for details.

Easter offer email flyer!

2010-03-25T20:02:00.001Z

This will be making it's way to an inbox near you over the next few days, and our card flyers will be coming through a postbox. As ever, you don't need to have received one, the offer's open to everyone, just book yourselves in!

More details soon!

Caroline's adventures in websites...

2010-03-11T21:30:00.000Z

Just a quickie....

This week I have figured out, all by myself, how to put links to this blog and our Facebook page into our website AND have set up a free website for No Frills thanks to the GBBO initiative, and I am quite pleased with myself.

That is all...

C

#ring ring# Hi, Congratulations! You've Won!"

2010-03-10T13:20:00.001Z

Sound familiar?

If you have kids under the age of 5 in Leeds, and you've ever been waylaid whilst you're out shopping in any of our great malls of commerce by some young hopeful with a balloon and some nice looking photos, the chances are that you've heard this line, or something similar at least once. And that you were surprised, because your friend who entered also won. And your next door neighbour, and your sister.

The unsurprising truth is that EVERYBODY wins. There's no way to lose. Just put your contact details down on the entry form, and you can pretty much bank on being called up within a week or so and told that you've been drawn as a runner up and that you've won a free shoot and a free small print, all you need to do is to make the appointment at the portrait studio in question, and Bob's your uncle.

And from there on, you can safely expect to receive reminder phone calls if you don't take up the "prize," and your details will make their way onto a database and a mailing list, firstly for the company's next promotion, and then for other products aimed at parents with kids under 10, when they sell your details on to a list broker.

We know about it, because we used to work for a company who did it.

And when Jo and I set up HSP, the very first thing we promised ourselves was that we wouldn't do that. Ever. Aside from it being soul destroying as a photographer to spend a day luke-warm calling people who don't really want what you're desperately trying to remind them they once considered, there's something demeaning about having to lie to get business in.

So, we haven't done it. We have no telesales team, and we've done no standing around in draughty shopping centres, there's no HSP balloons, no competition entry cards, and we haven't resorted to laboured and cheesy attempts at chatting up parents.

We knew it would be slow going to set up our stall in a saturated market, and to get the word out about our studio, but we wanted to do it properly, establishing a reputation and gaining new business by word of mouth, and that's the way we've done it. We've kept several families whom we first met at the old place, and it's been a great pleasure to have developed those relationships and watched the kids grow over the years, and fantastic when their friends and extended families come to us because we've been recommended.

We're proud of our work, but we're relaxed, friendly and open, and it means we don't have to go out there and bully and cheat people into booking in. If you give us your phone number at the time of the shoot, we'll only use it to call you to tell you your prints are ready. If you give us your email address, we might send you a quick few lines telling you about our offers (as and when I get round to writing them). And if you really want to find out what's going on at HSP, you can subscribe to the Facebook page or follow us on Twitter. And that's as far as it goes.

So when you next find yourself answering that phone call and wishing you'd never filled in the card, but you still want some shots taking, remember there's another way and come and see how we do it.

Sorry, you haven't won anything, and a free shoot is what all of our customers get whenever they book in. We have offers on at every school holiday, generally a free print, and everyone booking in gets the same.

You only pay for the images you love, finished the way you want them. We are open about our prices, which are all listed on our website, so you can have an idea of how much you can expect to spend, and we offer and fun and relaxed experience in a fully equipped studio, with experienced professional photographers with a personal interest in making it work for you because we are the owners of the business.

Sound better?

Hope so. We look forward to seeing you!

Caroline and Jo.

February 13th - 21st BOGOF Offer

2010-01-27T10:46:00.000Z

How quick was that? We seem to only just be recovering from Christmas and getting used to being in a new decade, and it's already time for the first school holidays of 2010.

Sounds like about the right time for us to get things started for the year with a fantastic offer on portraiture then!

And it's simple - You don't even need one of our flyers or vouchers, just book yourself in!

1) Book a photoshoot - Shoots are always free throughout the year. We understand that kids sometimes are just not in the mood, and you shouldn't have to pay for that, just bring them back and we'll try again another day!

It's Valentine's Day on the 14th - fancy some romantic shots of just the pair of you? And don't forget Mothers Day on 14th March...

We're open from 10.00 each day and appointments can be made on the hour until 7.00 throughout the offer. When's best for you?

2) Come back to view & purchase your images - We send you home after your shoot so that you can relax while we get on with editing the shots. When you come back to see them, we'll generally have 20-25 images for you to choose from.

Tell us how you want the images finished. We shoot in colour but anything can be changed to black and white or sepia if you'd prefer, and then you only need to decide what size you want and whether you want it as a print, or ready to hang as a framed print, canvas or block mount.

3) BOGOF! - And this is where we go a bit loopy - pay for any size of print, frame, block mount or canvas, and we'll give you another of the same type for free! (Click here for our price list.)

It doesn't have to be the same image, you can get the best out of this offer by choosing your favourite photos for a matched display. If you do feel like doubling up, photos are perfect presents for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day!

Give us a call on 0113 2826116 or drop us an email at info@hiltonsandersphotography.co.uk to book your appointment.

Question: What makes a beautiful photo?

2010-01-12T11:44:00.000Z

In an e-conversation with a friend just now, we hit upon a very interesting subject. She is a very glamourous woman, when she chooses to be and gets the opportunity, and really embraces her make-up kit as a tool to change her appearance and change the way people see her. She posted some fantastic photos on her facebook page which she says are contributing to a make-up look book, purely for herself. The photos are taken simply, with the digital equivalent of the old point and shoot, so there's harsh flash and the white balance is off. In the shots, sometimes she's not looking at the camera, she comes over as sultry and sexy, with arms caught in poses suggesting langour and nonchalance. She's not a model, but the shots make her look fantastic. It was this that brought me onto the subject of beauty, and how to be beautiful.

We see lots of fantastically good looking people at the studio, but unless they are willing to work with the camera, and have their own strong ideas about how the photos will look when they are finished, the results are often pretty standard. At the same time, I've had people walk in and thought there was initially nothing unusual about them, but gone on to produce striking and arresting images. The difference is always confidence.

Part of our job is to put people at their ease, quickly. Only when people are relaxed and confident on our presence are we going to get relaxed and happy images. This is the secret of working with families and young children. But the shimmer of excitement that comes into the room when I realise that I'm working with someone who understands their role in the process, who wants to enjoy the collaboration, trusts my suggestions and can make their own is the special treat for me. When it happens, and it has with kids as young as 5years old, and all ages above, I know I can't go wrong.

Our photo-parties have brought us into contact with some lovely groups of teenage girls. In each group, there's generally the full range of confidence, from really shy and a little awkward, to the totally up-for-whatever, and often it's not distributed the way we'd expect. The initially drop-dead-gorgeous girls can be the most brittle and gawky, and then all the ideas can come from the quietest in the group. When the camera encounters an eye looking straight back, without a nervous smile, or a willingness to create an image out of the ordinary, it's moments like these that make the job so enjoyable.

In the next few weeks, we'll be changing the images on our website, and updating the samples in the studio. Over the Christmas offer promotion we were lucky enough to encounter some fantastic photographic subjects, and they've been kind enough to allow us to use the images for promotion, so we can show off the results of this collaborative knowledge and look.

My conclusion, as I said to my friend, was that beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, and it's not just in physical appearance. I think it's in the conscious decision to do something to attract visual attention, and the confidence to deal with that look when it is drawn in. When we capture that, whether it's using the little point and shoot or a hi-res studio lit pro-camera, then the result is a beautiful photograph.

HNY from HSP!

2010-01-05T20:02:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

2009 ended with a busy portraiture sason for us. I've not done all the maths yet, but I think we saw about twice as many customers, with many returning customers coming to update last year's shots, and lots of people coming to us through recommendations. There can be no better feeling for a young business than seeing our growth through personal recommendation. It's what we always set out to do, knowing full well that we're in a recession and money is tight for everyone, not least us in terms of our non-existent advertising budget.

On top of photographing lots of families, we were lucky enough to deepen our relationship by documenting 2 of Unilever's Leeds Christmas functions, and to be called back by my old friends at Hitachi Capital to photograph their Christmas party. We now know our way round 3 of West Yorkshire's loveliest hotels! Loads of fun, and what's even lovelier is that we've already been booked for next year's events, which Jo and I are planning for now (day off afterwards maybe!).

2010 holds all sorts of interesting things. We'll be developing our work with local schools, playgroups and nurseries, running our school holiday portraiture offers as usual (and it's always free for a shoot if you need shoots and the holidays seem far away), we'll be tweaking our product line to make sure we're up to date with new display styles, and overhauling our viewing methods. And that's on top of continuing our core services of portrait, product and PR photography.

There's now a page on facebook which has been gathering fans steadily, where the soundbites of our news goes, but I'll be updating the big stuff on this blog whenever I can.

Wishng everyone all the best for 2010, and I hope those with British Gas and Bosom Buddies calendars are enjoying our photos!

Caroline Sanders.

The grand unveiling...

2009-11-03T13:24:00.001Z

It's here! A little later than we planned, and we've had to do things in a different order than we'd've liked to, but at last, our new website is here: hiltonsandersphotography.co.uk.

It's easier to find the information, it allows us to show off the different sides to our business, it's simple, clean and fresh. Just what we wanted.

Please have a good shufti, and if you've got comments to make, we'd love to hear them, either to info@hiltonsandersphotography.co.uk, or as comments on here.

C

Spot the new logo!

2009-10-18T20:30:00.000+01:00

Did you notice? Brand spanking new logo, and the HSP website getting a new look too! Things are being tidied and tightened, spruced up and smartened behind the scenes, and we'll be launching it shortly.

With our first year in business under our belt, we thought it was time to update our appearance, re-dress the e-shop window, and show off the different streams of our work with dedicated galleries and more easily accessible details about each service.

Watch the website for details!

C

Getting into the seasonal swing....

2009-10-15T17:28:00.000+01:00

Ok, it's mid-October, therefore it's time to start shooting for Christmas. I am the least Christmassy person I know, and would rather ignore it, but it's our busiest time of the year for portraiture, so the last few weeks have been a whirl of preparation of all our publicity to get the word out there about our fantastic studio and the type of photos we can take.

The customer service team from Leeds' nicest call centre arrived en masse and largely in the buff to shoot 12 different sporting scenes, and then we were theming the events of the year for our Bosom Buddies ladies. Both organisations chose us to help them with their annual charity calendars, which put is into the festive mood. The breastfeeding mums brought some great kids costumes for Halloween and Chrsitmas (kindly supplied by Mamas and Papas) and so we borrowed lovely Aoife and showed her presents for the first time in her very young life. She knew exactly what to do with them too! The schnauser pup is the 3rd member of the HSP team, and she hates us for making her wear a Santa suit, but look.... she's so cute!

So now we're distributing flyers for all we're worth, the word has gone out through an email campaign, and we're making sure everyone we come into contact with knows that as usual, the sitting is free at the studio, but we're giving away a 7x5inch print to get everyone off to a good start from now until 23rd December. We could be the answer to your family Christmas present list. Just give us a call on 0113 2826116 and book your appointment.

See you soon!

C

Networking like a .... spider?

2009-09-18T10:32:00.000+01:00

OOOh.... if I see any more chocolate, coffee or wine this week... I'll probably just guzzle it happily whilst engaging in interesting conversations with the nearest businesspeople to me. Yes, it's been a monster networking week for me, with 3 events in 3 days. Usually I manage 1 every week, and we run our No Frills Business Networking for Women evenings on the 3rd Wednesday of each month (ie this week), but last night's Make Your Mark Ambassadors Networking event at beam in Wakefield is the one that's filled me with the most ideas.

I met loads of fellow ambassadors, all dedicated to encouraging people to get involved in businesses, and sparking inspiration in areas of our community otherwise not well known for entrepreneurship. We first came across Make Your Mark when we started the No Frills nights, and decided to apply to become ambassadors because I feel very strongly that businesses need to work with schools and colleges to encourage the next generation to have ideas and confidence. We're intending to do our bit for the Global Entrepreneurship Week by inviting young business minded women to our November No Frills event which falls smack bang in the middle of it.

I ended up deep in conversation with James Clegg from Operation Hoodie. James lost a good friend to cancer at far too young an age, and his response was to start something amazing. It chimed with me, because my mate Kim's death to a brain tumour when we were 20 has so far led me to run 2 Races for Life (5k) and a Run for Life (10k) to raise money for Cancer Research Uk. We're also currently shooting a naked calendar at the studio which hopes to raise money for breast and testicular cancer charities. I hope to connect these dots and see if we can help James out. Watch this space!

So .... networking is fun, and as someone who likes to talk about anything at any given moment, and is passionate about our business, I am settling into it as a natural, but it's essential for businesses to find others who they can connect with to push their ideas forward, and I hope to report back soon with some exciting developments!

Sanders' Pregnancy Economic Recovery Model

2009-09-04T17:00:00.000+01:00

I am no economist, and I am pretty much an accidental business-woman. When my sensible mates chose to study maths, economics and business studies at A-level, I was tackling English literature and philosophy and ethics of religion. I wanted to learn what words meant and why people used them to make things. Then I fell in love with photography and became one of the many photography students who graduate every year who never paid attention to such considerations as how to keep body and soul together while you are creating works of art which speak eloquently to the viewer. I expected the world to recognise my talent with payment as soon as I had my degree in my hand. Now sometimes I forget the details of our fees and charges, carried away by the idea of taking the pictures. I am a photographer first, qualified to take photos, and I have a post-graduate certificate in what translates as observing how things are connected in visual culture.

But.... when I was growing up, my parents had a private day nursery, situated in our lovely big house in Chapel Allerton. The ground floor was for the kids, and we lived upstairs. My mum was a nursery-nurse, and set up the basics of the business when she was on maternity leave with my big brother, and when I came along, my dad quit his job at the foundry and they took it from there. It eventually became one of the most successful and best regarded nurseries in the city. By the time of the last serious recession I was a teenager and was helping out after school when they needed an extra pair of eyes in the garden, or a spare nose-wiper and hand-washer. I remember hearing them talk about how things were going to get very difficult, because people would lose their jobs and stay at home with the kids instead of bringing them to the nursery. And then people who might've been thinking about having a baby, or a second baby, would think again. Sure enough, the numbers got thinner at the nursery, and mum and dad had to open up the nursery at the weekend for kids parties (which was my job - make sure no-one trashed the place, tidy up if they did, make party food, clean up sick, clean the toilets....). Dad also predicted that the first thing people did when there was money again would be to have those babies they'd been holding back from. Sure enough, we had a clutch of 8 3month olds start with us as the country started to climb out of the doldrums. The lesson I absorbed from that was that you can tell when the economy is starting to recover becasue people start having babies again. I think dad thought it was because of the types of jobs the parents worked in, in Leeds's business district, in the media, in the NHS, they'd see the early indicators and get cracking on with kids ahead of anyone else.

When Jo and I started the studio, we reckoned that we'd spend the recession slowly getting the word out about the quality of our portraiture work, and that by the time people started having kids again, we'd have built a really solid reputation, with lots of happy customers telling their friends about us, and that we'd be in a great position. That's still hopefully the plan, but it's occurred to me that my dad's reasoning might've been the wrong way round. I think the end of the recession is brought on roughly 9 months after the deepest point.

I know lots of couples who've either just had or are about to give birth in the next month or 2. When there was no money to do anything else back in January and February, I bet I can make an educated guess as to what people got up to. All the things you have to do when you know there's a small person on the way - the painting of rooms, the buying of cots, car-seats, new cars, maybe moving house - help to stimulate the local economy and suddenly there's more money to go around, and as more and more people go through the same pattern, the whole country moves back into action. (I was about to say the black, but that's not going to happen for a while.)

I have done no research. I may be utterly wrong, but I'm enjoying telling everyone that I have formulated this model from the point of view of 2 generations of Sanders', each with small businesses dependent on people having babies regularly.

Good luck and congratulations to everyone about to add to their family. Come and see us when you're ready for some lovely family photos.

Better late than never

2009-08-28T10:58:00.000+01:00

Inspired and spurred into action by my mate Ed over at the Soundmill studios, I remembered I had started a blog for Hilton Sanders Photography a few months back, and am now determined to write some stuff down about what's been going on.

We're now into our second year of business, older, wiser and in my case carrying a little more weight. At first we could hardly believe we could legitimately state our professions as "Photographer" let alone that we were both directors of a company, with all the imaginary images that accompany those terms. The reality was definitely not glamorous. We started HSP just before what was already a credit crunch became a full-blown recession, and spent several weeks covered in paint while we prepared the studio, just as people stopped spending on everything, and getting professional portraits done was definitely the last thing on the list. The run up to Christmas is a reliable time for any photographer, and we saw enough people to get us going and start to get our name out there and be recognised. But come January 1st...... tumbleweed. I think we probably started naively with the Field of Dreams credo -"If you build it, they will come." After a cold and quiet winter in the office, we realised that we needed to push harder to get commercial work in, because businesses always need promotional photos, to give us a chance of avoiding the impact of the seasonality of portraiture.

And it took us until May to get our act together. We'd tried a couple of different networking groups, and although we were only visiting, we came away with jobs from each one, but we always felt that we were either the only women there, or the youngest people (our average age is creeping towards 32 these days....), or that we were just in the wrong place. Whilst our business is split between domestic/family and commercial/business work, we were there to secure work from businesses - ideally product shots, or a little PR, and as much as we'll never turn a customer away, there's just not so much you can do for your average accountant! So in May, we launched No Frills Business Networking for Women, with the idea that we can't've been the only new, small company looking for a way to make friends and connections with others in the same situation. And we were right. We've made some great business friends, and they've introduced us to some other local networking groups, and more local businesses in turn. No Frills (the pun's obvious if you know me and Jo) kicked off with Lindsey Davies of Open Communications taking the 5minute intro spot, and she invited me to attend the weekly MBE (Milford Business Exchange) session the week after. Lindsey had been right - this was a networking group I felt comfortable with - a mixture of businesses of various sizes, ages and services, where I feel like I am supported and encouraged, and it's resulted in some great jobs. The combination of an early-morning weekly, semi-formal(ahem!) mixed-sex group, and the monthly, very relaxed and women-only session suits HSP fine, and we have now worked with great local businesses from start-ups and one-man bands to some of the biggest international companies with premises in Yorkshire.

Even better, whilst we've built up our connections with local businesses, we've continued building our reputation for great portraits, and we hear from our customers that they came to us because they had friends or family who've already used us, and loved the shots. There's no better way of getting portraiture business than good word of mouth. With this in mind, we opened our studio up for photo-parties - for any celebration. They're a great alternative to taking a bunch of kids to the cinema, to the fast-food restaurants or for a swimming party, but equally good for hen-nights and silver wedding anniversaries. From our point of view, it's s way for people to come and have a look around the studio, meet us and see the sort of thing we can do, without spending too much. We have had some amazing fun with our parties - the creativity people come along with has been incredible! Our suggestion that people bring a change of clothes and a theme for the second outfit, has so far has been recognised as an artistic opportunity by most of our parties. Our favourites have been the apparently simple theme of "fluorescent", which turned a team of 13year old girls into Oulton's next top models, and "Hollywood", where 4 girls brought their own red carpet, fun cameras and cuddly "airdog" (never touches the floor) and so we set up a "papping incident" in the studio. Fantastic.

Every challenge and idea we're approached with is exciting. We try to find out what all of our customers are looking for and take them just a little bit beyond what they were expecting, and that's fun to attempt, and satisfying to achieve. What more could I ask for from a job? Yes it's terrifying knowing that each month we have to earn our living, rather than being able to depend on a regular wage, but every single penny we make feels ten times more valuable knowing how hard we worked to earn it.

So... that's roughly what we've done in our first year. In the next few months we've got some great jobs coming up - naked fundraising calendars, in-house newsletters, playgroups and nurseries, and lots of family shoots. I'll try to update this blog a little more often and maybe shed a little light on what goes on behind the doors at HSP, and our experiences in business as we adventure through the turbulent times at (hopefully) the end of the recession. Please feel free to follow us and chime in with any ideas!

Cheers,

Caroline