fantastic mr fox

Fantastic Mr Fox, Newborn Photography

Creating composite images: A behind-the-scenes look at how it’s done                 

Hello everyone! This week I’ve been busy in the studio creating a fantastic Mr fox photo, once again working with children and animals (I must be mad, ha ha!).

As you may know I’ve photographed dogs and ducks before but this was the first time ever that the KW photography studio had been visited by a pair of chickens! Kindly brought in by my pal Laurraine, these lovely clucky feathered friends, Thelma & Louise became the co-stars of a photograph that’s due to be published in an up-coming edition of DORSET magazine in conjunction with CobWebKnits.

Because I like to do things differently every now and then, I wanted to capture the hens alongside a sleeping newborn baby wearing an adorable fox hat by CobWebKnits; our very own ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ and his clucking friends!

fantastic mr fox

Here I’m going to explain how I took the concept from a vision to reality, and how I achieved the final, composite, image; what I’m calling my ‘clucking creation’!  Suffice to say that it involved a lot of chasing chickens around the studio (!), all the usual newborn baby soothing and posing, and then some magic in Photoshop.

Most importantly, at no time was the baby actually in the studio at the same time as the chickens, as I am absolutely committed to ensuring a baby’s safety at all times. (You may also be interested in my recent blog post about safety in newborn photography here). Im also a member of BANPAS.

The chicken session

Stage one was the chicken shoot! They came in the day before baby was due to be photographed, and kept Laurraine and I on our toes, as we followed them around the studio and repeatedly placed them in position (they weren’t very cooperative!). Honestly, you should have seen us! We had such fun. It was like the famous Benny Hill sketch with the chasing chickens – we just needed the music to be playing in the background to match the mood in the studio that day!

chickens and a basket of eggs

The baby session

Next up was gorgeous baby Arlo, just eight days new. He came in the following day, once I’d thoroughly cleaned up the studio, leaving no trace at all of the feathered fun that we had had.

Positioned safely within the basket with his mum carefully holding and supporting him at all times, Arlo was such an adorable, obliging subject. He slept well while I took the shots, including this one of him in the ‘head on hands’ pose

baby being held in a basket

It’s magic!

The final stage, the post-production stage, is when I was able to combine the two images together. Thanks to the magic of Photoshop it appears that Arlo was posed without support, and that the chicken and Mr Fox were photographed together, but as you all now know… they weren’t.

Check out the video of the shoot here

to take a closer look at how it was done. I hope you enjoy!

Until next time,

Karen x


KW Photography featured in Woman & Home magazine

Today I have some very exciting news. I am in the current edition of the national women’s glossy, ‘Woman & Home’ (March 2016 edition)!!!

‘Meet the new solopreneurs’

I’m featured as part of a positive article about women entrepreneurs and in the article I talk about my journey from working in print production for more than twenty years, to becoming a successful newborn photographer.

Woman and Home is a leading women’s magazine in the UK, read by almost 350,000 women each month.  It covers lifestyle, fashion, business, home and travel stories and is genuinely one of my favourite magazines.

So it’s hugely exciting (and slightly embarrassing!) that I’m in the magazine myself!

I was interviewed for the article and then the magazine came and photographed me at my studio in Poole in mid-December.

While I’m never a fan of photos of myself (I prefer to be behind the camera, as most photographers do!), I’m really pleased with the pictures they took of me and the studio.

I was lucky enough to have the gorgeous baby Lucy join me in the photos. She was a complete star! Big thanks must go to her mum Gemma for bringing her in.

I wonder if any avid Woman & Home readers among you spotted me before you read this?! Ha ha! I would love to know!

Life after Redundancy: A Photographer’s tale

The whole thing came about when I heard that the magazine was looking to feature women who had a positive story to tell about being made redundant.

I’ve previously blogged about my redundancy story, but for those who don’t know; I was made redundant in February 2011 and while it was a shock and a massive blow at the time, I used the opportunity to embark on a completely new career.

I let my passion for photography lead me into a career in newborn photography and, well, the rest they say is history!

Since then I have carved out a niche in newborn and family portrait photography and almost five years later I’m extremely thankful for the way things have turned out. I get to work every day doing something I am so passionate about and absolutely love.

So that is my story.

If you’d like to see how Woman & Home have told it, do grab a copy of the magazine while you can. It’s available from newsagents and supermarkets now. I’m in the March 2016 edition (with Julie Walters on the cover) on page 145-146.

Once you’ve read it, please do comment and let me know what you think.

Until next time,

Karen x