Local Photographer Laura Spence achieves international acclaim!
Laura Spence, a photographer based in Fife has reached the Final of the fiercely contested Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Competition.
The Guild is a highly respected UK based association for photographers, which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an online monthly photographic competition, judged by internationally respected judges, with awards given to the best entries.
During 2024, the competition attracted c10,000 entries from the most talented of photographers.
It has recently been announced that from all the entries across the year, the Guild’s Judges have selected no more than 10 images in various genres to go forward to the annual Image of the Year Final. Those selected really are the best of the best, and an image by Laura is one of those selected as a Finalist!
Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best in a category for the end of year Final is without doubt an incredible achievement, and shows just how talented a photographer, Laura is.”
Laura will be able to celebrate their achievement and find out if they are the overall winner at a spectacular Awards Gala evening on 1st February 2025.
To find out more about the Guild of Photographers and their competition visit their website (www.photoguild.co.uk), and to find out more about Laura Spence visit her website (www.lauraspence.com).
Local Photographer Laura Spence achieves international acclaim!
Laura Spence, a photographer based in Fife has reached the Final of the fiercely contested Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Competition.
The Guild is a highly respected UK based association for photographers, which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an online monthly photographic competition, judged by internationally respected judges, with awards given to the best entries.
During 2023, the competition attracted c12,000 entries from the most talented of photographers.
It has recently been announced that from all the entries across the year, the Guild’s Judges have selected no more than 10 images in various genres to go forward to the annual Image of the Year Final. Those selected really are the best of the best, and an image(s) by Laura Spence is one of those selected as a Finalist!
Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best in a category for the end of year Final is without doubt an incredible achievement, and shows just how talented photographer, Laura is.”
To find out more about the Guild of Photographers and their competition visit their website (www.photoguild.co.uk)
]]>Laura, a photographer based in Fife has reached the Final of the fiercely contested Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Competition.
The Guild is a highly respected UK based association for photographers, which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an online monthly photographic competition, judged by internationally respected judges, with awards given to the best entries.
During 2021, the competition has attracted over c13,000 entries from the most talented of photographers.
It has recently been announced that from all the entries across the year, the Guild’s Judges have selected JUST 10 images in various genres to go forward to the annual Image of the Year Final. Those selected really are the best of the best, and an image by Laura is one of those selected as a Finalist!
Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best in a category for the end of year Final is without doubt an incredible achievement, and shows just how talented photographer, Laura is.”
Name said “I am so delighted be a finalist in this years image of the month competition. In my time with the Guild of Photographers I've seen the level of work involved and the huge amount of entries and I still can't believe two of my images have made it to the final”
In December, highly regarded Judges gathered together from across the country to choose the overall winner.
The results will be announced in early February 2022.
To find out more about the Guild of Photographers and their competition visit their website (www.photoguild.co.uk), and to find out more about Laura Spence visit their website (www.lauraspence.com).
Hi everyone, I hope you are all well and staying safe at the moment. These are unexpected and troubling times for all. I feel for all us mums who have given birth during these uncertain times. You may have had plans for visitors, outings and celebrations that have now all been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Not having that newborn photoshoot you planned for could be just another one of those things you feel your missing out on. Having had a baby recently myself I understand how it feels to not be doing anything you thought you would be when you had your baby.
Just because you can't make it to a studio for professional photos doesn't mean you can't and shouldn't still try to capture these times at home. I must stress that the posing done in studio should not be tried by anyone untrained in baby photography but there are some simple sets that can be achieved. Baby safety is priority at all times.
Being at home myself and having no props or equipment of any kind at home I guessed it would be a great opportunity for me to try and achieve what I'm asking everyone else to try. So I found some stuff from the Scottish baby box that I thought everyone would have and I gave it a go. It didn't go exactly to plan, the lighting at home is terrible, I'm not lucky enough to have any nice big windows BUT we did our best so I can post them as examples for you all.
First things first, your camera...
Be it an entry level DSLR or a mobile phone camera I urge you to capture these first days, you'll be glad you did in the long run. For these photos I shot with an entry level that costs around £100 (cannon 100d) that I got for taking on outings with the kids, it's small and lightweight and I was impressed with how it performed over the mobile phone camera. I also shot some on my mobile which was tricky and I noticed a huge difference but still they gave me photos that were acceptable and treasured memories of a brief time I won't get back once this is all over.
Settings:
You may not feel confident changing the settings and that's fine but I would suggest to check that you are using the highest quality setting, default setting is often lower than what it is capable of if using a mobile phone camera. If you do fancy looking at some of the settings or are using manual on a DSLR then there are 3 settings you can work with, I will explain in the simplest terms I can:
ISO, this is basically the quality of your images, lower this number the better quality will be. If you have less light you can increase this number to compensate, lowering the quality. When working in the studio my ISO is 100 as I can have as much light as needed from my lights. When taking these photos I was at around 400 on my mobile shots.
Shutter speed (S on my phone)
This is how fast your shutter is and is important to freeze any motion from either hand shake or movement of the subject. As a general rule this shouldn't be lower than 1/60th. The higher that second number the faster it is and the better at capturing any movement. I used around 1/200th as Eris was awake at start and wanted to be sure I wouldn't get any motion blur.
Aperture
This is how shallow your focus will be. I usually use 5.6 as this tends to get most of their features nicely in focus. A lower number will give you a softer look and a higher number you would need for group shots to get more depth of focus.
Hopefully I've explained these simply enough. You can choose to play around with these if you wish or stick with automatic settings or even semi-automatic settings. TV setting for example on a dslr will allow you to set shutter speed and then will automatically set everything else for you and AV is the same but with aperture.
I must admit to not having had used much of the settings on a mobile before. I have the DSLR for outings so mostly don't use my phone unless for in the house and don't really look at the settings on it. my bad!
Next thing to consider is your lighting....
I always avoid the built in camera flash, I find it gives horrendous lighting most of the time but this is just my preference. Everyone's different and likes different things, there's no right or wrong, these tips are my preferences for lighting and photography, feel free to change it up. Other photographers might do things very differently.
You want to find your biggest light source around your home. Ideally you want big patio doors or something similar. I wasn't that lucky at home we don't have great windows but I managed so if your in the same situation don't despair. find a nice bright area with plenty window light. I set up in my daughters room so I could use her bed and move it to a 45 degree angle to the window or as close to it as I could so that the light would fall across babies face nicely. This backfired on me as it looked nice when set up and by time I fed baby and came baby their was some bright hotspots of light in the area. I decided to just go for it and grab some shots as we were all set up ready and I had just got baby settled. This is an example of how you can really still capture some nice shots even when lighting isn't what you would like, nothing here went to plan!
Next....the set up and props
I put the mattress form my little ones crib on my daughters bed with the big white blanket from the baby box over it. I then had a box on the bed to put one side of the blanket up on as a backdrop, you could even use your baby box for this. It might be easier to use a helper and get them to hold up the blanket when your ready to take the shot. I thought about all the things at home I could use for this like her beside crib or the couch, even a coffee table with the crib mattress on it and someone there to hold blanket, there are a few ways this could work.
I used plain white body suit to keep the natural white theme going. I used the muslin cloth to roll up and put under the mattress at her head to bring her head up slightly.
other great prop ideas are, little teddy toys you've been gifted and hats. If you've had a girl little bloomers with some of the outfits can be nice as nappy cover or little headbands, some come with outfits, I had one at home from Next, as seen in the photos. If your brave enough you could go with simple naked baby shots, just watch out for poo!
ok, now a little bit posing....
your baby should be within your reach at ALL times and you should not attempt any professional level posing. Keep it simple and safe. I had her just lying on her tummy, I let her have her legs however she was comfortable as I only wanted to get a shot of her head and arms. The first shot I have just slowly moved her hand under her face which is quite a simple pose.
For another set I have taken the box away and had her lying on her back on the mattress and folded the extra blanket up over her like a little bed set. I've shot these from above her and have let her lie how she is naturally comfortable. This would be a good one to cuddle them up with a little toy though also but Eris wasn't up for it (she's 6 weeks now so not totally up for newborn posing).
Another great pose for at home is the swaddled pose. I didn't get around to this but it's great for settling baby and an easy set up to try at home. Even better if you have a nice fluffy rug to pose baby on for these shots.
Don't forget to capture those little details like hands and feet also, you'll love looking back at those!
Here's some examples of what I managed to capture at home with my horrific lighting and no props or lights other than the window. Each photo has on it if it was taken on a mobile or my little DSLR. Check back soon for an update on basic edits you can try also. Good luck capturing those images everyone!
I plan to have these all printed to look at quality differences between camera options. Will update you all with the results! Thanks for reading.
Laura
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PRESS RELEASE
Laura, a photographer based in Fife has reached the Final of the fiercely contested Guild of Photographers Image of the Year Competition.
The Guild is a highly respected UK based association for photographers which has members from overseas as well. Each year it runs an on-line monthly photographic competition, judged by internationally respected judges with awards given to the best entries.
During 2019, the competition has attracted over 13,500 entries from the most talented of photographers.
It has recently been announced that from all the entries across the year, the Guild’s Judges have selected JUST 10 images in various genres to go forward to the annual Image of the Year Final. Those selected really are the best of the best, and an image by Laura is one of those selected as a Finalist!
Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said “One of the Guild’s aims is to drive standards and creativity amongst photographers. Our competition certainly does that, for the standard of the entries we see each month is quite staggering. To have an image recognised by the Guild in the monthly competition is difficult enough, so to have an image selected as being one of the best in a category for the end of year Final is without doubt an incredible achievement, and shows just how talented photographer, Laura is.”
Laura said “ I am delighted to have been chosen as a finalist this year. It's such an amazing achievement for me to end the year on. Massive thanks to all at the Guild for continuing to help us push our creativity each year."
In early December, highly regarded Judges gathered together from across the country and overseas to choose the overall winner.
The final outcome will be announced at a lavish Awards night in a magnificent Jacobean mansion in Cheshire on the 1st February 2020.
To find out more about the Guild of Photographers and their competition visit their website (www.photoguild.co.uk), and to find out more about Laura visit their website (www.lauraspence.com).
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Here's a little look at our Valentine's bakery set up.
Mini sessions will be held on 9th February 2019 costing £60 for a 20 minute session plus 3 digital images of your choosing. Only a couple of spaces left now.
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LUXlife Magazine Announces The Winners of the 2018 Parent & Baby Awards.
United Kingdom, 2018- LUXlife magazine announces the winners of the 2018 Parent & Baby Awards.
According to proverbial wisdom, it takes a village to raise a child, with that in mind, LUXlife magazine looks to commend the enterprises who make it their business to facilitate and improve the care, development and entertainment of the earth’s most precious denizens.
Commenting on the success of the awards and their deserving winners, Laura Hunter Coordinator, stated: “It is with great pride that I recognise and reward a range of winners from across the childrearing space; from toy manufacturers to support service providers. Congratulations to all of my winners, I look forward to hearing more about your success over the coming months.”
To find out more about these prestigious awards, and the dedicated establishments that have been selected for them, please visit http://www.lux-review.com/ where you can view our winners supplement and full winners list.
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]]>International Recognition for Local Photographer
Local Photographer, Laura Spence has gained international recognition by winning a significant award with the Guild of (Professional) Photographers.
The Guild is the highly regarded national photographic body whose members are dedicated to enhancing their skills in the art, craft and profession of photography.
It runs an Image of the Month Competition, and received around 12,500 entries during 2017, from photographers in the Uk and overseas!
Each image is scored, and the scores from the year are then totalled to determine who wins one of the Guild's Top 10 Photographer awards / becomes the Guild's Photographer of the Year. This is clearly a very demanding year long process!
Laura was honoured to become a Top 10 Photographer of the Year in the Newborn and Baby genre - a remarkable achievement when one considers the number and standard of the entries.
Steve Thirsk (Director of the Guild) said –
He is “both proud and delighted that Laura has achieved this recognition after 12 months of
submitting the highest quality images."
The Guild has very demanding standards when judging photographic competitions. The judging is undertaken by a panel of internationally recognised experts from a variety of photographic backgrounds, so Laura quite rightly should be delighted with her extraordinary achievement’
Members of the Guild are committed to achieving the highest standards of professionalism and to a journey of continuing professional development.
You can find out more about the Guild of Photographers at its website www.photoguild.co.uk, and
more about Laura Spence Photography at their website www.lauraspence.com
End of Release
If you have any questions or need any more information please do not hesitate to contact us!
Lesley & Steve Thirsk
(Directors - The Guild of Photographers)
01782 970323 / [email protected] / www.photoguild.co.uk
The Guild of Photographers is the Trading name of the 'Guild of Professional Photographers Ltd.'
Registered in England…Registered Office – Beethoven House, 76 Moorland Road, Burslem Stoke On Trent. ST6 1DY
Company Registration Number 06997478. Vat Reg'd Number 176091109]]>
I'm really looking forward to these sessions, hearts, ballons and blowing glitter. now booking, email [email protected] to book ]]>Back in the studio soon for lots of new 2018 babies and I just can't wait. I don't think my job could get much better at this point!
Hoping that all my customers and followers had a great Christmas and New Year. I will look forward to seeing lots of you again in 2018.
Here's a little preview from Helen and Gav's big day to share with you all.
With thanks to Kirsty at Bella photography who was my assistant..snow buddies!
These shoots are amazing for children who love to get outdoors and play, we combine, colourful clothing in our styling and toys and props to co-ordinate.
I will have a few of these outdoor days planned over the coming months for more info please contact [email protected]
Here's a little look at some of the photos from the workshop and after workshop with my own little model.
It's also super busy at Laura Spence Photography with bookings for chirstmas sessions filling up very quickly now. it looks like it's going to be a busy end of the year for me, thank you all x
Here's just a few of the photos taken on the day as a little preview for you all.
Thanks again for choosing me to capture your big day guys <3
Here at Laura Spence Photography We are now offering some Fairy mini sessions over the next couple of months. The are Proving to be very popular. Lovely for any little fairy princesses! Here are some examples. To book please contact me at [email protected]]]>We also moved into our new studio recently. We are in the same business centre but now unit 33. meaning we have lots more space. Will get some photos of the new studio up very soon :)
I has taken about 2 days to complete and is made up of lots of different elements to create a this art work. I thought I'd share with you all a little look at how the image was made. using a stock photo of the flying scotsman and some scenery from locally around me i managed to create this magical photo. my kids LOVE it! Here's a little before and after
I took some photos for them on their big day and here's a little preview
I've now drafted up the mini session days and prices. all booking can be done by contacting me via email or using the contact form here on the website.
Limited spaces and there will only be 3 day of mini sessions. Tuesday 22nd of November, Thursday 1st December and Friday 9th of December. after school sessions are limited also so book now! THANKS!
Here's the little preview of their day.
to book please email me at [email protected] or using the contact form
This gorgeous girl visited me today on her birthday, I captured some lovely photos of her on her special day. here's a little preview from her session.
At the start of cake smash sessions we take a couple of photos of our birthday boy or girl in a nice outfit for some more traditional portraits. we then get them changed into a little nappy cover and let them lose on a Giant cupcake. most babies just love squishing it all and painting the floor with cake. After they've had their messy fun we put them in my freestanding baby bathtub for some nice splish splash photos. one of my favourite types of session.
Prices and more info can be found on the website.
Again St serfs is a no flash and no movement kind of venue but I still managed to get some really nice shots of their ceremony. LOVE the one of the Groom looking like the happiest man ever. Hope they all had a fantastic day and are enjoying their weekend of celebrations.
Laura
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Since the weather was so bad we had an indoor set up for a while at the venue which was Hill of Beath Club and we still managed to get some gorgeous photos of the bride and groom and of course lots of their family members too.
Chrystal was surprised on her day with a horse and carriage to take her to the church. I braved the rain to get a photo of her inside, I love it with all rain and her framed perfectly in the carriage.
unfortunately the local church doesn't allow flash or even movement of the photographer during ceremony but lucky we were permitted to take some photos during it, all in all the weather and the church rules didn't make it easy but we still managed to capture some fantastic memories of their day. wishing them all the best for the Future.
You were all brilliant.
I was excited when she got this Merida dress, mainly because she's my little ginger curly haired scottish merida so it was fitting for her. it's taken quite a while to put this all together as i had to get a bow that looked right to use and to source a horse of course. it all came together and here's the final result.
Huge thanks to Jacob the horse and of course his owners chrystal and skye for letting me photograph him for this. was worth all the hours to create. Alexis is keen to have this displayed in her bedroom.
]]>Puppy photography can be hard and time consuming but it's worth it when you see the results. These guys are 4 weeks old and had been running around for a while before hand so that they were just getting ready for a wee nap. made for perfectly calm and cuddly wee models. It was pretty hard not to smuggle one out the door with me if I'm honest. :)
Hope you all like the end result. and thanks to all who comment and share my work, much love....LAURA X
Since the weather was so kind to them they were married outside and it was just perfect. Here's a little preview of just a few of the images from the day.
Thanks for asking me to be a part of your big day guys, my assistant Claire and I enjoyed capturing it for you and best wishes for the future.
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Tried something a little different today. These were great and an alternative to cake smash birthday shoots .
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]]>sometimes it's so much fun to just do something a little cartoon crazy, we usually laugh so much creating these photos and just look how adorable they all look. I find this type of session great for older kids aswell as younger ones as they often like to role play and dress up.
we have seen a lot of princesses, fairies, mickey and minnie mouses and of course jedis recently so thought i'd put up a little blog with some of the cartoon crazy creations in the past few months. hope you all like them as much as i do.
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Local photographer Laura Spence has been granted membership of the 'Photographers Bar'.
Membership of the 'Photographers Bar' is a unique distinction awarded to those photographers who have successfully had images assessed by the Guild of Photographers over the course of a year and have attained a score that evidences an exceptional level of professional skill and consistency throughout that a full year.
The Guild of Photographers is a highly respected association for all photographers and it's competition attracts up to 1000 images for judging by an an expert Panel of Judges each month. Points are given to entries and these are then totaled at the end of the year. Those who reach the required threshold are then awarded membership of the 'Photographers Bar'.
That membership of the 'Photographers Bar' is a distinction that is very difficult to achieve - in fact less than 100 photographers have achieved it in the 3 years since its inception, during which time over 30,000 images will have been entered for assessment by photographers across the UK and from overseas.
Guild Director Lesley Thirsk said "I am delighted for Laura as this is a great achievement! Submitting and having images assessed every month for a year and reaching the required standards to become a member of the Photographers Bar is very very demanding. It illustrates her commitment, skill and consistency. She should be very proud of what she has achieved!"
You can find out more about this award and the Guild of Photographers at their website (www.photoguild.co.uk) and more about Laura at her website www.lauraspence.com
If your not a fan of the overly posed cheesy smile photos then these might be for you.
Typically these Fine art images combine a fantasy element, old fashioned outfits, elaborate decorations, fairy wings, animals etc and a lot of photoshop magic to make these photos into works of art for you home.
Contact for more information on these!
Have a wonderful Christmas!!
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we don't do as many weddings as we'd like now that the diary is so full with babies but looking ahead there are a few spaces for weddings, here's a little offer for anyone still looking for a photographer for this year and very start of next year. free engagement shoot with full day packages too <3 <3
contact me for more info. Fife Based photographer x
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]]>Here are a few photos from the wedding.
We've been to Carnegie Conference Centre, Beveridge Park hotel and Gilvenbank hotel all in Fife so far this month. all were fantastic weddings. Here is a little peek at some of the photos taken!
http://www.banpas.co.uk/
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]]>As many of you know i have won many awards this past year with the guild of photographers and I can't actually beleive that my name is up there with some of the most amazing photographers in the UK right now. I'm eternally grateful to all my customers over the past year. It just wouldn't be be possible without you all.
Here's a link to the all important top 10 lists, still can't believe that's my name on there....
http://photoguild.co.uk/2014-awards
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what an amazing start to 2015 with lot of lovely new babies. Also busy with some cake smashes and a few older kiddies in the mix, very busy so please remember to book in advance
]]>National Recognition for Local Photographer
Local Photographer Laura Spence has achieved the distinction of becoming Qualified with the Guild of Newborn & Baby Photographers. (A new assessment category in this genre)
The Guild is a highly regarded national photographic body whose members are dedicated to enhancing their skills in the art, craft and profession of photography.
Becoming ‘Qualified’ with the Guild involves a very rigorous assessment process as not only is it photographic talent assessed but customer service as well - probably the most demanding test of all! The award is granted only to photographers who can evidence that Laura Spence is now one of the first people in the Country to hold this title, which shows how good an achievement this award is!
Members of the Guild are committed to achieving the highest standards of professionalism for the benefit of their customers. They pledge themselves to delivering the highest standards of customer service and to a journey of continuing professional development.
The Guild website (www.photoguild.co.uk) lists members throughout the country who offer this commitment, along with advice on how to choose a photographer that will meet your needs.
Laura said that she is “Delighted to be awarded this qulaification and would like to thank the Guild for their continued help and support. It's been a lot of hard work but I'm so thrilled to be where I am today”.
Lesley & Steve Thirsk
Directors
For further information please contact:
01782 639500
07868753181
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It's been so amazing for me to watch all these babies grow up over this past year, looking forward to many more of them turning one over the next couple of months. Thanks to you all for your continued support.
Laura
what a wonderful wedding and great venue and it was such a pleasure to be part of their big day.
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Thanks to you all for your continued support!
Happy to now be an award winning wedding photographer aswell as children's photographer. Its very
overwhellming sometimes to look back and see how well i've done, Thanks to all my customers for their continued
support!! x
is my No.1 priority when doing these shoots and i've therefore decided to join the BANP (british
association of newborn photographers). I have now been approved to joing this organisation
which has a directory of photographers across Britain of photographers who are approved and
follow a safe code of conduct for babies. Here's a link to some more info on this:
