Their daughter Dora (shown above) is no stranger to me. Indeed, one of my past shots of her and her dad won me two national awards back in 2007. The winning photograph is shown below.

All photographs ©  Copyright David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

Here’s a publicity headshot I did for 16 year old actress Olivia. She’s just signed to a new agent and she popped into my studio this morning with her mum to update her photographs. I think she looks fabulous in this shot.

Couple of things to tell you…

Firstly, I’ve had a few clients ask me when will the results to the Kodak Portrait Awards promo be announced. According to the competition sponsors, finalists will be notified by mid September and the outright winner will be announced at our annual industry awards bash on 17th October. If any of my entrants have been successful, I will contact them straight away. A big thank you to everyone who entered – fingers crossed that one of my photos gets through!

Finally, apart from a couple of jobs, I’m taking a break for the next week or so. I was supposed to have taken the last 10 days off, but because of the high demand for my services, I postponed my break. I will be back in the office on 6th September. However, I will be regularly checking for phone messages and emails – and where necessary I will get in touch with you.

All photographs: Copyright © David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

Pictured above are Sam(8) and Ella (4). We had a great shoot of which I did two totally contrasting looks. The first set-up is as shown above, but we also did some some great dark and moody shots too. Despite it being sunny and hot outside - and Sam missing the England match, both of them worked really hard.

All photographs © David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

Apart from family portraits, I regularly get asked to take publicity portraits for actors, dancers – or indeed anyone in the performing arts. With these sort of shots, you can’t really get that creative, as the shots are intended to be given to casting directors and agents to simply show what someone looks like.

Here are couple of shots I’ve done recently. First up is Rebecca who is an up-and-coming actress and secondly we have young Lauren, who is hoping to persue a career as a dancer.

If you are an actor looking for a publicity portrait for Spotlight, or a dancer wanting some publicity photographs for casting agents, call me now on 01279 843050. You can view more samples of my model, actor and dancer photography here. 

All photographs: Copyright © David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

Just bought a new pink background and I found an excellent subject to use it on. This is Madeline (2) who came in as part of my Kodak Awards promotion, where you get the chance of winning £1,000.00. She was a lovely little girl. We had a great chat about her cats and she told me about all the naughty things they get up to… a bit like my cats then!

All photographs: © Copyright David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

Its beautifully warm and sunny outside – and I’m stuck inside catching up with loads of work!

Here are a few shots I’ve done in the last week… Firstly we have Lee (5) who was extremely good during his portrait shoot, and next we have his little brother - 7 month old Alfie. Alfie’s mum was telling me that he is a bit of a serious baby - as he often didn’t smile in photographs, but we got lucky and I caught a lovely smile. Finally, we have a classical style portrait of the beautiful Tasha, who came in with her family for a portrait shoot. It was quite a long session, but very enjoyable and productive.

All photographs: © David Calvert 2010. Copying forbidden by law.

This is Daisy(10) who was an absolute delight to photograph. I love this shot. It has a light, fresh delicate feel to it. Thanks must also go to Denise who brought Daisy to the studio and acted as ‘hair stylist’!

Daisy came in as part of our fantastic promotion we are doing - where you have the chance of winning £1,000.00!

We are looking to enter beautiful, photogenic children into one of the UK’s most prestigious photographic competitions – the Kodak Portrait Awards. Sponsored by one of the world’s top imaging companies; Kodak and the Master Photographers Association (MPA), we are offering entrants a FREE studio portrait sitting worth £50.00!

We shall select the best image from the sitting and submit it to the Kodak Portrait Awards. If the photograph is chosen as the outright winner of the portrait category, you will win £1,000.00! There are also some great runner-up prizes of Kodak digital cameras too!

To qualify for this great offer, all subjects being photographed must be aged between 0-12 years.

As part of the offer, we will pay the entry fee to the competition. The proceeds of which will be donated by the MPA to the sponsors nominated charity, PACE – a fantastic organisation that helps children with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

Spaces are strictly limited, so book your sitting by calling us now on 01279 843050.

Offer subject to terms and conditions, details available upon request.

I thought I’d show you a photograph from the last shoot of the week. This is Finn and his little sister Taryn. Finn was a little shy to start with but he soon was smiling away. This was Taryn’s first portrait shoot and she did very well.

I first photographed Finn a couple of years ago, and he’s grown up to be a very handsome little boy. Here’s how he looked when he was around a year old.

At last I can reveal the winner – or should I say winners of our ABC Cover Star Spring promotion!

I have the great pleasure of introducing Julius (5) and Maximilian (7) from St Albans.  Out of the many fabulous children I photographed for the competition, The editor of ABC Magazine was particularly taken by the shots of Max and Julius. When I submitted all of the photographs to the magazine, I had a feeling that the editor may go for boys this time, as its been about a year since a boy last appeared on the cover. It seems I was right!

A huge thank you to everyone who entered the competition. I hope you loved the photographs I took – and judging from the lovely messages I received, you all did.

Well, we now start all over again! I am now looking for beautiful children aged between 6 months – 11 years old who live in Hertfordshire and would like the chance of appearing on the cover of the summer issue of ABC magazine (Hertfordshire edition). Entrants get a FREE portrait sitting worth £50.00. Plus! I will also enter one of the photographs I take at your sitting into a seperate competition – namely the Kodak Portrait Awards, where you could win £1,000.00!

For bookings and full offer details, call me now on 01279 843050.

We’ve had some fabulous children in the studio recently. Firstly, shown above is the beautiful Eve (2). She was a tiny bit shy at the very start of the sitting, but with the help of her mum and my ‘assistant’ Sooty, she had a great time.

Secondly, we have Robbie (3), who came in as part of our Kodak promotion. He brought Scooby Doo with him and he seemed quite impressed with my Scooby impersonation!

In the next few days, I shall be revealing who will be appearing on the next issue of ABC magazine. Be sure to visit us again soon to see who’s won!