Robin Farquhar-Thomson

Wonderful Pictures of Children

Child photographer

I am a London based children's photographer, specialising in black and white photography

Mobile: 07905 824 344

Phone: 020 7350 0312

HOW I STARTED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER

When I was travelling in India, having just got married in 1989 I met up with Su Sareen, a friend also travelling there, but with her two year old boy, Sam, who I photographed in his sarong on the beach at Trivandrum. When I got home and gave the photos to her she said that the pictures were really special. She thought that I should start up a business doing child photography as she knew the photographs were out of the ordinary. Being an art director in advertising (who had won prizes for, among other things, making the first advert with a woman in the driving seat of a car) I trusted her judgement, and as we had arrived home with our first baby on the way my wife met a decent crowd of pregnant women at an anti-natal swimming class so I ended up with about ten eager mothers-to be who were keen as mustard to have portraits of their little darlings made in the first few months of their lives. Many of them invited me back over the following months and years and with advertising the business expanded with plenty of new families.

Over the years as my children grew up, so did the children I photographed, with many people inviting me back every year to make a record of their entire childhood. If you look at the “Through the years” part of this website you will see a couple of examples of people who now have a record of well over ten years of their childs life.

"Robin Farquhar Thomson has been photographing our daughter, our dogs and our family for over 12 years. His pictures cover the walls of our house and they have provided us with a fantastic record of our family life over a long period of time."

"Robin has been taking photographs of me for longer than I can remember. Its a bit embarrassing how many framed pictures of me stare out from every side table in our house. I have always got on really well with Robin and I think that he has given me my interest in photography and shown me what you can do with a camera. Thank you for the photos - they are wonderful."

HOW I WORK

What I do is travel to the home of the family and set up a studio there with backdrops, lights and all the equipment to make a professional studio, but in the comfort of their home. The fee for this sort of photography depends on how many films the family decide to have. About two weeks after the session I send out the contact prints.

These are 10x12 inch sheets with all 12 photos on each sized just over 2 inches square - the same size as the negative. Prints can then be ordered and in addition to prints my printers make stretched canvas prints, prints on an acrylic mount and little laminated credit card size prints which fit in a wallet. More recently I have also done shoots outside in the garden or on location in places such as Richmond Park. I have been well known for working with medium format black and white film and my extremely skilled printers produce exquisite fine art photographs. I also work with a digital camera, if the client prefers this type of photographic session. There is a single fee for this with no restrictions in the amount of photographs made. Soon after the session I send a cd of all the photographs in a smallish format. Then the family decide if they want to buy the whole lot in full resolution, or to print up a selection as photographs.

A digital session gives the family the choice of black and white or colour for all the pictures, but the black and white photographs are printed on colour paper and are not the same as a fine art black white print from a negative, which is made on black & white paper in a darkroom.

WHAT YOU GET AT THE END

When using film for a traditional black & white photo shoot or digital images you can order hand made fine art prints made by my highly skilled printers, and black jesso frames can be supplied with window mounts if needed, wallet sized prints which are laminated for protection, photographs can also ordered on stretched canvas, or prints on an acrylic mount, which is the stylish alternative to canvas. (This innovative product can transform a great image into a stunning piece of artwork. The translucent quality of the material creates a visual impact that is hard to beat. Your image is sealed onto a clear acrylic sheet. Your acrylic art will be finished with polished edges, pre-drilled, and supplied with four contemporary stainless steel wall fixings and fitting guide. There are also other ways to hang them if you want.)

EXTRA POSSIBILITIES

I can also work on old family photographs which you may want to have scanned, improved, repaired and then burnt onto a CD so you can keep them as digital images. Some of my clients then print them, others have a book made up which can make a wonderful present for grandparents or other family members.

HERE (BELOW) ARE TESTIMONIALS SENT BY VARIOUS CLIENTS OVER THE YEARS

"Many thanks for our lovely photos. You were very patient with the children and much admired by William who still talks about all your “machinery”!"

"Thank you for the extraordinary patience you showed while ‘shooting’ the children! I’m thrilled with the results, especially Louis’ photographs; he doesn’t laugh out loud too often, but you managed to do so and have captured it beautifully.........Thank you for the photographs, I’m really pleased with them and I can’t believe that my own children can look quite so womderful!"

"Thank you for sending the photos of Iona and Jake so quickly. I can’t tell you how delighted I am with them. They seem to capture their personalities perfectly. I just don’t know how I’m going to choose which ones to have printed up."

"Again, thank you Robin, for helping to preserve some wonderful memories. We have so enjoyed our photos of the children over the years and look forward to continuing this tradition with you."

"What fantastic photos, I am absolutely delighted with the results. I was concerned that Edward was all skinny & spotty after his illness but I needn’t have worried, he looks gorgeous. I particularly love the ones of him in his towel, they are heart melting."

"You’ve done a wonderful job, and I’m very grateful. I was thrilled with the results, (as was my husband, for whom the pictures are a present) - so thank you very much for your extraordinary patience and professionalism."