With the festive period now already well behind us, Karl takes a look back at 2023 behind the camera – a year that provided a huge amount of variety and enjoyment.

Happy New Year!

OK, so this post is going live WAAAAAAY later than planned, but still, Happy New Year to one and all! I hope everybody had a great time at the end of 2023!

For me, it was my favourite year in absolutely ages! I photographed more babies than ever before, more equine stuff, weddings, parties, families, corporate events, head shots, newsy events, pubs & restaurant makeovers, and all manner of stuff in between.

I also completed the switch to mirrorless and am absolutely loving the quality of imagery I’m now putting out.

A chunky tray frame really is the perfect way to present your stunning canvas

While I’ve not screamed and shouted about it from the rooftops just yet, I have soft-launched a fantastic new range of print products that will be offered alongside my various packages in 2024 and beyond. I was hoping to have all the individual elements nailed down by now, but I am still pondering about new photo books…. (hence the delay in getting this post live!) In all the years I’ve been doing this, I was aware of a gradual erosion in quality of the book I was offering, and it’s reached the point now where the printer’s quality control is no longer matching my own expectations – often falling well below them, actually. So, it’s definitely time for a change. I’m pretty confident I have found the printer I was looking for, and it’s just a case of nailing down precisely which of their extensive range of product options I want to run with (at the moment it feels like when you sit down at a restaurant and 15 of the items on the menu are things you’d happily eat!). As such, I’m still trialing options.

New Services Offered in 2023

2023 saw me formally offer a couple of new equine photography services for the first time.

I now offer black background equine portrait sessions, the results of which I’ve been absolutely loving. We do require the use of an indoor school for these, which sadly means they won’t work for everybody.

Kristoff K – Owned by the Smith-Maxwell family – Black background equine photography

As an extension of them, I am now also offering Christmas-themed equine photo shoots, which seemed really popular.

Christmas Equine Photo Shoots by Midlands Horse Photographer Karl Drage

I have started to photograph equine events on behalf of organisers, too, most notably H&P Equine Events, for whom I already have a number of dates in the diary for 2024.

H&P Equine Events – Hunter Trial – Milton Keynes Equestrian Centre

Away from horses, I’m now actively pushing cake smash sessions. I’ve always been a little bit reluctant in the past as the studio is small and an indoor cake smash session requires quite a lot of work to rejig things. The compromise is that I’ll try to fit them all in over a set couple of days in the month, rather than doing them on an ad hoc basis.

For the warmer months, I’ll aim to make them happen outside as much as possible. I loved the results of the ones we did with little Margot back in August!

Nom-a-nom! This little girl absolutely loved her outdoors cake smash photo shoot!

New for 2024, indoor cake smash sessions now also include a post-cake smash bath shoot, too, should you so wish.

Additional Newborn Photo Shoot Options

We’ve always given new parents the opportunity to appear in pictures with their babies during their newborn photo shoots, but we added a few extra options during the course of 2023.

We now offer a backlit, almost silhouetted, option, which has been very well received.

Square cropped silhouette-effect shot from a parent and newborn photo shoot.

We’re also offering a third edit on selected group shots, essentially a black background black and white version. Even if I do say so myself, they look really good, especially when presented in an acrylic format.

Small family photo shoots, particularly with very tiny people, can be squeezed into my home studio in Woodford, Northants

There’s a blog post containing some newborn baby and parent photo ideas.

And, as you might expect, the range of props, fabrics and accessories available for you to use continues to expand!

The mouse outfit – Kettering Newborn Baby Photography Studio

Quieter 2023 Wedding Season

2023 was quieter for wedding photography bookings. Following my knee injury in 2022, I had been reluctant to push weddings as hard as I had in the past for fear of a reoccurrence. As it transpired, the knee has finally started feeling almost back to normal, albeit it took just shy of two full years to reach that stage. While I do love shooting weddings, I’ve got to be honest, I have really liked getting most of my weekends back, and it definitely contributed towards a feeling of a better work/life balance. This isn’t the end of me and weddings by any stretch, but I will limit how many I shoot a year if I sense things going the other way again.

I still managed to tick off weddings at three new venues in Barton Hall, Stapleford Park Hotel & the stunning Oundle School Chapel (albeit sadly on a horribly wet summer’s day).

Playing around with lights after dark at a stunning Stapleford Park Hotel wedding – Leicestershire Wedding Photography

Bride and Groom pose at the bottom of the staircase inside Oundle School Chapel on their wedding day

I also photographed (and experienced) my first Nikah – the Islamic wedding ceremony – and my first Walima, the latter up in Manchester.

Party On!

One of my favourite events of the year was an outdoor, teepee joint birthday party I photographed at a private property near Kettering. Not only did the setup look amazing, but the people were brilliant, too. I took my portable studio lights along, and the guests were only too happy to play along. Even if I do say so myself, I love the pictures I captured!

My portable studio lights open up a whole new world of fun when I photography your birthday party! – by Northamptonshire birthday party photographer Karl Drage

My portable studio lights open up a whole other world of family photography possibilities – By Northamptonshire Family Photographer Karl Drage

Summing Up

I genuinely loved the way 2023 panned out, and I’m hoping for more of the same in 2024. I do consider myself very lucky to be able to photograph the range of subjects that I can.

The print products we’ve added already this year are genuinely fantastic. They scream quality and show off my work with the camera in a far better way than in the past. I hope my clients share my love for them!

Wishing you all the very best for what lies ahead!

Kind regards,

Karl