L'Oreal Colour Trophy Scottish Finalist - photographs by Hamilton Kerr

The L'Oreal Colour Trophy is a prestigious hair competition that is now in it's 60th anniversary year, making it the longest running live hairdressing competition in the world. 

Showcasing British hairdressing, the competition celebrates hair, beauty and fashion in a unique, creative and inspirational way.





We have worked closely with hairdressers, capturing their creativity and skills. A photograph of their work is submitted for the first round of judging. The winners then present a model in a live final catwalk showcase. 

Samples of recent photographic entries are below;

Hair - Louise Chrystal at Capello
Make up - Rae Mathieson

Hair - Toni & Guy Edinburgh

Hair - Toni & Guy Edinburgh

Rae Matheson working her magic on one of the models.













Photoshoots are available in your own salon or in our studio. Please get in touch for further information. 

Landscape photography by Hamilton Kerr

Capturing the scenery of the great outdoors can be a rewarding experience. Landscape photography is an excellent field of study that can be as creative or as simple as your own individual style. The majority of the landscapes here at Hamilton Kerr are by Kyle Hamilton. Kyle grew up on the Angus coast. He frequently visited the beach and coastal villages up and down the Montrose area. He often revisits favorite haunts from his childhood.  I (Louise Kerr) was brought up in Edinburgh, and still find myself drawn to townscapes and more urban landscape images. We are now based in Angus and are fortunate to have gorgeous glens not too far away. We plan to capture these throughout the changing seasons.

This is Kyle, perched on a rock at Loch Lee, Glen Esk, Angus, Scotland. March 2013.







What's in the bag? There are a few essentials in our kit bag when planning a landscape photo-shoot. A tripod is always top of the list. This not only ensures your images are as sharp as possible whilst out in the elements, it also gives you greater options for small apertures and slow shutter speed and ensures you can achieve broad depth of field. A wide angle lens will allow you to capture more of the landscape in one single frame. A polarising filter is great for both skies and water shots. It can make a fairly plain sky really come alive. It is great for both colour and black & white photographs. It also can help with water reflections. A neutral density filter will cut down the amount of light passing through the lens and give you more control if you require a slower shutter speed, essential for slow moving water and more creative images. Other that that, the rest is usually down to the location, weather and lots and lots of patience.

Using the rule of thirds in landscape photography really does elevate your images to a greater level of interest. It encourages you to be more considerate of composition. It makes the eye roam around the image more pleasingly, plus keeps viewers interest longer. Keep this in mind next time you venture out.

This is another behind the scenes shot from a recent shoot at Loch Lee.  You can see there is a dead ram on the right, with the Loch in the background. We came across this unfortunate sight along our walk. Although this was a particularly unusual subject matter, Kyle felt that this captured the true tale of the harsh winter that both the farmers and the livestock have suffered this year.

This is the final image, exactly as it was shot - in one single frame. 

We will post more landscape images throughout the year. We are happy to visit places of interest that are special to you and your family and capture an image especially for you. If you have somewhere in mind, then get in touch. 

Portrait Photography

Both Kyle and myself (Louise) have had a passion for portraiture for as long as we can remember. Kyle takes an illustrative approach to the way he produces work. Initially Kyle had an attraction for capturing interesting textures. This evolved into using textures as part of a series of creative portraits, combining the human form with naturally decaying textures.

Below is a perfect example of one of his well known pieces called 'Within'. Many more can be seen in our fine art gallery on this site.

Traditionally the portrait and the texture were shot separately on transparency film. The slides were then placed one on top of the other using the sandwiching technique. A cibachrome photograph was then produced with the 2 images printed as one final portrait.

This particular image won overall in the British Institute of Professional Photography International Photographer of the year, in 2001.









The style of portraits that I enjoy capturing are those precious family moments. We are often asked to photograph family members as a surprise gift for a relative. The feedback and reaction to receiving something so sentimental is really rewarding.

Spending time with families and capturing family portraits, especially of young children, is an area of photography that I especially enjoy.  It is lovely to see families returning for future shoots as their little ones grow up and new additions arrive. 

Now and again we get the opportunity to capture more creative baby portraits. This cute little line up was a group of 9 new Mum's who were all close friends. The studio was pretty crazy that day! 

We offer our portrait services from newborn babies right through to the great grandparent generation. For more information about booking a portrait with Hamilton Kerr call us on 01575 573 052 or leave us a message below.

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