Krista’s Milestone Birthday Portraits with Partner Phil

Krista is having a good year. She’s approaching a milestone birthday, her business is taking off, and she’s had several successes in her personal life, too.

Krista got in contact with me because she wanted to celebrate and commemorate this happy time in her life, by capturing the moment through a series of beautiful portraits of her and her partner, Phil.

Krista and Phil are the loveliest couple. They are incredibly laid back, easy going and respectful of each other. Krista warned me that there’s just one thing they really don’t enjoy: having their photo taken.

In fact, despite being a naturally very smiley, happy person, Phil is rarely – if ever – caught on camera smiling. However, Krista knew they’d be glad to have the portraits later on, even if they didn’t enjoy the process.

This is something I can empathise with – I’ve been disappointed by so many unflattering portraits of myself that I am MUCH more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it. But I want to fix this for my clients. Not only do I want them to love their images, I want them to love the process, too.

Happily, straight after our shoot, Krista messaged me to say they’d had a lovely time and “as I’ve said, Phil HATES photos but as soon as he got in the car he said, ‘That was good, wasn’t it!’” 🙂

Oh, and we captured big, beautiful and natural smiles from both of them, too:

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When Krista and Phil aren’t travelling between their respective homes (she’s in Bicester, he’s in Reading), they can usually be found enjoying long country or coastal walks, or making candles together for their business.

Krista started creating her own soy wax candles after being continually disappointed with the ones she bought.

She says, “Scent is the most expensive component of a fragranced candle, so manufacturers often add it just to the top of the candle – the part you can smell when you’re making the decision to buy it. When I took these candles home and lit them, the fragrance would disappear almost immediately.”

So Krista launched www.crystabelles.com. She and Phil make all the candles by hand, ensuring the scent runs through the candle from top to bottom. This focus on fragrance longevity has won her many repeat customers, and her products are now stocked in several local stores as well as being available to buy online.

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Indeed, the business is going so well that Krista plans to go full-time in September. It’s around this time that she and Phil hope to move in together, too, making it a year to remember. And these are the images that will reinforce and remind her of all these happy milestones. Happy Birthday, Krista!

After seeing the portraits, Krista said:

“I contacted Sarah about taking photos for my 30th. I fell in love with her style as soon as I saw her website and from the first email correspondence to ordering our products she has been so friendly, professional and warm. She clearly loves what she does and it shows. She made us feel at ease (and we both hate having our photo taken). She listened to what we wanted and then also had her own input into what she thought would be good. The photos are amazing! Every single one of them is so different. We will certainly be back for more photos from Sarah. They’re worth every penny! Thank you again.”

If you are interested in Milestone Birthday Portraits or Couples Portrait Photography, please get in contact by emailing [email protected] or submitting the form below:

Sarah Plater LMPA is a qualified, professional newlywed, engagement or couples portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

(c) Sarah Plater Photography