About

Meet the Founder, Claire Anstis,

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a genuine love of the arts, and am at my most content when creating something.

Besides photography, and coming from an extremely musical family, my greatest love of all the art forms is music, and little makes me happier than writing and performing songs.

I currently live in Berkshire with my husband Bernard, daughter Darcey and our two adored cats, Luna and Mango.

After studying design, which included such disciplines as computer-aided design, art history, graphics and later photography, I worked for a large international portrait studio, which I eventually managed, steering it to become the company’s highest ‘percentage of profit’ studio in the UK.

It was here that I gained invaluable experience photographing children. I came to realise that they are one of the most delightful to photograph, as they can be nothing else but their true selves…

Simply Portraits was established in 2008, specialising in educational photography. The keys to our success are flexibility, a wealth of social photography experience, and being able to overcome logistical challenges, allowing our photographers to fully concentrate on their subjects.

My current aim for the company is to provide a more tailored service that shows the uniqueness of each school. To produce relaxed photographs that respect the educational nature of the task, and offer a comprehensive service including 3D virtual tours and drone imaging.

School Safeguarding Certificate 2020.

CRB 1

Testimonials

We have been using Simply Portraits to take both our group and individual photographs since 2016 and have always been impressed with the quality of their work. As a result, our commission has been significantly higher than in previous years. The children really enjoy the sessions and are treated with such kindness and respect, Claire and the team obviously love their job and their enthusiasm flows through into the pictures! This year, despite the pandemic, we were able to continue with our sessions as Claire and the team switched seamlessly into outdoor photography mode. Their experience in wedding photography shone through, as the pictures looked fabulous. The children were kept safe as the team followed the strictest precautions, yet the whole event was still a fun and enjoyable experience for the children. Simply Portraits have always been friendly, reliable and professional. Nothing is ever too much trouble. I would highly recommend their service, they are a real pleasure to work with and the feedback from our parents is always great.

Richard Ferris Headteacher, Great Hollands Primary School

To Whom it may concern, We have used Simply Portraits for a number of years and are impressed with the service and the quality of the photos. The staff are excellent and develop a great rapport with our children on photo day; which leads to a fantastic final product. We would definitely recommend Simply Portraits!

Miss R. Maher HeadTeacher

As a school we have used Simply Portraits now for a number of years, firstly Claire used to take photographs for our Summer festival but more recently Claire has taken both our class photographs and also our individual pupil photographs. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Simply Portraits, Claire is always very punctual, professional and her photography is always of a very high standard. The pricing of the photographs is competitive and our parents have been very pleased with the photographs that they have received. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me by either telephone or email.

About

Meet the Founder, Claire Anstis,

Testimonials

Richard Ferris Headteacher, Great Hollands Primary School

Miss R. Maher HeadTeacher

Mrs. E. M. Edwards Senior School Assistant

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