David Lawson
Joshua Lawson
Our Story
From the start, it was a love of photography that inspired Bob to leave the Police Force (CID) and set up Crown Photography back in 1977.
Crown Photography quickly became the leading Portrait and Wedding studio in the North East of England. The business grew to new heights, with Bob becoming Chairman of the Master Photographers Association (MPA).
In 1984, David joined the business and helped the relocation of the business to Chester Road, Sunderland. Crown Photography has been there ever since. The next 16 years would see the continued growth of the business with great success with one of the highlights for David was winning Fuji’s ‘UK Photographer of the year’ for his outstanding work.
David and his team have since gone on to winning over 200 photography awards. With the Millennium closing in, David took the next step in securing the businesses future by rebranding as David Lawson Studios. The company has now become a household name in the North East, known for excellent customer service and award-winning photography.
This family-run business, has been recognised for outstanding attention for detail and creativity, that has lead the team to photograph members of the Royal Family, football and sporting icons and world-renowned celebrities, musicians and artists. It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys. David’s son Josh joined the business on a short-term basis to help David to refocus on the business after the sad loss, from terminal cancer, of his partner and Josh’s mum Debbie in 2015. 2 years later, David’s dad Bob also passed away unexpectedly.
Josh has since become a key part of the family business. Together with his dad, they are taking their skill and talent in a new direction, ensuring David Lawson Studio is around for generations to come.
There’s nothing like getting thrown in at the deep end to learn your craft! Josh, David and Bob are all self-taught.
Together, David and Josh’s bond is stronger than ever, strengthened by the tragic losses they endured together. The Lawson team work hard to ensure that clients are well looked after, treating them as if they are valued family members.
Our Timeline from the 1960-2023
Events, Awards and Achievements
David & Josh
The introduction of digital cameras into the world of photography is a double-edged sword.
In my introductory years in the World of Photography, life was a lot different. A photo session was carried out on good old film and a camera that you have to focus yourself and calculate the right exposure to use to achieve the perfect results. The margin for error was slim, and you always spent a nervous few hours or days in some cases awaiting the results of your shoot to come back from the process lab to make sure the results were up to a the usual high standard.
You learned to take care to compose – and pose – your shots before clicking the button!
But what made a photographer stand out was his or her ability to be creative and to push the boundaries of the equipment available and also be an extraordinary people manager at the same time. A roll of film for a high quality shoot such as a wedding or portrait session held 12 shots. The data contained in a single shot in a roll of film is vastly higher than the data contained in a digital photograph taken with the average prosumer digital camera, but these 12 shots really had to count, unlike the machine gun approach to photography adopted by many digital converts today.
After all, if you take a couple of hundred shots, you may just find one that is good! The point is that true professionals produce good results because they are trained and are experienced enough to be able to cope with the mini disasters and stresses that do occur during important events.
I consider myself a true professional; just as I mastered film-based photography, I have now mastered the art of digital photography and am creative enough to turn the mundane into the magical – and turn potential disasters into triumphs. I make no apologies for my claims; in my 30 years in the business of photography, I have seen it all – well most of it anyway – and have the awards –and the T-shirts to prove I have done it.
In this life you do get what you pay for, and I believe that the images produced by my Studio are second to none in quality, substance and style, which is why my fees are a little higher than average here in the North East. In London and other areas I could charge much more, but I love the North East and this is where I choose to live and work. If you want outstanding results and platinum-level, customer service, give me a call and I will gladly arrange a no-obligation sit-down over a coffee in my studio.
Our story
From the start, it was a love of photography that inspired Bob to leave the Police Force (CID) and set up Crown Photography back in 1977.
Crown Photography quickly became the leading Portrait and Wedding studio in the North East of England. The business grew to new heights, with Bob becoming Chairman of the Master Photographers Association (MPA).
In 1984, David joined the business and helped the relocation of the business to Chester Road, Sunderland. Crown Photography has been there ever since.
The next 16 years would see the continued growth of the business with great success with one of the highlights for David was winning Fuji’s ‘UK Photographer of the year’ for his outstanding work.
David and his team have since gone on to winning over 200 photography awards.
With the Millennium closing in, David took the next step in securing the businesses future by rebranding as David Lawson Studios. The company has now become a household name in the North East, known for excellent customer service and award-winning photography.
This family-run business, has been recognised for outstanding attention for detail and creativity, that has lead the team to photograph members of the Royal Family, football and sporting icons and world-renowned celebrities, musicians and artists.
It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys. David’s son Josh joined the business on a short-term basis to help David to refocus on the business after the sad loss, from terminal cancer, of his partner and Josh’s mum Debbie in 2015. 2 years later, David’s dad Bob also passed away unexpectedly.
Josh has since become a key part of the family business. Together with his dad, they are taking their skill and talent in a new direction, ensuring David Lawson Studio is around for generations to come.
There’s nothing like getting thrown in at the deep end to learn your craft!
Josh, David and Bob are all self-taught.
Together, David and Josh’s bond is stronger than ever, strengthened by the tragic losses they endured together.
The Lawson team work hard to ensure that clients are well looked after, treating them as if they are valued family members.
Joshua & David Lawson
The introduction of digital cameras into the world of photography is a double-edged sword.
In my introductory years in the World of Photography, life was a lot different. A photo session was carried out on good old film and a camera that you have to focus yourself and calculate the right exposure to use to achieve the perfect results. The margin for error was slim, and you always spent a nervous few hours or days in some cases awaiting the results of your shoot to come back from the process lab to make sure the results were up to a the usual high standard.
You learned to take care to compose – and pose – your shots before clicking the button!
But what made a photographer stand out was his or her ability to be creative and to push the boundaries of the equipment available and also be an extraordinary people manager at the same time.
A roll of film for a high quality shoot such as a wedding or portrait session held 12 shots.
The data contained in a single shot in a roll of film is vastly higher than the data contained in a digital photograph taken with the average prosumer digital camera, but these 12 shots really had to count, unlike the machine gun approach to photography adopted by many digital converts today.
After all, if you take a couple of hundred shots, you may just find one that is good!
The point is that true professionals produce good results because they are trained and are experienced enough to be able to cope with the mini disasters and stresses that do occur during important events.
I consider myself a true professional; just as I mastered film-based photography, I have now mastered the art of digital photography and am creative enough to turn the mundane into the magical – and turn potential disasters into triumphs.
I make no apologies for my claims; in my 30 years in the business of photography, I have seen it all – well most of it anyway – and have the awards –and the T-shirts to prove I have done it.
In this life you do get what you pay for, and I believe that the images produced by my Studio are second to none in quality, substance and style, which is why my fees are a little higher than average here in the North East.
In London and other areas I could charge much more, but I love the North East and this is where I choose to live and work.
If you want outstanding results and platinum-level, customer service, give me a call and I will gladly arrange a no-obligation sit-down over a coffee in my studio.
About us
From the start, it was a love of photography that inspired Bob to leave the Police Force (CID) and set up Crown Photography back in 1977.
Crown Photography quickly became the leading Portrait and Wedding studio in the North East of England. The business grew to new heights, with Bob becoming Chairman of the Master Photographers Association (MPA).
In 1984, David joined the business and helped the relocation of the business to Chester Road, Sunderland. Crown Photography has been there ever since. The next 16 years would see the continued growth of the business with great success with one of the highlights for David was winning Fuji’s ‘UK Photographer of the year’ for his outstanding work.
David and his team have since gone on to winning over 200 photography awards. With the Millennium closing in, David took the next step in securing the businesses future by rebranding as David Lawson Studios. The company has now become a household name in the North East, known for excellent customer service and award-winning photography.
This family-run business, has been recognised for outstanding attention for detail and creativity, that has lead the team to photograph members of the Royal Family, football and sporting icons and world-renowned celebrities, musicians and artists. It hasn’t been the easiest of journeys. David’s son Josh joined the business on a short-term basis to help David to refocus on the business after the sad loss, from terminal cancer, of his partner and Josh’s mum Debbie in 2015. 2 years later, David’s dad Bob also passed away unexpectedly.
Josh has since become a key part of the family business. Together with his dad, they are taking their skill and talent in a new direction, ensuring David Lawson Studio is around for generations to come.
There’s nothing like getting thrown in at the deep end to learn your craft! Josh, David and Bob are all self-taught.
Together, David and Josh’s bond is stronger than ever, strengthened by the tragic losses they endured together. The Lawson team work hard to ensure that clients are well looked after, treating them as if they are valued family members.
