about millie

Millie Pilkington (née Chittenden) has been passionate about portrait photography since the age of 8 when she was given her first camera. After 10 years of working in the marketing industry, she decided to turn her hobby and passion into a business.

Awarded 'distinction' in her photography diploma at Kensington & Chelsea College, she quickly became established as a "leading children and family photographer" (The Telegraph).

Millie was commissioned as "private photographer" for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Royal Wedding on 29th April 2011, where she captured their day from the start at the Goring hotel, to the end of the party at Buckingham Palace in the evening. Aside from shadowing Kate and William throughout this historic day, she was also responsible for taking the 'informal wedding portraits' of the royal couple. All her photos are private, destined for their family photoframes & albums.

During the Diamond Jubilee year, Millie played "host photographer" to HM the Queen's visit to the Royal Academy of Arts for the "Celebration of the Arts" event, and to HM the Queen's visit to Millie's home town Sherborne, Dorset.

Clients include lifestyle photography for: Party Pieces, Frontis Girl portraiture for Country Life, Front Cover and special features photography for Country Child Magazine, marketing and advertising photography for Horris Hill School, Leweston School, Pinewood School, Castle Court School.

She is at present working on a photographic coffee table book called Great Faces of Dorset showing the diverse range of people living and working in Dorset, aiming for launch November 2013.

The principal objective throughout Millie's photography is to “capture the spirit” of her subjects, whether that's children, adults, wedding or event photography. Her approach is informal and artistic, seeking to use light and backgrounds to create impactful and stunning results.

She regularly travels through most counties in South West England, including Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and London, but is happy to travel further afield and abroad for special commisions. She is also planning a photographic trip to the US in the near future. For further information on pricing and availability, please email millie.

children and family portraiture

The aim of Millie's children and family portraiture is to provide families with life-lasting, stunning photographs that not only encapsulate the children’s beauty and spirit, but also a stage in their childhood. As a mother of 3 girls, she is quick to get children of all ages and characters to relax. Most of her sittings take place somewhere that is personal to you - be it your home or garden, a favourite walk in the countryside or at a beach, thereby adding a further personal touch to the photos as well as ensuring that the photographs from each sitting are unique.

She keeps the sittings fun and spontaneous resulting in images that not only ooze energy and life, but also provide incredible reflections on the children’s personalities. Seizing every fleeting moment, she captures a variety of moods in ways which encapsulate their beauty. She pays particular attention to their eyes, which if showing, portray a genuine emotion, be it innocence, vulnerability, curiosity, cheek or laughter, finding that quite often the serious shots are more beautiful and impactful than the laughing ones.

When it comes to groups & family portraits, she likes to emphasise their relationship - she captures the fun and chemistry they have together; with results that ooze life and love, unlike the contrived staged cheesy shots you see in school photos.

Whilst working predominantly in black and white, she also offers colour for appropriate images and any image can be reconverted back into colour should you so wish. All images (usually 75 to 100) are uploaded onto a password protected page on my website, through which you and your family can view and order prints, mounted and/or framed prints, canvases as well as photo books. She keeps her prices for prints affordable and the formats flexible so you aren't restricted and can choose multipe prints without costing a fortune.

She is based in Dorset, but regularly travels through most counties in South West England, including Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and London, but is happy to travel further afield and abroad for special commisions. She is also planning a photographic trip to the US in the near future. For further information on pricing and availability, please email millie .

adult and corporate portraiture

Putting her clients at ease with her informal approach (and sometimes a glass of wine!), Millie manages to get even the most "photo-shy" people to relax and enjoy their sitting. As with all her work, she combines her artistic use of light with the background to create stunning impactful images.

For general adult portraiture, she aims to capture the inner essence of her subjects, a fleeting moment in their eyes which opens the door to their soul, whether it's a happy or nostalgic moment, that portrays them at their best. With actor headshots, she captures a compelling look to invite more attention from viewers.

With vocational portraiture, she combines personality with their profession, creatively and artistically to reflect the style of work they carry out.

She varies her style in corporate portraiture according to the brief, but whether formal or informal, always portrays the professionalism and approachability of my subjects.

She uses both black and white and colour, and uploads all images onto a password protected page on her website, through which you can view and order prints. She is based in Dorset, near to Sherborne, but but regularly travels through most counties in South West England, including Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and London, but is happy to travel further afield and abroad for special commisions. She is also planning a photographic trip to the US in the near future. For further information on pricing and availability, please email millie .

weddings

Her approach to wedding photography is "to capture the spirit" of the day as it unfolds, unobtrusively, informally and creatively. In her trademark black & white stripy trousers, slotting in as a wedding guest, she moves discreetly around taking beautiful portraits, fleeting moments, all the little details, using the setting and light artistically to provide her clients not only with stunning photographs of themselves but also of all their family and friends.

Within days of the wedding, she uploads all the photographs (usually around 500 and a combination of black and white and colour) onto a password protected page in the client section of this website where the couple can enjoy them on their honeymoon, or if they prefer to wait, on their return. Included in all package prices is one set of photographs at 7”x5”, and the option to buy a disk of high resolution jpegs, photo albums and photo books etc. She covers most counties in South West England, including Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire and London but is happy to travel further afield and abroad for special commisions. For further information on pricing and availability, please email millie .