Match the place to the purpose
A casting image suits the studio, a personal brand suits your own town, and a graduation portrait suits somewhere with meaning, such as Reading's abbey ruins.
Portrait Photographer in Berkshire
Individual portraits, graduation pictures and personal branding sessions in Berkshire, set against Windsor's castle skyline, Reading's abbey ruins, a park near your home or a plain studio backdrop.
The short answer
Where can I have portrait photos taken in Berkshire?
Almost anywhere public in the county. The Long Walk gives Windsor Castle as a backdrop, Reading has its abbey ruins and Forbury Gardens, Wokingham its red-brick Gothic town hall and Slough the modern lines of The Curve. Parks such as Prospect Park and Herschel Park suit natural light. You can also visit the Northwood studio, and for any location shoot the travel from Northwood is set out in writing first.
Our usual session area is within about 20 miles of the studio. Further out in Berkshire, sessions are by arrangement, with travel quoted in writing before you book.
An amazing experience from start to finish. The photographer was professional, friendly, and made us feel completely at ease. The photos perfectly captured genuine moments between us and turned out even better than we expected. Highly recommend for couples looking for high-quality photography.
We were a little nervous as it was our first photo shoot but Kaushik was very friendly and quickly had our nerves calmed with his charming personality. A great all round experience and we have some fab professional photos that we are very happy with. Highly recommended, 5 Stars :)
Kaushik did a great job in taking both formal and informal portrait photos. He is an enthusiastic professional photographer who made me feel at ease. The photographs were excellent and have been greatly admired.
Who it is for
Portraits for Berkshire graduates, performers and business owners
A portrait session is about one person, or occasionally two, and what the pictures need to do. A graduate may want something more personal than the gown photograph, an actor or musician needs a casting or press image, and a person celebrating a milestone birthday may simply want a good photograph of themselves for once. Each brief changes the lens, the light and the place.
Personal branding is the growing part of portrait work. A coach, a consultant or a shop owner usually needs a set of twenty or thirty pictures rather than one headshot: at a desk, out in their town, with the tools of their trade and in a couple of outfits. We plan that set as a short list before the day, so nothing on your website is left without a picture.
Historic backdrops
Castle, abbey and town hall: Berkshire's historic settings
Windsor Castle was commissioned by William the Conqueror in the decade after 1066 and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. From the Long Walk, the avenue created for Charles II, the castle sits squarely at the end of the view, which suits a full-length portrait with a long lens. The town streets below give stone, brick and shopfronts for a more casual set.
Reading's abbey ruins, where Henry I was buried in 1135, reopened to the public in 2018 and give rough flint walls that suit dark clothing and dramatic light. Wokingham Town Hall, a Grade II* listed red-brick Gothic building that opened in June 1860, makes a warm, patterned background in the Market Place.
In Thatcham, the Chapel of St Thomas the Martyr on the A4, built around 1304 and now known as the Old Bluecoat School, is Grade I listed, and the Norman parish church of St Mary nearby was largely rebuilt in 1857. Both suit quiet, classical portraits in the west of the county.
Modern settings
Contemporary architecture for personal branding in Slough and Bracknell
Slough's library and cultural centre, The Curve, opened in 2016 and won the public service building title at the LABC excellence awards in 2017. Its sweeping modern lines and glass work well for professional portraits that need to feel current rather than countryside. A short walk away, Observatory House takes its name from the site where William Herschel lived and built his 40-foot telescope.
In Bracknell, The Lexicon, the regenerated town centre shopping district that opened in September 2017, gives clean shopfronts and paved streets for a business owner who wants to be seen in town. For anyone whose work is outdoors, Swinley Forest, managed by The Crown Estate and covering more than 3,000 acres, offers pine woodland and trails.
Natural light
Parks and gardens for natural light portraits
Prospect Park is Reading's largest open space, with a Grade II listed Regency mansion at its highest point, views across the Kennet Valley and The Rookery, a mature oak woodland. It is one of the more varied settings in the county for a single session. In Slough, Herschel Park, restored to its Victorian layout, has a lake and wildlife ponds within a compact 3.5 hectares.
Near Sandhurst, Ambarrow Court mixes yew hedges, bamboo, Douglas firs and cedars in a former Victorian estate, while Thatcham Reedbeds, reached through the Nature Discovery Centre, give tall reeds and open water. For a portrait with heritage behind it, Donnington Castle's 14th-century twin-towered gatehouse near Newbury is run by English Heritage and free to enter.
How it works
Studio portraits and how a location session runs from Northwood
The studio at 21 Joel Street, Northwood Hills, about 10 miles from Slough and 12 from Windsor, offers plain and textured backdrops and controlled light, which suits actors' headshots, formal portraits and anyone who prefers privacy. A location session in Berkshire usually lasts an hour, with a short walk between two or three spots and a chance to change outfits.
For Reading, Thatcham or Newbury, between about 26 and 42 miles from the studio, the journey from Northwood appears as its own line in the written quote, agreed before you book. Session prices are given on request by phone or WhatsApp. See the national portrait page for examples, the Berkshire headshot page for office sessions, and the Berkshire hub for every other service.
Planning
Planning around Berkshire
Plan a shot list for branding
Twenty or thirty frames covering desk, street and tools of the trade will fill a website, so list the pages that need a picture before the day.
Long lens for the castle
From the Long Walk, a long lens pulls Windsor Castle closer behind you, so stand some way down the avenue rather than at the gates.
Dark clothes for flint and stone
Rough walls at the abbey ruins or Donnington Castle suit darker, plain clothing; save pale colours for parks and garden backdrops.
Portrait backdrops in Berkshire
These Berkshire landmarks and open spaces suit portrait sessions, each with a short fact and a link to where it comes from.
- Wokingham Town Hall: Wokingham Town Hall, a Grade II* listed red-brick Gothic building by William Ford Poulton and William Henry Woodman, opened on 6 June 1860 on the site of a guildhall completed in 1612. 1
- Royal Military Academy Sandhurst: The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst was formed in 1947 from the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; its postal address is in Camberley, Surrey, and its grounds straddle Berkshire and Surrey. 2
- Herschel Park: Herschel Park is a 3.5-hectare Grade II listed park and nature reserve attributed to Sir Joseph Paxton, restored to its Victorian layout with £2.7 million of lottery funding, with a lake and wildlife ponds. 3
Sources, facts checked October 2026
Town by town
Portrait sessions across Berkshire
Choose your town below to see how far it lies from the studio and which local pages are available for it.
- Slough (10 miles from the studio)
- Windsor (12 miles from the studio)
- Maidenhead (14 miles from the studio)
- Ascot (17 miles from the studio)
- Bracknell (19 miles from the studio)
- Wokingham (22 miles from the studio)
- Sandhurst (24 miles from the studio)
- Reading (26 miles from the studio)
- Thatcham (39 miles from the studio)
- Newbury (42 miles from the studio)
Good to know
Portraits in Berkshire: questions answered
Most sessions last about an hour on location, or 45 minutes in the studio. Personal branding shoots with several outfits and places can run to two or three hours and are planned with a shot list beforehand.
Yes. Kaushik can meet you in Reading for a relaxed set with your gown or in your own clothes, at the abbey ruins, in Forbury Gardens or along the Thames at Caversham Court. The date is fixed around your plans, not a ceremony timetable.
Yes. A branding session might cover a shop in The Lexicon, a studio at home in Wokingham or a client meeting in Slough, with portraits, working shots and detail pictures for your website and social media. The commercial photography page covers product shots on the same day.
Two or three outfits in plain colours, anything that says something about you, such as an instrument or the tools you work with, and comfortable shoes for walking between spots. If you wear glasses, bring them, as they are part of how people know you.
You can. Newbury is about 42 miles from the studio and Reading about 26, so some people prefer to travel in, and others would rather Kaushik came to them. Both are fine, and the cost of a location visit is in the written quote.
Portrait prices are given on request by phone or WhatsApp on 07956 505383, since they depend on length, location and how many final images you need. Kaushik has photographed portraits since 2001 and holds five European Kodak Gold Awards.
Every session is photographed by Kaushik Bathia himself, FBIPP and FMPA, holder of five European Kodak Gold Awards, who opened the Northwood studio in 2001.
Portraits in Berkshire
Book a portrait session
Tell us what the pictures are for, where in Berkshire you are and whether you prefer a location or the studio, and Kaushik will reply with ideas and a written quote.
More in Berkshire
- Photography across Berkshire
- Weddings in Berkshire
- Asian weddings in Berkshire
- Hindu weddings in Berkshire
- Sikh weddings in Berkshire
- Muslim weddings in Berkshire
- Family photography in Berkshire
- Newborn photography in Berkshire
- Maternity photoshoots in Berkshire
- Engagement and couples shoots in Berkshire
- Headshots in Berkshire
- Event photography in Berkshire
- Pet photography in Berkshire
- Commercial photography in Berkshire
- Christmas photoshoots in Berkshire
- Cake smash photoshoots in Berkshire
- Christening photography in Berkshire
- Graduation photography in Berkshire
- Portraits
Other counties
- Portraits in Hertfordshire
- Portraits in Buckinghamshire
- Portraits in Surrey
- Portraits in Essex
- Portraits in Bedfordshire
- Portraits in Kent
- Portraits in Oxfordshire
- Portraits in North West London
- Portraits in West London
- Portraits in North London
- Portraits in East London
- Portraits in South London
- Portraits in Central London