Kaushik BathiaPhotography

Graduation Photographer in Essex

Cap and gown portraits for Essex graduates, from the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park to graduates coming home to Brentwood or Southend, plus school and sixth-form leavers.

★★★★★ Rated 4.8 from 580+ reviews

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The short answer

Can I get graduation photos taken in Essex?

Yes. Kaushik photographs Essex graduates on the day, later at a county landmark such as Colchester Castle or Chelmsford Cathedral, or at the Northwood studio, which is about 20 miles from Loughton. Sessions cover the graduate alone and with family, formal and relaxed. Gown hire is usually returned on the day, so plan around it. Travel from Northwood to an Essex landmark is set out in your written quote, with the session price given by phone or WhatsApp.

Our usual session area is within about 20 miles of the studio. Further out in Essex, sessions are by arrangement, with travel quoted in writing before you book.

Google reviews

What clients say

4.8 from 580+ Google reviews

Kaushik was a great help and took some great photos for my partner and I. I would highly recommend for all your photography needs.

Roshan J., Google review, 2025

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.

Maria B., Google review, 2014

Really pleased with my photos. Kaushik is very professional and took lots of picture for us to choose from. Our shoot was comfortable and not too long. I would highly recommend him.

Emma P., Google review, 2018

Read all the reviews on Google

Colchester

Graduating from the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park

The University of Essex occupies Wivenhoe Park near Colchester, about 57 miles from the Northwood studio. If that is where you are graduating, check where and when your own ceremony is held, and then decide whether you want photographs on the day itself or a calmer session afterwards.

Ceremony days are busy: crowds, a queue for the official photographer, and gown hire that has to go back the same afternoon. A separate session in Colchester, or at the studio, means nobody is rushing. Castle Park, opened in 1892 around the largest Norman keep ever built in Europe, gives a backdrop that says Colchester at a glance. For a session in Colchester, the travel from Northwood is quoted up front in writing before you book.

Dogs other than service dogs are not allowed in the park's Upper Park, which matters if the family dog was coming along for the photographs.

Graduate in cap and gown with her family, studio group portrait

Coming home

Landmark portraits around Chelmsford, Harlow and Brentwood

If you studied elsewhere and want your portrait taken back home in Essex, the county has plenty of choice. In Chelmsford, the county town, the Grade I listed cathedral and the city's Green Flag parks, such as Central Park, Admirals Park and Oaklands Park, give a choice between stone and greenery.

Harlow has a stranger and more modern option: the town became the world's first Sculpture Town in 2010, with more than 100 public sculptures including works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Near Brentwood, the Italianate front of the Catholic cathedral and the open ground of Weald Country Park suit a graduate who wants something formal and something relaxed in one session.

For families on the forest side, the viewpoint on Baldwins Hill above Loughton looks out over London on a clear day. Any portrait session in Epping Forest itself needs a licence from the City of London Corporation, so allow time for that or choose another spot.

In the studio

The studio option for Essex families travelling in

The Northwood studio gives controlled light with no weather and no crowd, which means time to arrange the gown and hood properly before every frame. Loughton, Chigwell and Epping are about 20 to 23 miles away, so for families in west Essex a studio date can be simpler than meeting at a landmark.

If your gown is yours to keep, or your hire runs longer than the ceremony day, a studio session a week or two later works just as well. For a graduate heading back to Southend-on-Sea or Colchester afterwards, a studio date on the way through can be easier than arranging a landmark session at the far end of the county.

Graduate in cap and gown holding her scroll, studio portrait

School leavers

Sixth-form and school leavers across Essex

Not every graduation involves a gown. Year 13 and Year 11 leavers mark the end of school with a prom, a leavers' assembly or simply a last day, and a portrait at that moment is worth having. A session at home before the prom, with the family, or at a park such as Thorndon near Brentwood or Harlow Town Park, records the outfit and the people properly.

Friends who want to be photographed together can share a session, as long as everyone knows the plan and the timing. For a portrait that will be used later, on a CV or LinkedIn, the Essex headshots page covers that separately.

The family

Bringing parents and grandparents into the picture

A graduation portrait can be as much for the family as for the graduate. Sessions start with the graduate alone, in the classic formal portrait, then move to relaxed frames and to groups with parents, grandparents and siblings. Posing is guided throughout, so nobody is left wondering what to do with their hands.

If relatives are travelling into Essex from further away for the ceremony, plan the photographs for the day they are all together. Prints, frames and albums can be ordered afterwards, which makes a framed portrait an easy present for the people who helped you get there. For a wider look at portrait sessions, see portrait photography in Essex.

Graduate in cap and gown seated with her scroll, studio portrait

Planning

Planning around Essex

01

Check your ceremony details

If you graduate from the University of Essex at Wivenhoe Park, confirm the time and place of your ceremony before choosing a date.

02

Plan around gown hire

Hired gowns usually go back on the ceremony day, so book photographs that day or keep the gown longer for a later session.

03

Pick an Essex landmark

Colchester Castle, Chelmsford Cathedral, Harlow's public sculptures or Weald Country Park each give a different kind of backdrop.

04

Remember the Epping Forest licence

A portrait session in Epping Forest needs a licence from the City of London Corporation, so plan ahead or choose another spot.

05

Take the cliffs at Southend

Southend's Cliff Gardens on Clifftown Parade look out over the Thames Estuary, with the pier a short walk away, for a graduate coming home to the coast.

Graduation backdrops in Essex

Essex landmarks, parks and the university, with the rules worth knowing before a graduation portrait.

  • St Martin's Church: St Martin's Church in Basildon town centre is a modern building consecrated by the Bishop of Chelmsford in 1962. 1
  • Loughton Camp: Loughton Camp is an Iron Age hill fort in Epping Forest about a mile north-west of the town, a Scheduled Monument whose banks and ditch enclose about 10 acres on a high ridge. 2
  • St Mary's Church: St Mary's Church in Chigwell dates from the 12th century. 3

Sources, facts checked October 2026

  1. Basildon - Wikipedia
  2. Loughton Camp - Wikipedia
  3. Chigwell - Wikipedia

Town by town

Graduation portraits across Essex

The table shows each Essex town's distance from the Northwood studio, useful when you choose between a landmark session and the studio.

Good to know

Graduation photography in Essex: questions answered

Yes, subject to the date. The university is at Wivenhoe Park near Colchester, about 57 miles from the studio, and travel from Northwood is set out in your written quote. Check your ceremony time and place first, then call or WhatsApp to book.

Castle Park, around the castle, makes a strong backdrop for a session on the day or later. Bear in mind that only service dogs are allowed in the Upper Park.

Chelmsford Cathedral, a Grade I listed building, gives a formal backdrop, and Green Flag parks such as Central Park, Admirals Park and Oaklands Park give greenery nearby. We agree the exact spots with you before the day.

Yes. Bring the cap, gown and hood from your Essex ceremony, and Kaushik sets them straight before every frame. The studio is about 20 miles from Loughton and 39 from Chelmsford.

Yes. A session at home before the prom, or at a park such as Thorndon near Brentwood, records the outfit with the family. Friends can share a session if everyone knows the plan.

Yes. Each session covers the graduate on their own and then with parents, grandparents and siblings, formal and relaxed. Plan the session for a day when everyone travelling into Essex is together.

Ask for the graduation price by phone or WhatsApp on 07956 505383. For a session at an Essex landmark, the travel from Northwood is shown in your written quote.

Your photographer is Kaushik Bathia, a fellow of both the BIPP and the MPA with five European Kodak Gold Awards, working from the studio he opened in Northwood in 2001.

Graduating in Essex?

Book your graduation portraits

Tell us your ceremony date, where you would like the photographs and who is joining them. Kaushik will reply with the price and the travel in writing.

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