Kaushik BathiaPhotography
Woman with blonde curls in a silver top, studio portrait

Portrait Photographer in Hertfordshire

A portrait session is about one person, or two or three, rather than a whole family or a team. In Hertfordshire that might be a graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, a painter in Bushey's old village centre or a business owner on Parkway in Welwyn Garden City.

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The short answer

How does a portrait session in Hertfordshire work?

You choose the setting: your home, a place in your Hertfordshire town that means something to you, or the studio in Northwood Hills. Kaushik plans the light, guides how you stand and where to look, and works through a few looks at an unhurried pace. Sessions suit individuals, graduates, personal branding and milestone birthdays. The price is given on request, and travel from Northwood is confirmed in writing before you book.

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

Google reviews

What clients say

4.8 from 580+ Google reviews

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

Highly recommend!!! I came from Qatar and found this famous Photographer Kaushik Bathia who took my photographs! Absolutely incredible. He touched up on blemishes and really made the photo look so beautiful!

Farrah, Google review, 2023

I went the studio for the photoshoot and Mr Batia is proffessional, courteous ,efficient and cheerful. I love my photos and will come again. Highly recommend.

Christine E., Google review, 2018

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Who it is for

Portraits for individuals, graduates and milestones in Hertfordshire

People book portraits for all kinds of reasons. A 40th or 60th birthday, a retirement, a new book or album, an acting profile, or simply never having had a good photograph taken as an adult. A family may want a portrait of a grandparent on their own, in the chair they always sit in, because the group photographs never quite show them properly.

Graduates are a group of their own. The University of Hertfordshire is based in Hatfield, and its de Havilland Campus opened on the former airfield site in September 2003. A portrait a week or two after graduation, without the crowds of the ceremony, can be planned around a place from your student years or around your home town. You can bring the certificate, your own clothes, or both.

Woman in a white top lying on the studio floor, chin in hand

Personal branding

Personal branding portraits for Hertfordshire's independent businesses

Personal branding sits between a headshot and a documentary photograph: it shows you at work. A florist in a farmyard shop, a coach in a café, an accountant on a high street their clients know. Battlers Green Farm near Radlett has become a shopping village with a farm shop, restaurant, florist and independent shops in a farmyard setting, and Stevenage Old Town's High Street keeps its original layout, with independent shops, cafés and pubs.

A useful branding set usually has three or four scenes: a clean headshot, you at work with your tools, a walking shot in your town and a few details of your hands, products or notebook. We plan the list before the day so the shoot fits your diary, and we ask the shop or café owner in advance if their space is in the plan. For straightforward profile photographs, the Hertfordshire headshots page is the better guide.

Landmarks

Hertfordshire landmarks that sit well behind a portrait

A landmark in the background tells people where you are from without a caption. Watford Town Hall on Rickmansworth Road, designed by Charles Cowles-Voysey and opened on 5 January 1940, is Grade II listed, and St Mary's Church on Watford High Street is Grade I. Croxley Green is said to have the longest village green in England, at 1,207.5 metres, with All Saints' Church on The Green. Sarratt Green is lined with Grade II listed buildings, and its cast-iron village pump is painted green.

Further out, Tring Park was landscaped in the 1720s by Charles Bridgeman, and its tall obelisk is reputed to commemorate Nell Gwyn. Kings Langley keeps the Art Deco frontage of the former Ovaltine factory beside the canal. In Letchworth Garden City, the Spirella Building, a former corset factory built in stages between 1912 and 1920, was restored as offices and is Grade II* listed.

A landmark works best as a shape or a colour behind you rather than a full postcard view. We choose the angle and the time of day so the light falls kindly on your face, and the place reads clearly without taking over the frame.

Woman in a white dress seated with her knees drawn up, studio portrait

The studio

The studio option for Hertfordshire sitters

The studio at 21 Joel Street gives complete control: a choice of backdrops, light shaped for your face and no passers-by. It is 1.8 miles from Oxhey, 3.6 from Rickmansworth and 6.0 from Chorleywood, and Northwood Hills station on the Metropolitan line is two minutes' walk away, so sitters from Three Rivers can easily come by train.

A studio portrait suits an actor's casting photograph, an author picture for a book jacket, or a formal portrait of an older relative who would rather sit than walk. Bring two or three changes of clothes, and something personal to hold if it helps tell your story: an instrument, a medal or a well-thumbed book.

On location

Location portraits from Bushey to Bishop's Stortford

Somewhere familiar often helps a sitter relax. In Bushey's old centre, the Church of St James stands by the village pond inside a conservation area, and Bushey Museum nearby holds collections on Sir Hubert von Herkomer and the horse painter Lucy Kemp-Welch, which suits an artist's portrait. In St Albans, Kingsbury Watermill on the River Ver and the streets around the Clock Tower give warm brick and old timber.

To the east, Hertford Museum on Bull Plain sits in the old town, and Ware's restored riverside gazebos line the River Lea. In Bishop's Stortford, Castle Park has the Norman motte of Waytemore Castle and walks along the Stort. Kaushik travels to any of these, and the journey from Northwood is priced up front in your written quote, with the session itself priced on request.

For more local detail, see the portrait pages for St Albans, Watford, Bushey and Hemel Hempstead. The main portrait photography page covers what to bring, and the Hertfordshire photographer hub lists every other service.

Studio portrait against a dark backdrop

Planning

Planning around Hertfordshire

01

Go early in St Albans

The Market Place fills on Wednesday and Saturday market days, so a quiet weekday morning gives cleaner backgrounds around the Clock Tower and the old streets.

02

Bring something personal

A paintbrush, a violin, a cricket bat or a well-used apron often says more about you than an expensive outfit does.

03

Plan for the light

Open spaces such as Harpenden Common and Verulamium Park are kinder in the soft light of early morning or late afternoon than at midday.

04

Graduates, think ahead

Book for a week or two after the ceremony at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, when you have your certificate and the crowds have gone.

Portrait backdrops in Hertfordshire

These shoot locations and landmarks are drawn from council, trust and heritage sources, and each could sit behind a Hertfordshire portrait.

  • Stocker's Lake: Stocker's Lake, a 40-hectare Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust reserve beside the Aquadrome with pedestrian access from Uxbridge Road and Springwell Lane, holds the largest heronry in Hertfordshire; dogs must be kept on a lead. 1
  • Colne Valley Regional Park: Maple Cross sits at the northern end of the Colne Valley Regional Park, founded in 1965, which covers 43 square miles from Rickmansworth to Staines with 200 km of rivers and canals and over 60 lakes. 2
  • Sunken Garden and wisteria circle: Chorleywood House Estate has a Sunken Garden first designed for Lady Ela Russell, who lived at the house from 1892, and a Victorian iron wisteria circle whose plants are over 100 years old and flower between April and June. 3
  • River Chess at Sarratt Bottom: The River Chess, an 11-mile chalk stream rising near Chesham, flows through water meadows at Frogmore and the watercress beds at Sarratt Bottom to the west of the village, and the only working watercress beds on the river are at Moor Lane, Sarratt. 4
  • Shenley Park Walled Garden: Shenley Park, once the private Porters Park estate, is a free park run by the Shenley Park Trust with an orchard, meadow and a walled garden with an amphitheatre, where professional photographers may take wedding and family photographs for a fee paid in advance. 5

Sources, facts checked October 2026

  1. Stocker's Lake | Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust
  2. Colne Valley Regional Park
  3. Chorleywood House Estate Local Nature Reserve - ParksHerts
  4. River Chess - Wikipedia
  5. Walled Garden | Shenley Park

Town by town

Portrait sessions across Hertfordshire

Every Hertfordshire town below is open for a location portrait; the distances run from the Northwood studio.

Good to know

Portraits in Hertfordshire: questions answered

Individual portraits, graduation photographs, milestone birthdays, retirement portraits, personal branding for small businesses, creative profiles for actors and authors, and portraits of two or three people together, such as a parent with grown-up children. Each one can be at home, on location in the county or at the studio.

Often, yes. Many places, such as Verulamium Park, Berkhamsted Castle and Croxley Green's village green, are open to visit. Some sites set terms for organised photography, and we check those before the day. Private property, such as a café or shop, needs the owner's agreement, which we arrange with you.

It depends on the result you want. The studio gives total control and suits formal or creative portraits whatever the weather. A location gives context, such as a market street for a trader or a common for a dog walker. You can also do both in one booking.

Anywhere in the county. Bushey is 3.6 miles from the studio, Kings Langley 7.9, St Albans 10.9 and Hertford 19.6, with the furthest towns, such as Royston, at about 35 miles. The travel line is written into every quote before you book.

Wear clothes you feel like yourself in. Plain colours photograph better than busy prints, and a second outfit gives variety. For personal branding, wear what your clients see you in, whether that is an apron, a suit or a fleece.

Portrait prices come on request: call or WhatsApp Kaushik on 07956 505383. The setting, the number of looks and the distance all affect the total, so we confirm the details first and then send a written quote that includes travel from Northwood.

Yes. Portrait and personal branding images are supplied for use on your website, social media, press releases and printed materials. If you need a particular shape, such as a wide banner or a square profile photograph, tell us in advance so we frame for it.

Behind the camera is Kaushik Bathia, established in Northwood since 2001, FBIPP and FMPA, with five European Kodak Gold Awards.

Portrait sessions

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Tell us what the portrait is for, where in Hertfordshire you would like it taken and whether you would prefer the studio. Kaushik will come back with ideas and a written quote.

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