Birmingham Portrait Photographer

Hi, I am Raphael a Birmingham-based visual storyteller, capturing the natural, authentic and treasured moments, of your life’s most significant events.

I weave tales of Love, Heritage and legacy through the lens of Modern Portrait Photography.

Female subject standing in light against a black background in a black onepiece, smiling widely - Raphael lionel photography

Portrait Photography

Driven by a passion for capturing more than just, moments, I shoot portrait sessions to document your personality, your journey, and your lineage. Each session is an opportunity to delve into the depths of personal stories and preserve the wonderfully unique aspects of you and those who belong to you.

Precious connections to people you love are best seen in a relaxed and comfortable environment. That way, your family can simply be yourselves. Photography shoots with me are therefore fun and at times, spontaneous! Laughter then is genuine, touches and embraces are familiar! The end result will be, that you will have a beautiful, authentic record of you and your loved ones, preserved and to be enjoyed for years to come!

As a Birmingham Portrait Photographer, I shoot Couples and Family Portrait sessions with creativity.

VIEW MY PORTFOLIO

A father and son portrait with the son standing and leaning onto his fathers shoulder as he sits with both looking to the camera

A family Portraits setup of 10 family members seated and looking to camera

A studio portrait of a leaping ballerina, seeming to fly in the air with arms straight behind and a pointed toes into blackness

Birmingham Portrait shoot of a family sitting staggered to camera all wearing black

An individual shot of a young girl looking to camera against a sparkly backdrop with a little wind blowing through her hair

Raph is an incredibly talented and creative photographer with a fantastic eye for detail for capturing the right mood in all sorts of settings. He made me feel relaxed straight away and I was over the moon at the results of my shoot!

Alison Elson

Wonderful image of the bride with her veil flowing behind her and groom at dusk walking silhouetted at the top of a hill with a tree providing an outline

Wedding Photography

Your wedding day is a chapter of your love story and I shoot in a way to document it with honesty and creativity. With a keen eye for detail and a dedication to storytelling, I capture the natural, candid moments that define your special day.

With beautiful images, from the tender exchanges of vows to the joyous celebrations with loved ones; the smiles, tears and everything in between, I ensure that you can happily relive these moments for years to come.

VIEW MY PORTFOLIO

A Black Country wedding for Jadon and Anjana was a fitting testimony to their young love story. Much to the delight of their family and friends, this was a day of emotion, excitement, and elegance.

Shot of the bride and groom at Ruskin Park

A London Wedding always has the potential for a little something special with its history, culture, and landmarks. For Arthur and Jessica however, there was nothing needed, more than the two of them and their guests.

Headshots and Personal Branding

Are you an Actor, Musician, Business Owner, SME or digital entrepreneur?

In addition to portrait photography, I specialize in headshots and personal branding services, tailored to individuals and businesses alike. Your brand is a narrative, and a reflection of your values. With strong, relevant imagery specific to your brand ethos, we’ll craft visuals that resonate deeply with your audience and leave a lasting impression.

For somone who is camera shy, Raphael accomodated greatly using his expertise and creativity.

M Ahmed

Birmingham Portrait Photographer – View my latest work

A Modern Portrait – The Don

My modern portraits series began with “The Don” earlier in the year. This was the first shoot in my newly opened studio and it was Don’s first time in a photoshoot.

A Hogarths Hotel Wedding for Chris and Lotte

A Hogarths Hotel Wedding for Chris and Lotte, was the perfect location for the coming together of friends and family for a very special day.

The Job Seekers “Hope” – Launch of the Suited for Success Bus

The Job Seeker’s “Hope” – the launch of the new employment bus for Suited for Success, will be used to help the unemployed across Birmingham and the Midlands.

A Worfield Village Hall Wedding for Josh and Emily

A Worfield Village Hall wedding reception, for Josh and Emily, completed a wedding day that emotionally, had everything. Excitement, tears, happiness and laughter, romance, and plenty of dancing!

A London Wedding for Arthur and Jessica

raphaellionelphoto

Portraits, Headshots, Weddings
Let Me Tell Your Story!

A few more images from this fantastic day. Enteri

Congrats to these two! A great day for Shaun and R

Give the drummer some 👏👏 Patrick Owen #drummer

Mr and Mrs, Dane and Aliyah #newlyweds #justmarr

The man like @sash2110 popped in for a quick sessi

So.. after 5 years working out of a studio in the

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Lotte Milczarek

27/02/2024

If you're struggling to find the perfect photographer for your big day - look no further. Raphael is the perfect guy for the job. With his professional outlook & ability to capture the most beautiful moments of your day, he is the man for the job. Professional, reliable & goes above and beyond to add extra additions. We have some amazing memories to look back on, even random moments which were captured throughout the day. So glad we chose Raphael Lionel Photography. Thankyou! 🤍

Erika Stanton-Bullock

Absolutely highly recommend. Super Studio. Super experience. Absolutely amazing Photos! My children and I visited Raphael Lionel's Photography at his Studios a few weeks ago for both model and actors headshot shoots. From the minute we arrived until we left was an amazing experience. My children, 16 and 13 are experienced actors and also done some modelling and I have to say this was a very enjoyable experience. Raphael was amazing. He built a rapport with myself and the children and he definitely made it fun aswell as energetic. He definitely knows how to work the camera and work with children and adults alike. Raphael definitely has an eye for what suits each child for what pose in terms of clothing and backdrop for both modelling shoots and actors headshots aswell as portraits. I sat back and relaxed! The studio is absolutely fantastic, with so many different lighting types, background drops, air machines, props aswell as the studio having a dressing room and wardrobe with lots of hanging space and coathangers which was really useful. It is a family run business and his partner was super friendly, attentive and welcoming. It really is a fantastic studio. To top it off, I have received all the photos and, wow, they are amazing and varied. Absolutely love them all. Thanks Raphael and Jadene for such a fantastic day and such brilliant photos. If I could give more than a 5 star I would. We look forward to working with you again. From the Bullocks

Josiah Trotter

16/02/2024

Great photographer, beautiful studio

ArthJess Deller

27/09/2023

Thank you Raphael for shooting our special day. He made us feel very comfortable and he is always very professional. Very creative and has his own style/flair which makes the pictures look incredibly unique. Jadene also picked up on details and helped calm down my nerves. We loved the pictures. Thank you!

Najma Sultana

05/06/2023

I can't recommend Raphael highly enough! We went to him for a family photo shoot plus some head shots for our business. Raphael put us at ease straight away and we had lots of fun and laughs along the way. His studio is a well laid out professional space with a separate space to get changed privately in between shoots which made us really comfortable during the photo shoot. My 4 year old son is a little 'lively' and Raphael just took this in his stride, he was flexible and worked around us which resulted in fantastic photographs and memories for life, that capture the personality of each person in our family. I will cherish these photographs for a life time and just absolutely love them.

Anjana Gill

21/10/2022

Raph was such a pleasure to work with. He made our experience of being photographed, very relaxed and happy. The photos turned out beautiful and tasteful, we couldn’t be happier. My husband and I would definitely hire again for another occasion.

Russell Worth

01/08/2022

We had the pleasure of Raphael and his wife, Jadene photographing our wedding. They were fantastic all day, seemed to get pictures of everyone without being too intrusive. Everyone commented on how lovely they were and we were blown away when we received our photos. Thank you both so much.

Georgia Powell

02/07/2022

I can not recommend Raphael Lionel Photography enough! He took our engagement shoot and wedding photos and captured them both beautifully! We are over the moon with our photos and service from Raphael! He is professional, reliable and has a fantastic eye for photography! It was such a pleasure and joy to have Raphael around, He made us feel so comfortable and relaxed during our couple shoot and captured all the emotions and details of our day! Thank you!!!

Debra Mann

14/02/2022

Great customer service and good quality photos. We were made to feel very relaxed and at home at the photo shoot itself and very pleased with the final headshot images for our company website. Would highly recommend.

Tuki Maimba

04/11/2021

A huge thanks to Raphael Lionel Photography for an amazing photo shoot experience and results for my husband and I’s Gender Reveal shoot. All information and correspondence was done professionally and in a timely manner. We love our images and video footage. I would highly recommend this service and will definitely be using it again in the future.