Sunday 31 January 2016

A photo a day

It was 4 years ago this month I first became aware of Australian blogger Chantelle Ellem (aka Fat Mum Slim) and her photo a day challenge. A friend of mine had started sharing photos on Facebook that she'd taken following the monthly list of prompts and it really appealed to me. I'd always been interested in photography but, after a tough few months following our youngest son's early arrival and journey through the NICU / SCBU, I was struggling to find any sort of me-time. The simple challenge of taking a photo every day and sharing it with my friends could be just what I needed.

I started on 1st February 2012 with the prompt 'Your View Today'. It was my birthday and I'd received a lovely new pair of shoes so that's what I photographed.


I kept going with the daily prompts, month after month, taking a few minutes each day just for me, away from the stress of raising 3 young boys. When I found the linked Facebook group I was inspired by the other members and I worked hard to improve my photography. I was constantly pushed to move out of my comfort-zone and was introduced to technical vocabulary that had me rushing to Google for help (negative space and rule of thirds have both become firm favourites).

I read a lot of photography articles online and got books from the library, I challenged myself to take my camera off Auto and shoot only on Manual. I made mistakes, a lot of mistakes, but I learned from each one. I became more confident in my skills, taking photos was something I was good at! I sold a couple of prints and some greetings cards, I was asked to take photos of some family friends, I found some willing models to build my portfolio, I opened a website and a Facebook page to showcase my photography, I took photos at my first wedding... none of these things would've happened without the challenge.

If you need evidence of how much the past 4 years of the challenge have improved my work, take a look at these photographs. They're both of the same object yet they couldn't be more different! While you could argue that the quality of my equipment has improved, my understanding of the technical side of photography has unmistakenly improved alongside. The angle, the lighting, the use of depth of field, I could go on!


I can't recommend taking on a daily photography challenge highly enough, there are lots of them around these days (although I'm always going to recommend Chantelle's first!). I had no idea how far this simple idea would take me on my photography journey and I plan to continue with it far into the future.

My #fmsphotoaday photos can be found on Instagram, Flickr & Twitter

Wednesday 27 January 2016

2 years ago

Facebook announced to me earlier that I posted this 2 years ago:


I remember how excited (and slightly stunned) I was that someone liked one of my photographs so much that they were willing to pay for it.

That was a turning point for me and real inspiration to start making my hobby into more of a career. I look back from where I am now with my small business (3 weddings this year, eeek!) and I can say that it was an instrumental moment in giving me the push to keep learning and improving.

Another important moment will have its anniversary next Monday, I'll post about that closer to the time.

Sunday 24 January 2016

Thame Youth Cafe

Thame Youth Cafe is a brilliant resource for local young people, offering them a "safe, welcoming, [and] non-judgmental environment" to be together. Each week the committee organises a different activity and last week I was asked to go along to provide a fun photobooth for the youth.

The Guide HQ lent us a bag of dressing-up clothes, I set up my portable studio equipment and the rest was up to the teenagers themselves. Some were understandably reluctant, others took a while to warm to the idea but there were some definite performers in the group!

Obviously, I can't share any of the photos that were taken of the young people without permission from their parents but I do have permission to use this photo of the wonderful youth workers who organise this brilliant opportunity for the kids.


Thank you Sian, Nick and Jake for all you do, thank you to all of the volunteers who help every week and thank you to the young people who made it a lot of fun!

Monday 18 January 2016

Twin-tastic!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the gorgeous 1 year-old twins of an old school friend. What little characters they were, so much fun but, wow, so much hard work. I'm in awe of parents of twins (or triplets, or quads...), I don't know how you do it.

It's fascinating to see how different siblings can be. Miss E was very confident and inquisitive, she loved the camera and was very keen to get her fingers on it (that's why I keep lens wipes to hand) ;)


Master N was a bit more laid back, although he enjoyed the attention he didn't want to smile and he was happy to keep his distance from the camera.


Their Mum and Dad are so in love with them, it's wonderful to see such a happy family.


Then the birthday cake came out...


 Master N looked slighly disgusted by the feel of the icing but Miss E jumped right in there, a girl after my own heart!


Thank you so much to the whole family, I had a lovely time with you all.


Tuesday 12 January 2016

Looking back at 2015


Now that we're getting into 2016, it's a good time to look back at the year that's just ended. I took a while to look at the photos from my last year and I chose some favourites. Let me tell you a little about them.

1) Fun at Little Miss C's 4th birthday party. This is when I met the lovely Emma who owns the local franchise of Creation Station. I love the joy and movement in this photo!



2) Charity Zumbathon - I'm a huge fan of Zumba and this was a great event to raise money for two local cancer charities, we had a brilliant time.


3) A big family gathering in Warwickshire - the house was amazing and the family had lots of birthdays to celebrate. At events I always try to step back and get a photo that sums up the feeling of the whole crowd and this one worked very well.


4) H & R's joint Christening - I love happy family events and this was so joyful! The children looked beautiful and everyone was smiling all afternoon.


5) J& P's wedding - I have a lot to thank this lovely couple for, it was such an honour to share their special day. They were amazing to trust me with the photography as this was my first official wedding (I think I was more nervous than they were).


6) 50th wedding anniversary - Mr and Mrs B held a large family party to celebrate their milestone wedding anniversary. I loved the way this photo captured the cake and their wedding photo.




7) Royal Albert Hall - I was at this concert to take some photos for the lighting company, I can't use those photos online so this is actually one taken with my phone from my seat in the stalls. Such a beautiful venue and the music was brilliant too.


8) The M family - I had the most fun with Mr and Mrs M and the gorgeous H. He was reluctant at first but we ended up chasing each other around Coombe Hill and having lots of giggles. This is one of my favourite photos that I've ever taken, look at how much fun this family has!


9) Baby M - The family had won the photo session at a local charity event (I often donate vouchers to raffles and auctions) and it was a pleasure to meet them. As a Mum of 3 boys, it was lovely to spend some time with this beautiful baby girl.


10) - Swingtime Sweethearts - A friend and I went to the Ideal Home Show at Christmas event in late November. We really enjoyed the whole thing but the musical entertainment was a highlight for me, I love this photo of one of the singers, such joy!


11) K & L's engagement - This gorgeous couple are so obviously in love and it was wonderful to spend some time getting to know them one beautiful evening at Coombe Hill. They are due to get married this coming December and I'm really looking forward to sharing their special day.


12) - Fabulous S at the Creation Station Christmas event - This was a great event on Small Business Saturday in partnership with Creation Station. I had lots of brilliant children and families come to have their photos taken but the fabulous S stood out a mile. Here's my favourite shot of this amazingly photogenic boy!


So, that's 2015. Massive thanks to everyone I met this year, it's been a lot of fun. Let's hope 2016 is even better.