Cry Baby

I took about 20 photos of Charis this evening as she was going to be my little model for today. She is looking so much better after her illness last week and was being rather cute whilst sitting watching Pingu.

Annoyingly where she was sat in the room just seemed to be awkward for lighting (despite moving various lights around) and of course two year olds are not particularly fussed about their mummy's photo shoot so moving her wasn't an option. Whilst all this was going on Seren was getting rather jealous and crying, so I turned, took one quick photo and carried on taking snaps of Charis. I don't really know why she was so desperate for my attention, she'd already had lots of undivided mummy time today.

This is the one photo of Seren. I just love the composition and colours, lighting, and of course the model herself that I decided to use this instead! Poor Charis will have to wait until another day.

Playdough piggy 2

Mr Piggy stars again, this time with much improved background and lighting.

I wasn't exactly clear what I was aiming for when I started out so I just played around with the aperture and exposure until I was happy. Here the aperture was set at around 10 so the tail was almost in focus as well as the rest of the pig, and the exposure was about 0.6 secs. I liked this because he almost looks like he's just floating rather than placed on a surface.

My playdough modeling still leaves much to be desired though! Can you tell I have 3 children under five?

Oh, I took a few photos of a squirrel today whilst out for a walk with the girls, but the thing just wouldn't stay in one place long enough for me to compose a decent shot. I do think its time for me to try a few more outdoor photos though, and I could do with the exersize!

Nathan Juggling

Sorry for the lateness (Leah) but these were taken late last night and I've been busy all morning!

This is Nathan keeping as still as possible whilst juggling. The photo is a 0.4 sec exposure, the idea being to capture the movement of the balls with Nathan not being blurred at all! Sort of worked. We couldn't quite get the lighting good enough to show the balls as brightl and as clearly as I wanted.
We're definitely going to do more these again.

Cracking Eggs

Scrambled eggs for lunch anyone? Nathan and the girls had to wait slightly longer than normal for theirs today.

It was so difficult to time right! It took me 7 eggs to actually get one at the point I wanted. Unfortunately the egg and my hand are slightly out of focus but not enough to bother me too much. I may have to give this sort of photo another try.

Haggis

As I'm *sure* you all know, it is Burns night tonight so myself and the family went over to my sister and her husband's for some good old Haggis, tatties and neeps.

I was all set up for a nice arty photo of the haggis castle with a glass of whiskey to one side when Charis decided to come and take a huge chomp out of it! So of course we were all in hysterics and I got her to do it again until I managed to capture one in focus without a blur as she was moving so fast! You can tell she's got some Scottish blood in her veins ......

Oil burner

Another photo playing with lighting really. I used other candles to cast shadows where I wanted them, or at least I tried to. It isn't the most interesting picture ever but I like the colours and find it rather peaceful.

Off out for Burns night this evening so I'm hoping today's photo will involve haggis in some way shape or form.....

Poorly Baby

Despite the fact that I've been out and about quite a lot today and taken a number of 'interesting' photo's I just had to use this one. Poor little Charis is not her best at the moment. Here she is showing me her rash and feeling very sorry for herself.

She doesn't normally look this rough though, honest!!

Man's Best Friend

Inspired by Paul Seward's blog post, Nathan and I tried out a few lighting and back drop set ups this evening. I got slightly frustrated as I don't actually know what I'm doing but having taken about 50 photos I feel like I have ever so slightly more of a clue now.

Next month I may have a week or two concentrating on similar objects and compositions but changing the lighting set ups. I'll have to find myself some interesting objects though. Any suggestions welcome!

Shadows

Despite the cold, its been a lovely sunny day today. Here we have mine and Charis' shadows as we walk home in the morning. I would have liked to have taken a little more time to try out a few things and get everything just right, but it was a challenge to persuade Charis to stay still long enough for me to take two photos! Even so, I like the colours in this and think that shadows are fun things to play with so ma have another go in the not too distant future.

I did take a few more sky pics today, but they just weren't what I wanted. I would quite like to get outdoors a bit more really but may have to wait for better weather.

Playdough Pig

This little piggy is created out of the playdough the children and I made today. He was quickly put together for the purposes of this blog. Conclusions?

1) I'm not particularly good at sculpting.
2) I really should invest in some form of decent lighting.
3) Its late and I need to go to bed!

Good night

Freaky Face

This evening my sister and her husband came to 'play' and we decided to do a funny photo. This is Susanna getting really close and staring into the camera, it was one of two that wasn't blurred. It is rather hard to keep still and focused whilst giggling!

We spent the rest of the night playing wii fit and burning some calories! Then drinking hot chocolate and eating biscuits to balance it all out again....

Candle up close

Another late nighter, taken just before another long soak in the bath!

My second attempt at candles. This time the only light is from the candle itself which creates a nice glow around it.

Flowers

I am very fortunate as I have a husband who will buy me flowers as and when instructed to. So after a somewhat stressful week, it was clear that I deserved a beautiful bunch to brighten up my kitchen. I'm not particularly fussy about type and colour, but I am partial to deep reds and pinks alongside white, because the contrast is just lovely.

The lighting and the background (I was sure I'd moved all unsightly objects) are not the best in this photo, I chose it because of the composition as this was what I was focusing on primarily.

The Triangle

Charis and I had an afternoon out together in the city centre. We spent an absolute fortune just to go to the cinema! I might as well have waited and bought the dvd, it would have cost less.

Here she is running around just outside Urbis and 'The Triangle'. I do love the red brick aspect of Manchester, and I particularly like the colours in this photo.

Concentration

Nathan decided to bring his 'office' up into the lounge this evening so here he is busy editing his most recent video. It took me ages to choose which photo to go with as the lighting in the room is terrible and I was getting frustrated with the shadows!

I played around with the exposure and really quite like the over exposed ones where his face virtually blends into the wall, but he wasn't so keen on those ones. I shall have to practice a bit more and get it just right before I'm brave enough to post an intentionally over exposed photo methinks.

As an aside, I'm liking the untamed hair so no dissing please.......

candle flame

Yesterday was a bit manic (again) so this is very much a last minute rushed photo and not the best it could be. I shall have another go with candles and flames at some point over the next week I think. One of the things I love about candles is the way the light glows through the wax, there's something soothing about it.

Waiting room boredom

This was taken whilst I was waiting in the health centre to see a nurse. I was there for three hours, having already gone along to another clinic only to be told I couldn't be seen. So after a rather stressful day I ended up spending my evening sitting in an incredibly dull waiting room taking photos of the wall and checking facebook on my mobile. (Thank goodness for modern technology eh?!).

I quite like patterns and symmetry and I remember that as a child, when in boring situations I'd try and amuse myself by staring at wallpaper and carpets. I would join up the dots, find various shapes and routes through the patterns etc. This particular photo reflects that a little. I liked the bricks in the pillar and played around with the way it broke up the wall and reception window in the background causing it to almost look like three photos cut up and put together.

Rubber Ducky

I had a long soak in a very hot bubble bath last night, but just before I got in I had to rescue some rubber duckys from bubble peril! Despite my better judgement I'm sure this duck has a number of expressions depending on her situation and mood.

Anyway. Although I aim to take a photo everyday, there will be times when I can't actually post them on that day, and this is one of them. Nathan was finishing off his final essay into the wee hours, leaving me with little miss nocturnal, so I never even ran the bath until long after 10pm. Also our internet connection was being temperamental yesterday so I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to upload a photo anyway.

Teeny Toes

I'm a little obsessed with tiny feet at the moment, hence another teeny toes photo, because our little baby is almost walking *sniff sniff* so I've been looking around for shoes for her.

We had her feet measured the other day and they are still too little for any real shoes! So I'm ordering some incredibly cute leather slipper type shoes for her from 'inch blue' online, and decided I might as well get some for Charis at the same time.

Aren't her toes just so cute? I decided to take the photo in colour rather than black and white to make it different, oddly I found it more difficult to get a nice shot as a result. I got as close up as the lens could focus to get as much detail as possible, its ok but I already really want a macro lens!

Ickle feet

I'm off out tonight (yay!) and have been in the house all day so realised I actually needed to think of something specific to photograph today rather than relying on chance.

The kiddies were watching a film and I decided to use them as models, well their feet anyway. They rather liked it but struggled to keep those little toes and feet still! Its strange how children's and baby's feet can be so cute yet adult feet are generally yucky.

Geese on ice

I've been waiting to catch a photo of the geese walking on the frozen canal all week! They do make me giggle waddling and slipping, poor things. I'm sure they must be quite pleased the ice is eventually starting to melt after a week.

This was taken on the way home from a walk to the local play park. It was so cold and Charis walks so slowly that I was half expecting her to freeze to the spot! I expect you shall see a number of canal photos over the coming months as it is just at the back of our house.

Shiny Beads

I think this could possibly be described as a last minute, not really feeling very inspired, photo. Its good practice at trying to use aperture, focus and framing a shot at the right angle though. The cat was a bit unhelpful as she found the shiny beads quite interesting!

Late Night Call

I missed the newly fallen snow again this morning because in a rush to get the train on time I forgot my camera and I've been out and about all day with my girls.

We had a great day but for some reason despite being tired both girls were rather hyper this evening. By bedtime the baby was being all silly keeping the other one awake and so we resorted to bringing her downstairs in the hope that by being separated they'd go to sleep quicker. How wrong we were. The elder one cried for an hour before falling asleep and the above photo of Seren was taken at 10.30pm! She's only just fallen asleep lying next to daddy on the buddha bag.

Having missed a snowy landscape opportunity and having our evening taken up with little girls refusing to go to bed, I decided to make today's task to get a nice black and white portrait type photo that was framed well. I should have known that wide awake babies are not going to be very co-operative at sitting still for mummy to take a nicely focused, framed, well lit photo! This was my favourite of them all, but I did have to crop it quite a bit for me to be happy with the end result.

Sky

Click on the photo to get a higher quality picture.

It took me ages to decide which of two photos I was going to use today.

I decided on this one because I just love vapour trails and the moon in general so to get them together was great! And in my opinion this is the better photo. Also, such a clear, crisp, sky view is a rare occurrence here in Manchester. Well it feels like it is.

The other picture, which I purposefully set out to take on the way home from school, made use of the little (and also rare) snow we've got. I even managed to get my four year old to stand still long enough to take it which is an achievement in itself! But I am sure I will get more opportunity to try a similar shot again.

Interestingly, taking photos in this area appears to be somewhat unusual, as I've had 3 or 4 people stop and ask me what I'm doing taking photos. This afternoon a young man politely asked, 'oi lady wot ya taking photos of, yuh sight seeing?'

Perhaps people are of the opinion that there is little worth capturing around and about here, but just from walking the dog I have seen some lovely views and glimpses of nature.

12th day of christmas ...

... and goodbye Christmas tree until next year.

Charis (my 2 year old) and I took the tree down today. There were a lot more pine needles than above I can assure you! This was the best photo I managed to get whilst having a baby crawl all over me and a toddler 'helping' put the decorations away. The cutest thing was that whilst undressing the tree Charis ran and found the Santa hat, put it on and then climbed up to look out of the window shouting for Father Christmas!

We had snow last night and the canal outside our house has frozen over but sadly I never got out until it was too dark to get a decent photo, tomorrow maybe....

Russian Dolls

Russian dolls are cute and worth a photo, so I made use of them and practiced changing the aperture to try and get the effect I wanted.

Winter Sunset

This was taken whilst walking down the 'high street' of Barnard Castle, the town where I grew up. I honestly can't remember seeing such a beautiful sunset there. Its not the night sky, so much as how totally clear the view was right up to the horizon. The photo only gives a minor glimpse of how impressive it was.

Anyway, my new camera is well and truly dead today so I had to use the 'old' one. I was surprised how much of a difference it actually made and to be honest I'm not overly happy with the end result. However, I still think the content of the picture is fabulous in itself.

Dinner Time

Unfortunately I'm having a few issues with my camera, it seems to have a fault somewhere in the software. So, I only managed to take a few practice shots of my youngest daughter eating her dinner whilst the older children were playing at the local sports centre.

New Years Day 2009

Robin - spotted on our annual new years day walk.

It took me a few goes to get one of the robin in sight, most of them involve the blurry image of some fluttering wings during take off! I'm not totally happy with the lighting, it really is too dark and doesn't show off the true colours of the day, but other than that I feel happy with my first photo of the year.