365 days project - week 5

Day 35 - Tea, dear?

I love the collection of tea cups and saucers my sister in law has on her dresser. They're so pretty and dainty!

Day 34 - Harmony

I found this in my knicker drawer this morning! I remember my mum buying it for me as a present when I was little, on a trip to London.

I can't really play it very well, but I love the battered up old case and the retro feel of it.

Day 33 - Pretty new dress

I went into town at the weekend just to get some new leggings, and ended up coming home with a couple of new purchases (whoops!)
One of them was this dress, which I thought was too pretty to resist! Now I need to go somewhere nice so I can wear it.

Day 32 - Splosh

I tried water drops a while ago and was a bit rubbish, so I've been planning to have another go for my 365. I've seen some amazing water drop shots on here, and I really haven't a clue how to get anywhere close to that!

I ended up taking loads of shots tonight, and did really struggle with the focusing, but I did find out that this is another rather addictive type of photography.

Anyway, this was the best I managed out of the set. Still not great, but it'll do for today.

Day 31 - Bakeh

This week's theme for Camille's Appeal group is bokeh, so I thought I'd have my first attempt at shaped bokeh. I even bought a craft punch especially for the occasion - and baked some cakes (well, I fancied making them anyway!)

Please do check out the group and post any of your own bokeh pictures there this week, and more importantly, have a look at the appeal website and see if there is any way you can help this very brave little girl and others like her.

Day 30


Looking for inspiration for today's shot, I found some stinky garlic in my fridge!

I'm looking forward to the spring coming properly, as I'm planning on growing lots of lovely things in my vegetable patch, and think I'll have a go at growing some of my own garlic amongst other things.

Day 29 - Night Lights


I was in town this evening, so thought I'd have a go at a couple of long-exposures. I didn't get many I liked - this one's a bit messy - but it was good fun trying.

Being in town on a Friday night with a camera, with lots of late-night drinkers around, is always interesting. Particularly interesting when one man walked past and took his trousers down whilst walking in front of my camera. Needless to say, I didn't click the shutter release at that moment!

365 days project - week 4

Day 28

A bit of yellow sunshine to cheer up this dreary, winter day!

Day 27 - I heart biscuits!

With Valentine's Day approaching, there are so many cute things in the shops at the moment. I saw these gingerbread biscuits and couldn't resist!
For Camille's Appeal theme of the week - Love

Day 26 - A bit screwy

I'm in a macro mood today

Day 25 - With Love

Yes, I know, it looks like it was written by a 3 year old, but it's my first attempt at light painting!
It was harder than I thought to get right, but in the end it proved rather addictive. I wanted to get some sweetie wrappers to put over the torch for lots of different coloured effects, so it looked a bit cooler, but I am on sweetie ration since Christmas, so none to be found anywhere in the house at the moment!
This photo was taken for Camille's Appeal Group weekly theme of love.

Day 24 - Love

The theme for this week's Camille's Appeal group is 'Love'. I took a few different shots and couldn't decide which I prefered, so I decided to put them together in my first diptych. Not too sure whether it works, but it's good to try something different.
Please take the time to check out the Camille's Appeal Flickr group , and most importantly to visit the appeal website and see if you can help.

Day 23 - Would be better with a cake on it

I love these plates! They're so cute and girly, and just perfect for a big slice of cake.

Day 22

I bought some tulips on my way home today. I thought I needed a bit of spring colour in the house on such a dull and dreary winter day!

365 days project - week 3

Another week down of my 365 days photography project. This week some online friends and I launched a weekly themed group on Flickr to help raise awareness for Camille's Appeal. The theme of this week was 'pink' and Flickr was inundated with loads of wonderful pink themed photos, linking to and explaining the purpose behind Camille's Appeal. It is a very important and worthy cause for such a wonderful little girl. Watch this space for more on next week's theme.

Day 15 - Killer Heels
More shoes, I'm afraid. After a busy week, I had a night out. I went for an Indian with the girls, and then on for a bit of dancing. These are one of my favourite pairs of footwear - my pink stiletto boots! They do kill my feet after a few hours, but are so worth the pain.

Day 16

It was my nephew's 4th birthday party today, so I spent the day photographing lots of very excitable toddlers. They had an entertainer, who was the most hysterical thing I have seen in a long time. I was crying so much with laughter I could barely see to take any pictures. This is my friend's little girl - such a pretty little lady.

Day 17 - Camille's Appeal

Thank you for looking at my photograph. It was added to help to raise awareness for a friend's daughter - Camille. In June 2009, this stunning little 2 year old, Camille, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She continues to fight and is a real inspiration to us all. We hope to raise awareness for Camilles Appeal through photography. Camilles appeal has been set up to raise funds for Camille and other young children living in East Anglia who have been diagnosed with a Brain Tumour. http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/ Feel free to comment, fave etc or why not post your own pink photograph in the group this week. Raising awareness for a very worthwhile cause.

Day 18 - Thank you

Just thought I'd use today's picture to say thank you to all those people who joined the group, www.flickr.com/groups/camilles-appeal and who added photos or viewed, commented and faved photos produced for the appeal. Lots and lots of yesterday's pictures made into Explore, and hopefully will have raised a lot of awareness for this truly worthy cause. If you haven't yet had a chance, please check out the Flickr group, but also have a look at the Camille's Appeal website and do what you can to help this truly courageous girl and any others like her.

Day 19 - A little hope

I've been pretty busy today, so not the best shot from me. For Camille

Day 20 - Next move?

I spent the evening at my brother's house, looking after my nephew. I thought this chess set would make an colourful shot, as I love the bright colours. It also serves as a little bit of a pretentious metaphor for me today, as I've got an important decision to make about the next move in my career.

Day 21 - Can't wait for my bed

What a long day! Thursday is always busy for me, and as well as morning briefing, a full day of teaching, and a meeting in my lunch break, I had parent's evening tonight. So, I've just got in and I can't wait to get into bed. Thank God it's Friday tomorrow!

365 days project - week 2

So, I haven't failed my project to take a photo every day for a year just yet. Two weeks done, fifty still to go! I'm really enjoying it, though, and it's definitely making me think so much more about what I'm taking pictures of and how. I know it's not going to be long before I run out of inspiration, but hopefully that will just make me have to be more creative with the shots I take, and push me to try something different.

Here are week 2's results...

Day 8 - Are the snow pictures getting boring yet? I thought I'd try a bit of selective colour with this one. Not sure if it works, but I guess it's something different. The lake was completely frozen over, and when I got closer, I noticed footprints all over the ice! Some people are clearly quite mental!

Day 9 - Snowball fun

My nephew came round this morning, so obviously he insisted that we went straight out in the garden to throw snowballs at Chester the dog! Chester did not find it quite as amusing as my nephew did.
p.s. He doesn't really have enormous hands - he was borrowing my gloves, as he'd left his at home.

Day 10 - Naughty but Nice

I went for a little shopping trip yesterday as I've not had a chance to check out the New Year sales yet, and I may have accidentally picked up these beautiful shoes! I really wasn't meaning to buy shoes - I have far too many already, but these just spoke to me. They're so pretty and elegant, and they had £30 off. So, a little bit naughty of me, but they are very, very nice!

Day 11 - I will use it!

A little while ago, my brother gave me this old manual camera of his. He's had it in his garage for years and thought I'd get more use out of it than him. Well, so far, I've had a play around, but not really gone out and shot with it yet. So, I've resolved to make an effort and get out there with the ol' Nikon manual and see what I can get. I figure it'll make me think much more about my shots as there's no chance to review my shots, and I have to think about all my settings each time before I press the shutter. Watch this space for the results.

Day 12 - Lacking Inspiration

Eurgh! I hate pictures of myself, and this one is rather yucky, but I'm a little low on inspiration today. I've got lots of work to do, so can't set up a decent shot, so a SP it is! But on the good news front, I picked up a new lens today! This was shot on my 35mm 1.8 (yay!) I've got it to replace my nifty fifty which is now gracing the pages of ebay. I love love love my 50mm, but it doesn't autofocus on my camera, and this one does, so I can actually manage a SP now and won't miss so many shots anymore because I'm too busy twiddling the focus ring.

Day 13 - Little Pink Watering Can

We had another load of snow again last night, so everything in my garden is buried again. The only splash of colour was my little pink watering can, poking out of the snow.

Day 14 - This was another Christmas present - a necklace and bracelet made by a local jewellery designer. They were sitting on my dressing table at the end of a long day, so I thought I'd take my shot of something pretty.

365 days project - week 1

I've decided that I need a photography project to keep me going at the moment, and I've been wanting to do the 365 days project for some time now (one photo per day for an entire year), I've just never quite had the motivation to get started. Well, the first day of a new year, and a new decade, seemed as good a time as any to get things started.

So, here is my first week's effort:

Day 1/365

So, 2009 was possibly the worst year for a long time. Lots of changes for me, and not all of them welcome.

Now it's a new year and a new start, and what better way to mark that than with a 365 project? It was a beautiful, crisp winter day and I took this whilst out on a walk with the dog. Certainly not the best shot in the world, but I guess it represents the path ahead of me for the next year.

Day 2/365 - Snowy lines

I went away for the night and came back to snow (again). It's just another light dusting, but I thought it looked a little bit magical, sprinkled over the decking.

Day 3/365 - Packed away

The Christmas decorations have now been packed away for another year. I'm back to work tomorrow and hoping that I will be a bit more positive about things from now on. It always feels so empty in the room when it all comes down, but it's nice to get some space back.

Day 4/365 - The prettiest shoe!

First day back at work today. It's still freezing cold, and so was quite an effort to get up in the dark, defrost the car and then actually do any work once I got there.

To cheer me up this evening, I thought I'd take a shot of one of my prettiest Christmas presents. My brother and sister-in-law gave me this lovely ring-holder in the shape of a rather beautiful pink shoe! I'm a big shoe fan and a sucker for anything pretty and girly, so I rather love this.

Day 5/365 - A little treat

Today was the first day of a new term, so always a little stressful! It wasn't made better by the heavy snow that started falling at lunch time and is still coming down.

I'm definitely owed a little treat to keep me going through the pile of marking I have to get through tonight.

Day 6/365 - Bounding through the snow

School was closed for a snow day today! Far too much to even try to get in, so Chester and I had a bit of a play in the back garden. As you can see, he rather enjoyed leaping around in it.

Day 7/365 - Going nowhere

Second snow day, and just heard that I've got tomorrow off as well. This is all good, but I am starting to get a little bit of cabin fever as I still can't move the car, and unfortunately everyone I know lives a short drive away.

I took a little walk this afternoon and the snow is still as beautiful as ever. There are only ever a couple of trains per day along here, but somehow I don't think anything's been along here for a few days.

Winter chill

Winter has really descended here, just in time for Christmas. There's been a dusting of snow here, although nothing compared to other places in the UK. It's almost all gone now, but there's still an icy, frosty covering on the ground, which makes for a lovely wintery scene in photos.

I went to Port Meadow, a huge common on the outskirts of Oxford. Horses graze freely all over the meadow, and in winter the river often overflows, creating huge frozen lakes. Although it was pretty icy underfoot and I nearly came a cropper a few times, I got a few shots from the afternoon.

'Tis the season...

Well, my tree went up this weekend, and I'm starting to feel a little bit Christmassy, so here are a couple of festive photos:

Some of my pretty decorations, and my beautiful boy in front of the tree.