Two Year Old Photographer.

He watches me all the time. All the time. These set of photos remind me of this and that I need to seriously be on my guard with this boy. That aside he found my old camera in his room and declared it was his camera. "Roman's camera," he told me, upon finding his treasure. "Roman take photos." And so he did. Today Bryan was away and so I spent an hour and a half watching him take photos - on a camera that doesn't work! I almost couldn't believe we'd let time get away with us like that, but it was such a joy to watch his curiosity and interest grow.

I'm excited to see how this new passion of his evolves.

April.

93/366

I think April is, by far, one of my most favourite months.

Everything can change when you mix April and Scotland together. The weather, mostly, which has been known to range from mad snow to shorts and t-shirts weather. And April is my mum's birthday month.

Which means that I spent a bit of today preparing something special for her - with my assistant, Roman, at my side. I'm really excited to have a little side project because mostly everything else is crazy busy and this helps me to stay focused on what's really important in life: family.

I am most excited to share this gift with my mum - and in time, your good selves. I know that she'll be able to treasure it for a long time and I'm confident she'll love it.

Cheese.

90/366

Today was a day of cheese.

I got a new camera (and wrote about that here) and so did Roman, in the form of my 'old' camera, which he absolutely adores. He'll pick it up, look through the viewfinder, shout 'CHEESE!' (not sure where he learned that as I never used to say it) and take my picture.

I'm excited to learn from my new camera - and to expand my photography knowledge even further. Most of all? I'm so looking forward to the pictures (and videos!) I'm going to shoot throughout the year.

Photography - Canon 60D

After a lot of greif with HM Revenue and Customs (which included an unexpected Import VAT bill) the camera is finally here.

It's here. It's queer. And I need to get used to it. 

I hope to do many updates on this little baby because goodness knows it took a lot to get her to me.

Lens: 35mm.

Photo Geek Edition: A new lens.

Lens: EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III (telephoto zoom)

Good points: Metal ring at the front which allows you to focus in sharply. It also has an Auto Focus (AF) option and Manual Focus (MF). Currently I'm using AF as I find MF is leaving the pics a little blurred. I love this lens for long distance and action shots. Beautiful results!


Bad points: MF is a little difficult for me right now - I just need more practice and once mastered I'm sure everything will be hunky dory. Not good for close-ups as it will only come up super magnified ;) - but this isn't a lens intended for close-ups.


Why you should buy it: If you're looking to get a basic telephoto lens, this is a great starter option. I have no need to get anything more than this right now so I'll stick with it until I want to upgrade. You will get beautiful results with this lens on long distance shots. Oh yes and remember you're probably about a million miles away from your subject - you won't bump them with the lens ;).


For: Any Canon camera that will fit an EF lens. Or any other camera that has the right adapter to fit an EF lens.

Dear Mothers/Fathers/Parents/Carers et al,

Try not to worry if your baby spends the day dressed in a babygro (onesie.) I used to fret about this, that my son didn't look "properly dressed." But who cares? Several months down the line I don't. And I wish I'd done it more often. 

Don't be too quick to wish their babyhood away - savour each phase before they hit the next. Smile when they learn to crawl, laugh and cheer with them when they begin to pull themselves up onto the furniture and do you know what? It's okay to shed a little tear when they begin to walk, not least because they will drive you crazy with how much more they can do!

Let them feed themselves - at least once in their babyhood. It will be very, very messy (and your OCD-meter might go off the charts with the  mess) but it is also very, very good for them.

Bath time is a baby's playground. It will cause you to go into complete melt down mode as they go after everything at their eye level...just baby proof the bath and enjoy bath time.

Have at least one 'run and grab camera' moments before you help them out of a tricky position they've got themselves into ;).

Enjoy the babyhood. The chubby cheeks. The blue eyes. The soul-searching looks they will give you. Even those late night snuggles.

Play with hats often. They might begin to hate wearing hats.

Let Granny get a look-in. Even if you have to squash any paranoid thoughts. Unless she's a reckless child carer she will bring a calm to your new motherhood that you can't culture until you've been there and done the whole hog of motherhood. 

Indulge their cheeky tendencies every now and then. And try to find new ways of saying 'no' without actually saying no ;).

Also, buy the best camera your budget will stretch too. These memories and moments are precious and are worth capturing so you can have them in your family for generations to come.

Evolution of Camera and Photography

Loved this. It's a bit of a scroll task, but it's so worth it. <3

Infographic: Evolution of Camera and Photography by  Designzzz

Flash...AHHHHH! King of the impossible.

I have tried this technique with various coloured glass bottles (yes, seriously.) But Photojojo (my personal equvillent to a kid in a sweet shop) have created these flash and lens colour filters. Now, why would you want to create such an effect on photos?

Because you can create cool snaps like these:

And with me being a complete amateur with photography, products like these excite me - photography is my hobby and these are definitely hobby products.

At $15 I can rest easy with that but then there are the shipping costs :(. And if you know me, you know how I feel about shipping costs. I don't mind when the costs justify the product but I think paying nearly the same price as the product costs in shipping is just dumb. Also I personally believe that Photojojo should invest in some bulk buy discounts on shipping. Just sayin'.

Because I would go broke on that site. And it could quite easily be done. But I have to reconcile with myself; I'm happy with my coloured bottles. I'm happy with my piece of junk camera and tiny lens. I'm happy that I don't have a shopping addiction that takes over my life and makes me homeless. I'm happy I can be smart about my purchases.


Until Photojojo launch in the UK, of course. Until then I'm safe. 


P.S This was not a sponsored post. 


I'm still working on that World domination thing and could really use a vote - so if you want me for the Leader of the Free World then click below :)!

It's All About Me

I would love to be a professional photographer. Why? Because I would love to make money/someone's day by taking photographs for a living. However, I realise it's a very tough job; a lot of physical energy is required that I lack. And it's probably best that I am a photographer for fun because I would have a nervous breakdown every time I had a photo shoot.

I would love to have a cat. I do love dogs, however cats seem less work. Dogs are a constant source of responsibility whereas cats seem to govern themselves. As long as you throw them some food and pay them some daily attention they do okay. Perfect pet for me. 

This is my shampoo. I really, really like it. I really have nothing else to say other than that. And that you should buy it.

I disliked Pinterest until I saw this. Kittens in knickers on a washing line - how can you resist?

Two favourite people in my favourite photograph. Couldn't resist sneaking them in here somehow ;).

I'm a tiny bit feet phobic lately. I love Roman's little tootsies and generally any baby/toddler but if you go beyond that it gets so creepy for me. I am reaching the point where I hate seeing my feet uncovered. My own feet gross me out. Do I have issues?

My life is chaos. When I was better than I am now I was obsessed with organisation; everything had a place and there was a place for everything. Now that I am sick it's all gone to Hell in a hand basket.  

As you can see above I used to be a bit of a poser. I feel so old when I look at this photograph. It was taken over 4 years ago now and I was at this weird fork-in-the-road moment in my life where the World was my oyster and I loved it. Anything and everything felt possible. I was also spiritually where I wanted to be and for the first time in a long time very, very pleased at myself and happy about this. I also miss my straighteners and make-up when I see this photo but one day, some day I will work up enough energy to apply make-up and do my hair again. If things can get worse, they can get better.

I can't demonstrate this in a photo, so here goes: I love to blog. It has saved my sanity on the weeks and sometimes months where I am trapped in the house. I have plenty to be getting on with in life so I am loving the fact Blogger allows you to schedule posts - I can set a post to be published when I am asleep or sick or completely without an internet connection and I find that brilliant. Blogging has allowed me to connect with people and that's important to me; I need to socialise, even if it is on-line. I don't get many visitors and my family are all scattered across the World, so being able to keep in contact with people is important.

Pretty Little...

In my quest for a new camera, I came across this pretty lookin' thing (pictured above.) Totally not what I'm looking for but I can't help talking myself into reasons why I should have a handy compact camera to take out when we're on the go...


Thing is I don't want a compact camera. It's a downgrade. And I want interchangeable lenses on a camera because I want to be able to take photos the way I like - instead of compromising with what I have now. 


But this little camera looks adorable. And perhaps I could just buy it...after all, it's in the sale!

One Heck of a Week!

I've had a really exciting week (more to come on the whys next week.) So, for now I present to you some pretty pictures from the Awesome People Hanging Out Together tumblr. 

Enjoy! 

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(Edit. B to me just now: "Whose the first picture?"

Me: "Who? Oh, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart."

B: "Whose Martha Stewart when she's at home?"

He didn't know who Martha Stewart was. Um, seriously?!)

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Charlie Chaplin and Helen Keller. I just find this picture absolutely gorgeous and so moving at the same time. I am inspired.

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This one, because my husband really admires Bruce Lee and because I think Chuck Norris-isms are the bomb.com.

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And this, because my husband had no idea who Andy Warhol was up until I marched him into a library, ran to the art section and began lecturing him on pop art ;). Um I really hope he knows who Alfred Hitchcock is...

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My favourite president with one of my newest favourite actors.

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Not much of a fan of Chanel or surrealist paintings - but this picture is cool either way ;).

Have an awesome weekend, hopefully hanging out with some awesome people in your own lives :)!

I'll call this set: Thoughtful Little Man Stares out of Window.

We spent the last week of March at my parents in the Scottish Highlands.

I hadn't been there in over a year. Travelling and ME don't mix at all. 

The scenes that you see up there are utterly breath taking. I have been all over the UK and little impresses me until I head up to the North of Scotland.

It truly is stunning.

I love being there with Roman because my parents have carpets. This is an exciting prospect when you come from a home without carpets, when your home has horrible laminate flooring throughout (I hate laminate flooring; it's cold, requires more upkeep, attracts more hair, dirt, dust etc and Roman can't stand up on the floor.) 

I probably sound utterly Bourgeois, but there you have it. 

I slept and ate well.

The normal pressures were gone. 

The slurping noises of B eating or the way he breathes seemed to matter less. 

But nonetheless, the days slipped by too easily and too quickly.

And then we got back on the train home where we were back to our old ways of me not sleeping till 4am, getting 4 hours of sleep (me) and the breathing and eating noises really annoying me.

Photos By B.

Looks like I'm not the only photographer round here...

Me: "Do you want to learn how to take better photos?" (as B was randomly snapping the camera at all angles.)

B: "No."

I then proceeded to draw his attention to the macro and super macro (perfect for the kind of close ups he was doing) features on my camera. He wasn't a fan. And anyway, he was getting classic shots like the above. 

Who was I to rain on his parade?

He tried out the features I'd directed him towards but wasn't fussed.

(I can't help but think this looks so like one of those 4D scans.)

This is a lot little out of focus but it's that happy face I love so much. This might just be my most favourite photo ever. Might be.

I'm so glad that B isn't big time into photography because I have a feeling he might be better than me - and that would make me way too jealous for words.