Snap Happy Tuesday - L.O.V.E

Hey there lovely people!

So it's Tuesday again and I thought I would share some more of my favourite images with you, this time incorporating the theme of L.O.V.E!

This can be interpreted in many ways, some more obvious than others, but regardless of how it is shown, I find that these are always the most touching images. Tell me if you agree with me.

Two sets of families sharing in a special day with a special little girl...

A big brother looking out for his new little brother...

A mum adoring her gorgeous little boy on his special day...

A man being passionate about his favourite football team...

An affectionate hug between cousins who don't see each other often enough...

A family coming together to create a memory that can be saved forever...

So there you are... L.O.V.E shown in several different ways through photographs. Whether it's for a special event or just to watch your favourite sports team, love can be demonstrated and shared in photographs in all different ways, shapes and forms... that's what makes my job all the more interesting. 

Take care lovelies. x

Snap Happy Tuesday - Family Candids

Hey lovely people!

I wanted to share some of my more candid shots with you all today. Ordinarily, in my job, most of the scenarios in my photo-shoots are posed and carefully thought out. However, now and again, when I take my camera out and randomly shoot my friends and family, an amazing thing happens. Memories are caught on camera. Moments are recorded forever, without the situation being staged and pre-meditated. 

These are just some of those moments:

My cousin Carrie and her nephew Deri at his recent christening.

My cousin Yvette (left) and sister Joanne (right) on our last Ladies Night in Newcastle.

My niece Lily-Rose on my nephew Olly's 1st Birthday last year.

My nephew Olly on his first birthday.

My sister Aimee, having a "selfie" moment during a photo-shoot.

My husband looking all serious during a recent game of pool with friends.

All very different images, all taken under different circumstances, but all equally as fun and interesting as you would like a photo to be. Remember, it doesn't always have to be all smiles and poses to make a photo a good one. I love these images more than the majority of my posed ones. 

Take care lovelies. x

Snap Happy Tuesday - Some Recent Purchases

Hey there lovely people!

So it's Tuesday... and even though Wednesday gets a bad rep for being the worst day of the week (or hump day as they call it) I really really hate Tuesdays. They are rubbish, pointless days that make getting to the weekend even harder. However... this Tuesday is a great one... because I'm getting some new Models Own Nail Polishes delivered!!!

So in the spirit of new purchases, I thought I would share some photos of some of my new makeup, and the area in my bedroom where I keep it all. Not that images themselves are particularly technical, but the contents of them are truly beautiful (at least to me). Haha!

So anyway... here goes:

That was some of my new makeup purchases from Make-up Revolution, a new site I discovered through a fellow blogger. I am yet to give any of them a proper try yet, but will definitely report back with my findings. 

The rest of the images are just a few random shots of my make-up station. It's certainly nothing special but it is my own little piece of heaven, where I sit everyday to do my skincare routine, apply my makeup and style my hair. Sometimes, I sit there and don't do any of those things... I just admire all of its loveliness. :)

It really is quite a beautiful thing... A sad, and often expensive thing... but beautiful none the less. Hope you all enjoyed this version of Snap Happy Tuesday! :)

Take care lovelies. x

Snap Happy Tuesday - Some Of The Greats - Annie Leibovitz

Hey there lovely people,

So instead of showing you some of my photos today, I thought I would start a new tradition by showcasing some of my absolute favourite photographers, and I thought that starting with Annie Leibovitz was a good way to kick it off. 

Not only is she an absolute genuis, and an astounding artist in her trade but she has created some of the most delightful and beautiful adaptations of Disney that I have ever seen, and being a bit of a Disney enthusiast myself I thought I would share these incredible images with you today.

Taylor Swift as Rapunzel.

Beyonce as Alice, Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter & Lyle Lovett as the March Hare.

Jessica Chastain as Merida.

Jennifer Hudson as Princess Tiana.

Jessical Biel as Pocahontas.

Julieanne Moore as Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Queen Latifah as Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

They are just outstanding pieces of work and what better way to let your creative juices run free than to undertake a project like this one. I am quite literally in awe of her work. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at these images as much as I did.

Take care lovelies. x

Snap Happy Tuesday - Keeping It In The Family

Hi there lovely people,

Today is obviously Tuesday and that means it's the day when I share some of my photographs with all of you lovely people.

So today I thought I would share images of my youngest little sister Aimee. Now, before this goes any further, I would like to clarify for the record that I am in no way favouring her over my other sisters, nor do I think she is the prettiest (they are all equally beautiful), but she is quite literally, the only one of my sisters to willingly sit for me. Hence the choice to share her images.

"Staring into nothingness"
ISO 400 - 25mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.0 - 1/60 sec

"Dappled Thoughts"
ISO 200 - 55mm (18-55mm lens) - f/5.6 - 1/60 sec

"Into The Soul"
ISO 400 - 32mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.5 - 1/60 sec

"Lean On Me"
ISO 200 - 30mm (18-55mm lens) - f/5.0 - 1/125 sec

"That Gaze"
ISO 400 - 42mm (18-55mm lens) - f/5.0 - 1/60 sec

Ok so believe it or not, when these images were taken, Aimee was just 11. She is quite simply a stunning little girl and a photographers dream client. She's super willing to take direction and loves having her photo taken. 

The photos with the white background were taken in my home studio, in front of a plain white backdrop. I had envisioned a kind of raw shoot, filled with attitude, and this was the result of that vision. Even though she was in fact only 11 at the time, she is very much a diva and has been for years, thanks to watching and then emulating the behaviour of my other sisters. So when it came to doing this shoot, the attitude was just oozing out of her, and I think it's really very visible. 

The outdoor shoot was a little different in terms of my vision. I wanted Aimee to look young and vulnerable and lost in amongst her surroundings, but still standing out if that makes sense. It was a super hot summers morning that we set out to a wooded area near my home and we played about a bit with the lighting, which turned out to be really quite bright and harsh with it being so early in the day. So after failing to find good enough light that wasn't creating harsh shadows on her face and body, we resorted to shaded areas inside of the woods, and this is where the trees became our props. I got a few quite catalogue looking shots of her standing and leaning against a tree branch, which I was really happy with and this was actually supposed to be the last shot of the day, when I noticed some beautiful dappled light coming through the trees on our way out of the woods. This is where the "Dappled Thoughts" shot came from. Green is always a pretty difficult colour to work with in photos as it often creates a murky hue, that can often look quite sickly on the skin, but this shot just felt like utter perfection to me and is still actually my favourite shot of all time. 

Oh and it's also worth noting that this shoot was actually part of one of the assignments for my photography course (Using Natural Light), before I had even qualified, and it ended up being the highest marked image in my portfolio. 

As always lovely people, I have included the camera settings used to capture these images, and although they're not exactly complicated shots, I think it's important to share these settings with you in case you fancy trying to create a similar shot. 

Anyway, as ever I hope you enjoyed looking at these images, and I really truly hope that you get out there with your cameras and start shooting. It really is the best feeling in the world to capture beautiful moments and be able to keep them forever. Far too much of life is missed and forgotten about, and photographs are a way of being able to love and treasure our most wonderful memories until the end of time.

Take care lovelies. X

Snap Happy Tuesday - Kids

Hey there lovely people!

Today is another post about some of my previous photo-shoots. It's a big deal to me for there to be a dedicated spot on my blog to showcase my love of photography and therefore my job. I don't think many people can say honestly, that they love their job... but I am certainly one of them. I believe that photographs are the the proof of our lives and the connection to our past. I know that in this day and age of technology, there are so many ways to connect and communicate, but I genuinely believe that nothing does that better than a photograph. 

Anyway, enough of the rambling and more of the sharing. 

ISO 400 - 50mm (50mm lens) - f/1.8 - 1/125 sec

This is little Mikael. He is 2 years old, so is technically still a baby and therefore should have been included in last weeks post. I for one, think that it's quite difficult to tell exactly what age little Mikael is in this picture, which is therefore why I included it. Shooting him was a very different experience from any other 2 year old I've had in front of the camera. He was very stubborn in terms of giving me a smile... but ended up being one of the shoots I'm most proud of. I think a lot of mum's and dad's, get really stressed out about getting their children to smile for the camera in order to get that smiley, happy photo. However, I firmly believe that these types of photographs can often end up the most beautiful and vulnerable. There's so much more of a story in these images than that of a run-of-the-mill smiley one.

ISO 400 - 37mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.5 - 1/30 sec

Let me introduce you to my cousins children, Leon (top) and Brendan (bottom). I had to include this photo simply because it makes me smile. Brendan, the older of the 2 is such a laid back and quiet little soul, whereas Leon is just absolutely wild. So when I suggested this pose to Brendan he was quite embarrassed and hesitant about the idea and I think that shows in his little face. Whereas as soon as he lay down, Leon just jumped on top, no prompts, just jumped onto of his brother and started making horsey noises. It was just soooo funny that every time I look at this photo I relive the entire moment. This is a perfect example of my believe that photography is a way of "capturing precious, funny & irreplaceable moments". This certainly fits the bill. 

ISO 200 - 32mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.5 - 1/30 sec

This is little Emma. She and her mum came along for a shoot, together with Emma's friend and her mum. She was quite the little character - a typical girly girl giving me all her poses. It was an absolute joy to photograph her. Not to mention how adorable she is... especially in that denim dungarees! It's so fun for me, when I get a client who just loves to be in front of the camera, because the joy in their face is just so evident. They are always super enthusiastic to pose and get into any position you suggest that any level of stress I might feel, just slips away and it becomes just an absolute pleasurable job to do.

ISO 200 - 28mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4 - 1/60 sec

Meet Zain and Isaah. They are the adorable boys of Diya, one of my lovely clients who came to me wanting some good family photographs after having been let down with photographers in the past. They were a lovely family and were very smiley and enthusiastic clients throughout, even Diya's husband (which is very unusual for the men I normally shoot). So the reason I chose to show you this image is because I just wanted to show that even though both of the boys aren't facing the lens, it's still a lovely image. Like I said before, parents tend to get very stressed out behind the scenes trying to get their children to look as good as possible on camera and this includes trying to get them to look the right way. Often this is just out of the question. Kids are so easily distracted, so it can be quite a chore to get their little eyes looking the right way. However, I think you'll agree, this is still a very cute picture and the boys look utterly adorable, despite little Isaah's eyes trailing off to the right of the lens.

Ok so there were a few reasons for selecting these images to show you today. Obviously they are super cute kids and they deserve to be showcased, but I just wanted to get the message across that sometimes the imperfect pictures turn out to be the ones you love the most. Kids aren't robots. They don't march to anybody else's drum but their own and often expecting them to do exactly as they are asked in such a pressured environment is too much. Photographers will always do their best to snap the best possible image of your children and deliver the best quality they possibly can, but it doesn't always mean it will be a standard smiley shot - these images are my best examples of how great, a less than perfect scenario, can turn out in a photograph. 

Hope you enjoyed looking at these ones as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Take care lovelies. x

SnapHappy Tuesday - Babies

Hey lovely people!

So today I thought I would start a little Tuesday tradition by showcasing some of my favourite shots from photo-shoots I've had. I think it's important to have a part of my blog dedicated entirely to my love of photography... It is, after all, the reason I started writing it in the 1st place. I will share the camera settings and lens choices with you all too in case you'd like to replicate the image yourself.

I will separate each post into different categories, rather than bombarding you all with a cluster of images that have no consistency and flow. 

So anyway, here goes:

ISO 200 - 37mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.5 - 1/6 sec

This is little Edith and she and her brother were the subjects of my very first photo-shoot. Believe it or not, this is still one of my favourite images. She was such a delicate little flower and didn't really like the big stupid camera in front of her face so it quickly became clear that it would be difficult to get that "winning smile" shot. I'm so glad! This shot is better than any smiley snap I could have got of her. Those big deep dark eyes pop like nothing else and her perfect little "deer in the headlights" expression is just utterly adorable. 

ISO 100 - 18mm (18-55mm lens) - f/3.5 - 1/100 sec

Meet little Darcie. She was 5 weeks old at the time of this shoot and was more alert than any 5 year old I have ever photographed, never mind 5 week old. She was so curious firstly about who I was and secondly about what the hell my big clunky camera was, so she had this serious "brows down" expression on her face throughout the whole shoot. I just loved that. Even at 5 weeks old, her little inquisitive personality was shining through and I'm ever so glad that I had the opportunity to capture it. 

ISO 400 - 35mm (18-55mm lens) - f/4.5 - 1/30 sec

Let me introduce you to Leon. This cheeky little monkey is the most rambunctious little baby I have ever photographed. He just so happens to belong to my cousin and best friend Alison, and I was absolutely desperate to get him in front of my lens. Most of the shots I got of him were action shots because he quite literally DOESN'T STOP MOVING!!! This snap came from me loudly shouting his name (camera at the ready) and capturing his face as soon as he looked up. It was the only way! 

ISO 200 - 50mm (50mm lens) - f/1.8 - 1/200 sec

And last but not least - this is Riley! And I'm sorry but LOOK AT THAT FACE! Is he not the cutest little cherub you have ever seen??? He was super fun to shoot and was by far the funniest 2 year old I've ever had in my studio. He was soooo clever and co-operative, he posed like a pro and even checked after EVERY snap, that the photo I had taken was up to scratch. I honestly could have photographed him all day. He was the epitome of the perfect client. 

I wanted to stick with the muted tones and black and white images this week because, quite simply, they are my favourites. I do love colour images too... and will be showing you several of those over the coming weeks but for the 1st post I wanted to showcase my absolute faves. 

I hope that this kind of post isn't too boring to you all. It's my job and there is nothing more interesting to me that talking about my photos and photography in general - but I understand that it might not necessarily be everybody's thing. This is why I kept all the technical jargon and ins and outs of lighting etc. out of this post. But by all means, if you would like to me to talk about all that stuff then let me know. :)

Take care lovelies. x