Eyes Wide Shut

Recent events in the national newspaper has made me think how lucky I was growing up as a child, how my son is somewhat spoilt, but very well looked after, and how much love we have for him...but other's are not so lucky. The newspaper reports spanning the last few weeks has been about a little 17 month old boy named 'Baby P' from Haringey in London. Baby P (as he is named in the trial case) died from numerous injuries by his mother's boyfriend and a lodger over a year long period of time, injuries that you cannot in your life comprehend to inflict on a defenceless little boy. The social services, doctors, you name it failed this small boy in being able to save him from his monstrosity of a 'family' that he was born into. The story broke my heart in several places, I was choked reading the injuries he endured, and his plight has stayed with me to this day. It has sparked a major petition in the name of 'Baby P' to sack the people involved in his 'care'. I still fail to understand how so many people were witness to Baby P but failed to spot the signs - there were plenty. Moreover I cannot believe the 'mother' (although I don't think she deserves that title) could have let her boyfriend do what he did to her son and to live in the situation that they did. I dread to think how many other children are in the same situation as Baby P in this world, that lie undetected by society. Baby P has a name and now his 'legacy' will live on in many people's hearts here in England. His death will hopefully make a difference to other's in the future, but I very much doubt it. Baby P is now at peace. God rest his soul.

Little Miss Cutie Pie

I had the pleasure of photographing a dear friend of mine and her family. I love, love, love her and her family - how close they all are and they are such fun to be around. No less her grandchildren, both were such a joy to photograph. No less from little Miss T especially, who instantly looks at the camera and smiles, such a sweetheart. I took so many photographs and I thoroughly enjoyed my time capturing their play and homelife. This one in particular of the session I loved, maybe because I love the 'pop' of colour from her adorable coat! Nope, it has to be her look of joy being up there on her grandad's shoulders, she looks positively beaming! Bless!

Prunes

Yes, a rather unusual title with no relevance to what the photograph actually projects. But there is a story behind it. On my recent photosession with a friend, her take on posing for a photograph was that she once heard it was advisable to mouth out 'prunes' as you're having the photo taken, this would then give you the 'pouty' look! As she demonstrated this fact I decided to capture the 'prune' look in action - and this is what I got! I love everything about it, I hope she doesn't mind me blogging about it, but I had to share!

Horsing Around

I had the opportunity to photograph at a local stables close to where I live. I love horses, I can see the attraction in owning one, as they are just magnificent creatures. (But I couldn't do the hard graft in maintaining one though!) The model in question (apart from the horse!) was so great, normally I have to almost direct every aspect of the shoot, in how to look at the camera, pose etc, but with my willing model she was just so natural infront of the camera, she instinctively knew how to look and pose, I hardly had to give her any direction at all. It certainly makes my job easier. The horse too was so placid and lovely, he was such a gem. I can't wait to go back to the stables to take some more shots (although in a better climate - although it was quite mild, there was definitely a chill in the air!) But I thoroughly enjoyed this photo session, as I had been wanting to get 'out' there, and I loved the shots and how they came out despite the overcast clouds and chilly weather!

Let me take your photo

Summertime is over and the Autumn months have begun; dark nights, cold evenings and not much else in the way of taking photographs in the 'golden' light. Sigh...anyway, gives me a little bit of a break from spending most of all my weekends doing photosessions and having family time with my son and hubby. But don't get me wrong I do miss meeting new people and finding new ways of being inventive with my camera, but for now I am relishing the 'free' time. I am hoping to do a couple of more sessions involving newborns over the next few weeks, and at least I can do them indoors!

Colour Me Happy

I have a thing about graffiti, it fascinates me in the sense that the imagination, talent (many would say that is debatable) and uniqueness that adorns city walls, streets, and houses (think Belfast murals) is just quite extraordinary - well I think so anyway.

The street 'tags' do nothing for me, but any murals or artwork (and I mean really great artwork) should be appreciated. Banksy springs to mind obviously, but many 'street' artists are being commissioned these days to make some areas more 'presentable' and I think that can only be a good thing? Here were some of the artwork I came across in Dublin.

A Weekend Away

The hubby and I had the opportunity to go to the city of Dublin for the weekend, it was my first time to visit Ireland, (I've always wanted to go there) and it was just awesome. There was a distinct mixture of the old in with the new, with smart contemporary buildings (i.e. hotels, apartments, shopping centres, etc) with the old architecture of run-down buildings, boats and boutique looking shops and pubs. The weather was glorious for this time of year and we ventured out and about. Took in the sights, sounds and most of all the food and drink! As we went with a group of people it was nice to be able to chat about lots of things we saw, and just generally have a good time. I certainly did, and I hope to go back to Ireland and see new places in the near future. (And yes I did get to see those pesky leprechauns! They were much bigger than I thought...;P)