February 3 ~ 2 1/2 Weeks to Go!

It's official - we're two and a half weeks away from Peanut's EDD of February 21st, and we're SO excited. It's hard to believe that these 9 months are almost over; I've enjoyed every single minute of them, despite the nausea and the aches and pains - it's all been wonderful. Now we're looking forward to our little Peanut in our arms to kiss and snuggle.

Make a pregnancy ticker

Big News!

As anyone who looks at my blog might have noticed, I've been conspicuously absent over the last 2 months or so. I have a good reason -- honest! :) And here he/she is:



Our little one is due to arrive February 21st, so I reckon I might be turning my hand to portrait photography after all! I'll have an in-house model, after all. I have added a ticker to my blog to help follow my progress to becoming a mommy :)

Thank you to those who were concerned about me in my absence and contacted me to make sure I was all right. Sorry I didn't spill the beans sooner, but we wanted to wait till this all-important first trimester was behind us and we'd had this first scan. I'm 15 weeks pregnant today!

August 25 ~ It's Been a While!

For the first time in about 2 months, I've felt up to picking up my camera and trying to create something. Between work and feeling under the weather, my photography (and this blog) have taken a backseat over the past weeks. I have now realized just how rusty I've become since I've been photographically idle, and know that I have to do a LOT of practicing to get any semblance of skill back. At any rate, I enjoyed taking my photo today - it felt GOOD to be using the camera again. It's amazing how fast these little snails can move though, precisely when you don't want them to!

June 21 ~ Puffin Run!

These are just scratching the surface, but here are my first shots from the 2008 Puffin Run (thanks again to DB for organizing it). We had a tremendous day and a great laugh - already looking forward to next year!

June 15 ~ Peaceful

Just pottering in the garden today...

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Reworked

Took my favourite image from last night's portrait session and had another play with it. Thank you for the suggestion Carole - you were right!

June 13 ~ Out of the Dark

I've not been very good at keeping to the Photo A Day thing of late. Life has been hectic and I've found that every so often I encounter a huge case of photographer's block. Fortunately, we had a practical night at camera club last night, and I got to take photos that were yet again well out of my comfort zone. It was a lot of fun, and thanks to Caz (my partner in crime on the night) and Danielle and Amanda(the models)for a lot of laughs.

Danielle



Amanda

June 10 ~ Vegetarian Vipers

Inspired by an image of asparagus I saw in a recent magazine, I thought I would give it a try:

June 8 ~ In the Garden

Took the light tent out into the back garden today to make the most of the lovely sunshine. Found some aquilegia and Welsh poppies to play with:

June 7 ~ Another Rework

Another reworking of an image, rather than a new photo today. This is my first attempt at adding a texture layer to a photograph, and I think it gives a really interesting effect.

June 6 ~ Mallory Park

I had a FANTASTIC day! I was lucky enough to be selected by Digital SLR User magazine as one of 4 finalists in their Speed competition. This is the photo that got me my place on the day:



Drove down to Leicestershire early to meet up with the other winners - what a great bunch! We had a superb time - thank you very, very much to DSLR User and Mark Fagleson who was incredibly helpful and approachable and really taught us a lot. What a tremendous experience! We each had to work under incredible amounts of pressure and to very tight deadlines, and produce a portfolio of our 4 best images of the day. Here are 2 of my favourites from my portfolio (I'm sure more will turn up here over the coming days!):

June 3 ~ Still Uncovering Old RAW Files

Today was another day for unearthing old RAW files that haven't yet seen the light of day. This was taken a few weeks ago during one of my PAD sessions, but didn't make the final cut; I remember opting for a shot of a lone tulip that day instead. Finally had a closer look at this one and now realize I like it, so I've decided to process it. I really need to get back in the habit of taking a photo each weekday - lately I've been so busy on weekends with my photography I've not been inspired enough during the week. This MUST change!

June 2 ~ Vertigo

Another day, another file processed. This is another photo from Sunday's meet with A, K, E and R. This is the stairwell in Gateshead's Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. I really did feel dizzy while taking this shot - it's looking down from the fifth floor! My shot of the stairwell yesterday was looking up from the ground floor, so not quite so dizzying.

June 1 ~ Faceless

Had a great wander around Newcastle today with A, E, K and R - thanks to you 4 for a fantastic day, despite the weather conspiring against us. These are my favourites from the day. Our last stop was a small alley filled with chalk graffiti; there are nubs of chalk helpfully left for visitors to add to the wall. Found this little bit of Flex-sized graffiti: