This Week - 01/04/2016
This week has been pretty chilled out really, my friend Andy came for a visit and Rory got a bedtime story from her lovely uncle Matt and we've just generally been vegging around and walking about in the sunshine.
But I thought I'd share some of the cast offs from our bluebell wood adventure :)
Honestly.
We also found a caterpillar!
And it was Chris' birthday!
Photo Challenge Week 17 Landscape: Urban Landscape
Pictures taken in Hightown Brigdnorth. I love the architecture of this town and how it has remained largely unchanged for so long.
Bluebell Wood
Last year I discovered that we live really close to a bluebell wood (Chempshill Coppice) in Worfield and so I've been waiting for the right season to go and explore it with my camera. It was just as stunning as I'd hoped, and luckily on the day we went we were gifted with the most glorious sunlight. It's easily one of the prettiest places I've ever seen, perfect for portrait photography and right on my doorstep too!
Telford Wonderland (2)
One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the Wonderland in Telford Town Park. I don't know how many times we went, but it must have been a lot.
My first ever date with Chris (if you could call it that) was a trip to Telford, on a mission to find the maze there. Only we were too broke to pay the admission so we skipped it and ate chocolate fountain fondue instead and by 'we' I mean 'I', and if there's only one piece of relationship advice you ever take from me it should be to start as you mean to go on, by stealing their toffee.
So getting to return to the place with my own child in tow was really fun for me. Especially when we discovered that they still have the dinosaurs!
So getting to return to the place with my own child in tow was really fun for me. Especially when we discovered that they still have the dinosaurs!
Knit mermaid tail blanket from Shabby Alice
Becky of ShabbyAlice is one of my greatest friends, but as well as being generally hilarious and wonderful, she is also ridiculously good at making things out of wool and recently used those skills to make this gorgeous mermaid tail blanket for Rory! She makes lots of other knitty and crafty pieces too and you should all definitely go and peruse her wares on her Instagram or Facebook page.
Want to be a princess/mermaid hybrid? Of course she does!
Look how smug she is about the fact that she has one and I don't. I want to be a mermaid too.
Photo Challenge week 16 Portrait: Movement
For the week's photo theme of movement I decided to use our little adventure to Wonderland to my advantage and grab some shots of Rory running around the maze. And the entire time I kept remembering scenes from the Shining and quickly came to the realization that I don't in fact like mazes at all.
My little home studio photography setup
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It took me a long time to get to grips with studio photography. When I was studying, my campus had this huge and incredibly intimidating studio with more equipment than I could possibly get my head around and while it would be a real playground for me now, at the time I just didn't know where to begin. So I built my photographic approach around ambient and natural light, which was fine, since I've always had a preference for reportage style work anyway. But sometimes, circumstances (typically the weather) or the clients (the teeny tiny ones) are better in a more controlled environment where the lighting is more predictable, and we can take the time to get a great shot.
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I always thought 'studio' photography meant a large, dedicated space with tonnes of expensive gear. But my first 'studio' shoot took place in a tiny, white walled bedroom, with one light and my camera. And those shots are still some of my favourites.
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I still don't have a huge dedicated space filled with expensive gear. So far, I haven't found that I need one. My little portable set up works brilliantly in my house and it's great being able to pack it up and take it out on location whenever I need to. For the above shoot I took around 12 headshots, and so being able to pack up my kit and take it along to a rehearsal was much simpler than having everybody come to me.
When working with babies, having this little setup works perfectly, allowing me to take my time to get the best shot in an environment that is less overwhelming than an outdoor space would be and meaning they can have as many breaks from the camera and the lights as they need.
While I'll probably always prefer shooting in natural light and surroundings, I really love having an alternative space to work in when I need to and it's a lot of fun learning all of the new and interesting ways to light my sitters.
This week: Wonderland (1)
This week we took a visit to Telford Town Park and there were many, many photo opportunities, so stay tuned for more parts to this post!
She's a Princess, whether I like it or not
For her birthday last year, Rory got this singing light up Elsa dress and she wore it pretty much every day ever since. But after far more wear and tear than any dress up dress was designed to withstand we had to throw it away. And since Rory didn't have a complete meltdown about it (which is surprising because she'll have a meltdown about just about anything these days) I decided to replace her beloved dress with a new one. Needless to say she's a fan.
© CHRISTINA-CLARE PHOTOGRAPHY