Candles, photos and a BBQ at Sis's!

Today started off as a great day ... I got a ton done at work and that always makes me feel good! I pity my poor courier come Monday morning - 42 steps (2nd floor) isn't so bad the first time you do it ... or on the way down ... but the second, third (etc!) time it's a back breaker especially with heavy boxes or sacks of wax!!

It turned into a great evening too as we went over to see my sis and her hub in their new place for a bbq and it was such a nice evening! Good food, a nice atmosphere and a pretty garden! Our mum and her hub's mum had been working hard in their garden planting and repotting - it looked fabulous!!

I'd arranged in advance to take a few photos while I was over there as inspiration for a main shot for my website ... so I took some candles with me. I didn't get exactly the shots I was after, but these are a couple of my best ...

I'm working hard on bringing the website up to scratch ... i.e. really emphasizing the lifestyle factor of what I do, and the best way to do that is through photography. These are just a couple of my best shots that I took at my sister's place this evening.... I wish I'd had more time and more "stuff" with me!!

I have had another brilliant idea though! My sister is a fantastic photographer. She and her hub both are ... and I'm going to ask her if she'll spend some time taking photos of my candles around her house!! Sis has some very "quirky" stuff in her house and really good taste - and they are both very inspired by angular / eccentric / unusual photography of very normal every day things... which is exactly what I am looking for!

It's weird because I'm not even jealous that my sister can do a better job at this than I can - and it almost surprises me that I am NOT jealous! I take really good photographs of things that inspire ME ... and that pretty much comes down to photos of my children! Sis and her hub take amazing photos of "stuff"!!

I think between the two of them, they will come up with some great pics for me! Besides, if I make a list of everything I give them for the photography, I can mark it off as deductible too, so it's worth it tax wise - and she / they will probably get FAR better shots than I ever could anyway!

I really enjoyed spending time with them this evening. They are such a great couple and I'm so glad Sis and I are closer.

The start of a new me!

Well I did it! I was up early and at the gym for just after 8.30am this morning. I did my full workout with no cheating and it was actually okay! I was tired and sweaty at the end of it ... but I got through it all. The crunch machine absolutely killed me as it's right at the end of my workout! I nabbed this photo from the web but it's a very similar machine to the one at the gym.

You grab the handles at the head end, and your feet go through the other end. You have to use both your arms and your legs to bring them both up together at the same time and woaaahhh you feel the burn on your abs!. I have to do 2x15 reps ... and by the time I got to the 11th rep on the second set I really had to force myself to do the last four ... but I did!!!

Got home, had a very quick shower then went into work to finish off the prep for my show tomorrow. I'm home in time for a quick sandwich before I'm off out this afternoon taking photos!

Part of me wishes I hadn't said I'd do this as I'm exhausted and could do with chilling out and get more stock made for Sunday ... but it will be fun and I know I'll enjoy myself once I get into it!

Hub and I have been friends with A and F for years ... F wants to go out on a motorbike and A has just got a new camera and wants to play ... so we're "wife-swapping" for the afternoon but strictly for motorbike riding and photo taking! Hub is whisking F off on his bike, and A & I are off for a bimble around Chichester taking photos and I'm going to set him some challenges!

Right, best go charge the camera battery!!

April 6th - a SNOW day???

Well the snow sure came down! I was woken up at 9am by kids excitedly squealing about snow!! I dropped Megan over at her friend's house and after lunch we went to play out in the snow!! My mum came along too with Rosie Dog and we had a great laugh!

I was vaguely amused by how my normally very white dog looked decidedly yellow against the snow!! Nathan and his dad were having quite evil snowball fights and I am just glad they all abided by the "No throwing snowballs near mum's camera" rule! Oh boy I took a ton of pics! Here's just some of 'em!! Mouse over for my comments! LOL

Here's a couple of token "snowy landscape" shots! On the left ... I loved this angle with the trees and branches framing the contrast of the white snow (a field that still had virgin snow!) against the grey sky.

On the right I had just looked up into this gorgeous tree with snow covered white flowers and had to take a quick shot!! They look crap as small resized pics, but full size they look awesome!

Madness really - it's frigging APRIL!!

food and friends

Went over for a meal and a few drinkies with some friends last night. F and A have been together like forever and it had been way too long since we had seen each other. They knew about the probs between hub & I, but it didn't make a difference to the evening at all (just carefully avoided the subject! HAH) and A does cook the most amazing food!! We all had a lot to catch up on in the YEAR yes YEAR since we'd seen each other!!

A and I got chatting about photography and he showed me his new camera - he's a Nikon man! LOL I had to smile, I can't help it, I love my Canon camera! HAH Anyway ... he agreed with me that there is nothing better than going out for a day and just taking photographs of things that interest you!! The upshot of it is that we're going to get together for the day again - hub is going to take F out on his bike all day and A and I are going snapping!! Can't wait!

I'm FRONT PAGE NEWS!!!

This is sooooo cool! What started out as just something to do purely just for fun with my 25 smiles project and I day where I simply needed something to do has resulted in me being on the FRONT PAGE of the newspaper! There's a small pic of me and it says "what's got all these people smiling? Find out on page 4" - then a half page article with a bigger photo of me holding my camera next to a large pic of the montage!!

In town this morning there was also an ad board about my project!! Ohh the grin on my face was enormous! I couldn't resist taking a photograph of it! Chuffed to bits I was! LOL Turned out a really nice pic too with the florist in the background!!

Click Here for the link to the article online!!

Photographing the photographer!!

Well the photographer for the local paper has been to take my picture to go alongside the article about my montage! He took a few shots outside of me holding my camera so fingers crossed I have a decent smile on my face in one of them! I'm not used to posing for pictures myself! HAH

I am not sure when the article will be published, but the paper is Worthing Herald, and I'll post a link to the article directly if it's on their website too!!

** Photo Challenge - 25 Smiles

I woke up this morning and decided to go get out there with my camera and have some fun... and I set myself the challenge of 25 smiles from strangers! I was really nervous when I first started out ... I walked into town and let so many people walk past me until I plucked up the courage to ask the first person! From there it was really easy and people were SO nice to me.

I said to people "Excuse me, I'm doing a photography project called 25 Smiles and I wondered if you would like to be one of my smiles?" They were all so lovely to me - asked me about what I was doing and why I was doing it! People seemed surprised that I was just doing it for fun - for no real other reason, and most of them had a chat with me too!

There were only two people that said no - one was a woman who was in a rush somewhere, and the other was an older lady who thought she was too ugly to be photographed! She was such a lovely soul and stopped and chatted to me for quite some time and went off with a tear in her eye that somebody had actually wanted to take her picture!!

I really had a good time doing it! I am definitely going to have to set myself some more challenges! This is the finished montage of 25 smiles!!!

I'm getting good at this not procrastinating lark!!

I've had such a fucking good day!! A seriously really good day!

Okay so my brand spanking new accountant turned up at 3pm today for a first initial consultation and I liked him the minute I saw him. He wasn't at all put off by how far behind I am and we talked through exactly what I need to do and get prepared so that he can then get started. I have a list of things to do and things to put together and he's coming back next week for an action plan!

It's far from over and far from sorted, but it's a big weight off my mind.

So anyway back to my bloody good day! As the meeting with the accountant wasn't until last thing in the afternoon, I had enough time to get lots done during the day ... and I had my laptop with me, so I've been doing some bits and pieces to the website etc. I showed Louise at work and she was ooohing and ahhhing over it! She has tons of people who she says would love a photo shoot, a website designed ..... networking really is my friend!!

I just feel really motivated at the moment. It all feels achievable and do-able. I just hope I can pull it all together!!!!!

AND after not going kickboxing since before Christmas ... I stopped procrastinating on that one too! Went training tonight and it was brilliant. My combos were spot on, I did okay in sparring and stamina ... AND talk about perfect timing - it's grading this weekend!!!! Shihan said that if I train on Thursday and my fitness is up to it then I can grade ... so I could be 2nd brown by Sunday ... OMG that means just 1st kyu to go before I reach black belt! AAAAHHHH!!!! Heheheeeeee I really timed that one perfectly!!

The only thing that potentially worries me is my level of fitness and getting through the stamina rounds. It's something like 10 rounds of stamina for 2nd brown. I haven't trained in a while, but I am still fairly active in my job and as long as I pace myself I should be okay!

So yeah ... a fucking good day, a tiring evening that my muscles will hate me for tomorrow ... and now to shower, THEN bath and sleep!

Fart in a Trance?? Surely not!!

I think I have possibly just about recovered from my two mega late nights - or is that early mornings!!! (I didn't go right to bed last night either - I couldn't help doing a bit more to the website!!!) but I have still been a "fart in a trance" as B affectionately called me today at work!!

I showed a friend my website this afternoon and lets just say the reaction I got to it was EXACTLY why I have stayed up late over the last couple of days and been working pretty much solidly on it!!! I still have a phenomenal amount of work to do on it ... after all, it's only the front page that I've done so far and even that still needs tweaking with the final photos, but it LOOKS exactly how I had pictured it ... no, it's BETTER than I had pictured it!!

I've known this complete re-design has been needed for a while but I've just not had the motivation to do it!! It was a friend who turned around to me recently and said "you know Dee, considering you call yourself an amateur photographer and have a fucking good camera ... the pictures on your website are complete shit!"

I like to consider myself a straight talking kinda gal and if something needs saying then you can always rely on me to say it! I don't beat around the bush and I call a spade a spade ... but when my friend said that to me about my photos on the existing website, being so crappy, I realised that people very rarely talk back to me so straight!!! I've had so many compliments on the website from so many customers ... saying it's a great design, easy to navigate, easy on the eye etc, but nobody has really pointed out the fact that the photography really could be better ... and I was too "involved" to see it myself.

I just feel so incredibly motivated at the moment. I feel it in my bones that the revamped website will make a huge difference to business, and I'm all hyped up about working towards a shop!! I have been in a really good place emotionally and mentally for the last month or so. It's been a long time since I felt that way!!

I am also eternally grateful to a good friend who speaks the blatant truth!!!

Friday Five - 23rd November 2007

Oooooh what a really good set of questions this week!!! I love photography so this will be a good set to answer!!

If a really, really good photographer — the kind who always makes you look good and still look like you — were to take your photo right now, what would be a good title for it? - It would be called something like "Just Being Dee" because right now I am sat on my sofa with my laptop having just finished website updates... I am wearing "comfy" clothes and my fluffy slippers (ie definitely not looking fabulous!!) have a glass of wine on one side and a smoke on the other ... this is typical me when I am working on the website or computer stuff in the evenings!! So yes, it would be called "Just Being Dee"

If that photo were so good it belonged on the cover of a magazine, what would be a good choice, based on where you are and what you’re doing? LOL probably something like "Struggling Business Owner's Weekly" HAH I'm here on a Friday night working on the website instead of out on the town!!

If you took an interesting or aesthetically pleasing photo of something in your view right now, what might it be, and what would its title be? Ummmm, errrr (desperately looking around the front room for inspiration!!!) It couldn't be done with one photograph, but a series of pictures representing the family way of life and the fact that every one of us in the house has our nose in a computer at this exact moment!!!

Among people you know, who seems to have a knack for taking great shots of people? My sister & brother in law. They are both excellent photographers and if I ever need to hand my own camera over to someone to take a shot of me ... I'd choose either of them in an instant!!

Are you usually happier with candid photos of you, or photos you’ve posed for? Definitely candid without a doubt. I do like posed shots when it's representing something ie a trip somewhere, or posing with a friend ... but to me the whole point of taking a photograph is to capture a snapshot of time .... to pause life for that split second and capture it absolutely. The ONLY way to do that is with candid shots.