Visiting Stan

For those of you that are one of my "friends" on Facebook, you may have noticed that my status sometimes refers to "Stan". He is my uncle and has unfortunately spent the last 6 months in hospital. He was finally moved to a very nice nursing home called Albany Lodge in Croydon just before Christmas. I went there to visit him on Wednesday this week with two of my cousins. Iain took some photographs while we were there and this is quite rare for me because you don't often find me on the other side of the camera! We had a lovely time visiting him and we were all very impressed with the nursing home and how is being looked after. Hope you like them...

Family Photo Shoot in Sussex

This weekend was a really busy one for us. We had already planned to deliver a wedding album on Sunday to a couple in Brighton and then we were asked to do a family photo shoot. We worked out that we could do both by starting fairly early and doing the family photo shoot on the way to deliver the album. It was a fairly overcast day when we set out but fortunately the weather improved while we were there. Our biggest challenge was actually finding the house in the first place! I am so glad we were asked to do the family photo shoot and here are some of my favourites from the day... All comments welcome.

Frosty Mornings

Last week it was extremely cold in Sussex so on Saturday I got out of bed fairly early (for a Saturday!) and took some photographs of the area around where we live. I was fascinated by the frost that formed on the leaves. I particularly liked the first image that was backlit. There was a general whiteness outside which does not really come through in the images but I've included the one of the tree to give some sense of this. Enjoy... and comments are welcome.

18th Birthday Party

On Saturday night we were asked to go along to a very special 18th birthday party. We have known Chloe since she was very little as she went to school with Max, our son. We set up a "mini studio" in one of the bedrooms and we also roamed around taking casual photographs. It was a great opportunity to take some very special family groups in the "studio" and seemed to be quite popular. We are now processing all the images from the evening, but in the meantime I wanted to post a few here and I will also put some on Facebook. It was a great evening and Chloe looked stunning. How quickly they grow up!

New Years Day Photo Shoot

On 1st January 2008 we did a family photo shoot (of Iain's family) and decided to do the same again this year. It is something we plan to do every year on 1st January with whoever is available. Unfortunately it was a bit grey yesterday so the light wasn't brilliant but I really enjoyed the day. It was also an opportunity to wish everyone Happy New Year and have a little drink together. I had made soup because it was so cold outside that I knew everyone would need warming up afterwards - and it seemed to be very welcome. It was great to get everyone together and I really had fun doing it - I hope you all did as well!

I was fortunate to be able to attend a seminar in November by David A Williams a top Australian photographer. One of the things I brought away from this seminar was the importance of creating memories for future generations. So many of us don't like to be photographed because there is something about ourselves that we don't like (myself included). Or we just don't think that we are photogenic. Or, perhaps, we just don't see the point of it all. What David brought home to us was the fact that we are creating treasured moments for our children and their children and beyond... There will come a point when your children are going to want to have a photograph of you that includes them. This is quite a responsibility for photographers. It is also worth remembering that your children will love you no matter what you look like. It is our job as photographers to recognise what people may not like about themselves and work with the positive points.

I was really encouraged yesterday by the fact that everyone was very positive about the session. I wondered afterwards if this was because they had been told up front what the day was all about and that it included having your photo taken. This would probably mean you are more prepared. My own experience is that I know I do not look good in candid shots. However, if I am asked to pose I can generally get a good photo out of it. My daughter, for example, does not like photographs taken from one side but is happy with the other side. I actually quite like it when someone tells me they are not photogenic because I want to prove them wrong, but I will always listen very carefully to the clues they are giving me.

To show some examples of what I mean I have included two photographs at the end of this blog which demonstrate the parent/child relationship. One is the last time I was photographed with my father in August 2005. He died unexpectedly in January 2006. The other is one of me with my daughter taken during the same holiday in Scotland. They are both treasured memories for different reasons. I am very self critical about myself in both images but, at the same time, I recognise their importance.

I hope you enjoy the photos and I would love to receive any comments. The reason I am not in the shots is that, apart from the fact I was behind the camera, this is Iain's family so it was more important to have him in the groups. If we were doing a similar photoshoot with my family up in Scotland the roles would be reversed and he would be behind the camera.

Kennedy Family Photo Shoot

We came back from Scotland early as we had been asked to do a family photo shoot in East Grinstead on 28th December. The main photo shoot of the day was with 40 people and there were several other photo shoots with smaller groups. These will be uploaded to our website for the family to view. I spent a little while with some of the children while the adults were having lunch and some of my favourites are below. I have also included a photo I took right at the end of the day of the oldest member of the family. I think she looks amazing and she must have been so proud to have her family with her on such a special day.

Boxing Day 2008

We stayed over at my sister's house on Christmas Day and also spent Boxing Day with her. We had a really lazy day chilling out and it was just lovely. In the evening my cousin, Jax, came to visit and we played some games including a quiz. True to form I was a bad a loser - at least I'm honest and I'm sure it will be no different next year! I managed to persuade Jan and Jax to have a little mini-portraits session which was quite an achievement seeing as neither of them like to have photos taken. They were both pleased with the results afterwards and Jax is convinced that she is only photogenic when I take her picutre! Jan also has a dog called Fitz. I am not really a "dog" person as I am actually quite scared of them. However, I think Fitz is starting to win me over. He looks really fierce but is actually quite a softie. Here are some of the pictures from the day. I couldn't resist adding a few of the decorations. Hope you like them...

Christmas in Scotland

We went up to Scotland this year to visit Mum and to spend Christmas day with my sister, Jan, and her family. I love going up to Scotland at any time of the year, but Christmas is even more special and Jan always puts so much effort into the preparations. She is also an amazing cook so the meal is always delicious - and this year was no exception. It is great to spend time with my nephews as we don't really get to see them very often. We had a fantastic time and, as usual, there was lots and lots of laughter. Here are just a few images from the day. I will be putting a larger selection on Facebook. All comments are welcome.