My career change: How I switched radio for photography

It's 1996. I'm skimming through University brochures in our careers room at school. What do I want to do when I grow up? I don't have a clue.

I always just assumed you get a job and that's it. Yes, you switch jobs for more money or when you get bored, but your career more or less stays the same, right?

Aged 25 and I was five years into a graduate job as a Radio Journalist. Yes, I loved my job but something was missing. I REALLY wanted to do something else more. That something else was photography.

So how do you suddenly switch from one career to another? For me it was a case of being brave and just going for it. Would it work out? I had no idea. Was it madness to leave behind a great job in radio? Maybe.

My career change plans had a slight stumbling block. I had no photography experience (apart from one evening class course). But I put my application together and applied for an MA in Photojournalism (the journalism experience sealed the deal and I was accepted on the course).

There's no doubt about it, I was WAY out of my photography depth when I started the course in 2005. It was really tough; I won't lie.  My classmates had incredible portfolios while my own was a collection of snapshots.

But I loved the degree, made great friends, and learned so much. Ater graduating it opened doors for me in Photography and Picture Editing at The Press Association, Daily Telegraph and FOX TV channel.

Going back to uni isn't an option for everyone financially or practically but doing short courses (either online or an intense in person class) is worth looking into.

Building a website is another great way to get your work on show. It doesn't need to cost the earth and websites like Squarespace give you a chance to build your own for free and try before you buy. That's where I started and I pay about $100 a year for my site.

Setting up an Instagram account and learning about hashtags will get your work seen by others in the field. 

If, like me, photography is the direction you want to head in, get reading. Join your local library and read tons about other photographers. We were encouraged to do this on our MA course and I've done a lot of reading recently, rediscovering some of the masters of photography and discovering new photographers.

Figure out who your favourite photographers are and learn from their work.

Magnum photos is another great resource, so settle down with a coffee and take inspiration from some of the best.

5 tips for great family photos (with a self timer)

As our baby turns 6 months, I've realised we don't have a single photo of the four of us.

Getting some professional pictures taken is definitely on my to-do list but we've just not got round to it. Life has been busy.

Last weekend I was determind to get a picture - the four of us, our little family, my camera and a self timer. Easy right? 

It took patience, a lot of patience with a toddler running into the garden after every shot and being dragged back to the sofa for 'just one more!'  We got there in the end though.

Here are some of my tips for getting that family shot:

1. Choose your weapon - you may have an SLR or compact camera and a tripod. You may be looking to balance an iPhone on a pile of books. Choose what works for you and work out how to use the self timer function.

2. The set-up - my advice (particularly if you have young children) is to decide on your location in advance (ideally close to a window with some natural daylight). Clear away clutter and any distractions. Use an adult to pose for a trial shot and see how it looks. If you have everything set up in advance, you just literally need to bring the children in and get going.

3. Patience- we bribed our toddler with a biscuit and entertained her with songs. She was not playing ball but we just kept persevering with the self timer, taking numerous shots.

4. Eyes to camera? Do you want everyone looking at the camera? We tried shots some looking at the camera and some away. The image I chose was less posed and more natural. This is the style we prefer but the beauty of the self timer is that you are in charge and you can try lots of different options.

5. Editing - my editing for clients is done on my desktop computer with Photoshop software. Increasingly for day to day family pictures of our life at home I upload my pictures straight to my iPad using an Apple card reader. I then use the VSCO or Snapseed apps to crop, tweak colours and contrast or change to black and white. 

 

Before & After

Before

After

As you can see I chose to be close to a window with plenty of light. I had originally tried to include a painting we have in our kitchen but in the end decided the painting was a little too distracting and cropping in closer would work better. I also decided without the painting, I preferred the picture in black and white form.

Using the self timer is definitely something to try out. It takes a little planning but great to have a family photo ready for framing on your mantelpiece. 

The magic of stories

Bedtime stories are a big deal in our house.

Stick Man, Not Now Bernard and Giraffes Can't Dance are just some of the favourites on loop each evening. They take pride of place at the end of our 2 year old's bed. 

Some of her books are gifts, recommendations from friends and their children (Goodnight Moon).

Some are stories I loved as a child and have tracked down on eBay late at night (There's a Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake).

Then there are some new discoveries that caught our eye in a local bookshop.

Stanley's Cafe by William Bee I found when pottering on a lazy Sunday morning in Wimbledon Village. This particular morning I put myself in charge of the book selection, refusing to be sucked in to buying another book with a certain pink pig on the front.

It was the beautiful illustrations that first caught my eye.

The book tells the simple tale of Stanley the Hamster and his day to day life working in a cafe.

Setting up the cafe for the day, cooking breakfast, baking a birthday cake, washing up and home to bed. Stanley's routine was quickly picked up by our 2 year old. It wasn't long before she knew the character Myrtle (regular customer) likes 'a nice cup of tea' (much like mummy).

When our little girl wakes up in the morning she will often be heard (on the baby monitor) reading Stanley to her toys in a kind of gibberish language but with the intonation of an adult narrator.

A few weeks ago I discovered Stanley's Colours. It's a smaller in size board book introducing little ones to colours through modes of transport. Our little girl would listen intently and I could see the penny drop as she gradually started to pick up and repeat the names of the colours in front of her.

The end of the day always feels the toughestThe exhaustion of having two children under 3 kicks in, the caffeine has worn off and my bed is calling. But storytime and watching our toddler devour the words and stories in front of her is magic.

Before you know it that 'just one story' has turned into five and a happy little girl full of imagination has nodded off to sleep.

A photo a day

When I got my phone upgraded to an iPhone 6 at the end of last year, I made two decisions. Firstly, I would learn more about iPhone photography.  Secondly, I would use the iPhone camera daily.

The iPhone is definitely no replacement for my DSLR.  Let's face it, my Canon camera is big, very expensive and when going from A to B with children, pushchairs and a change bag stuffed with nappies, it isn't always coming with us. 

With a camera so easily accessible in your back pocket, taking pictures everyday has never been easier.

I've put together some tips on photographing family in and around your home:

1. Catching the light. Get close to a window with daylight. Turn off any lights in the room. Remove clutter that might show up in the picture. You may need to move furniture a bit closer to the window. Try using a piece of white card or a reflector to reflect the light and brighten faces.

2 . Photographing your children? Have time and patience. Getting our 2 year old to sit still and smile at the camera? Not going to happen. I actually prefer pictures I have taken of her happily playing. My advice would be to clear some space near a window & choose some toys or an activity. Or let them happily play in garden, avoiding harsh direct sunlight. Let them play and have fun and photograph the results. Be patient and take lots of pictures.

3. Phone vs camera? Use what works for you. I use my iPhone 6 to take most of my pictures for Instagram. A few times a week I will plan things a bit more and take pictures with my Canon 5d Mark III DSLR camera. I have a fixed Canon 35mm lens that is great for capturing family moments.

4. Get in the picture yourself. This is something I'm trying to do more. I realised recently it's never me in the pictures with my children. I want that to change. Last week I dusted off my tripod, attached a Joby GripTight GorillaPod and hooked up my iPhone. I set up the shot while our toddler was asleep, clearing background clutter but intentionally including one if our favourite paintings in the frame. When our 2 year old woke up, I gave her a lolly and we had about ten attempts at the shot with a self timer until I found one I was happy with.

5. Take time to edit. When I do a baby or family shoot for a client, I'll spend the equivalent of 1-2 full days editing the images in Photoshop. When I take pictures for Instagram (usually on my iPhone) I'll always use the apps VSCO or Snapseed to lighten and brighten shots before publishing. It takes just a few minutes and looks much nicer than slapping on an Instagram filter.

 

6. Printing and sharing. Artifact Uprising remains my favourite printing site. We chose them for our new baby thank you cards and their stylish square print sets. I'm a big fan of Apple coffee table books and they do great personalised photo calendars that don't cost the earth. I'm hooked on sharing pictures everyday through Instagram. It's also a fantastic way to get inspiration from people all over the world.

Taking the freelance road

Two years ago I had a great job as Picture and Video Editor for a UK TV channel.

As the end of my maternity leave loomed, I realised I had a big decision to make - do I return to work?

When we sat down and did our sums, it didn't make sense.

I'd be working full-time, we'd be paying London prices for childcare (I shudder) and at the end of the month, I'd be left with just pocket money.

I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted time with our daughter but also a creative outlet and the chance to use my 10 years of photography and photo editing skills.

I took the plunge. My small newborn and baby photography side business would become my full-time job.

There was a lot that appealed, I would be my own boss, work the hours I wanted and have a good mix of work and family life. I could build up the business slowly and at my own pace.

In recent years many companies have put a greater focus on a healthy work/life balance and flexibility for their employees. This shift in attitude has seen the rise of freelancer communities such as The Hoxby Collective, making it easier than ever to work on your own terms.

I also made the decision that in between photo shoots, I would continue to work on improving my skills and striving to be better at what I do. 

Gone are the days where heading out in the dark to sit in a classroom is the only option. There are loads of great courses online with passionate and enthusiastic teachers. 
 

These are a few I have completed and really enjoyed over the past year:

Makelight

Emily Quinton runs Makelight, a company offering a selection of photography courses and workshops both online and at her London studio. She has a stunning Instagram feed - take a peek here.  I didn't really understand Instagram at first, so looked to Emily and her Beautify Your Instagram course.  She teaches you about composition, editing, hashtags and shares her tips for photographing with a smartphone.  As a mum of four she also offers advice on how to run your creative business whilst balancing family life. I signed up to the course and each day, for a week, a new video landed in my inbox. All I needed to do was find a spare half hour to put the kettle on, listen and learn.

Visit www.makelight.com to find out more.
 

Family Photography: Modern Storytelling by Kirsten Lewis

Kirsten is a wonderful documentary photographer. In this course she shows how she produces special, unique, tender family moments.  Her course is amazing and has had a huge impact on me. Kirsten also runs through her whole editing process and her photography style has opened my eyes and given me a fresh perspective on my own work. Kirsten's class consists of 37 lessons, available to buy and download at www.creativelive.com.  
 

Can't Crop This Class from Studio DIY

I don't even remember how I found this class but I'm so pleased I did! Jeff and Kelly at Studio DIY run Can’t Crop This Class which is a series of downloadable videos. They teach you about building a profile on Instagram, branding, editing and composition. They make the class fun and their tips for using different editing apps on your phone has made a huge difference to my Instagram feed already.

Can’t Crop This Class is available at www.studiodiy.com

Find me on Instagram: katiecollinsphotography

Photo Box Project

Recently I have been dealing with an angry, frustrated toddler. Like a caffeine addicted commuter being denied their morning fix, she's not happy. 

The thing is, I know what will solve the problem in the short term - Peppa Pig.

After a recent 5am start and Peppa Pig on loop again while I prized my eyes open, in search of that first precious morning cup of tea, I realised the pink snorting pig needed to become a less frequent guest in our home.

It was time to close Netflix and launch into a new distraction for our buzzing, energetic toddler -  the Photo Box Project. 

Our daughter was recently asked to bring family photos into nursery. As I scrabbled together what I could find, I realised I'd become guilty of hoarding images online and rarely printing them.

So one afternoon, I collected together lots of family pictures and did a mass print of 50 plus images using a simple app on my phone.

I then spotted a cute mini suitcase online at Zara Home and dispatched my husband to Regent Street to pick up the goods.

Our daughter loves photos. She'll wander around at home clutching pictures of family tightly as if she has unearthed some special treasure.

As well as being a little memory and learning game, I hope the photo box will be a worthwhile distraction. The photos now live in her special case (which is covered in superheroes - daddy's choice). 

So far it's proved a hit. It's reminded me how important physical copies of photos are. We can add to the box all the time and if it means being Peppa free (even one less episode per day), I am a happy mummy!

 

Summer is here

The past week has been spent trying to keep cool in temperatures hitting 35 degrees and little breeze. We are fortunate to have a little garden in which our daughter is happy to spend hours inspecting sticks, flowers and blades of glass or waving at passing aeroplanes. I often try to have my camera to hand and using my fixed 50mm lens (great for portraits), I have been documenting her first summer as a toddler. I'm looking forward to letting her explore the beach next month and her second trip to France is planned. Towards the end of the summer, I intend to spend time printing many of the pictures that are currently stored on my computer and putting together an old fashioned album/scrapbook so we have a printed record of her early years.

Arthur & Albert

A warm sunny day and two young brothers happily giggling together made for a perfect afternoon photo session. Baby Albert, clearly in awe of his big brother Arthur was highly amused by a game of 'Peek a Boo' and it was adorable to watch the boys cuddling together, already perfectly used to each other's company. 

Instagram 8

A few weeks ago, just as the temperature started to heat up, I fully introduced our daughter to the garden. Despite showing her the hot pink fragrant roses, she mostly took a shine to tree bark and stones, trying to nibble on them at any given opportunity! The warm weather and the great light was a perfect opportunity for pictures in two pretty summer tops from Zara baby.

I made a few discoveries this month. Dior and I is without a doubt the best film I have seen this year. It's a behind the scenes look at designer Raf Simons, new at the helm of Dior, as he has eight weeks to create a haute couture collection for the luxury brand. He wants to refresh the French fashion house, steeped in history. Influenced and inspired by art and the work of Sterling Ruby, we see his two month journey from arriving at the doors of Dior to the first models stepping on the catwalk. It's a great mix of fashion,  art and photography and a rare behind the scenes look at what goes into making a catwalk show.

My husband, family and friends know that I am a lover of bags and particularly British brands,  Smythson being a particular favourite. This month (via instagram) I discovered C Nicol studio and her beautiful Butterscotch Fia leather bag. The bag is designed in the UK and handmade in Hackney using the softest leather.  My new world map clutch is perfect for carrying my iPad, notebook and phone. It's one of the new designs from Elsie & Nell, a UK based Etsy shop. They have some very quirky and fun purses and bags and are well worth a browse.

Top 10 tips for photographing your baby's first year

So much happens in your baby's first year and it's a hectic and incredible time. I'll be honest, a huge amount of the photos I have taken of our little girl have been on my phone as it's quick and convenient. However camera phones have limitations and it can be worth dusting off your compact camera and playing around with the settings to get more from your images. 

Here are ten tips for how I think you can get more out of photographing your baby's first year:

1. Birth

So it probably won't be at the top of your hospital bag list BUT whether it's your camera phone, a compact camera or DSLR, make sure you pack a camera in your hospital bag. Chances are you will be pretty busy with a new baby on your hands breastfeeding, sleeping and not knowing what day it is but there will probably be the odd moment where you will be wishing you had a camera to hand. I was in hospital four nights and there were times (bleary eyed) where I just couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures of our new baby snoozing away in the bassinet beside me.

2. Location, Location, Location

A photo shoot on a bed with natural light streaming through a window on the left

Think about the room which has the best light in your home. Think about what time of day it has the best light - a bedroom might be a good option. Clear some space, avoid a messy background and if needs be cover a sofa or bed with a cream or white (or plain) sheet. This creates a nice, clean, light backdrop for which to photograph your baby and your mini shoot can commence.

3. Ditch the flash

Flash can be really ugly. If you have a room with good natural light, you can avoid using flash and your pictures will look so much better. If you have a compact camera play around with the light sensitivity (ISO) and push it up to a higher level. If you have an iPhone, an app such as Camera+ will allow you to have control over your settings and change the ISO. This is something definitely worth experimenting with.

4. Detail shots

Close-ups of tiny hands and feet, eyes, nose, ears, and baby's first smile make great images. These are all pictures to treasure and worth having in the family album. Many cameraphones and compact cameras have a macro setting (usually a flower symbol) and this will allow for close-up shots. Be prepared to put in some time as you will need your baby to be very still but these are great shots to have.

5. Relationships

Family relationship shots are great to have in the family album

It's incredible watching a special relationship develop between your new baby and their father, mother, grandparents and siblings. It's even better when you can catch those special moments through images. It could be dad simply holding the baby or rocking him or her to sleep, bathing them or reading the baby a story. I'm always trying to capture those relationship shots.

6. Using the seasons

As your baby starts to move around and explore their surroundings, it can be a perfect opportunity to use the seasons in your photographs. A drab, grey miserable day can be brought to life with a pop of colour - it could be your baby wearing a bright coat or mum or dad carrying a colourful umbrella. Autumn provides a wealth of warm, golden colour and can be a great backdrop for photographs, as can Spring with blooming pink and white confetti-like cherry blossom.

7. Baby's firsts

Hard to resist those pictures of baby's first taste of food!

From their first taste of food to their first birthday - have your camera at the ready as there's bound to be some great moments. For our little girl's first birthday recently we bought balloons and bunting. Not only was she excited by them, they provided a dash of extra colour to the photographs.

8. Editing

Adobe Photoshop is the editing software of choice for many photographers who choose to pay monthly or annually to use it. If you fancy dabbling  to see what it's all about you can download a free month's trial through Adobe. There's also a fantastic free app for iPhone called Photoshop Express which allows you to do quickfire editing on the move. A great tool to have particularly if you use social media and fancy sprucing up your images before posting.

9. Printing

It's all too easy to take lots of pictures these days, upload them to a laptop or computer and forget about them. The best advice someone gave me recently was to print my pictures and keep them in a box  - old school maybe but really worth doing. Photo books are great value these days and the printing quality continues to improve. The Printspace, a London company are my go-to printers of choice for images. Beautiful, quality images,  available in a range of finishes and quick delivery.

10. Investing

Get professional images taken. I realised early on after our daughter was born that I wasn't going to be appearing in many of our pictures of her early years as I was the one behind the camera. We chose to have a photo shoot at home. We were exhausted, new parents but I am so glad we had those images taken as they are very special to us.

Spring-time getaway

I was ambling along with the pushchair to the supermarket last week and three loud, noisy sirens whizzed by in the space of a matter of minutes. Angry drivers were blasting their horns at the busy junction near our house and the person in front of me was smoking, wafting smoke into mine and my baby's face. The signs were all there, it was time to escape London for a few days. We wanted a family night away, not too far away but with space to have a good walk, maybe a swim, a nice meal and most importantly fresh air. Warren House is close to Kingston but tucked away down a quiet lane and we booked in for a special dinner, bed and breakfast rate. 

It may have been all of 20 minutes from our home but we managed a lovely stroll through the well-kept gardens on the most beautiful sunny day so far this year. We enjoyed a family splash in the pool, a two-course delicious à la carte dinner with chilled wine and treated ourselves to breakfast in our room (which had a balcony and a great view). 

Our baby may have woken us at 3am (typical!) but getting away (even for a night) was just the break we needed and, best of all, there was no long car journey home. We can't wait to return.

Five fantastic Apps for new mums

My phone is swamped full of apps. I have way too many.  Many of these I have read about, looked at once and forgotten. There are a handful however that I wouldn't be without and that helped steer me through those early day of motherhood. Here are my top 5:

Annabel Karmel 

When we first began weaning our baby at six months, I was pretty clueless.  This app is full of recipes and ideas and made me become braver about cooking and experimenting with baby food. Each recipe is illustrated with bright, beautiful pictures and whether I am in my kitchen ready to cook or in the supermarket thinking of ingredients, all the information and recipes are there on my phone. Fantastic.

Baby Feed Timer

This was a lifesaver when I was breastfeeding as I was terrible at remembering which side I had last fed from. This app lets you record which side you are feeding from, it times the feed and then reminds you which side is next. This kept all my notes in one place and allowed me to look back and see how frequent and how long feeding times were.

Camera +

For me, as a photographer, this is an essential app. It's an alternate camera to your smartphone camera but gives you a lot more flexibility. When I don't have my main camera and I just want to take a quick picture on my phone, this is perfect. I can tweak the settings to get the image how I want and export the pictures straight to my camera roll. A brilliant free app.

Local eBay Deals Finder

This clever app, created by the team at Moneysavingexpert.com allows you to search for items for sale in your area, for collection only. In the past six months we have managed to buy a Babybjorn recliner chair, door bouncer and travel pushchair locally, at bargain prices and in great condition. 

 Cloud Baby Monitor

We got a bit ahead of ourselves and bought a baby monitor months before our baby was born. We then came to use it when she was a few weeks old and it was useless, with loads of interference. Before denting the credit card further we decided to test out the Cloud Baby Monitor App. You need two devices as one acts as the parent unit, the other as the child unit. You also need wifi. If you have both of these, this is an excellent video monitor with a crisp, clear picture. It does the job at a fraction of the price of other monitors on the market.

Reading material (for babies)

We discovered one of our baby's favourite books in a small West Sussex village called Steyning.  Tucked away at the bottom of the main shopping street is a white house which is actually an independent bookshop - Steyning Bookshop. At the back of the shop is a treasure trove of children's books and stylish greetings cards. This shop made me long for the days of high street bookshops as so many independents have disappeared due to the boom in online buying. It was at this bookshop that I spotted Space Walk. It's a simple hardback book comprising bold shapes and colours exploring the planets of the solar system. Even though I knew our daughter was too little to understand, I decided to buy the book anyway and to start reading it to her. It's been a huge hit. She spots it across the room and her eyes light up when we open the first page.  I have since bought this book for other friends with babies as we just love it so much. We have a collection of books which we read to her to get her in the mood for sleep. Here are some of our favourites: 

Space Walk - Salina Yoon

Deep Sea Dive - Salina Yoon

Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

Where's Spot - Eric Hill

Not Now Bernard - David McKee

Happy New Year!

It's fair to say our daughter (despite being dressed as an Elf for most of the holiday) seemed to enjoy her first Christmas and New Year celebrations! She has decided to ring in 2015 by getting on the move and exploring her surroundings. Her first crawl took place in the first few days of January and now her daily challenge is to try to stand, propping herself up using anything in her path. The excitement of her achievements means she is too wired to sleep, so evenings are proving challenging as we attempt to encourage her to relax and calm down! Long gone are the days of drinking coffee with friends while the baby sleeps soundly - soft play here we come!

Finding creative inspiration at home

I recently wrote a blog post about how I have been learning online during my baby's nap time. Now we have a loose routine (of sorts) and she sleeps for a couple of hours in the early afternoon, it means a few times a week I get to work on photography ideas, my blog and my website - I generally get to put my creative hat on!

As a new mum to a seven month old baby, I may not have endless hours in the day to visit museums, go to film screenings or devour whole books in a day but there are other things that I do to keep my mind active and find inspiration for my work. I read tons of magazines, mainly fashion and I love the ideas and concepts behind fashion shoots. I quite often rip out pages and keep them for future reference. It could be how a prop is used, or how two colours work together, or maybe the camera angle. They are all ideas that influence me and my work. I also watch lots of films - including loads of documentaries. I recently watched a film called Time Zero, all about the last days of Polaroid film. It inspired me to dust off the two Polaroid cameras I have and order some film from The Impossible Project to test out for a future blog post idea.

People sometimes ask me what is the best way to get into photography and learn about taking pictures. I still believe the answer is practice, practice, practice. I'm constantly setting myself little projects and challenges in order to keep my photography fresh. Sometimes I pick a theme and go off and take shots based around that idea, or I may experiment with food photography or play around with my macro lens. For me it's all about learning and improving.

Another way to help get the creative juices flowing is through online courses. The last one I completed was How to Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin and it was a huge eye-opener. It has not only given me a whole new way of thinking about my blog but it also encouraged me to totally revamp my website.

April is back on November 10th with another class called Create Digital Products That Sell While You Sleep. As I discovered with the blogging course, April is great at serving up new, exciting ideas and working them into your business. I'd love to hear more from her about selling photography online, advice on creating downloadable e-books, blogger case studies, as well as successful marketing strategies for selling digital products. Most of all, I know April will make the class fun! Here's more:

Are you ready to make your creative work more lucrative, stable, and sustainable in the long-term? Join April Bowles-Olin for an introduction to digital products and how they can enhance your creative business. This course will show you how to produce and position viable products for generating multiple revenue streams and passive income. RSVP right here to watch it live and get access to the workbook for FREE. This post is part of the Create Digital Products blog tour.

A taste of Autumn

As we turn the corner into October, it abruptly feels like Autumn has arrived. Not only is it frostier and crisper in the air,  but the Autumn leaves, a mesh of warm, vibrant colours are already scattered on the ground. The mix of colours and textures makes for a great photo backdrop, so I took the opportunity to head to the local park for the first Autumn photos of the year with our daughter in her sunny yellow fisherman's jacket from Gap (I want one myself!). She's mesmerised by the crunching sounds of the leaves, clinging on to any she can get hold of, not keen to let go.

The sudden cooler temperature has also meant freshening up her baby wardrobe with Winter pieces. I particularly love this cute Love motif jumper from baby Zara (below) which is super soft and fleecy. The checked dress with Peter Pan collar, from Fred & Florence at Tesco, will be perfect with cream tights and ideal for Christmas time.

As the seasons change, I've also noticed our garden offering up new and interesting colours and shapes. I discovered a Japanese Quince bush with its first servings of fruit for the year. I know next to nothing about Quince and what I might be able to make with it,  but look forward to researching and finding some interesting recipes to try.

Now & Then - Re-creating my baby photos

In March this year I had a baby girl and as proud parents, my husband and I have been watching her grow and develop week by week. I try to remember to jot down how she is changing and what she is experiencing for the first time, from her first taste of solid food to running her tiny fingers through the leaves of trees. My parents kept a similar record of my time first moments but in the form of a baby book. I recently dug it out and paid much more attention to it than I had previously, as now the penny has dropped and I realise how even a new noise is a major milestone!

Tucked inside a pouch in my baby book, along with my hospital bracelet and a Cookie Monster first birthday invitation, was this photo (below) from 1980. Written on the back was my age at the time (6 months). It got me thinking that it would be fun to try to recreate the same picture with my daughter as she has just turned the same age.

The first challenge was finding the outfit. Thirty odd years have passed since then, so it was a case of trawling through eBay and Etsy. Eventually I found a similar broderie anglaise bonnet and a turquoise Disney t-shirt which I turned around and added the trimming, bought from a local sewing shop. It is funny looking at the results above as I find myself thinking she looks more like her dad than I realised and less like me as a baby!

Having dipped my toe into this project, it is something I'd like to try more. My plan is to raid my parents’ photo drawer when I next go home to see if I can find more photographic contenders. It's certainly a fun challenge and a great little mother/daughter bonding exercise.

Here's the second set-up using another picture I found of me at six months, recreated with my daughter. We happened to have just bought her an extremely cute towelling robe from Jojo Maman Bebe (complete with bunny ears)!