Nine months in the making - Part 1

During their workshop From Bumps to Babies, Sue Bryce and Kelly Brown proposed the idea of photographing a pregnant woman, and then documenting their family story and the growth of their baby, by photographing their newborn for one year. The work can then be used to produce beautiful art eg: a photo book of the baby's first year of life.

I decided to take on this challenge and started searching for pregnant women willing to participate!
My search has led me to two soon-to-be mums whom I will photograph as part of this project :). I met them both and discussed the project and I'm looking forward to producing some memorable images for them.

Talking to them about their journey through pregnancy, brings back the memories and feelings I had when I was pregnant. For me, it was like getting on a roller coaster, physically and emotionally. My baby girl is almost ready to start school now, and I can't believe how fast time has flown by! There were trying times when she was little that I thought would never end, and now I have nothing but beautiful memories and miss her being little. My husband and I are glad we decided to take this ride :).

Below are the first images of my project.

Shahy and Haythem

Shahy and her husband have moved to Australia from Egypt.
I was lucky to have found them and that they accepted to be part of this journey.

I hope we can become good friends also :)

Love in black and white

While in Mt Gambier, I had the honour of photographing my niece and her new baby boy, now one month old.

No planning prepares you for a new baby! and I speak from experience :).
But these young lives are not only the source of great energy, but also great inspiration.

Kelly Brown said during her Bumps to Babies workshop: "Nothing smells better in this world than your own baby". My Mum once sniffed my little girl and said "You smell of life!". All so true.

Welcome to our family baby Samuel, we love you very much!

Having a break

We had a break from our day jobs and headed south. It was great to stop by the side of the road and capture some of the scenes we often just zoom past!
Our daughter loved it, she travelled really well and now has great memories of the trip.

Starting and completing something

{Note to self}:

It's important to be doing something...

Working, problem solving and practicing what you love to create.

Without that, evolution doesn't take place.

Use what you have at hand, to start something, take pictures with your phone, draw, sketch.
Plan and carry out, or simply carry out;
Ask, without fear.
Your prosperity and that of your loved ones depends on it.

If you keep working at it, only good can come of it.
It will seem as if by chance or accident, but it won't be coincidence.
That you complete something, that is beautiful.

Use Instagram to discover your highest values

It is Photoweek at CreativeLive and as usual it has been an amazing outpouring of inspirational information.
My favourite so far being Sue Bryce's session on empowering and energising your business. Her discussion on discovering your highest values is an eye opener. It's something that I 'sort of' knew and 'kind of' felt throughout the span of my life when making choices and taking decisions.

Playing around with an Instagram widget, it dawned on me that I could use this tool to discover these values; what I like to talk about and do. It can also help you see a detailed insight in what you do: the colours you like, the settings and compositions.
Try it! Your collage of images might tell you more about yourself than what you know! :)

From 'ones and zeros' to print

Our digital world makes it easy to create content on the go, but turning digital to print is where your work really comes alive.
I started creating photobooks for my family a few years ago, and they make such unique gifts that everyone enjoys. I will be working on story books for my little one which she can later read and even pass on to her children.

As we begin to decorate our house, we will be mixing in some of my work so I can't wait to create some more :). The opportunities are endless once you start adding your own unique touches to your photography work and I'm thinking of extending these options in photo shoots.

My progress so far

I've been going through my Photo library from the past 2 years to check on my photography development. I can definitely see progress in all areas: composition, technical, story telling and post processing.

21/10/2012

10/01/2013

26/05/2013

My family have been very cooperative through my learning process and have made the time to do these photo shoots. It's great, as you get to document different stages in their lives and these photographs make great gifts! :)

It's a good idea to go back through your work and sometimes re-work your images, as with time you're able to see where things need to improve and you have a digital journal of your progress.

I will hopefully be doing more baby shoots in the near future and have been watching the latest Sue Bryce/ Kelly Brown CreativeLive workshop 'Bumps to Babies', which will help me a lot through these shoots.