30 Minutes in the Life Archives - Page 3 of 5

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019

30 Minutes in the Life – October 2019 | In My Courtyard

Some of you may know that we moved into our new-to-us home earlier this year. It needs an extension, a loft conversion, a garage conversion, and a complete overhaul in almost all other respects. You could say there weren’t many selling points, other than the potential, but there is one little corner of the house that had me mentally moved in before I’d even seen the rest of it. Admittedly you still have to use your imagination a little though! Picture a string of bulb lights zigzagging across the top, lots more lush green plants, moroccan tiles and after dinner drinks on a warm summer’s evening.

This is my special little courtyard, and this month I started work on the “lots of lush green plants” part of the project (please excuse the muddy mess I made potting up the plants)!

If you know me at all you know I don’t have much success when it comes to keep plants alive. I choose them primarily for their photogenic qualities, not their tolerance for living in a small pot, so that probably doesn’t bode well for their long-term future. But hey, I’m doing to do my best, because when I get 30 minutes alone time with one of these pots, I am happy.

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Thank you for joining me again this month, especially if you made it all the way down here! Up next in the blog circle is the incredible Caroline Liabot Photography. Please click here to visit Caroline’s blog. Want some more amazing inspiration? Keep following the circle to see what other photographers from around the world have shared this month – and don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages!

Until next time,

~Ceri

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019

30 Minutes in the Life – September 2019 | Marwell Zoo

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So that’s another month that’s been and gone on the struggle bus! The year is fast coming to an end, and with less than 100 days to go, I already can’t wait for Christmas!

This month I’ve been busy throwing myself into a new venture, but I’m finally feeling myself reaching for my camera when the mood strikes or when the light is right. I’m not where I was with it a year ago, but as the anniversary of our sudden relocation approaches, I’m starting to feel a parting of the storm clouds (*knocks on wood*).

Way back at the beginning of this month, before the boys were back at school, we took a trip to Marwell Zoo. I remember going there with the Brownies when I must’ve been about their age, and both would’ve had school trips there but for the small matter of living in the wrong country at the time. So all that to say, it seemed like a fitting finale to our summer holiday. Turned out to be a bit of a nightmare getting in (their payment systems weren’t working and then they didn’t have change for cash purchases) but I wasn’t going to give up after driving all the way there and we made it in eventually! After all the kerfuffle I didn’t get lots of fun photos to start with, but once we calmed down (and fed the hangry 7-year old) we had a lovely time!

I love these trips because I’m not alone in trying to get the perfect shot or the best view; absolutely everyone is trying to do the same thing too. Whether they have a camera or a phone or a ipad, the vast majority of visitors wants to photograph the animals as well, and I love watching how others approach that (and then typically I try to do something completely different). But how hard is it to get a good shot?! The enclosures make it hard. The animals make it hard. Oh but boy do I love the challenge!

Any guesses which was my favourite encounter of the day? Hint: the next in line and the kid above was less than impressed, but I mean seriously, how could you not love that face?!

Lions say:

Or do they ROOOAAARRRR? (Adding this one because I love it despite its rather obvious flaw. Don’t judge me!)

Thank you for joining me again this month. Up next in the blog circle is the incredible Ivana Aleric. Please click here to visit Ivana’s blog. Want some more amazing inspiration? Keep following the circle to see what other photographers from around the world have shared this month – and don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages!

Until next time,

~Ceri

August 26, 2019August 23, 2019

30 Minutes in the life Blog Circle – August 2019 | Pep Ventosa Technique

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Oh my goodness! Picking just one 30 minutes from this last month has proved really really tricky!

We spent a little over two weeks of this month relaxing and sightseeing in the French countryside. I’ve been feeling disconnected from my camera over the past (goodness) ten months due to the stresses of our relocation back to the UK, so this trip was the perfect opportunity to get reconnected and reinspired. I told myself I was going to pick up my camera every day, just like I have done for the past three years but haven’t felt compelled to do hardly at all in 2019. So as you can imagine, I have a lot of images from this trip. A. Lot.

And so for a trip that was about reconnecting and getting inspired, it seems fitting that I share with you my go-to technique for getting myself out of a rut: trying something new!

I’ve wanted to attempt the Pep Ventosa Technique for a long time, but the time and the inclination and the subject haven’t ever aligned. Until now! One morning in France everything came together and this is the result:

It was 6.30am and my bladder decided I should get up. A quick trip to the bathroom and I thought I’d be straight back to bed. But before I made it back into the dark of my bedroom (thank you shutters) I caught a glimpse through another room out to the garden and field beyond. The sun was just rising and the land was awash with gold. I knew instantly what I had to do. Still in my pyjamas, I grabbed my camera and my crocs and stomped down the garden to the maple tree bathed in golden light.

For those of you who don’t know, the Pep Ventosa Technique is taking photos from every side of your subject and then compiling them images in Photoshop. In this case I used approximately 60 images layered together with varying degrees of opacity to create one single image. The result is almost like that of an impressionist painting. The techniques I usually use and that have become my “style” are exclusively done in-camera, so sharing this on-the-ground leg work and post-production manipulation is a little outside my comfort zone. But the reason I use those in-camera techniques is to create a dream-like, impressionist or abstract look and feel. So I feel bizarrely comfortable and complete out of control all at the same time! I have expanded my box of tricks and I certainly plan on using the technique over and over and over until I master it!

I took a few more pictures before I headed back inside. Not many, but the light was too gorgeous to just leave.

This last one is actually one of the 60+ frames for the Pep image, but the flare is too gorgeous to not share on its own in its own right.

It took me another 15 minutes to wind down after I went back inside. I did some crochet while I looked out at the view. And then I went back to bed. It was a pretty glorious way to start the day!

Thank you for joining me again this month. Up next in the blog circle is the very lovely Kim Sidwell Photography. Please click here to visit Kim’s page. Want some more amazing inspiration? Keep following the circle to see what other photographers from around the world have shared this month – and don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages!

Until next time,

~Ceri

July 29, 2019July 23, 2019

30 Minutes in the Life – July 2019 | Hunstanton Beach

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For this month’s 30 Minutes I’m taking you back to June and our trip to Norfolk.

A friend recently posted a question on Facebook: mountains or beach? For me the answer is easy. The sea calls me. All. The. Time. The distant horizon, the ginormous sky, that vast sense of nothing, that anything is possible, the sound of swaying water and the freshness of the breeze in the air: I want to be there as often as I can for as long as I can. Perhaps I am the British version of Moana?!

This is the beach at Hunstanton with it’s sweeping views over The Wash and striking reddish stratified carrstone, limestone and chalk cliffs. We didn’t have all that long to explore (thank you pay n display parking) so you’re seeing pretty much everything I captured in the order I captured it, even the sulking 9-year old (he got over it soon enough…I tell you, the sea fixes everything). It’s quite a long scroll. Enjoy!

Until next time,

~Ceri

June 24, 2019June 24, 2019

30 Minutes in the Life – June 2019 | Brighton

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Welcome to another edition of 30 Minutes in the Life. This is a blog circle post so be sure to follow the link below to follow the circle all the way around.

Life has continued it’s roller coaster theme around here the past few months, but thankfully the stresses of relocation and buying a house are behind us, and the highs are finally and drastically outnumbering the lows.

One particular highlight this month was a day at the seaside with dear friends. It was a long-overdue reunion and despite their jet lag and a hen-do hangover on my part, it was truly a fabulous day. We spent our time together on the seafront in Brighton, we visited the Upside Down House, the doughnut on the pier and had fish n chips. There is nothing better than the British seaside.

These kids, who spent their first two years almost always together, and their smaller siblings, play together like the best of friends despite the time and distance that separates them. I hope that never changes.

I have so much space in my heart for these girls and their beautiful mama, I will cherish these memories and these photos until the next time we are together.

Thank you for joining me again this month. Up next in the blog circle is the insanely talented Kristina of Hello Olivia Photography. Please click here to visit Kristina’s page. Want some more amazing inspiration? Keep following the circle to see what other photographers from around the world have shared this month – and don’t forget to leave a little love on their pages!

Until next time,

~Ceri