Share Six Blog Circle – September 2019 | Gold

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September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, so for all of September Share Six is highlighting @thegoldhopeproject to help spread awareness.

For those of you that don’t know, The Gold Hope Project is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of photographers who aim to provide free portrait sessions to families battling pediatric cancer. As photographers, we understand how truly important it is to document our children’s lives, and what better gift to give to parents going through such a tremendously difficult time. In addition to pairing young warriors with photographers, @TheGoldHopeProject also works to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. If you want to participate with us this month, here are just a few things you can consider:

1. Tag your {gold} photos with #theGoldHopeProject (to spread awareness) and #sharesix_gold2019 on Instagram. You will have a chance to be featured on one of the MANY participating hubs for the month of September, and as usual you can share you gold images to our facebook wall too.
2. Go to goldhopeproject.com and see how you can apply to be a registered photographer
3. Donate. It DOES make a difference!

This month I’m bringing to you a diverse selection of images from our recent trip to France. And when I say, diverse, I mean grasses, some livestock and two different takes on the same sunset:

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And last but not least, and totally not related to our trip to France, a gorgeous 10-week old golden retriever. No, he isn’t mine, but you’re likely to see him again around here!

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Thank you for joining me for another month at Share Six.

Post your {Gold} image on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_gold2019. A new theme will be posted on 6th October.

Up next is my friend and talented photographer, Michèle Tremblay. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Until next time and happy Summer,

Ceri xx

Share Six Contributor

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:

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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.

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Ceri-Herd-Photography-Tree-at-Sunrise-SunflareThis 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

Share Six Blog Circle – August 2019 | Summer Days

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August at Share Six is all about {Summer Days). At the time of writing our summer has barely begun; we’re literally only a few hours in (and already the kids are bickering and asking for food constantly). However at the time of posting I am sunning it up in the French countryside! {Summer Days} are here again!

When we lived in Arizona, it felt like summer for about 85% of the year, at least it did to us Brits. Here in the UK we have to make the most of any good weather we get (and complain about it when it is too good…like today! Boy, 30C is too hot for no AC). In Arizona we had a pool and it was glorious; as soon as the weather got a little bit nice here we realised we hadn’t owned (or hadn’t needed to own) a paddling pool for five years, so quick as a flash, I made a mad dash to the local garden centre to get one!

Ceri-Herd-Photography-Fleet-Family-Photographer-03Ceri-Herd-Photography-Fleet-Family-Photographer-05Ceri-Herd-Photography-Fleet-Family-Photographer-04The dog even joined in. Not through choice mind you, but she seemed to rather enjoy it once she was in!

Ceri-Herd-Photography-Dog-in-Paddling-PoolCeri-Herd-Photography-Fleet-Family-Photographer-02Ceri-Herd-Photography-Fleet-Family-PhotographerSummer days wouldn’t be complete without a bit more of our Scottsdale-in-England lifestyle: reading a good book, lounging on the hammock.

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Thank you for joining me for another month at Share Six.

Post your {Summer Days} image on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_summerdays. A new theme will be posted on 6th September.

Up next is my friend and talented photographer, Sharleen of Sharleen Stuart Photography. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Until next time and happy Summer,

Ceri xx

Share Six Contributor

Share Six Blog Circle – July 2019 | This Is Me

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I’m not going to lie, this month’s Share Six theme puts me waaaaay outside my comfort zone. And what do I do when I’m forced outside my comfort zone? I hide. In life and in photography, whether that is through avoidance, behind people or behind the lens, I hide and I find a mask. When I’m confronted with the option of fight or flight, I choose flight so you’ll find me cowering in the corner with a pile of excuses. I am non-confrontational, I hate being centre-stage and I am almost as introverted as they come.

All photographs are self-portraits
~ Minor White

Every image I take, every single one that I share, is part of me. They come from such a deeply personal place that they are surely a reflection of my ‘self’. So if my soul is already out there for everyone to see and to judge, why is it so hard to put myself in front of the camera in the more traditional sense? I’ve given this some thought and come to the honest conclusion that it is because I’m shallow. I might be too much of a thinker for my own good, but I’m also vain and I know it. The images I create and share for all the world to see, they are my mask and frankly that mask is more appealing than my face.

How am I comfortable sharing these images with you now? Well for one, I’m not, but also because I’m hiding still. My safety net is creative techniques and experimentation so that is how I am hiding today. Maybe this wouldn’t be {This is Me} however, without my signature in-camera moves.

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Ok, so this last one isn’t me hiding per se, but I still can’t look right at you!

Life begins where fear ends
~ Osho

Thank you for joining me for another month at Share Six.

Post your {this is me} image on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_thisisme. A new theme will be posted on 6th August.

Up next is my friend and talented photographer, Sharleen of Sharleen Stuart Photography. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Share Six Contributor

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.

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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