lifeunscripted Archives

December 6, 2020December 6, 2020

Share Six Blog Circle – December 2020 | Storytelling

Ceri-Herd-Fleet-Photographer-Storytelling

This month at Share Six, we’re looking at images that tell a story. Can you tell a complete story through a single image? What message are you trying to convey, does it take more than one image to say it or can you frame the scene to say it all?

The balloon experiment, a lockdown science project:

Caught in the rain:

The daily chaos of the morning school run:

The tireless pursuit of coffee and the boy who reads anywhere and everywhere:

Sulking:

Checkmate:

Thanks for joining us again this month. Don’t forget, post your {storytelling} images on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_storytelling. A new theme will be posted on 6th January.

Up next in our blog circle is my lovely friend and extremely talented photographer, Liz of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Until next time, stay safe,

Ceri xx

November 6, 2020November 6, 2020

Share Six Blog Circle – November 2020 | Traditions

Traditions.

It is two years to the day since we left the USA for good. Last year it was an anniversary that came and went with a small recognition of the whirlwind of a year it had been. This year however, I’m not ashamed to say that I’m struggling, in no small part due to the pandemic and the US election.

As we begin our second national lockdown and face the prospect of Christmas without all the usual bells and whistles, I find myself feeling overly nostalgic and overwhelmingly sad at the state of the world.

Looking forward, I find myself focusing on the impact lockdown will have on our annual festive traditions. Last year we went to see the Christmas lights at Longleat, in the US we took annual trips on the Grand Canyon Polar Express and to the Phoenix Zoo Zoolights. In a mad panic to maintain normality, last week I booked us tickets to see the Christmas lights at Blenheim Palace. Who knows if we’ll get there with the ever-changing government guidelines, but it is definitely something to look forward to!

I’ve been looking through old images for this post. Now I’m deep in a hole reminiscing about the places we’ve been over the past five years and the traditions we made, and weeping at the thought of those traditions being on-hold this year.

Having a good ol’ sing song on the Polar Express in 2016!

This next one is a throwback to our first trip on the Polar Express in 2014. They were so small!

Searching back through the archives, one thing seems to tie every year together, and clearly it’s one tradition that we’ll be able to hold on to this year after all. There is always hot chocolate!

Thanks for joining us again this month. Don’t forget, post your {traditions} images on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_traditions. A new theme will be posted on 6th December.

Up next in our blog circle is my lovely friend and extremely talented photographer, Lynne Grant. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Until next time, stay safe,

Ceri xx

December 6, 2019December 8, 2019

Share Six Blog Circle – December 2019 | Light

The December Share Six theme is {light}.

“To shine your brightest light is to be who you truly are.”
― Roy T. Bennett

The interpretation opportunities with this theme are truly endless so, my wonderful photographer friends, you have no excuse not to share your images with us this month. If you have never shared an image before, this is your chance. Post your {Light} images on our Facebook page SHARE SIX or to our Instagram gallery by using #sharesix_light. A new theme will be posted on 6th January 2020.

Here are a few of my recent captures that were inspired by the light more so than the situation or moment. The first is an early morning dog walk on the frosty heath.

Just an ordinary moment with a favourite book and a hot chocolate, but the light hitting his face compelled me to pick up my camera:

She often looks at me like this. She is wondering why I’m lying on the floor but not next to her; she knows it isn’t possible to cuddle from a distance. This is “puzzled in a perfect spot of light”:

“I am the light”:

Our house with Christmas lights at sunset. It doesn’t look nearly so pretty without the movement, but I do love the Christmas lights:

Sparklers:

Thanks for joining us again this month. Up next is my lovely friend and extremely talented photographer, Lynne Grant. Click here to see her images and be sure to leave her some love!

Until next time,

Ceri xx

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019

30 Minutes in the Life – September 2019 | Marwell Zoo

Giraffe-Ceri-Herd-Photography-Marwell-Zoo-Fleet-Hampshire-Photographer

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 2, 2017

Share Six Blog Circle – Artificial Light | July 2017

Massachusetts Photographer | Share Six Artificial Light | ©CeriHerdPhotography

This month’s Share Six theme, {Artificial Light}, was my choice! OOohhhh….! Does that surprise you? I’m certainly not known for using artificial light in my images and it’s probably the area of photography where I feel least confident. I use studio lighting for my newborn work but that is always the same, a predictable, reliable and simple set up. That said, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t pushing myself to learn something new or to broaden my horizons. So here I am stepping outside my comfort zone, sharing images I wouldn’t normally pull from my files and dragging the rest of you along for the ride!

There are a few other reasons I chose {artificial light} for our latest theme. It might seem contrary to normal documentary shooting of the summer months, but I was living with the prospect of 120°F heat and being confined to the house during daylight hours for the summer months. That is perhaps fairly superficial reasoning, but in truth {artificial light} gives us so many options: to document in our homes, in places we visit, on the street after dark, in studio, on camera flash, off camera flash…the possibilities are endless!

This is the image that sparked the idea for the theme. I adore him:

And then I found that I had a similar image of his brother! There are hi-tech kids, that’s for sure!

This image was taken at the Reunion Tower in Dallas, TX. He could’ve played with the light show and “About Dallas” touch screens all night!

These next two images were taken at the same place on the same night: ‘the Dallas Skyline with the reflection of sunset’ and ‘light painting’ (which uses a slow shutter speed and intentional camera movement).

For my last two images for this month’s theme I chose a couple of recent unshared favourites. There is something haunting about each of these for me. I wonder if you see it too?

I hope you have taken this theme as a chance to learn or experiment, to try something new or step outside your comfort zone. I’m posting this blog almost a month late, right at the end of the theme’s cycle, because personal life things got in the way. There are just a couple of days to post your {artificial light} images to the Share Six facebook wall or use #sharesix_artificiallight on Instagram. I’m really impressed with all the submissions I’ve seen so far. You have until August 5th, 2017. Keep them coming!

~Ceri