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‘Show you were there’ round up (week twenty three)

by with 2 Comments PhotographyShow you were thereUncategorized

Time for another round up from my lovely little instagram community #ShowYouWereThere.

In case you’ve not heard about it, #ShowYouWereThere is the hashtag to use every time you have a photo to share that features you in some way.  It could be a selfie, a photo of you with your children or just your hand holding your morning coffee (or evening wine).

It’s all part of encouraging more parents to get in more photos, both with and for their children.

So, on with my picks from this past week.

First up is this gorgeous Throwback Thursday photo from Louise at Mummy Miller.

Didn’t she make a stunning bride?

 

My second choice is this lovely photo from Jax at Jax and Joseph.  What I love most about this photo is the caption that goes along with it, as Jax sums up exactly how I feel about the importance of us parents getting in more photos!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXONwt7FcVg/?tagged=showyouwerethere

 

Next up is this gorgeous picture from Hayley at I Am River.  There is just so much happiness in this photo, I love it!

 

Finally I’ve chosen this from wife life in the mother hood.  Another photo that just screams joy!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXJZlz9FRFG/?tagged=showyouwerethere

 

Thank you so much to everyone who is using #ShowYouWereThere, I love seeing your photos popping up over on instagram, they always bring a huge smile to my face!

 

Now my turn.

After spending a fair bit of time indoors lately, thanks to rainy weather and poorly children, we made the most of the sun yesterday and headed out for a quick walk at Swansea bay.

As we walked along the sand I realised that there was a gorgeous patch of wildflowers up along the front.  So we climbed up from the beach and had ourselves a quick photo session.

This is one of my favourites.  So nice to see both Rhys and Nerys laughing away after not quite being themselves recently!

show you were there round up

 

If you’d like to join in with my little community and possibly be featured in my next round up (with a nice link back to your blog!) then just share a photo of yourself over on instagram using #ShowYouWereThere.  It’s all about getting more parents in more photos.  And if you’d like to take part in my guest post series ‘The photo I’m thankful for‘ then take a look at this post or email me at thisgloriouslife@gmail.com for more information.

 

living arrows

Living Arrows 2017 – 31/52

by with 9 Comments PersonalPhotography

The first week of the summer holidays was a bit of a mixed bag for us.

We had a lovely, busy couple of days at the start of the week.  My brother and sister came to Swansea on the Monday, with their girls, and we spent a hot, sunny day at the beach.

Then on Tuesday we got the train into Cardiff to meet up with them again.  We had a good wander round and checked out a couple of museums, which all the children seemed to really enjoy.

But through all that Rhys was trying to fight off a mystery virus, and so by Wednesday was in real need of a quiet few days at home.  So that’s what we had.  A few days of pottering at home, resting and letting his little body try and fight off this bug.

Luckily Nerys seems to be ok, although she is a little bit snotty and sneezy.

living arrows

She’s been fab though, and has been happy playing at home, especially when it came to the weekend and she could get back out in the garden with her Daddy to help tidy things up out there again!

She was in her element at the start of last week, with all her cousins around her.  It’s so lovely to see and hear them all playing together, and fascinating to see how differently she plays compared to how Rhys was at the same age.

There was a lot of imaginary play going on with her cousins, playing families and shop keepers, which is something that Rhys just wasn’t that interested in as a little one.

For those of you with more than one child, do you find they’re really similar or do they have different ways of playing too?

 

Living Arrows
#ShowYouWereThere round up

‘Show you were there’ round up (week twenty two)

by with No Comment PhotographyShow you were there

First week of the holidays over already, I have a feeling this summer is going to whizz by.

All of a sudden I find myself at Sunday again, writing another round up for #ShowYouWereThere, my instagram community aimed at getting more parents in more photos with and for their children.

I really love this part of my week, getting to look through all the fab photos that are being shared with #ShowYouWereThere.  It really makes me smile to see people starting to join in!

So, on with my picks for this week’s round up!

 

First up is this mother/daughter selfie from Charlotte at Mummy Fever.

I said the other week that I don’t take enough selfies and I think getting the children in them with me is the way to encourage me to take more!

 

Next is this wonderfully cheerful photo from Sabrina at The Mummy Stylist.

This picture just really makes me smile, and I love the idea of Sabrina and her family becoming wedding crashers, sounds like fun!

 

My third choice is this fab daddy/daughter photo from Vicki at Mum Bun Mondays.  I just love this captured moment, of something that is such a classic daddy/daughter thing to do!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BW7uB-pBeGk/?tagged=showyouwerethere

 

My last pick for this week is this gorgeous photo from Kelly at And Jacob Makes Three.

It is just a beautiful photo, the look on Kelly’s face is just pure love, and I have a feeling this is a photo they’ll both cherish in years to come!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who is taking part and sharing their photo using #ShowYouWereThere.

It means so much to me to see people joining in!

Now, my turn.

We took our family photos the other day, for my Me and Mine post for July.  And after the children had done their bit and then run away, Steve and I took this quick shot of just the two of us.

A spur of the moment shot, that just makes me smile.

I tend to forget how much taller than me Steve is, until I see photos of us together!

show you were there

 

If you’d like to join in with my little community and possibly be featured in my next round up (with a nice link back to your blog!) then just share a photo of yourself over on instagram using #ShowYouWereThere.  It’s all about getting more parents in more photos.  And if you’d like to take part in my guest post series ‘The photo I’m thankful for‘ then take a look at this post or email me at thisgloriouslife@gmail.com for more information.

me and mine july

Me and mine – July 2017

by with 2 Comments PersonalPhotography

After having a bit of a rush trying to get our family photo taken for June, I wanted to get back to being a bit more organised this month.

I’ve worked out that one of the issues I have with taking our picture each month is trying to find a place to take them where there’s a suitable surface to put the camera down to keep it steady, and keep us in the frame, while I set the timer and run into the shot.

So this month I tried something different.

I dug out our tripod and tested out the new remote trigger that I bought a few weeks ago.

me-and-mine-july

me-and-mine-july

After a bit of fiddling around with the camera settings we managed to the remote working, and once that was sorted it was so much easier to snap a few shots.

Normally after each picture I have to run back to the camera to check the photo and then reset the timer for another try.

This way I can take several photos in one go before going and checking that we were in focus!  Much less running around, and a much quicker process for all of us.

I think we’re onto a winner with this!

And using the tripod made a big difference, and opens up so many more possibilities in terms of location for our family photos.

This month we kept it simple and used the side wall of the house as our background, which I actually really like.  But if I can stay organised enough then I really like the idea of dragging everyone, and the tripod, out to the park for photos in the coming months.

If you take family photos regularly how do you tend to go about it?  Do you use a tripod and remote or do you have a different way of doing it?  I’d love to hear what approach people take!

 

The Me + Mine Project - Dear Beautiful
living-arrows

Living Arrows 2017 – 30/52

by with 4 Comments PersonalPhotography

I’ve said several times before that every now and then I forget that Nerys is only three.

She is so big for her age, and talks so well that she often seems much older than she is.  But there are times when I am reminded that she is still only little.

This weekend was one of those times.

living-arrows

She finished her first stint at school on Friday.  A few days after her third birthday she started going to school every afternoon.  And she has loved it.  She’s walked in every day with such confidence, and barely even a glance back at me.

It’s been wonderful for her, and has really helped both of us feel ready for her to start in the nursery class in September.

It has also left her pretty worn out.

So this weekend we made the most of the rainy weather and stayed at home.  And let her just be.

She played shops, she drew pictures, she played on the ipad.

And yesterday afternoon she fell asleep.

For the first time in a long time she had an afternoon nap.

And seeing her curled up in the armchair, fast asleep, she seemed small again.

I quite like this in-between stage.  Where one moment she is still my baby, and the next she is showing us glimpses of the girl she is growing into.  There’s something almost magical about it, don’t you think?

 

Living Arrows
#ShowYouWereThere round up

‘Show you were there’ round up (week twenty one)

by with No Comment PhotographyShow you were there

We’ve got to the end of the school year, and the start of the summer holidays!

Time to celebrate with another round up of my favourite photos that were shared with #ShowYouWereThere on instagram last week.

First up is this gorgeously happy photo from Lianne at Ankle Biters Adventures.

I dare you to look at this picture and not smile!

 

Next up is this photo from Lyndsay at Fizzy Peaches, from her recent trip to Rouen in France.  I love how Lyndsay made sure to get in some photos while she was away, rather than being the one taking them all!

 

My third pick this week is this sunny photo from Kirsty at Winnettes.  Another snap from a trip abroad, and it sounds like they had a wonderful time too!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWt8s7lgNsi/?tagged=showyouwerethere

 

The last photo I’ve chosen this week is from Suzy at Our Bucket List Lives.  The 40’s event she went to sounds amazing, and I love how they both got dressed up to enjoy it!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who is sharing their photos with me and #ShowYouWereThere.  It means so much to me and makes me so happy to see parents getting in more and more photos.

 

If you’d like to join in with my little community and possibly be featured in my next round up (with a nice link back to your blog!) then just share a photo of yourself over on instagram using #ShowYouWereThere.  It’s all about getting more parents in more photos.  And if you’d like to take part in my guest post series ‘The photo I’m thankful for‘ then take a look at this post or email me at thisgloriouslife@gmail.com for more information.

 

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The photo I’m thankful for – with Neve from We The Parents

by with 2 Comments PhotographyShow you were there

Welcome to the latest instalment of my new guest post series – the photo I’m thankful for.

This series is all about the photos that we are really happy that we have, either of ourselves or of the people who mean the world to us.  It’s an extension of my instagram community #ShowYouWereThere which is there to encourage parents to be in more photos both with and for their children.

This week I’m really pleased to welcome Neve from We The Parents.

Here is her photo and her story:

neve-we-the-parents

“This my most precious photo to date. Of all the thousands I’ve taken, this is the one I’d rescue from a burning building.

From a photography perspective, it’s not great. Let’s just say, it won’t be winning any awards for  colour, composition or technical execution. But then, that’s not what it’s about.

For me, this photo is the perfect example of the camera’s most humble yet noble role: to capture forevermore an extraordinary moment in time and then to exhibit it honestly without embellishment or interpretation. It is a gift made possible by technology, and it allows me to relive my most cherished life experience – the birth of my second child, my son, Dara.

Even now, looking at it brings a tear to my eye. I think we’ve just learned that it’s a boy and we’re letting Leyla know that she’s a big sister to a baby brother.

To give a little backstory, my husband and I had been practising hypnobirthing and had chosen to have a home-water-birth. Having done it once before, we knew that labour could be a calm, relaxed and profoundly beautiful experience. We really wanted to share it with our daughter, Leyla.

The whole thing was gentle and tender. I felt in control, working with my body. Most of the time was spent with me slumped over a yoga ball as Keane softly stroked my back and arms. I remember the time fondly. There was soft music in the background, essential oils burning and Leyla quietly coming and going, asking her dad questions about what was happening.

As I progressed, of course, things got intense. It was certainly powerful but not overwhelming or scary.

This photo captures the moment just after I pushed Dara into the world. I love seeing Leyla there. She was so involved and connected with me. When Dara was born it was beautiful to see her wonder and joy.

I need to thank my best friend, Ellie, for this snap. She was on hand for the whole birth (looking after Leyla and making sure everyone had food and drinks.) There is no way this photo would exist without her.

I have a love-hate relationship with taking photos. I want to capture special moments, but then often, I resent having a camera in my hand whilst something meaningful is happening. It can feel like I am not actually present in the moment because I’m so preoccupied with capturing it for later. For this reason, I am grateful that Ellie took a few photos. We didn’t even know it at the time. It meant that we could be 100% focused and undistracted.

It was only afterwards, as a wonderful surprise, that Ellie said she’d taken a few pics. She showed me this photo and I just burst into floods of (hormonal) tears.”

 

Thank you so much Neve, for sharing your photo and story with me.  

What a wonderful moment to have a photographic record of, I can see why you treasure it so much!

 

You can read more from Neve on WeTheParents.org where she seeks to bring out the humour in parenting and gets nerdy researching and reviewing the gear that mums and dads (apparently) need.

You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook:

Twitter – @wetheparentsSAY

Facebook – @wetheparentsSAY

 

Do you have a photo and a story you would like to share?

If you’d like to take part in my ‘the photo I’m thankful for’ guest series, or would just like a bit more information about it, please do send me an email to thisgloriouslife@gmail.com.