Oh Lensbaby!

Who visited the Photography Show in Birmingham last month?  Did you?  Well I did too!  And I had THE BEST time.  It was my first visit.  I went alone.  And it was incredible.

I won't waffle on too much about my day, but I will tell you that I came away completely inspired and excited.  Wanting to try new things, create some new and fun work and pick up a few things that I'd begun and not continued...  In the last few weeks I've been pretty successful with those plans.

But for now I wanted to show you these images.  Only a few here right now, but wanted to pop them here while they're still fresh and as a marker of the beginning of my Lensbaby journey.  The following photos are taken using a Lensbaby Composer pro with a Sweet50 optic.  Lensbaby lenses allow for manual selective focus and add blur effect within camera.  And they are so much FUN!  I have seen images that friends have created with their lenses and I spent a lot of time playing at the Lensbaby stand at the NEC before deciding to add one to my kit.

So here you go.  My first play about with my new lens...

Thanks for looking peeps.

x Fleur x


(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

Family portraiture: The Brennan family...

I had so much fun last month with the Brennan family!

We met early on a Sunday morning for a family walk in the park down onto the beach...   Jokes were made about how they were getting shots suitable for an album cover.  And funnily enough, a few family members said the same about the finished images.  And I'm good with that - they are a super cool fab four. ;)


Thanks for looking.

x Fleur x


(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

What the Davies' do: 'A school skiver in her natural environment!'

I'd just finished lunch and the phone rang.  The house phone rarely rings - so I knew it could only be the call all parents dread...  A call from school!

True enough, when I answered, greeted with the "Oh hi Mrs Davies, it's *** Primary School here...."

My split second instincts were confirmed.  My middle one was poorly - she's never ill.  She never complains of feeling unwell and is generally an upbeat, fun loving kid; in school as well as at home.  So when she goes to staff within school to complain about a sore tummy and headache, they do tend to take her seriously.

Hence the phonecall...  I was told she'd eaten some lunch, but started to feel poorly and the member of staff I spoke to reported that she also was a bit of a funny colour.  Uh-oh!  There have been plenty of tummy bugs going around, perhaps her time had come?  I work from home mostly and fortunately could be at the school within 10 minutes to collect her.

I brought her home, tucked her up on the sofa, get her a warm juice and popped a Netflix movie on.  Classic 'feel better' routine.  And sure enough it worked.  All I can say is that she definitely knows how to beat the system if she fancies an afternoon chilled out on the couch.  She was back to her usual self within an hour - she obviously knows how to wrap her teachers around her little finger.

She was sent straight back to school the next morning!

Thanks for reading peeps ~ x Fleur x



(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

What the Davies' do: 'Sonic the hedgehog says farewell.'

Super duper quick one today.  Instalment 3 of the 'What the Davies' do' series...

At the start of winter last year we took in a baby hedgehog.  Found on the road in the day by a friend of a friend who was out running.  We asked if they would like us to overwinter the baby in our home and to try and reintroduce her to the wild once spring arrived and she was a good weight to survive.

That was 4-5 months ago and since then 'Sonic' (named by my husband, but then we found out she was a girl and so changed to Sonique) has put on a ton of weight.  She has stayed well and as a nocturnal animal, only came out at night to enjoy her rspca guideline amount of meaty catfood and mealworms.  We've just left her be, apart from cleaning out the large cage we housed her in and changing her water dish daily.  Weighing her was kept as a quick and efficient affair - usually over in a couple of minutes, but always filled with plenty of ouches and other choice language.  FYI - hedgehog prickles are sharp - even through thick gardeners gloves!

So now we've hit the start of spring.  Those months have flown by.  And last weekend my husband (a gardener by trade) took Sonique to a nearby friend's garden where he has seen hedgehogs before when helping them tend to their lawn and shrubbery.

I took the opportunity the day before she left, while I was changing her bedding and water, to quickly snap a few images of her.  Like I said, up to now, she's been left well alone to stay as wild as possible.  So one day I'll be able to say, "Hey kids, remember that year we rescued a hedgehog?"  And we'll have the images to look back on too.

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x 

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)

I've talented pals... Too Cute Couture is one of them!

I've a lovely lot of talented friends.

Helen at Too Cute Couture is one of them..

Helen lives 3 minutes away from me (if you walk the 'long' way).  But technically we can open our back gates and be clinking a wine glass on a Friday evening within 30 seconds from opening the Pinot bottle!

I first got to know Helen as a fellow Mum on the school run.  Her 2 girls are in the same school years as my middle and youngest offspring.  I'm ashamed to say though, I only found out about her amazing talent for dressmaking long after we first met.   The pieces she produces for babies and young girls are simply stunning.  And you need to take a look.  Based in Wallasey on the Wirral, Helen works away with the great skill on gorgeous custom orders for her clients and also stocks a shop on Etsy.  Here are her links so you can check her out - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TooCuteCoutureBoutique and Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TooCuteCoutureKids.

Now we come to the afternoon when I got to photograph her latest stock.  The weather had been a bit ropey in the run up to this day, but thankfully any rain held off and her girls were in great spirits; modelling their Mum's newest pieces like pros!  We took a walk to our local park and let the girls do their thing with minimal direction needed from Helen or I.  Naturals these two...

So I'll stop blabbering on now and let the images of Helen's dresses speak for themselves.  I'm thrilled that Helen is in love with this session and I'll look forward to working with her and her girls again in the future.

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x 

(PS - the trick to seeing better quality versions of the images is to click on them... Cheers loves!)