Fleur Davies Photography: Matte

Showing posts with label Matte. Show all posts

Monday, 18 September 2017

What the Davies' do: The desk of an eight year old at dusk...

I'll admit - this is probably the most boring blog post to most people. But not to me. Do you ever look through old photo albums, view old home videos - even if it was only from a year ago? Or do you check your 'time hop', 'on this day' or memories on social media...? I do. I do it a lot. And I always marvel at the amount of times I think, ahhh, yeah - I forgot about when they said that, or wore that outfit, or were obsessed with...

Well that is what this blog is about. A moment. A tiny space in time when my eight year old loved Hubba Bubba and her blusher and garish eyeshadow palate. Now I'm sure in years to come she might still love these things. And I don't mind her experimenting with make up - I know she's eight, but there's nothing wrong with her having fun with it. It not like she contours for school or anything. But actually she has quite a talent, even at her tender age, for being able to apply these colours with skill and enjoys watching YouTube with me to copy tutorials and takes time practicing with this make up and some face paints too.

So for me (and her) this documentation might be the first glimpse into a real interest, hobby or even work as an artist of our future. I might look back at these images in 25 years while my daughter accepts an Academy award for Best Makeup and say "Look, this is where it all started..." - OK, maybe I'm exaggerating, but you never know... Ha!

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x

Tuesday, 11 July 2017

All the light...

Remember I told you we visited the cinema before I took the portrait shots at the beach in my last 'A Mother's Dream' post? Well the following images in today's blog are from that same day.

I love our local cinema; The Light in New Brighton. It's been around for a few years now as a main part of the regeneration of our seaside complex and has become a favourite place to go on a dreary weekend morning for the family AM film showings.

On this morning we had already booked our tickets on the word of my weather app that had told me it would be cloudy with some showers. Fitting for sitting in the theatre for a couple of hours before lunch. But wouldn't you know it. We rock up to New Brighton with the sunshine already making our eyes all squinty at 10am.

We formulate our usual plan of one of either me or my Hubs going with the kids to get some snacks from Morrisons, while the other heads into the cinema to pick up a much needed (on my part) coffee. This weekend I headed to the cinema first. I arrived, ordered our 'as large and strong as you can make it please' drink, then turned to find a seat in the lovely, bright foyer area. To my delight I see that the tables have the most pretty and simple, fresh flower arrangements on them AND I had remembered my camera that day. Winner.

My daughter and I spent the next 10 minutes taking photos and playing with the shadows. We were having so much fun that we didn't care about the odd looks we were getting (it happens often) from others as we clicked away, chatting animatedly about how much fun we were having. My daughter even took some herself using my camera. She's desperate for a DSLR herself at the age of 8. I'll add her photos too.

So here you go...

Thanks for reading peeps. Best wishes,

x Fleur x ~ https://fleurdavies.wixsite.com/fleurdaviesphoto

(As always, click into the images to see them at full resolution. Cheers loves!)

Now Poppi's images.
She told me that she loved the orange so much and she wanted that to stand out when we edited. :)

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Couples Photography | Pete & Debs are to wed...

There's a special day planned this summer. Pete and Debs are set to wed!

I have no doubt in my mind that this couple will share a very special place in my heart from now on. I had the pleasure of meeting Debs a couple of years ago when she was my eldest's class teacher. She did the world of good for my daughter and definitely still runs high up as "best teacher ever" in my young girl's eyes. Many tears were shed on the day she left our school to move on with her teaching career.

The evening I received a message from Miss Johnston asking me if I was available to photograph her wedding day in summer 2017 was one of the most exciting things to happen to me in my photography journey. We exchanged a lovely thread of written messages before meeting in person over a coffee last winter and finalising all the details of our agreement together.

Since then the three of us have met to capture some wonderful images of the happy couple while enjoying their engagement. I have shared a couple of these images over on my Facebook page and within my Instagram feed, but I knew the time had come to pop a handful of my favourites into a blog entry.

And all I have left to say, is roll on summer!

Thanks for reading.

Fleur x

(PS - It's best to click into the pics too see better quality versions... Thanks Peeps.)

Friday, 3 March 2017

Challenging a comfort zone with a comfort zone...

Ok. This blog has been on my mind for a while. So much so that it's been sat in 'draft' format for a number of weeks... Some of the images here, posted along with my ramblings, I have held onto. I don't know why really. I like them. But I have been nervous to share.

I enjoy a good ol' selfie, but these somehow feel different. I felt more exposed and vulnerable. That's crazy really because they portray a part of me that has become a norm in my life. A part that I'm actually very proud of. That's my personal health and fitness journey.

I go the gym fairly often now. I'm there at least 3 or 4 times a week - I'm a class bunny. I hop around various classes - and like many aspects of my life and me, I don't fit into one exercise box. I love Zumba and Clubbercise, really enjoy Yoga, I have recently discovered that I quite like a Spin class, Free Weights and Kettlebells are fun and (as you can see from the pics) I throw myself into a bit of Boxercise too.

This journey began almost 5 years ago. My youngest was coming up to his first birthday and I wasn't quite the heaviest I'd ever been, but I wasn't too far off. I'm not going to include 'the number', that's irrelevant, all that matters is that I wasn't happy with how I felt. My family matter and I wanted to be the best version of me that I could be for them. I wanted to be a healthy parent. In body and mind.

I'd suffered earlier in my life with a lot of anxiety and depression. I continued to suffer after the birth of my eldest and medicated my way through my second pregnancy too. By the time I had my youngest I was pill free, but finding it difficult to maintain a good hormone balance to keep me on the straight and narrow. I had, between baby 2 and baby 3 focussed a huge amount on eating healthily and making time for me - that had been working, slowly, but was working.

So in spring 2012 I signed my brood up for a family membership at the gym, got the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and basically haven't looked back! As time went by I found myself again. The gym was (and still very much is) my 'me' time. I love it. It's funny because my younger self would NEVER have imagined that I would fall for the gym as much as I have. It's now my lifesaver. My husband and I were even having a conversation last night about how I can tell when my mood is dropping or I'm going through an anxious 'moment' - it usually coincides with a drop in my exercise, for whatever reason. I do still get anxious over stuff - I feel that's normal, just a part of me and I cope now. But when I first signed on the gym dotted line, little did I know just how much this would mean for me mentally.

The images that follow mean a lot to me I guess - they're now just 'a woman in gym gear'. They're a representation of my growth. My journey to health and the continual path I try to follow to keep myself the best version of myself I can be - for myself and everyone who means anything to me.

EDIT: I really should say a huge thank you to the instructors and friends from both the gyms I have been a member of and my running pals too. So (and I hope I don't miss anyone out!) Village leisure and running: June, Sarah, Mark, Antny, Steph, Kirsty, Helen and Faith. Invigor8 gyms: Kirsty, Andi, Helen, Barb, Dave, Kirsten, Sophie, Su, Jules, Lisa, Toni... I think that's everyone! You guys push me when I don't want to be pushed and have grown to become friends of mine. I couldn't thank you enough. And also my husband - your support is the most incredible gift I could wish for. I love you!

I'll stop babbling now though and post the pics. Thanks for reading this far peeps.

Best wishes,

x Fleur x

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

Tuesday, 27 December 2016

The Davies elves of 2016 - (the second half!)

And so another stay for our elves is over. All done for this year. It came around so quickly and we've just enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with family. I'm chilling right now with a coffee and a lie in, so thought I'd get this second part documented before all the festive magic ends for the year...

Here are the documented pics for the shenanigans our Twinkle, Toddy and Miss Thistle got up to from day 13 to day 24.

Thanks for looking everyone - I wish you a Merry Christmas and a brilliant New Year!

Fleur xx