It took me a while to sum up the courage to book a photographer to come and take documentary photographs of us, at our home. Every time the doubts would creep in and I’d start panicking a little. Scratch that, I’d start panicking A LOT.
When I had my son, over 6 years ago now, I had the whole birth thing figured out. Really, I did.
I went to Active Birth classes, learned all about the process of labour and birth, went to acupuncture sessions, had Chinese herb foot baths and did headstands in a local swimming pool (much to the amusement of the onlookers) to turn my breech baby around (really, I did) because I was determined to have a natural and, preferably, drug-free birth (which, again, I did).
I’m telling you all this not to brag, but to say this: with parenthood, there’s this universal balance at play. If one thing comes easy to you, another one, inevitably, will be hard as hell. I consider the birth part as having been fairly easy for me (the 4-day labour notwithstanding), but what I didn’t expect was that breastfeeding – the thing I didn’t even consider to be “a thing that could be problematic” – would turn out to be so damn hard.
My family’s history could probably make a really good historical drama (think Downton Abbey meets Saving Private Ryan), but the ironic thing is my grandparents and great-grandparents rarely talked about their lives – both for fear of prosecution and not really wanting to relive many of the things they’ve been through.
Going to a large conference or an event? Here are my top tips on getting the most of the opportunity and taking best shots you can with your smartphone camera!
Last summer I visited by dear friend Dasha Caffrey (who is a truly multi-talented lady: an amazing international wedding photographer and a budding florist to boot!) in their brand new home in Co Cavan in Ireland. We spent the week hanging out, talking lots, and visiting some of the amazing sights that Ireland has to offer.
One of my favouritest things about British Spring are the stunning displays of bluebells that fill our forests come April or May. This year the bluebells have come pretty early, but there’s still some time left to capture the best of them. Here’s how.