Photography: Ella & Jemma

I love taking photographs. Father Christmas (and my savings account) recently hit the nail on the head and delivered me an amazing camera for me to click away happily with. I have a 'point and shoot' camera- it served it's purpose during varsity as it was small and could fit into my hand-bag for nights out at a club, or impromptu photos while gallivanting around with my student friends. However, a photo means much more to me now, and thus requires a bit more thought and a lot more focus (yes, I'm aware of the pun) now, instead of screaming "WAIT. I want to take a picture. And I'll have a whiskey and soda, please barman!".

Photographs are incredibly special. They are generally the first things people will try to save while fleeing a house-fire or flood, they take pride of place on our mantel-pieces or regularly used passage-ways and they sit- proudly- in a special frame, as a reminder and for all to see. 

One of the overriding reasons why I value good photography is because, in a world where we scrabble to see each other's point of view and fail to understand where other people are coming from, a photograph represents a moment where I can see exactly what the photographer saw in that one moment. It allows me to be inside the mind of whoever was taking that photo, and sit behind their eyes.

The raw image and perspective is one beautiful thing. But the art and the drama- and the tone- of that moment  is embroidered with the way that the photo is edited (Something which I am hoping you will see in some my photographs coming up). The way in which photos are edited gives us an idea as to what frame of mind the person (both the subject and photographer) was in at that moment. Their memory of the occurrence transpires through the editing. For instance, the photos of Ella coming up are soft and aged: For me, this represents her personality (soft, in no way harsh) and her astounding maturity for an almost-five-year-old. Another example would be a crisp, contrasted landscape photography of a brewing storm: it lets us know of the drama, intensity and energy of the air at that time without us having been there.

Bottom Line? I love taking photographs. I love analysing other peoples' photographs in order to see what they saw. I love the fact that I can be in their head for a moment, and experience something with them.That's what I try to do- Let me know if it works!

The photos coming up are from The Ironman's sister's family visit to Cape Town. Gwen and her two incredible girls (Ella and Jemma) feature quite prominently (as you will notice). I know that photos of other people's kids are never the most exciting thing in the world, but I love this set as it captures some of the wonder and joy that I soaked up while being around these girls for the weekend. It also captures their personalities- as individual as each other. The full set appears on my Flickr Stream, but I have chosen a few of my favourites.

I hope you like them.

Basil. Inspiring little girls to be horse-obsessed since 2003.

Soft Lips.

Bliss.

I Love the movement of this photo. And the Big Lips staring down at Ella.


Jem was removed very quickly while I got Basil's nose under control.

On her own mission. She's going to climb Kili one day.


Intense Concentration.

The most important element of the holiday: Swings. (Love their faces)




The swing is to Jem as Basil is to Ella. Bliss.

I love this photo.



Crazy Hair




Rambo.

The light just happened to make her eyes look like they were masked. Now you can see what I saw.


Jem in the midst of laughter.

Ella.



Jem and Uncle Toady

Love and Gratitude xx

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