Sometimes the thought of lifting my camera and spending a day shooting makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s like its gained an extra few pounds and has become so heavy. It’s physically and mentally a burden on the entire day and I dread even looking at it. Other days I can’t put it down. Every glimmer of light inspires me and I can shoot enough of it all.
One of the hardest things I find, when you are watching everyones highlight reel on Instagram, is to let go of shooting the ‘perfect’ day. Not letting the ‘mess’ bother you and keeping it honest. How crazy is it to be unhappy because of how happy people online that you have never met are? But today I just woke up different. I didn’t feel the need to clear the plates before I took the shot, or fix their hair or wipe noses. I didn’t care if I sported a double chin in a self portrait or if my grey hairs were showing. It felt like there was a shift in the air and I loved it.
I’ve wanted to an shoot entirely black and white blog post for so long. I swore I’d do one a month and I just never started. Black and white shots make my heart happy. They are so forgiving and I feel like they come right from the soul. Theres just something about them, I don’t quite know what it is, but they get me right in the feels.
The light during Autumn is my favorite. We’ve had a bit of an indian summer and its been just lovely having the sunny yet crisp evenings roll in. The shadows are deep and it makes everything feel little more real. We’ve been snuggled in Cosy jumpers and sharing our days over soup in the evenings. If you’ve never visited Edinburgh during Autumn, ut it on your bucket list. It’s just all kinds of magical.
This post originally started as a Day in the Life. It’s a project I love being part of and really makes you think about the details you shoot. I forgot around 20 minutes into the day, Emily ended up in A&E with a burst head, she fell at nursery, then the twins went to Grandmas for the weekend and I ended up at an event during lunch time so I shot a little over a few days. Almost like mini stories of our weekend, but they all work well together.
Each day in our house feels the same, school runs and slow mornings, with nursery and quiet afternoons. Ice cream dates with Lucy so she doesn’t feel left out, which will have to be replaced with something cosier as the winter months sneak in.
I started to feel worried that our DITL shots are starting to look the same. But the ordinary magic of kids means you will always find a moment you haven’t seen before, there will be a snuggle you’d never have noticed, a glance that makes your heart swell and their legs won’t always fit through the gaps on the stairs where they sit and watch TV.
Lucy will be 3 in March, by this time next year my slow mornings and lazy days will be over, the twins will both be in school and Lucy will be in nursery too. The ice cream dates in the afternoon will have to stop and I’ll have no more excuses for not blogging more than once a month. I’m completely excited (and a little terrified) for where this year is going but its been so much nicer end that I could have imagined it being. I’ll be making the most of our dates and snuggly mornings while I can.
I feel so insanely lucky to be able to be part of a wonderful group of photographers who can bounce ideas off each other and collaborate on projects together. This little one was part of a Day in the Life with the gorgeous Amber from Meet The Wildes, who has TWO sets of beautiful twins and is about to have her 5th baby…. ANY minute now. She was also meant to shoot entirely in black and white too but didn’t. So you can tell her off for that. Her work is too beautiful to even care, I adore her and I know you will too.
Does Black & White get you in the feels too?
