Raffy & The Christmas Tree

On my favourite morning walk, through the woods by the river, stands a small spruce tree overshadowed by the larger beech trees that surround it. But at this time of year, the tree is decorated with colourful baubles, chocolate coins and glittering tinsel. It always brings a smile to my face, especially on a crisp winter's morning when the low light catches the sparkling decorations. I've often wondered who the secret tree decorator is.

A few weeks ago, for Raffy's shoot, we went on that walk, and stopped at the spruce for a few decorating tree shots. It was a quiet Sunday morning, there just a few dog walkers around. As I was taking photos, I sensed somebody behind us watching. I turned round to be greeted with a big beaming smile. Jean introduced herself as the secret tree decorator, she radiated warmth. She stood for a few moments and  watched Raffy carefully placing the baubles over the needles. And then off she walked further into the woods. We stopped and drank hot chocolate as the sun rose further into the sky. If you ever come across the little spruce, maybe there'll be a chocolate coin there waiting for you!

It's In The Trees

It was good to get out for a walk on Friday as I'd spent most of last week in bed with tonsils the size of golf balls. This has always been my Achilles heel, and I know now to take it as a sign for me to rest. So I caught up with some reading, watched episodes of Transparent (we're completely hooked, have you seen it?) and let it run its course.

By Friday, I was feeling a little more like myself, and as the sun crept through the curtains, I knew I needed to be outside. It was such a glorious day in Yorkshire, and we drove over into the next valley to see our friend Chris.

We took our cameras out for a walk in the woods, we talked about forest bathing and how we all feel when we're surrounded by trees. The afternoon sun found its way through the canopies, backlighting leaves, and spirals of little flies. The trees were embracing autumn fully. We came out of the woods and followed the road around back to Millbank, our shadows stretching long on the tarmac.

My head was still a little blurry from spending too long indoors, so it seemed fitting to be freelensing. I love how it emphasises those beautiful golden spheres, the space between.

No Place Like Home

I've been thinking a lot about home lately. As some of you know, my parents moved out of the house I grew up in a few weeks ago, and it was hard to say goodbye. When me and my sister were helping clear out the cupboards and drawers, we came across new bundles of old photos. Those saturated Kodak moments, the glossy paper with dates scribbled on the back, our younger selves staring up at us.

In my family photography, I've always been about the great outdoors, letting kids be the young explorers they are, with this glorious landscape and the changing seasons as a backdrop. And this won't change, but lately I'm being really drawn to doing more shoots in a family's home too. I've been wanting to try something new, try different ways of approaching a shoot, and take photos a little differently. So I challenged myself a few weekends ago when I spent a morning with Cat, Toby, Rowan and Holly. I freelensed this whole session. I've talked about this technique a bit, it's where I've detached the lens from the camera body, but I hold it closely to it, and make subtle changes to the angle it is at. It felt good to do this.

There's something about the light in the photos that takes me back. I see echoes of myself in these photos too, and I really think this is what I've been searching for. These are the colours of my childhood. It felt like I'd come home, it feels right to shoot like this. Home, Heart & Soul.