30 Day Photo Challenge - Week 4

Last day of the 30 Day Photo Challenge, inspired by photocritic's idea. It's been more challenging than I thought, and I haven't always felt very inspired....

Day 30 - Christmas
Finally the last day of my photo challenge has come, on Christmas Day. It was harder than I thought, as sometimes I felt totally uninspired by the topic, and sometimes I just didn't manage to get a shot that I was happy with. Some days it was just impractical to get a decent shot; twice I was a day late. Some of them were quite personal, which I don't always feel comfortable with. Today should have been an easy one and I tried a few things, but none quite seemed to work. Finally I captured the most festive of us all - Red, my nephew-dog, who is wearing a Christmas bandana.

 
I will try to find another challenge in the New Year, as it has been good to get my brain thinking a bit, and to get me shooting things I might not otherwise have thought of. Merry Christmas everyone!

Day 29 - This Year

There can only be one thing that sums up this year for me, and sadly it's not the great trips I've had to Iceland, the Lofoten Islands, or the US, and it's nothing to do with family or friends or my lovely little cocker spaniel. It's not been the "Great Year" that Facebook is trying to make everyone say they've had by collating a bunch of random photos from your timeline. No, in April this year I was diagnosed with early breast cancer. Many appointments and tests and a couple of surgeries later and it was soon all over. I'm left with scars, the need to take some kind of hormone-treatment for at least the next 5 years, and the fear that one day it'll come back. I also discovered that I'm Vitamin D deficient, so pills needed for that too. So all in all "This Year" has not be a good one, but it could've been a lot worse!

Tomorrow's subject is "Christmas".

Day 28 - Portrait
It's a day late, as I spent most of yesterday sitting on a plane on the way to Austin, Texas, to see the in-laws for Christmas. When we finally arrived I felt wrecked, so had no energy to take any photos (I did take a few of the stunning peaks of Greenland from the plane earlier, though). This is a portrait of my husband, Murray, reading the Austin Amerian-Statesman paper, a morning ritual while here.

Day 27 - In My Hand
I got a bit literal today, after having a lazy day with my hubby and having missed any decent light. This thing is in my hand quite a lot.

Day 26 - Winter Solstice
So the shortest day is upon us (although it's already getting lighter every evening in London now and darker later in the morning - see Day 15). Again the sky was stunning after the sun had set (but not as amazing as last night's which was incredible - sadly only had my iPhone out with me), so I captured the now leafless silhouetted trees near my parents' house in Little Chalfont.

 
Day 25 - The Written Word
Today I have chosen a quote that I'm ashamed to say I hadn't heard before. I guess my free education didn't teach me Dickens... If you know it, you'll know it. I also dug out an old fountain pen that I haven't used for over fifteen years!

Day 24 - Natural Light
I'm still on a Christmassy theme - perhaps all the remaining photos will be. I can't leave the flat, as I'm waiting for a delivery (please Parcel Force - give time slots!!), so I'm limited to indoor shots for the moment. If I hadn't already done two self-portraits I might have tried another, but I think two is enough! Instead I decided it was time to get the Christmas hat on the dog again. Poor Henry wasn't too happy, but I made it a bit better for him by plying him with treats while I tried to get some shots of him in natural light. His eye-lashes are getting a bit out of hand again...

Day 23 - Red
This would have been an easy one if it had been next week - as I'm off to see the in-laws for Christmas, and my sister-in-law's dog is called Red. As it is, I'm still in London, so no Red dog. I've just put the lights up on my tiny fake tree, so thought I'd photograph my wonderful red advent calendar that I was given about 5 or 10 years ago with some nice bokeh from the lights in the background. The calendar has small drawers for each day, the perfect size for a Lindor truffle. Yum. Not many to go. So here's my red, Christmassy image, taken with the rather special Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L lens at f/1.2.

Day 22 - B is for...
...Boots!
I was planning to head to the South Bank today and take pictures of the bunnies that are there at the moment, but lethargy got the better of me. It hasn't been a great day, with no contrast in the sky, so I'm going to try to get there on Friday when better weather is forecast. So instead, I chose boots.

I was putting a few things away earlier and came across my beloved cowboy boots and decided that they would do for today's shoot. I've taken photos of them before (as well as of those belonging to my hubby), but thought I'd do a "on my feet" perspective shot instead. I bought them 7 years ago on my first trip to my hubby's family near Austin for Christmas; it was only right to invest in a pair being with a man from Texas! I could barely get them on or off then, but now they are the most comfortable (not to mention gorgeous!) footwear I own.

For the rest of my project click for Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3.

New Dog Blog!

Just started a new blog - Sophie Carr's Dog Blog, where I will put all future dog-related content!

Check it out here!

New Cocker Spaniel Puppy

I've been meaning to publish a blog on my recent trip to Antwerp (to visit the BierPassie beer festival) and also to write a bit about a recent evening at the White Horse pub in Parsons Green - "Pork Life", another food-pairing event held as part of the annual American Beer Festival.

But I've been a bit waylaid. This is the reason why: I have a new puppy! 

I spent the week before little Henry arrived turning the flat upside down, taking 10-15 years' worth of unworn clothes and other bits and bobs to the local Save the Children shop, vacuuming everywhere (not fun under the bed) and generally giving the place a good going over to prepare it for the new arrival. And since he's been here, well, it's a bit like having a new baby, I think - they require a lot of attention, and the moments when they're catching up on sleep are the moments when you, too, want to get a little nap. Or do other things, like cook, shower, clean, check up on the news, etc..

So here are a few photos of the new little man in my life. It is very difficult not to take dozens of photos every day! Sometimes he is very lovely indeed. Especially when he's sleeping.

He likes to sleep on his back; I think he looks like a little chicken.

Sometimes he is a right little monster, snapping away with those razor-sharp puppy teeth like a deranged lunatic, barking at me with puppy excitement.

 The rest of the time I spend taking him down and up the stairs to the area outside to try to toilet train him - an endless task, I think! Yesterday I taught him to sit. When he's not awake I've become a bit obsessed with taking macro photos of his nose - I just find its patterns absolutely fascinating! It's a bit dry here, as it usually is when he's asleep.

He also has amazingly long eyelashes.

I take him out and about in Parsons Green in my arms or in a bag (with his head peeking out the front) and get stopped every few minutes by people admiring him. He's already been to the White Horse for a pint (he slept through the whole thing)! Most people ask "what's her name?" - must be the eyelashes; he doesn't look very macho, that's for sure. He has very soft ears and the typical beautiful soulful spaniel eye.

He'll be out and about in a week's time, as he's having his jabs this afternoon. You then have to wait a week for them to take effect and then it's OUT time! I can't wait to parade him on his little blue lead through the streets of Parsons Green and let him meet some other dogs on ground level. There's a few I'll steer clear of, but very much looking forward to having a good play.