The red rock walk #countrykids #springcarnival

last weekend we went off with some friends to find the red rock on Thurstaton common. It is always nice being being with another group, the kids keep each other entertained and they forget that they are actually walking! Also big bonus for us is that there are a couple of older girls who like to play big sister to our little ones, when sometimes their own sisters are not really that interested in watching out for them. There had been some concerns over whether the weather would be okay but we were blessed with blue skies and sunshine. Pretty good for a walk in the woods.

Putting the world to rights..or probably trying to talk her out of stripping off because she has got dirty knees

when we got to the rock it was time for a little challenge for the kids. One of the adults in the group had gone ahead and tied lots of small bits of wool to the trees and the kids had to go and find them. Bringing them back to the rock where the adults were waiting and gaining prizes for their team. It was a great way of wearing them out too!

searching for treasure

then it was time to have a brew. First proper outing for the Kelly Kettle

then a spot of climbing on the huge rock…always hard to get a flattering angle when you are down below!! 😉

Part child, part mountain goat!

Spring CarnivalFamily Farm Holidays Cornwall

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Its all in the meter #mamarazzi #photography101

Okay so this is one of my favourite little tweaks you can do ‘in camera’ to your images and it can really make a massive difference. When we are talking about metering, we are not meaning those folk who turn up in high vis jackets to rummage through your under stairs cupboard to read your gas meter. Which incidentally WHY are they always in such ridiculous to reach,buried by debris type places? Who designed that? Anyway i digress..

Have you ever seen this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thing that that is being held in front of the model is called a light meter and it is basically an external devices that measure the light in any given situation. When parked in front of someone like this and pointing toward the light that is hitting the subject it will spew out some numbers which should, when plugged into a camera, properly expose an image. Which is great. Problem though? Every time your light changes you have to bob out in front of your subject an take another reading…not so handy when you have a small, wriggly kid.

So the gods of digital put a device like this IN the camera itself.  YAY!   : )

and it should be one of your favourite tools.

Right so where is it? Here are a couple of screen grabs of what it should look like on your camera:

It looks a little like a thermometer dial and you can see that it goes from -2 to +2 either side. These are called stops but without getting confusing going for the add side you are going to add more light into your image and the other way it will be darker. Simples. The Zero icon in the middle is correct exposure and what you should be aiming for most of the time.

So easy way to get started. Pick and ISO and plug it in, you can do this in manual mode or generally one of the priority settings (as in aperture or shutter). You can’t do this in auto modes usually. Anyhow so pick an ISO, (100-400) outside on a bright day. Then point your camera at something and change the aperture or shutter until the little line in the middle of the thermometer bar is in the middle. POW! perfect exposure all created by YOU!

One thing to bear in mind though is that your camera can be fooled, if there is a lot of light around then it can work out the values incorrectly and you can end up with an over exposed image. This is where practice comes in and being able to account for it and then changing your little dial to adjust for that difference. For example in back lit situations, your camera will meter for the light which will make you subject dark. So what you want to do is go up a coupe of stops towards +2. That lets some more light in and will hopefully illuminate your subject as well.

Here ‘s a bit of an example of what i mean..

In this image, i have adjusted the exposure by half a stop. You can see the difference it has made! Just one or two clicks to the + side and you can really change the look of the image. I did these adjustments in lightroom just to give you an example.

then here in this image i have taken it down a whole stop. So that the brightest part of the image really stands out, thats going towards the – end.

especially useful when you are dealing with a LOT of very bright sunshine…just tames things down a bit,click half a stop down.

and very useful in a backlit situation when your setting would naturally be too dark for your subject (because the bright glow from the sun is fooling the camera) Up half a stop towards the +

what a difference a setting can make, this is the exact same shot taken in two different ways. One on the right i exposed for the foreground, trees and grass. In the second i exposed for the sun. How beautiful is that starlight and see how we are now bringing out the colours in the sky rather than just a big white mass.

So what do you think? worth giving it a go? have a play with your metering and let me know how you get on.

 

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Sleepless in #satcap

Fairly evident i think what my picture is going to be today. This is what i came up to after leaving her in bed for 40 minutes at lunctime. Its very nearly the end of lunchtime naps i think. *sob*

Meanwhile..go and see how mama of the saurus is doing this week by clicking on the cute little box down there.

i thank you xx

 

 

 

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just before this weeks #mamarazzi

This week i thought i would chat about one of my favourite elements of a DSLR. Its ability to in-camera light meter your shot. This makes me very happy and once you get the hang of what i could mean for you, you could really really change the look of your images.

But first….

 

I am flabbergasted to be in the final 6 for the Brilliance in Blogging awards for photography. I had a couple of tweets from some lovely ladies who i have never met but who i consider friends when the finalists were announced that just about sent me for the kleenex. I am so touched that people took the time to vote for me. Really. This blog is my heart. So thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you from me and rhubarb.

 

NOMINATE ME BiB 2013 PHOTO

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24 weeks…

If you have read my blog for any length of time you will know that as well as enjoying a bit of photography in my spare time I am also a NICU nurse. Most people are fortunate enough to not know what that is. It stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That is the care of the pre-term and sick baby. I have worked in this area of nursing for 12 years and i genuinely enjoy my job.

I work at a large unit so we care for the most premature babies. Those that are at the cusp of viability, clinging to life by the tiny tubes and wires that are sustaining them and desperately trying to replicate the mother’s womb and placenta in a little plastic box. Every baby who comes through our doors receives the same level of care. It is a level of care that costs the health service a lot. Sometimes the babies we look after, if they do survive, survive with long term health problems, sometimes as a result of them being born so prematurely and sometimes as a result of genetics.

That ranges from the mild end of the spectrum to profound disability that need full time care. It all costs. If it isnt costing the health service (which it always does) then its costing the family. Ask the mum of a baby born prematurely if it has changed them. Ask them if they watch their child every minute, worry about what could have happened to their tiny body in those frightening early days and what that will mean for their baby in the long term. Ask them about the panic that floods their heart as they get asked to come to the ‘quiet room for an update.’

But then ask…..is it worth it?

For them its (i suspect) a no brainer. Ive watched parents bond with their babies, through the box, past the lines, the ventilator and the flashing, bleeping infusion pumps. They ‘see’ their baby fighting, they get their strength, hope and an understanding of just how tough these little babies can be. They ‘know’ these little scraps of humanity hanging onto the very edge of life. Their character, their spirit, their fight. How they will laugh and nod their heads when you tell them that you may have seen a little character trait in this sub 500gram babies. ‘Ah yes, she is a stubborn one!’ they will tell you proudly. That pride doesn’t stop there either, our babies that go home always return, whether thats in person or through a letter and a photo telling tales of how well they are doing, the milestones they are meeting. How they are overcoming.

What would those families be without these stories?

I read this article through this amazing bloggers website. She was outraged by  a local councillor who had made comments about children with additional and complex needs. His assumption being that these children who would be costing the health service too much should be euthanised. That the money should be used somewhere else. For a better purpose, those with a better outcome, greater need or whatever.

In my job we meet all walks of life and in the years that I have nursed I have come to this assumption that you can never ever make a judgement like that. The national health service, for all its faults, was established to provide care at the point of need. Not at the point where someone decides that, that person is not financially viable. Not worth it anymore.

Some of the patients we have are very vulnerable and ultimately some of them will die. The decision to not continue intensive care is never, ever taking on the basis of cost. Its actually so ridiculous it almost makes me laugh. What sort of society are we if we start to define someones very breath by what they might cost. That decision is always harrowing, always hugely personal and always only taken if there is really no hope of survival. It is usually a life changing, catastrophic moment for a family and it is never, ever taken lightly. We can certainly never reduce people with complex needs or without to the value of a spreadsheet.

I am essentially aghast that someone has taken to the media and said such things. You really have to wonder if it just for PR, dont they say that all publicity is good publicity?

My hope is that people who have theses sort of crack pot ideas don’t ever get anywhere near the reins of power. Please go and visit downsideup and show her some support, tweet, facebook or share your stories.

 

 

 

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