Personal

Last month I started a personal photography project for 2019 that I’m really happy I’ve now completed for March.  I tend to think that once I’ve done a couple of months I’m more likely to manage to stick with something like this for the whole year.

The project I’m doing is the 10 on 10 project, and basically just involves taking 10 photos on the 10th of each month.

It’s a really lovely way of recording a day in the life, of sorts.  A little snapshot of our life each month.

So, here are the photos from this month.

 

Life on the 10th March brought us:

• A wet and windy morning
• Sofa cuddles with a brand new unicorn toy
• A little drive out to Sunday swimming lessons
• Posing for photos and playing with the remote trigger
• A chilled afternoon of drawing and reading

 

Now that I’m 2 months into this project I’m starting to really enjoy it.  It pushes me to think more creatively, to find the light in our often gloomy house, to seek out the stories that I want to tell from our extraordinary, ordinary life.

It’s too easy to think that there’s nothing ‘worth’ photographing on a normal, rainy Sunday.  But those are the days and moments that make up our lives.  Those quiet ordinary moments, they’ll be gone all too soon and we’re in danger of not seeing the beauty in them until it’s too late.

So my challenge to you is to start looking at your wonderful, normal life differently.

To notice the beauty in the little moments.

 

---

Madeline Littlejohns is an on-location family photographer in central Swansea (Sketty, Brynmill, Uplands) offering relaxed, natural portraits and documentary family photography to record your family’s story.

If you’d like to have a chat about a fun family photo session in Swansea, please do get in touch to say hi and discuss booking a parenthood session.

 

I have given myself permission this year, to start things when the time is right for me rather than when the calendar says I should.

Which is my way of saying that I’m starting a personal photography project for 2019 in February.  And not stressing about the fact that I should have started it last month.

In the past I’ve been so caught up in feeling like it’s too late to start something like this that I just shelve the idea completely.  This year though I’m not letting that happen.  I’m jumping in right where I am!

The project is the 10 on 10 project.  I did it back in 2014 and really enjoyed it.  It gave me a great collection of photos of our year without the pressure of trying to do a project 365.

The idea is to take 10 photos on the 10th of each month.  It’s that simple!

So, here are my 10 photos from the 10th of February.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life in February brought us:

• Morning cups of coffee
• Colourful jewellery making and unicorn plaster wearing
• The first bunch of daffodils of the year opening up
• Stomping in the woods after swimming lessons
• A drive round to the shops for essentials like bread and Fabs
• Playing with fairies and pokemon toys in a strange crossover game

 

I’m looking forward to getting stuck in with this project again now I’ve started it.

And if you fancy giving it a go yourself just do it, don’t worry about having missed the start of the year, just jump in where you are!

 

---

If you’d like to see more of my photos then head on over to Instagram and give me a little follow!

I’ve been running this business for a good few years now, so it’s been quite a while since I really introduced myself.

A while ago I wrote a post with 10 random facts about me, that you may or may not have read at the time.  Looking back at it though, it’s quite a basic getting-to-know-you type post.  I wanted to share a few more little bits of information about who I am and what I love to help you get to know me even more.

So, whether this is the first time we’re meeting or you’ve known me for a while, here are 10 more things that you might not know about me.

 

1. I love coffee, and drink several cups a day.  But I go off the taste of it when I’m ill.  At times like that only tea will do.

 

2. I write a blog.  It’s a family lifestyle blog called this glorious life and I write about parenting, family life, psychology and photography.

 

3. I love the smell of rain on a hot pavement, and that of freshly cut grass.  I think my favourite smell though is the one that comes from the tumble dryers at launderettes.

 

4. I can curl my lip like Elvis, but I can’t roll my tongue.  One of my children can roll their tongue and the other can’t.  I’m actually not sure about their lip-curling abilities.

 

5. I used to be really shy as a child, but having children of my own has forced me out of my shell loads.  I’m still an introvert at heart though.  I really crave time to myself and love just staying in at home.

 

6. I still have the teddy bear that was given to me the day I was born.  He is very imaginatively called ‘brown ted’.

 

7. When I was 10 I fractured my wrist and now it hurts when it’s going to rain.  One summer I was working in a pub back in Kent and looking out the windows it seemed to be a bright, sunny day.  My wrist started hurting so I told a few people that it was going to rain, and they all thought I was mad.  I still remember the looks on their faces when it clouded over and started to pour with rain 5 minutes later!

 

8. I resisted watching Game of Thrones for years, then binge-watched almost the whole thing to catch up.  Now I can’t wait to see how the whole thing is going to end.

 

9. I love looking at the little details in old photos.  The things that we might think of as mess and clutter at the time, these are things that bring the memories back when we’re older.  The posters and photos all over the walls of my teenage bedroom.  The jumperoo and babygym filling up the living room when my children were babies.  The random notes and magnets all over my parents’ fridge.  These are the details of life that I love in pictures.

 

10. One of my favourite films is ‘About Time’.  I love everything about it.  The casting is perfect, the soundtrack is beautiful and the story is just wonderful.

 

So, there you go.  10 little things that you might not have known about me before.

---

If I sound like someone you would get on with, and you’d like me to come along and photograph your family’s story for you, please do get in touch to say hi and discuss booking a parenthood session.

---