A Rejuvenating January

It's now nearly the end of the first month of twenty sixteen; How the hell did that happen?! It seems only yesterday I was buying Christmas presents, baking and eating vast quantities of mince pies and gingerbread. That I was watching Big Ben chime in the new year and I was making new years resolutions and excited about the year ahead. 
So far it has mainly entailed me planning for Weddings and upcoming photo shoots and ongoing collaborative projects, so there hasn't been a huge amount of things to shout about on social media.

My first job of the year however was something rather different than usual, a pet photo shoot with two rather beautiful and very fluffy cats! People seem to either be a 'dog person' or a 'cat person' but I honestly consider myself to be both. In an attempt to get them to stay in one spot, I decided to lure them over with what I was told was their favourite toy, unfortunately they were full of catnip and they both went a bit nutty for a good half an hour. Highly amusing, but one of them swiped at me a bit too enthusiastically and it's paw clipped my hand! No blood fortunately, so I was able to keep shooting and finish the job with no more hiccups. Both myself and my client were pleased with the photos, so all worth it! (I have yet to ask the cats for their feedback)

The rest of the months work has included; A product shoot for the upcoming revamp of the Doris Pinks website, photos for Hose Rhodes Dickson, a newborn photo shoot, starting a ongoing project with my Little People series and a local company, planning February's Undecided Art Collective show,  a lot of planning wedding photography with existing and new wedding couples, and attending my first Wedding Fair of the year (with Wight Bridal). It's always a busy Wedding Fair and I find it a great way to kick off my working year. Along with the usual display of great local businesses, there was a great one I hadn't seen before. Artivo holds group painting sessions at weddings, birthdays, special occasions and corporate events. The result being a beautiful painting created by all your guests. Such a great idea and lovely people!

What other than photography have I been getting up to this month? The picture at the top might give you clues to what I've mostly been doing. I've been learning to meditate with a free app I downloaded. I've always wanted to learn but never really had the money for lessons, I saw an advert for a free app (called headspace) and thought I'd give it a whirl. I haven't regretted it (yet), I can feel myself being much calmer and relaxed throughout the day when I do it with my morning coffee. I highly recommend it! One of my new years resolutions was to draw and paint more this year as I've really neglected that for the last couple of years. I've been filling up one of my sketch books with doodles and I'm really enjoying having a creative outlet that is fairly private. I only really show them to my nearest and dearest if I feel like it and I don't really post pictures of them over the internet. I also bought new specs on Friday, after my first eye test in over three years, and yes these old peepers are getting worse. grumble grumble..

I hope you've had an equally enjoyable January, see you next month!

Love & stuff.
xo