Dinner time fun.......

I was very privileged today to be allowed to photograph staff and children at Mellers Primary School in Nottingham.  I was a little unsure how I would be greeted and what I would find.  Mellers is a school where a large majority of pupils start school without English being their first language.  An inner city school where the children are not coming from privileged backgrounds.  Their parents are not highly educated so home support isn't always forthcoming.  How would they react to a strange student coming in to photograph the lunch time activities?  They reacted by being warm, welcoming and friendly.  What I found was an incredibly happy little school, where the children respected each other and the adults in charge.  I found staff that engaged and encouraged the children.  The relationships between staff and pupils was a joy to see.  Many many schools could learn from Mellers and if all schools were run in the same way, I think this country would be a far better place to be.  Clearly I can not post photos of the lovely children (much as I would love to share the happy smiley faces I captured today), but I can post this rainbow I found on the school playground.  I think this sums the school up very well :) 

Student turned teacher.......

For one day only, this student photographer became photography teacher!  I had a lovely day in Cambridge with Liz, helping her get to grips with her new camera.  I rambled on about exposure triangles, and rule of thirds, and the poor girl smiled politely and got on with taking photos!  Here are a few snaps I took during our day out.....

Just me and my Canon........

For the first time for some while, everything came together for me.  I had a free afternoon, the sun was in the sky, and my camera was fully charged.  Time to explore Wollaton Hall and Sharp Hill, getting to know my new camera a little better.  Here are some of the results from our little adventure......

Chinese New Year........

I spent all weekend getting Alfie excited about going to see the fireworks at the Lakeside Arts Centre.  I read several articles on how to photograph fireworks, and was feeling pretty confident that I might come home with at least one good picture.  We wrapped up warm, queued in the traffic, and got on site, only to see the big screen next to the stage saying "Firework Display Cancelled due to high wind".  Doh!  So tears from The Alfster which resulted in me promising to play Monopoly with him back at home, and no fireworks for me to photograph.  So, I created my own coloured pictures in the car on the way home.........

Never work with Children..........

I thought today would be a good day to practice my 'candid child portrait' photography.  One child - check, walk with a kite - check, camera fully charged - check.  I have to take my hat off to people who can photograph candidly - it certainly isn't as easy as it looks!  Here are a couple of photos that came from today.  If practice makes perfect, I've got some way to go!

The Old Snappers up and running....

Ok, so its taken me all morning to design this little blog, but design it I have!  Hopefully as I learn a bit more there will be a few tweaks here and there along the way.  Those of you who know me, know that the phrase 'Technophobe' was coined especially for me.  I have to ask my seven year old to work our DVD player, my Husband to change the clocks around the house and my eldest Son sorts out my Ipod (what was wrong with the Sony Walkman and Vinyl anyway??!!). I suppose all the time I can operate the oven and washing machine though, no one here is going to complain too loudly!