Memories, Dreams and Reflections...

Me...
(and some strange man who hogged the shot and pulled a Moriarty kind of face)

What am I most proud of accomplishing this year?

My first print sold and my first photo shoot booked.

Plus David and I (as Retro Air Photography)

were featured in Tease and Cake magazine

with our photos of the lovely Caroline (aka October Divine).

And on top of that I am mid-way to totally changing my hair colour :O)

I love you...

The husband.
Although because he's a man and therefore
not logical, he has been known to drive me insane. Frequently.
Ask the cats :O)
Top one taken at Sutton Cheney,
lower one taken at Calke Abbey.

Still Laughing... #1

One of the funniest things ever
was when we were at Batsford Arboretum
and Helen pretended to be a zombie
and attack Cath.
Priceless!!!

...#2
Then there was also Cath
showing how easy it is
to fall off a log.

Winter Wonderland...

Taken back in February.

This December we've just had floods

and gales so far.

Birthday...

We went to Stratford

for my birthday in May.

It was hot, damn hot.

(So hot that I wore a dress,

which is remarkable in itself).

Friends...

My posse: Cath and Helen.

What can I say about them that

would do them justice?!?

Helen is quite normal

when she's on her own. 

Cath is obviously a bad influence on us both :O))

I was Inspired... #1

Constantly inspired by my wide angle lens (10-22mm).

Love it to death.

...#2

...and by the fabulous ladies I got to photograph this year.

This is Fiona Harrison.

... and this is Caroline.

Spring Fever...

 A touch of the Wordsworths.

Travel or Vacation...

We went to Cambridge for the first time.

What a lovely city.  It's less than two

hours away by car so I have no

idea why I haven't got to that part of the

UK before! I'm rubbish!

Summer Days... #1

Caroline at Sywell Aerodrome.

... #2

And late summer fields

at Bosworth Battlefield.

A Day in my Life...

Well, I'm usually at work.

And this is what is usually going on.

All Smiles...

Helen goes a bit Disney :O)

Autumn Harvest...

Batsford Arboretum.

Family or Home...

It wouldn't be home without our cats.

Here are David and Charlie taking it easy.
(Possibly just before Charlie indulges
in a moment of violence).

Let's Celebrate...

First print sold, yay!

Plus a company asked to use
this old shot on their Christmas card
and I managed to get £100 out of them
for my local animal shelter.
Double yay!

Let's Do it Again... #1

Yes let's do a tricky

photography set up that means

hours of photo processing for me

and gives me a headache!!!

I Miss You...

My beautiful, beautiful boy Posky.

My little pal for 17 years, I miss him so much.

Beautiful... #1

Deer in Bradgate Park.

#2
Beautiful Batsford again.

Dress Up...

Well it had to be Fiona again
in an 18th C dress.

That woman's wardrobe must
be bigger than my entire house.

Macro...

Busy bee.

Holidays...

Happy bloody Christmas...
I will say no more lest
I raise my blood pressure - but you know who you are!!!

Holidays...

Mrs Pod did Christmas much better than us...

... whilst Charlie was more at home with Halloween.

My Favourite...

I really like this shot.
Surely there must be ONE
book publisher who could
use it for the cover of a Gothic novel?
PLEASE???!

Don't Ever Change...
Well it's got to be Cath and Helen.
Nutters Inc ;O)

Just Because... So There! #1

Argents Mead in November

#2

David and my camera

#3

My boy

#4

Watching the weather at Coventry Airport.

Hopes and Dreams...

What do I want for 2013?

To keep learning and live in the moment.

Thanks for all the comments and fun this year,
have a safe and happy New Year's Eve everyone,
and may 2013 be all that you could wish it to be.
From Barbara, David, Mrs Pod, Charlie and Pepper xx

Memories, Dreams & Reflections... & ABC Wednesday

Two for the price of one!  This is my post for both ABC Wednesday (in this case Y is for Year in Photos) and also:

The wonderfully talented Ashley Sisk at Ramblings and Photos (click on the link above to go to her blog) hosts the Sunday Scavenger Hunt.  This week is a little different in that it's about looking back over the year and looking forward to the next.  Here's my take on the headings she gave.

Me!

What am I most proud of this year?   Learning to meditate, losing two stones in weight and keeping it off, doing a 10km moonlit walk for charity, not doing things just to please others all the time, and finally beginning to get to grips with my camera!  (Tip: A Gaussian blur does much more for your complexion than L'Oreal ever could - because you're worth it) ;O)))

I Love You...

I was going to put something sentimental for this one, then I thought

damn it, I'm English and proud of being ironic and emotionally repressed!
So here is my new camera, it's a Canon 7D, it's mine, and I love it :O)

 My Favourite
I took this when we were having coffee in Starbucks
after a very cold walk.  I like the tones, the composition and the expression,
this is very David, oh and he's my favourite bloke too...

Still Laughing...
'Let me them eat cake',
says Cath.  And if this shot doesn't make its way
on to her birthday card then I'm a banana.

Winter Wonderland...
Someone said this reminded them of rasberry ice-cream.
Every time I see it now I feel hungry...

Friends...
Me and Posky.  Does this make
me seem like a person nobody but her cats like?
Am I being paranoid?  Possibly yes to both
but what the heck...

I was inspired...
There are some amazing photographers in blogland and on flickr that take my breath away
with their talent and vision.  And I see them and then I become green with envy,
and depressed that I'll never be that good, and then I eat chocolate
and drink too much red wine and it's all just hideous.  Then I get over myself.  Anyway...!
  In this case it was an image in a photography magazine,
which made me think 'I have got to try that...' (I think that's got to be
my longest preamble to the introduction of a photo of a leaf ever).

Spring Fever
Pretty mundane daffodil shot.  It was either
that or get someone to dress up as the Easter Bunny,
and David just wouldn't do it no matter how
much I screamed tried to persuade him.

Travel or Vacation
Lincoln Cathedral taken on a recent trip there...
Note teeny-weeny people in front.

Summer Days...
This isn't the sunniest of pictures (I live in England remember), but it was taken
in August.  Some of my fondest memories of the summer were of
tramping around the countryside with Cath early on Sunday mornings in our quest for fitness
(and a large Starbucks coffee at the end of it).

A Day in my Life...
Since it usually consists of me doing very
boring things in an office, I thought I'd take a photo
of some of the stuff on my desk at work.  (The thought
of the mundanity of what I do has caused a small
cloud of gloom to appear over my head as I type this).

All Smiles...
My cats always make me smile, no that's a lie, when
they wake me up at 4a.m. I'm not usually happy about it.
The majority of the time they make me smile, Mrs Pod represents the
feline four here (if I ever got all four in a photo at once it would
probably look like a scene from Kill Bill).

Autumn Harvest
Taken when we visited Grafton Underwood in Northamptonshire
The good thing about living where we do is we're only a few miles
from the borders with Northants, Warwickshire and Lincolnshire.
It makes getting around pretty easy.  As my friend's (see I do have some...)
husband says 'it's easy to escape from' .

Family
David and Mum J, and of course my cats.
I have half brothers and a half sister but they're
a bit odd, so for the purposes
of this I'll consider myself to be an only child :O)


Celebrate
No it's not the release of yet another box-set edition of Lord of the Rings.
Just because it's 15 years and we're still together...

Let's Do it Again...
Go to the theatre (but don't get me started on ticket prices)
This is a view from the balcony into the foyer at the RSC.

Beautiful
I find many things beautiful, but I do love trees.
(And there's also a pic of George, because well, he just is.
Unfortunately I didn't get to actually take this, it's courtesy
of Google)

Dress Up...
Mrs Pod winner of the Halloween Devil audition

Macro
I have no idea why I have this many
pencils in my desk drawer as I never use them.

Holidays...
Christmas - new camera, new ornament from Lakeland :O)

Don't Ever Change...
We don't always agree but we trust
each other completely, and I love the
way Cath willingly does silly things
in the name of photography, or anything
else for that matter...

Just Because...So There!
I love books :O)

Hopes and Dreams...
Two images for this, the first represents creativity, that's what I want to
work on this year, photography and writing.
  The second is because I want to be awake to the moment,
not fret about the past or worry about the future.  The Buddha, whose teaching
is all about being awakened, is there to remind
me to try and do just that.