Wow, this is amazing.  You get a puppy and suddenly your  teenager, who would rather do anything other than spend time with you having his photo taken, doesn’t mind hanging out  for 3 mins in the garden as long as he can have his picture taken with the dog.  This is such a rare occasion that you don’t even care that he has a t-shirt with a less than appealing logo on it or that he spends 2 mins out of the 3 texting his friends

Meet the latest addition to our family!  Don’t be fooled by the sad puppy dog eyes, this puppy can chew and pee for England and take a look at the size of his paws – definitely made for digging! I am currently mopping as fast as he can pee and he’s already destroyed a pair of headphones (teenage kids do not put anything away). But oh how cute he is. How he melts my heart when he sleeps upside down in my arms.  How lovely he smells when he buries his soft head into my neck.  I’m totally smitten and when he looks at me with those eyes I could almost forgive him anything.

OMG! if you ever get asked to have a go on a Segway machine – JUST DO IT!  I have to admit to being so nervous about hurting myself that I nearly backed out at the last minute  but I’m so glad that I didn’t because these things are just sooooo much fun.  Lucky for us we had our own guide, who was totally crazy but brilliant. We started at the North East of the island and scooted around to see a few landmarks but all of us love the time we got to “freestyle” (read that as going around in circles!).  Everyone has added them to their Christmas list but I don’t think you can use them in this country, which is probably a good thing as they cost a small fortune.  Big thank you to the guys at Segway Barbados – we’ll definitely see you next year! www.segwaybarbados.com

Finally!!!   After 5 long months in the photography wilderness recovering from my second back operation I have managed to do my first photoshoot.  I couldn’t have asked for a better subject and this blog is part one of two.  Isn’t she just GORGEOUS with her big eyes and soft, fluffy hair.  The shoot put me through my paces, lying on the floor with a camera is not the best for a bad back but when you have a subject like this, you’ll do what it takes.  I walked into the house and saw the red blanket and just had to use it.  Look out for the next instalment coming soon.

I also want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to everyone (you know who you are) who has supported me through this tough time – I owe you all an awful lot.  Sarah x

Pleeeeeeease let me take some pictures of you.  I don’t care if you wear braces and that you don’t want to smile.  You are beautiful, the light is beautiful and I want to take some pictures… pleeeeeeeease – I’ll give you extra pocket money?  You can take your Mac?  DEAL!!    The end result, as you can see, was my gorgeous girl and her precious laptop in a field as the sun went down.  Maybe it’s a strange combination but  these pictures really sum her up right now as, like most teenagers,  her precious Mac is glued to her finger tips for every waking second she can get away with.

I know having your mum nag you into having your photo taken is just SOOOO BORING but I have to say to you my precious girl, that I love you so very much, you are just beautiful (braces or not) and maybe one day you’ll look back and smile when you remember when your mad old mother made you walk through fields to have your photo taken with your Mac.   x x x

My little girl has grown up (nearly!).  Having worked so hard and passed her entry exam for Senior School, Saturday was an opportunity to let her hair down and join all her class mates for the Leaver’s Ball.  A totally amazing night that provided some wonderful memories. My heart skipped a beat to see how much she has grown up in confidence and looks and  quite frankly, couldn’t be more proud of her if I tried. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears as she now moves on to the next phase of school life.  For me I guess it means no more costume making, finding tins and packets for Harvest Festival, collecting shoe boxes for model making, attending sports day  and all the other things that come with your kids being in the lower end of the school – it’s actually something that I will miss terribly.   

Although short of time, I did manage to grab her and her brother for a couple of shots before she headed off to the party…

I was recently asked to help out my fellow photographer and friend Charlie Johnson with an idea he had for a present for his wife’s “significant” birthday.  As you can see below that involved taking fab pictures of Charlie and his two gorgeous boys  running, jumping and rolling around in a field of buttercups.   I’m not sure who enjoyed it the most, Charlie or the boys but I left behind two over excited little boys who were sworn to secrecy and an exhausted  dad desperate for the nearest glass of wine  All the images were presented in a gorgeous Queensberry album much to the delight of his lovely wife Fleur  and needless to say, lots of brownie points were earned that day for Charlie.

I’m a little late with blogging on this subject but a couple of weeks ago I was invited to the Getty Image Gallery in London to receive my prize for Best Portrait Album in the Annabel Williams Photography Awards 2009.    The awards are held bi-annually and entries were received from professional photographers from around the world. Judges included photography industry experts including Queensberry Albums and Canon UK as well as Annabel herself.  

The judges kindly had the following to say…

‘Sarah’s portrait album demonstrated blindingly good photography, executed with total assurance of vision, composition and skill.  She’s used extraordinarily good cropping and a wonderful range of shots.   Fantastic, simple and powerful design.’

I was totally thrilled to win and it was great to catch up with some old faces as well as meet some amazing new photographers.  The following images are courtesy of  Jo at Shoot-Lifestyle, who deservedly won Best Wedding Album.  In the pictures you can see (L to R) Simon & Jo (Shoot-Lifestyle), Gill Maheu – runner up Best Portrait Album, who came all the way from Geneva and John Archibald who came runner up in the Best Children’s image – my favourite image from the entire competition.  It was great to meet you all, please keep in touch. 

I entered the Annabel Williams Photography Awards 2009 earlier this year and I have been rewarded by winning Best Portrait Album.  Many thanks for all those who have sent their congratulations – it’s been much appreciated

We  had great friends to stay recently who emigrated to Australia nine years ago.  They, like us, have a teenage boy living in the house, in fact they have three – two of which are now well over 6′ tall. We were discussing the joys of communicating (or lack of)  with teenagers and they told me to check out the following youtube clip – so this goes out to all mums of teenage boys everywhere – I know you’ll understand