Family photosession at Blaise

I have decided I'm not even going to try to catch up with blogging. This session has to be blogged though. This was a session during which at least 2 miracles happened...

 I was contacted by a very lovely lady from USA who was going to visit a few places in Europe with her family and they wanted to have a photography session in Bristol. Which I thought is a great idea - a family session combined with the holiday memories. They wanted something that would look very British, I suggested a few places and they have picked Blaise Hamlet and Blaise Castle. We all know what this summer was like - the closer the day of the session was approaching, the worse was the forecast. But because they were in Bristol just for a few days, we couldn't really reschedule it, so we decided to go ahead.

So, the first micarle. They were a bit late and it was raining heavily while I was waiting in my car in the Blaise Castle carpark. But just before they have arrived, it stopped raining. And it hasn't rained for the whole 2 hours of the session! Just how lucky!

We shot most of the session at Blaise Hamlet and then were planning on going to the Blaise Castle. I wasn't sure if we will do it since it has rained all morning and all the paths would be muddy. But as you can see, we made it!

 

And that's when the second miracle happened. I've lived in Bristol for 6 years and have been at the Blaise Castle playground with my children numerous times, we have also went up the hill to look at the Blaise Castle many times but have never been inside, thought we really wanted to. But it so happened as we were wrapping up the session in front of the Blaise Castle, somebody who had a key to the castle happened to be walking by and offered us to go in and see the beautiful view from the roof which was just amazing. I just couldn't believe it! Since then I have came back with my girls as they have always wanted to see what is behind the locked door.

 

 

So, thank you very much to the wonderful family for the miracle session and for the priveledge of capturing some of the memories of your time in Bristol.

 

Book club: week 5

As much as I love happy books, this one is not really a happy book: "Not now, Bernard" by David McKee.

Personally, I think it's a brilliant book for parents. And because children love it so much, the parents get to read it again and again till they (we) get the message. I was a bit sceptical reading this book to my 4 years old, thought she might be scared, but she loved it so much and asked to read every night. I'm not sure what the children love about it, probably for them it's just a story about a boy and a monster. As for the parents...
A boy called Bernand goes to both of this parents and gets "Not now, Bernard" because they are too busy. He is then sent to the garden where he knows there is a monster. The monster eats Bernard and goes inside. Both mum and dad don't notice that it's not Bernard anymore, but a monster, he eats his dinner on his own in front of TV and gets sent to bed with his milk already waiting for him. When the moster tries to object and says "But I'm a monster", he gets the same "Not now, Bernard", because Bernard's parents are still not looking at him.
For me, it's a good reminder to give my children enough attention, to listen to them. There is always something to do - shopping, cooking, washing, cleaning, the list is endless! It's easy to forget what is really important and make a way to always notice children, instead of constantly saying "Not now!".

Tea party, part 2

Everyone who knows me well knows I'm quite strict with the amount of sugar my children consume. My close friends has even put cereal bars instead of Haribo sweets in my children's party bags. I know, I know... I just try to not put them in the position when they see/have sweets, but of course I would never dare to restrict them at birthday parties where everybody is having a cake...
So, in restospect, looking at these images, I do feel slightly guilty about all the cakes I exposed all the children to. They have never had so much cakes to eat and it all got a little bit crazy at the end. But the kids enjoyed it so much (of course!).
It does tend to get crazy when you have a lot of young children together and it was a bit or a risk. And as much as the tea party didn't turn out as perfect as I would have originally wanted, the dinamics between the children and their reactions were really worth it.

A big thank you for all my amazing models who came and ate cakes! 

And a special big thank you to Anthony from Caked-up , and if you live in or around Bristol, be sure to like his Facebook page as well: http://www.facebook.com/CakedUpBristol

Tea party, part 1.

For a very long time I had this idea in my head, I wanted to shoot a tea party - a lot of kids in a field with grass, sitting around a little table with a cute tea set and a lot of cakes! I was so happy I had a chance to do it! All the cakes have been made by Anthony from Caked-up, the cakes were so nice, they were disappearing very quickly!

And here is what to expect in part 2, coming next week!

Book club: week 4

First of all I need to do something I promised to myself I won't do - apologize for not very regular posts, I promise to catch up soon and I have some very exciting things! I have been a lot better with updating my Facebook page with the recent work, so if you haven't "liked" it yet, here it is: http://www.facebook.com/TamaraToveyPhotography

Now, the book of the week, well, rather a series about Alfie and Annie Rose by Shirley Hughes. The illustrations are fantastic and so recognizable - showing real life of a family with two little children. So the life is not perfect - with the toys everywhere, with the craziness of trying to do shopping with young children, wet feet from puddle jumping, messy and muddy things, even a burst pipe! But it's a happy life, full of kind deeds, with cute little things that are important to children.The bond between siblings in the books especially resonates with me, because watching my own girls always puts a smile of my face. 
One of the books out of series - "Alfie gets in First" by Shirley Hughes.

This book is about something that happens to me almost every time we come home. My little girl shuts the door from inside and thinks it's very funny. I always make sure I have my keys safely in my jeans pocket unlike Alfie's mum who left her keys in the basket with the shopping inside the house and went out to carry the pushchair in.  So the book is about trying to get an upset Alfie to open the door, while his mum is trying to find a way to get inside the house with the help of their neighbours.

So far we have read "Alfie and the big boys", "An evening at Alfie's", "Alfie's feet", "Alfie gives a hand", "Alfie wins a prize", "Alfie and the birthday surprise", "Annie Rose is my little sister". My favourite thing is take the books as we find them in the library. There is something about going through the shelves and then finding a familiar author or book. I love when books are very recognizable, when the illustrations style is so stong and this set is definitely one of those.