Celebrations and congratulations are in order to Jéhan and my big sister Rebecca who gave birth to their first child while I was away in Brussels last week. Born four weeks early baby Jack is a tiny little cutie, and as soon as he is a little strong enough he will be ready to go home with lots of extra love and attention from his two wonderful parents. As soon as my exhibition work is up and on the wall, I look forward to returning to Northampton to meet my gorgeous little nephew.

I really do keep meaning to organise my receipts better, and digitalise them for Evernote. But it always drifts to the back of my mind. Maybe if I photograph those things we don’t get round to doing, then I will actually see them through. Having said that, with the Release Photography Festival opening in just two weeks, filing receipts probably isn’t a major concern right now so it can afford to be put off for a while longer.

I remember making notes in bed for one of my essays last year. Sometimes I would accidentally drop and leave the pen on the bed, and now every time I wash the bedding I see the comet shaped ink splodges on the duvet.

Passing through Finedon industrial estate after photographing the fabulous Italian restaurant Vino, I was struck my the sheer number of pallets on this construction site. Poking my 100mm lens through the railing, these miniature skyscraper structures remind me of the city in Wall-E that he made from cubes of rubbish. I would really love to go back there again and see if I can get inside to shoot more on 5×4, and print it before graduating.

Last week I saw The Hunger Games (which was really good by the way) at the cinema and we had to walk home because it was too late at night to catch the bus. It had been pouring with rain all day and the air was still wet, threatening to shower again. I just love it when puddles on the ground dazzlingly shine under the street lights and car headlights at night time.

As we walked up Mansfield road I couldn’t miss this blossom tree spilling around the taxi. I didn’t realise until editing that the driver was inside the car (hiding his face or on the phone?) as I stood there blatantly photographing him.

On a different note, I’ve just booked a short trip to Brussels to attend PHrame’s  Splash #1 event in May. Among the brilliant selection of artist speakers is Jamie House, Simone Massera, Jon Rafman and Simon Norfolk. I am especially excited to hear from Jamie and Simone speak about their projects Im am not what you see or hear and Stranger: Memories, that has contributed to the inspiration of my current project for the degree show. I would also like to thank them both for their kind consideration to reply to my comments and emails, and Jamie for the invitation to the event I wouldn’t have known was happening otherwise.

As mentioned in my previous maternity post, we followed up the location shoot with some natural photographs of my beautiful sister and her bump inside the warmth of their home. It was wonderful to be back for the weekend, although it won’t be long now until the spare room is transformed into a nursery! The excitement of becoming an Aunt builds every time I see Rebecca, and every time it always amazes me at how much bumpy has grown. Not long to now!

Taken on the iPad3

Photo courtesy of Dan Foy

The daffodils and tulips in the garden are finally in full bloom! I took these photos last week, and they have since shot up after all the rain we had over the Easter Bank Holiday. I possibly planted them a little to close to each other, as I didn’t realise they would come out at the same time. To make the tubs a little less cramped I cut a few stems of daffodils and put them in a small vase in my room where they look like pretty explosions.

As you can see, I am thoroughly enjoying my new 100mm lens, and buying the L series was totally worth it. The colours are incredibly accurate, and the IS works beautifully when shooting macro handheld. My current gadget obsession is the iPad3, which I intend on featuring in my degree show exhibition. Plans for the final degree show are coming together, and especially now that our exhibition space is booked it’s all getting a bit exciting!

We didn’t want to keep bumpy out in the cold for too long, so we followed up with a mini shoot of Rebecca on her own inside the home. Its been such a busy week organising the degree show exhibition, and upcoming shoots I have plenty of images to upload on here very soon, so stay tuned!

This afternoon went by so fast, it’s been such a fab day despite the bizarre wet weather, having excellent conversation with lovely people, and another trip to Hobby Craft! I saw this beautiful tree in my neighbours drive, and my camera phone was the only thing on me, so I’m looking forward to photographing this again on film soon.