photograph of the whole Charlton clan together, can you beleive that?

I have to admit to feeling more than a little shaky as I entrusted my 350d to a total stranger but I figured that as we were in her carraige waiting to be pulled along by her horse she wasn't likely to pinch it or I would refuse to move! LOL So I'm discounting the fact that she wasn't best photographer in the world and I'm looking like a hamster crossed with Bella Emberg but it sure is nice to actually finally have 1 photograph featuring the whole of my gorgeous family, see they do exist after all, I'm not just making it up so I have something to scrapbook!

Thought I would take the opportunity to share more of my Blackpool pics, I took loads but when I edited them there were about 20 or so that I kept and will scrapbook, well I say that I'll scrapbook them but I haven't been very creative of late, I decided though that today was the day so I got all my work and chores out of the way first thing and what am I doing now????? Well I managed a card and I played with some chatterbox doodle genies which BTW are pretty fab, I bought them before christmas and have only just gotten round to taking them out of their packets, not something I plan to use every day but nice to do something with when you're feeling a little bored and slumpy like I have been recently!

I have big plans though, I am shortly to attempt a 1 woman redecoration of the entire house starting with the master bedroom which can't really be called that as all 3 of our bedrooms are the exact same dimensions, how anal was the person who designed that?? LOL

I have duck egg blue and brown picked out for the colourscheme, I think the walls will probably end up the blue colour because I have the same sort of colourscheme planned for the livingroom and i figure that one can take browny walls as its far bigger, I'm not planning on going too dark, I guess though you'll have to wait a while before you can see any results as 1 woman in a 3 storey house with a paint roller is going to take more than a little time!!

I'll leave you with that Happy Pleasure Beach piccy, doesn't it look warm and sunny, I have to add that we didn't even make it into the park owing to Paul having his trusty utility tool attatched to his keyring, it contains a teeny knife you see and they don't let you into the park if you have weapons. I don't think you could even manage to peel an apple with the darned thing but hey ho there you go, rules are rules and C'est la Vie!

An argument....

has broken out at Chez Charlton this afternoon over whether any photoshoppery should be used in portraiture, it was actually this photograph which sparked the debate, it's a self portrait and to be honest it hasn't had loads done to it, I removed a couple of red spots, twinkled my eyes, trimmed my bushy eyebrow and then desaturated and finally a total unsharp mask, couple of other tweaks but I think I really love this photo, Paul says it's not me and yet usually when I edit photos of him I perform the same things and he never complains when he looks amazing, does he think that the world should see me as a spotty mess or is it the case that he really thinks he's all that anyway and already looks amazing, I would kind of go with that as my husband is quite the narcascist, he spends far longer preening in the mirror than I do and he has self esteem by the bagful and when were talking football he becomes positively arrogant, I know that to get ahead in life we all need a little self loving, I just wish that I could tap into some of it, then again when I happily reveal myself to the world which doesn't happen very often why does he make me feel like a fraud just because I removed my spots and a nobble from my nose which I particularly hate.

I know that it's answers on a postcard please with this one and perhaps we'll never really agree and the funny thing is that when I perform my magic on photos of the children he doesn't say a word. I do love this photo of himself from this afternoon and actually it's the way I see him anyway, I do see the twinkliest eyes and pretty much utter perfection. Perhaps I, myself am partly to blame for his high opinion of himself but I just wish that I could tap into it and have some for myself!

Anyway I don't really want to dwell because we both agree that when it comes to photos of the children I do a fabulous job and i have been out in action again today grabbing every last second of brighter light which if I am right in thinking must have happened for all of half an hour this evening. You could tell the rain had finally stopped after 7 days because the children could get out the house quick enough and it wasn't long before Abigail and Looby were making mud pies in the back garden, isn't it great that the children have such optimistic spirits, soggy no problem lets make mud pies. So anyway this last photograph I took with my Sigma 70-300 out of the livingroom and I got the children to look up as I pointed down into the garden, got this cracking candid of Looby and I totally love it!

Even the Worst Days....

Have some good things in when you're a Charlton, today these are my good things!! Taken in the whole 15 mins of good light we had today and then fiddled about in with photoshop CS2, today I played with the channel mixer, curves and a little desaturation

And now for something a little different...

We went off to Seahouses for some real traditional fish and chips for tea this evening, by the time we had finished dusk had fallen and I had a quick wander to the harbour whilst hubby and kids finished their teas, to be honest all was quiet and there wasn't really a lot going on but I spied this pretty boat next to the lobster pots and had to photograph it, To be honest I only had my 5omm f1.8 on the camera but I have to say that I'm really pretty pleased with the end result, for some reason it just looks better in black and white, oh and if you're wondering the steps between the shooting in raw and the black and white end, it's basically, curves, levels, channel mixer, Unsharp mask with a couple of tweaks in between, all of course done in Adobe Camera Raw and then CS2. This is a removal from my normal portrait stuff but I do actually enjoy taking photographs of anything and everything, thing is though and here we go back to a previous posts about whether your work is good or not, because I don't take loads of this kind of thing who knows whether it's fabulous or not, it may be laughed at in certain circles but I can tell you from my perspective, I love it and dear reader I hope you love this little snapshot from gorgeous Northumbria too!

My Signature!

Every artist should have a signature style, something they do that no one else does or something which really can sum them up without words and this photo is mine, I took this one today but I have several similar ones in my collection, I love jumping photos and happy photos and this really sums up both emotions. I guess if you have a photoshoot booked with me then this might just be one of the things I'm going to ask you to do and I can guarantee that every time you look at the photo you'll smile a quiet smile.

So as you've probably guessed dear reader we have been out and about this afternoon, a couple of hours spent rambling at the Wallington Hall Property near Morpeth in Northumberland helped to blow the cobwebs away and we enjoyed the late winter sunshine to the maximum, I also really got to grips with my Sigma 70-300 mm lens, I didn't take my tripod so I tried it to it's max with just myself to steady the lens and I have to say that it performs pretty well! All the children once again enjoyed the ramble though we did have several moments with Abigail and her tantrums again, I'm not entirely sure what to do about her at the moment but she seems to think that she can get whatever she want by throwing strops and when she doesn't there are further strops and tantrums, it's funny because we don't seem to encounter any of these things with Iain or Looby though they have both been brought up under similar conditions. I'm guessing that middle child syndrome has a lot to do with it but we shall try a reward chart to go with the normal naughty stair extravaganza and see where that gets us, if anyone has any better ideas then feel free to suggest them on the back of a sheet of Hambly and sent post haste to Stressed parents in Newcastle!

Tonight we're having a couple of glasses of a gorgeous South African Grenache, I don't usually do Grenache but I bought Paul a case of red wine for Valentines day so I thought I better join in, oh and in case you're wondering he bought me a gift wrapped packet of Love Hearts and a bottle of my favourite Gucci perfume! Ooh yes much love in the Charlton house, but then again isn't there always!!

I'll leave you today with this photo of my hubby which just goes to show one of the many reasons we're still so blissfully happy, I mean after all with this much laughter and silliness every day you wouldn't want to give that up in a hurry would you?!

It's finally arrived....

My portrait lens finally turned up after the longest 9 day wait which seemed like 9 weeks, I'm now fully kitted out and available for photoshoots, I took this of Paul in the kitchen this morning and this was in the first 30 seconds of use with no flash at 400 asa in my dark kitchen so if I can do this without optimum conditions, imagine how good I can be when doing it professionally. Yay I feel ready now, I've already had some enquiries so I think Mandy Charlton Designs is far more of a reality with each day that passes! Just click that link to book me, Paul who is my driver as well as my husband informs me that we travel as far as Leeds in a southern direction and as for northwards, well no real boundaries as any excuse for a day or two in bonnie Scotland!!

Looby again....

Yes I know, there have been many many Looby photos this week but considering Iain has been at school all week, Abigail has had Scarlet Fever and I've been stuck indoors, Looby just happened to be on hand whenever I had a "I need to take some photos" moment!

This week I have bought 3 lenses for my camera, a Sigma 70-300, a Canon EF 28-80 and a Canon 50mm f1.8, that last one I am still waiting for and getting ever more impatient as it's just the weather for large apertures.

To say that it's dull and grey outside is an understatement. It has rained and rained and rained for the last 12 hours without a break. I wouldn't mind but Saturday afternoons are our getting away from it all days, today it looks like we might make it as far as the book shop if we're lucky, certainly it's the worst weather for photographs this week. Here's hoping that all round we have a better week with lots of photos, sunshine and not so much illness!!