january photo a day 2014 | a personal project

When people learn that I am a professional photographer, all too often I am told “Oh, you must have so many beautiful photos of your own children”. It’s true, I do have beautiful photos of them, some are on my walls… but not nearly as many as I’d like.

Taking photographs is a passion of mine, but it is also work. It means having your camera with you; batteries charged and fresh memory cards ready to go. My camera is big, bulky, breakable and heavy – and that is without a lens attached! When you are struggling day to day (like every other mum) to keep the house organised, your children happy/fed/clean/clothed (not always in that order) often my camera is the last thing I think about packing.

When out and about I have so many moments when I wish I had my camera with me, and (like every other mum) I settle for a quick iphone photo instead. So yes, I have beautiful photographs of my children, but not nearly as many as I could if I had the time & energy!

I guess it is the same dilemma for many people – do chef’s cook beautiful elaborate meals all the time? Do hairdressers never have bad hair days? Am I just being lazy?

Last year I did the January photo-a-day project (Which you can see here) and I used the photos to make a beautiful album. I promised myself to continue the project every year. Even if life stopped me from taking many photos throughout the year, I would at least have this precious album to look back on.

So, here goes…