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Raisie Bay

Creating Photos for all Occasions

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As a blogger I rely on creating photos a lot. I like to add them to my posts to break up the text and proved my readers something to see rather than just read. I tend to think of blogs of more like magazines than books, and you always find photos or pictures in magazines.

As a blogger I feel that I should be a good photographer too, but the truth is I’m not. Yes, I’ve taken lessons, used different cameras, been given tons of advice, but the truth is, I’m just not a natural. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like taking photos though, it just means that a lot of them don’t feel good enough for my blog.

Improving Photgraphs

I’m not a good photographer but there are things I can do to improve my photos. Adding elaborately beautiful backdrops can make a huge difference to your photos. If you take a look at school photos you will notice that the first thing the photographer does is add a back drop. This can make a huge difference to your finished picture.

It’s up to you whether you want to add something plain or elaborate but the effects can be amazing. Back drops are often used at weddings or other celebrations. And people like to have a photo corner where you can add some props too. They can really make a difference.

When my Little Man was six years old I held a Minecraft Party for him and we used a plastic tablecloth that was patterned to look like grass as a back drop for his photos.

Product Photography

When photographing products a lot of people use a light box. I’ve tried several and so far have been unsuccessful with them. I generally find that good lighting and a decent background helps.

While at a blogger retreat in 2019 I picked up some good tips from photographer Derek Lomas. He showed us how to set up a perfect back light environment for photographing products.

The backdrop was made by Using tracing paper and a clothes rail which was then lit from the window, or a lamp. Then he used a white plastic sheet to place the products on.

The result was pretty stunning.

I don’t have such a set up at home though. I tend to photograph my products on the table. Background paper can be easy to come by though. For this photo I used some bookish wallpaper sample.

Creating Photos and Editing them

Of course, these days you can take any digital photo and edit it in any way you wish. I’ve recently stopped using one editing program and I’m trying something new, Canva. I’m pretty new to it though, and now I’m kicking myself because I’ve had so many opportunities to learn how to use it in the past, particularly at blogging retreats.

As my family members grow older and become less willing to pose for photos for my blog I find that using stock photos has become the normal substitute. Is this cheating? Well, unless I can suddenly come across some fabulous equipment, super models and the skill to take great photos I think it may be my way forward.

In the meantime I can learn to edit my photos to make them nice for future generations or displaying in the house.

What do you do when creating photos? Have you used backdrops or light boxes? If you can point me in the way of any Canva uses and tips I’d be most grateful.

Sunday Snapshot and Ordinary Moments

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Ordinary and extraordinary moments with Princesses

two little girls dressed up in princess costumes
My two little princesses May 2010

This week I’m going back in time with my little princesses to tell you a story.

Once upon a time two little princesses lived in a tiny house in a Castle. The area was called Weoley Castle and Mummy lived there for 24 years. When Mummy had worked at the local library people used to say, is there a Castle in Weoley Castle? Of course there is, you can see it if you sit upstairs on the 29 bus to the City Centre.

Just in case you don’t believe me, one our very last day at the girl’s previous school they had a sports day held at the castle!

collage of photos of children doing their sports at the local castle ruins
Sports Day at Weoley Castle 2013

Ok, as you can see, there is not much left of the castle, but it was there once upon a time.

A Squash and a Squeeze

Back to the Princesses. They lived in a little house, and it was getting a bit of a tight fit. You see, their Mummy already had two children who were growing up big and the house was not growing with them. In the photo above, which was taken in 2010, Mummy was already expecting another baby. A bit of a surprise, but still very much wanted.

When the new baby arrived it was very overcrowded and we knew we had to move somewhere bigger. Eventually, we found a house with enough room for us all and we moved away from the Castle to place that was once known as the Kings Gate to the North. I guess we were always meant to live somewhere Royal.

The princesses have grown and so has their brother, and their older siblings are still living with us! But now we are not squashed into our little home. But we are confined until this darn virus starts behaving itself!

The Ordinary Moments

How to stay productive when working from home

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Staying productive when working from home. As we attempt to come to terms with how Covid-19 has reshaped the world as we know it, there’s no escaping that the effect on our everyday lives has been huge. 

Faced with challenges the likes of which few of us have seen before, we’ve all been forced to adapt to the situation accordingly. The government’s social distancing measures mean the majority of the population are being asked to stay at home as much as possible while the authorities try to combat the spread of the virus.

Businesses are suffering, the healthcare system is under pressure and people are going weeks without seeing loved ones as well as being asked to work from home where feasible. If you’re one of the many now doing your job remotely, here’s a guide on how to remain productive during these difficult times.

Plan a routine

Although you’re no longer having to travel to work, it’s important to establish and maintain a routine throughout the week. Even acts as simple as setting an alarm, showering and getting dressed can make you feel ready to tackle the day ahead. Outside of work hours, it may also be beneficial to stick to your normal schedule as much as possible. Whether that be through meal planning, walking the dog or calling your parents, following a familiar pattern can help you retain a sense of equilibrium.

Set up a designated work space

If your home allows, it’s also worth working from a designated space that you treat as your ‘office’. Setting up on the sofa in front of the television might feel like an attractive prospect, but you’re likely to get distracted and sitting with a laptop perched on your knee may not be good for your neck and spine. Instead, consider using the kitchen table or the spare room and at the end of the day, remove yourself from that area to reinforce the feeling of leaving work behind for the evening.

See my ideas on setting up a home office.

working from home, workspace. a white table with laptop, notepad, cup and plant
designated work space

Get comfortable

With no face-to-face meetings to attend and no office dress code to abide by, you can afford to be more relaxed in your attire. If you find your typical office wear a little too formal, perhaps decide on something more comfortable and colourful. That might mean skirts, blouses and loose-fitting trousers for women, while men might turn to their leisure or knitwear collections.

Take regular breaks

It’s unlikely that you would be glued to your chair for an entire day in the office, and there’s no reason for that to change now that you’re working from home. The importance of taking regular breaks cannot be overstated – even if it’s just five minutes away from your screen for a cup of tea or a half-hour hiatus to do a spot of yoga. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we look after ourselves and taking a frequent breather is a great way to do that.

Are you working from home? Do you have any tips to share?

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

Word of the Week 20 – Blurred

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week. A nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. The idea of the linky is to reflect back on your past week and share it with us. It’s great if you can sum it up in a word or phrase, hence giving us your Word of the Week. My word this week is blurred and you can read more about that below.

I’m not totally strict on using just a word or phrase. But please try to stick to the theme of summing up your week.There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest boardfollow

devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mixfollow Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

Word of the Week is open from 6am on Friday Morning to 12 noon on Monday. Plenty of time to join in!

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

MY WORD OF THE WEEK – Blurred

a blurry image with the word Blurred

Everything this week has seem blurred. We are all in the same boat where one day seems just the same as any other, but sometimes the edges seem to get even blurrier.

I can’t believe it’s Friday today, it seems like I only just published last weeks Word of the Week! How can time go so quickly when you are not having fun!

This week has been blurred because of a shopping mix up. Last week I couldn’t get a slot at my usual supermarket until Thursday, but we shop on Mondays so we needed food. So, I found a slot at a different supermarket and we ended up with two shops, both expensive and the food planning went to pot.

Then I went to do my food shopping for this week and because I’d not had my shopping until Thursday I had to wait seven days until I could order again…arrgh! I didn’t want to do the same as last week so I ordered a basics food box and we made do with what we had. The main shopping comes today and boy we have nothing left, we are even out of coffee! (We do have tea bags though!) I have done a full weeks shop though, so now I’m going to change my shopping day to Friday. I bet that causes confusion for a while.

Days Blurred

Apart from the food, I’ve been feeling each day blurring into the next. Our routine has slipped. The kids are getting lazier and don’t want to get dressed in the morning. What’s the point if they are not going out? I’ve let them get away with it providing they did their school work, and then got dressed after lunch. But I want that routine back again. They don’t get dressed until lunch times on the weekend if we are not going out, I want weekdays to feel different.

We have been keeping up with the school work but even that’s becoming a blur. Primary learning day after day is quite frankly boring. Now I know I couldn’t have ever been a teacher even though it was an idea once upon a time. I have to admit though, I’m pretty sure that some of the maths my Little Man has to do, I didn’t have to do in primary school. I’ll be getting him to do my accounts soon.

The teacher’s call regularly and it’s become a blur as to who’s teacher I’m speaking too. I’m easily confused, I can’t even remember my own kid’s names how am I supposed to remember their teachers? Apparently, Star is now in Year 11 despite not finishing year 10. She may or may not get to see her teacher before the Summer break. The Little Man may or may not be going back to school before the Summer break, but his poor teacher was in tears when she rang me and we talked about it. She thinks it’s too soon and is having to take her baby girl back to nursery so she can return. As for Boo, well, no-one knows if she’ll be going back but her trip to France has been cancelled. We expected that.

Blurred Messages

So life is just a bit blurry right now and everything is just so not clear. We don’t know what we are supposed to be doing, working, not working, going out, not going out, going to school, not going to school. I don’t like uncertainty and I’ll be happy when we can see clearly again.

Now it’s your turn, what word or phrase sums up your week this week?

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How Bucket Lists will Change from Now On

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Of all the industries affected by the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic, few have been hit so hard as the tourism industry. With all but essential domestic travel being out of the question, the prospect of boarding a plane and travelling to some faraway, exotic location now seems unthinkable.

plane wing in flight

It seems reasonable to expect our attitudes toward international travel to change when the lockdown measures are lifted. What exactly this change might look like is difficult to predict. Will we try to cram a year’s worth of tourism into just a few months? Or will we decide that we don’t quite miss travel as much as we thought we did?

Changing Bucket Lists

A ‘bucket list’ is a concept that’s enjoyed a lot of attention in recent years. It’s a list of things we’d like to do and places we’d like to see. As recently as February, many of us were going about life as if nothing significant were about to change – but now that everything has changed, we might have come to reassess just what’s important. 

What’s more, the activities we book will certainly change. While many of us might have looked forward to spending a few days lounging on a beach in the company of a trashy novel, that prospect might not appeal quite so much after weeks and weeks spent lounging around.

At the same time, our experience might grant us a greater appreciation of the history and culture of the people whose land we’re visiting. We might look for deeper, more spiritual and meaningful experiences, rather than shallow ones.

On the other hand, being isolated for so long might cause many of us to want to gather together with as many people as possible in one of the world’s biggest festivals – which are sure to be especially significant (and possibly emotionally-charged) in 2021. 

Environmental Concerns

Given the decline in global emissions that’s come in the wake of the travel bans, many of us will have been given pause. We might not want to resume habits that have been so detrimental to the environment. And with such a wealth of history and culture to be found right here in the UK, the case for train travel is difficult to resist. Travelling to London via train is easy from anywhere in the UK, which makes a domestic city break easy to recommend. 

When the lockdown measures are relaxed, the change will probably come about gradually, with international tourism being among the last things to be restored. As such, it may be awhile yet before we’re able to board that plane – which gives us plenty of time to consider how we’d like to spend the time!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post