Can I tell you my bliss?. Hanging out with a family, getting to know them, being part of their day. Noticing the little things… the things that I imagine will be important to recall in years to come. Take photographs, not just fancy “hey everyone, look at me” portraits but the ordinary moments, where you’re focused on something else… where you almost don’t notice me. Then record some video, so you can remember what you sound and move like, how you smile or cry… you know, the stuff we take for granted.

“The details, that’s what the world is made of. Those are the paints” – Wes Anderson.

This is my bliss.

I’m very grateful to be in a position where I make my own time capsules of our family life… and I’ve guided lots of people in Creating Time Capsules, sharing my process so they can create their own magic of their memories or for other people, and it’s so amazing to see how everyone approaches it so differently.

Lately I’ve been making these for other people, really getting inside their everyday – their ordinary moments, being part of their family life and recording it forever, giving them a time capsule of that moment in time. Something for the whole family to treasure forever.

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Meet the Harvey – Hopes. My In-laws. And one of the most fabulous families I know. They have very kindly let me share this peek into their lives… and this is the message they sent me after receiving their films –  “Thank you! Really, so special and wonderful, brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart – these photos and films make me remember all the good bits! Thank you.”

Here are their time capsule films – Split into two parts, because there was too much magic to squeeze into one…

And here is a selection of my favourite images (some are in the time capsule, some are not).

Wanna make your own time capsules? Find details here – or let me share my bliss and invite me to capture your family, just contact me & I’ll send you details of this investment.

Let’s just ignore the fact it’s pouring with rain today, (yes, it’s getting rather tedious)… I keep having to remind myself of the little pockets of sunshine we’ve had lately…

One such afternoon, we hung out in the garden and I filmed a time capsule. Just us, doing not very much. Sometimes that works… keeping it simple. It’s a moving portrait session really. I’ve not been filming and photographing our life enough lately. So I grabbed this chance as the afternoon was full of the most stunning light… oh how I’d love to bask in this everyday. Are we ever going to get a summer that actually stays around?

{If you like a spot of whistling from my fabulous little one… do stay tuned till the end}

I’m loving this moving portrait idea so much, along with making time capsules of course. If you’re interested in me capturing you & your loved ones in either of these ways… please get in touch…

Also, Behind The Scenes is filling up with some wonderful creative souls. Kim & I are beavering away getting everything ready… full of nerves and excitement. There is still a chance to join us, hop on over here for all the details.

Chenelle and Luke are getting married next week. So a couple of weekends ago, we spent the afternoon together, having tea, hanging out in their flat & chatting about their wedding plans. These two adore each other so much, their love was bursting and their excitement to be married and have an amazing wedding was contagious… I couldn’t stop smiling. How wonderful to be young and in love.

They’ve lived in their flat for a couple of years now, and Chenelle had mentioned how much she loved my time capsules and wanted a few memories of their flat to look back on years to come. So we started their story there… Here are a few of my favourites…

We waited to see if the rain would pass, but it didn’t. It had been raining for a week and wasn’t going to stop now, so we bundled up into the car to the park and luckily found some shelter. Even in the pouring rain their spirits couldn’t be dampened. With all this energy and love between them, I can’t wait for their wedding now…

I never imagined that I would run an ecourse, yet here I am, having finished guiding a group of lovely people all over the world through the process of Creating Time Capsules, and poised to do it all over again next week.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about where I am creativity and where I’ve come from. It’s weirdly wonderful that I’m moving in this direction, from what I’ve always done for myself for years now, to now offering the chance for others to do the same. You see, ever since I was a teenager I’ve been documenting my everyday life, from taking photos of myself and friends at the school gates, hanging out on the heath or whenever we went anywhere special. I know for a fact it would drive some of my best friends crazy; I always wanted to capture us doing whatever we were doing… they’ve finally come round to the idea I’m never going to stop and more recently surrender to my camera willingly.

At art college I began keeping visual journals – cut up photos and polaroids, notes on my day, tickets, receipts, articles, photos from magazines ripped out… anything and everything… still documenting, still recording. These books are treasured greatly now and as soon as dip into anyone of them I’m transported back into that moment. Things are there that I would have long forgotten now… I was making my own version of time capsule even back then. Art college gave me the chance to explore photography, video and film and I dabbled in it all, making my own super 8 stories, shooting and then editing videos with whatever editing package was on a mac at that time. Some films I created with Francesca and we’re still collaborating on projects now.

My visual journals evolved over the next few years, especially when we moved to Asia. I carried on photographing and documenting, but there was less writing, it was more about the photos. My photos were enough to tell the story and preserve the memory and I was still videoing…

Then our boys were born… here was a whole new subject to document, photograph and film. Whilst I have the photos and footage somewhere on a hard drive, it’s the visual journals that are the most accessible, (although there are gaps,) I do have a lot of their early life in books. There are also video clips and small films I put together to share with family & friends while we lived abroad.

I guess why I’m sharing this, is because this really is what I do… I document life and find ways to preserve the memories in what ever way I can. This digital age makes it so much easier, you can make photo books at the click of a button, no more sticking and taping my books together. Your photos and video are available instantly, sometimes in the palm of your hand, ready to share with the world in a second. I remember the hours of editing on a slow mac, waiting for video to download, for it only to be all lost when the computer crashed! Now we are in an age where we can gather the memories and make our own versions of time capsules all the time… and it’s so exciting.

I’d love to share a small selection of the amazing work my lovelies on the February course created, it was very hard to pick just a few projects, but I think these give a real flavour of what you can create once you dive in and give it a go. Please visit here and maybe grab a cup of something to settle down and watch the magic made.

If you are interested in joining my Creating Time Capsules course, there is still time to sign up… class starts on Monday 2nd April and just to let you know, I won’t be running this course again till the end of the summer… All the details are here and if you have any questions, let me know.

So that’s where I am, moving in the right direction… still telling other people’s stories through my lens; their weddings, bumps & births and families growing and so delighted to be now inspiring others to combine their photos and videos into stories of their lives… and there are lots of exciting opportunities on the horizon… more inspiration, gatherings, collaborations and stepping out of my comfort zone again. I’m ready to embrace it all.

I’ve been working on some time capsule films to remember our home, before we move. One of the films is an example in my ecourse Creating Time Capsules, where I show how I edit the photos and video together. One of the video elements I loved in it, was filming the activity around our kitchen table. It’s the hub of our home… a place where we all gather, so I’ve been setting up the camera and just letting it film (mostly during breakfast, as it’s still dark at dinner time here).

It’s a simple idea and it incorporates the idea behind my Creating Time Capsules course… which is to gather memories, however ordinary, put them together in a small film and you’ve locked up those memories for ever.

My boys are growing up and soon they will be busy doing their own thing and not hanging out round the table with us that much… so I have this. As the summer gets closer (please hurry) I’d like to carry on filming us round the table… maybe even as we eat meals in the garden, I can’t imagine that quite yet!.

If you feel inspired by this “around the table” idea, you can try it too… place your camera on a tripod, set to record video and just leave it running. Then, if you like the speeding up action I’ve created here, (it gives the stop-motion effect, without having to take individual photos)… most editing programs offer an option to speed up your footage… go for it…

If you’re interested in joining the next session of Creating Time Capsules, and having me share how I shoot and edit these films and lots more… all the details are here.

{More films from my i love… series.}

Our New York trip was full of wonderful highlights, I still pinch myself that we won a competition to take us there, and the memories of our time still remain strong… especially when I can put all of the photos, video footage and those memories into a time capsule…

{If you’d like to learn how to combine your photos and videos into time capsules just like this one… Please check out the details of Creating Time Capsules where I share everything I know, so you can start making magic of your own. Registration opens today!}

Here’s our walk into Brooklyn…

{Francesca asked what all the dancing is about at the end?… well, we had to wait so long to get a table at the pizza restaurant, the boys came up with their own dances moves! and it kept them warm}

Yesterday my eCourse filled to the brim… yes, it sold out! I can’t quite believe and I’m so grateful to have a wonderful collection of creative spirits go on this journey with me… it’s pretty magic, just like a rainbow.

We are hoping to move house in the next 6 months… I love our home, we’ve been here for over 5 years… it’s the first property we’ve ever owned. Many memories have been made within these walls, good ones and difficult ones, but ultimately I will miss this place terribly – it’s seen our family grow so much. So I’ve been creating a time capsule of our space and some of the things we do here… just the ordinary everyday stuff.

I’ve been gathering photos of parts of the house, just as they are and videos clips of us hanging out and living life…. and I will put them together as part of my eCourse.

If you wanna join in my course, I have just 2 spots left, so don’t delay… you can find all the details here.

This idea of noticing the little things is one of the starting points for creating time capsules my new e-course…. which opens for registration TODAY.

You can find all the details HERE… we are going to combine photos and videos into the stories of your life.

Please come and take a look…

Recently I was having a conversation with someone and reflecting on 2011. It’s ridiculous how I can look back at the year I’ve just had and begin to recall the difficulties or hard times….  perhaps it’s coz I’m British and we have a pre-disposed tendency to moan about things, I start talking about the tough times: the bills, the up & downs of work, the fighting of our boys, the chores, the everyday grey…what ever negative part of the year pops into my head first…. Luckily I said in my head STOP!, and this is what the past couple of years has shown me, lessons learnt through my 365… that there is always something to be grateful for and there is always goodness if you seek it out.

I nearly ran out of time to do this time capsule of 2011 of our family life, (I still am working on my favourite images of other people I’ve photographed, that will follow at some point) Christmas has crept up on me and we have the dream trip of a life time to prepare for… but I had to look back at 2011 through my camera to remember how I saw it…. plain and simple… and notice that OH BOY! there were good times, happiness, sunshine, love, understanding… there were kittens born, adventures and travels, laughter, music, tenderness, boys growing up, fun, whistling, kisses, and the most magical time a bluebell forest….

I’m grateful to have this footage, I’m grateful I have my camera to seek out the special times and record them forever…. we all know life isn’t like this all the time, the daily squabbles between my boys proves that! and somedays I don’t pick up my camera for various reasons, but putting this together makes glad I did pick up on good days and I will keep doing it for as long as I can.

This really is what I’m meant to do…. to capture the connections and the moments I see.

So this time capsule is a fairly personal piece of work, containing footage and photos I wouldn’t normally share… but as I’m starting on a journey of creating time capsules for other people (please contact me if you are interested) and showing & sharing others how I do it (please join my mailing list for details of my upcoming course)…. I thought I’d better share it here…

It was hard to decide what to include (I’ve shot a lot over the course of this year) and just as important… what to leave out. Every image or scene is a memory I want to hold onto and that really is how/WHY I shoot from my heart…

Thanks for being here. x.