Big Black House Design Company

you're like me, walking into Maxine's workspace is like walking into a sweet shop, it's a feast for the eyes. The orange flames of the forge are glowing, the worn wooden handles of tools are stacked neatly in boxes, and the anvil centrepiece catches the afternoon sun. 

I was taking photos for a feature about Maxine and her work for the Christmas edition of WI Life. She's a blacksmith, based not too far away from Hebden Bridge, she predominately makes garden furniture and sculptures. Watching her work is meditative. The sounds of the forge as the steel rods hit the flames, and then the metallic smell fills the air as Maxine shapes it on the anvil.

If you'd like to see more of Maxine's work, you can look at her website here, she has a few shows coming up this year too and you can check the dates out on her site.

There's a short film here if you'd like to feel the forge and watch Maxine at work!

Emily, Mala & the Snow

I'm writing this just as the clouds have darkened, and the snow is settling in the branches on the trees outside the window.  We'd been waiting for the snow to fall for this little photo story, and a couple of weekends ago, we got to spend some time with these two sisters.  Sledges in tow, we climbed the hill with Emily & Mala.  They didn't need any encouragement to race around in the white stuff!  For us, it's not just about taking photographs on warm sunny days, although we do like that too, but we're all too happy to go out and play on chilly snowy days to capture your photo stories.  Especially when there is a hot chocolate with marshmallows at the end!

Happy Birthday Eddie!

Today is Eddie's birthday, and we just wanted to celebrate this on our little blog!  I first met Eddie last summer.  His parents had contacted me to document a year in their family life, and to capture Eddie as his lovely little character developed.  From our first shoot, I was really taken with this little man - his big beaming smile, his chortles, his twirly toes....

And then came an autumn shoot in the woods.  Eddie was togged up for the occasion with his little flat cap and we had beautiful light streaming through the trees.  He was a bit more mobile on this shoot, and looking like he wanted to take his first steps!

At the beginning of this year we had our third shoot over here in Hebden Bridge.  Eddie had started tootling around a little bit and enjoyed chasing those pigeons...

And our last shoot was a really special one with three generations of family, with Donna's parents who had come over from New Zealand.  We went to Whitby on a typically blustery seaside day.  It hit me how much Eddie had changed over the year we had been taking photos of him, and how important it is to us to document family life.  Eddie was racing around on the sand, exploring rock pools, having a breather from the wind at the beach huts...

Happy birthday Eddie, it's been an absolute joy getting to know you!

If you'd be interested in us documenting your family life, we'd love to chat with you.