Suzi Garlick
Holding Onto The Light Of Tiree

I’ve just come back from a week on this magical Scottish island and I just want to hold onto the sunshine, the surf and the stillness for a little while longer. I don’t want the glow to fade just yet.

Holding Onto The Light Of Tiree
Training, Filming
Suzi Garlick
Skies In My Pocket

The whole day was so worthwhile and I’ve come away re-energised with my filmmaking, full of ideas and plans. Defintely a five star day, set in the wonderful surroundings of Hebden Bridge.

Skies In My Pocket
Suzi Garlick
The Unthanks
The Unthanks
Suzi Garlick
The Studio Fire
The Studio Fire
Personal, Homepage
Suzi Garlick
Half The Story
Half The Story

Portrait

Stories Of The Everyday - Colour

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We’ve had such a lovely time looking through the photos for our monthly Stories Of The Everyday theme. I think we chose a good month in May for it to be COLOUR with all that spring in the air and in our steps. So firstly, thanks for joining in. We love putting these monthly compilations together. At the end of the blog, we’ll be talking about our June theme - we have been really looking forward to this one!

But first, let’s bathe in all these glorious colours!

We hope you feel radiant and bright after the blast of all those spring rainbow colours ! So our June theme is something we’ve been excited about since we first thought about these monthly themes, and it seems like the right time to launch it in June. It’s all about A Sense Of Place. Whether it’s a landscape, a favourite view, a family home, a walk you do every day, a drive over moors, the smell of the sea and the wind in your hair. We want to talk about, and show photos of those places that get under our skin, that make us tingle when we talk about them, that feel so deeply ingrained and entwined with what makes us who we are.

Are you in? We’d love to see your photos and read your stories. We’ll share them all at the end of this month, just hashtag your photos #storiesoftheeveryday_place. See you next month!

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Stories Of The Everyday - Growth

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When we announced March’s Stories Of The Everyday theme as GROWTH, it seemed pertinent to us, as Olive was in the full throes of teething. With those bright red cheeks, grizzles, and her constantly wanting to put anything on those gums to give a little relief. And as March waned, a small peak of tooth emerged. A bright white shard that we keep getting glimpses of with her big smile, or through wide mouthed cries as it pushes just a bit further. These themes are here to be interpreted just as you like. Maybe it was the first signs of spring peeping through that inspired you to press the shutter, or your own personal journey, a project you’re working on, or maybe the littles in your life you wanted to capture for GROWTH. We’ve put together a selection below, a cross section of some of your lovely posts.

And if you’d like to join us for April, the theme is WONDER. Just use the hashtag #storiesoftheeveryday_wonder, it would be nice to see you there. And if you think someone else would like to join in, do let them know!

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Where do you Keep Your Photographs?

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Where do you keep your photographs Sarah Mason Photography

When I lived in London, I probably didn’t visit home as much as I should have done, but when I did, there were a few things I could always rely on. The temperature dropping by a few degrees whilst travelling up the M1, my sister moving more stuff into my old room (the slow take over), and a roast dinner on the Sunday before I set off back down south. And then another routine started on one of these visits.  After the plates were cleared, washed and dried, Mum would open the dresser and out came the old family photos. Kept in a 70’s Quality Street tin, I still love the sound of the lid being lifted, and the rustle of the photo packets inside, like a lucky dip, which era were we going to pick out first? Will it be the 80’s Franki Says T-Shirts phase, holidays on windy Scottish beaches, building dens in the woods, or would we go further back to when Mum and Dad were growing up?

Over the years, the photos have been even more mixed up, which adds to the surprise element of this little ritual. All the ‘best’ photos have made it into frames on the walls, or displayed on bookshelves and the mantlepiece. But it’s the snap shots in the tin I love the most. Not technically perfect in anyway, but just shots of us on location in places we visited, and almost always looking straight at the camera. Mum had a terrible habit of cutting Dad’s head off in the frame when she was the designated photographer, and there are a collection of these shots too, like little gems amongst the muddle of photos. Mum always has the tin on her knee and passes us the photos. I can always tell when she’s picked up one of the ‘where’s Dad’s head?!’ shots, as her face scrunches up and she lets out a laugh! It’s not even about the photos maybe, it’s about these predictable, yet cosy moments that bring us together as a family.

I know so many of us say how much we should print our photos, and it sometimes takes a bit of effort to do this. We have just had some photos printed and we’re going to be going to our framers soon to get the first images of me Suze and Olive on our walls. And for all the other shots we’ve taken over the past 7 months, we’re going to create albums and print out a bunch of 6x4s. We’re just going to print them so we have something tangible. The thought of Olive sitting there with an old tin on her knee passing them around to her family is such a strange thought right now, but this is why we want to do it. For us to enjoy them now, but to provide those moments in the future where she can just stop for a while and take a look at them with her loved ones.

On one of our visits a couple of years ago, me and Suzi wondered if we could make our own photos wallet, so our families can take away this tangible product from their shoot. We launched our photo wallet last year, we love it so much. It’s a trip down nostalgic lane, for those of us who grew up on taking our films in to be developed, but also provides that tactile product for a family to hold. Maybe some of them will make it into frames, or maybe they’ll stay in their wallet to be looked at over the years.

Do you have a place where you keep your printed photos? Are there any more Quality Street tins out there stuffed with photos? We’d love to hear where you keep them, and how you display them.

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Not wanting to be outdone, Dad showed Suzi a few of his favourite photos he’s taken of trees over the years.

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As it’s Sunday, hows about getting those photos out and taking a look together after lunch, or maybe making a promise to yourselves to print a few in the next few weeks?

Here’s a blog post you might like, Don’t Let Your Images Grow Up To Be Jegs, written by Jonas Peterson

We’ve created a Pinterest board with a few ideas on ways to display your photos in your home.

And if you’d like to see more about our portrait packages and our photo wallet, here’s a link to that page.

Sarah Mason Photography Family Photography



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