When you have an unexpected amazing week
I can't lie, on Monday this week I was up a height with nerves, the diary had scheduled my first set of triplets on Wednesday. But also a cake smash on Monday and a Baby Shower for Expectant Parents
on Tuesday evening, AND as Wednesday was the 21st it was results day for the Image of the Month with the Guild of Photographers.
Monday's Cake Smash was fab, the little lady's parents don't have her on social media which is why you've not seen any, but its safe to say we did laugh! She was throwing the vintage silver serving spoons about, and LOVED her splash in the tin bath.
Tuesday evening was the first Baby Shower format Expectant Parents event at Evan's Bistro. We got our familiar warm welcome from the team there and the food on the buffet was just brilliant. We had tables arranged in due dates so parents could meet other parents due at the same time, and our lovely local businesses were on hand with all their services relating to pregnancy, birth, and beyond. It was a really lovely informal evening, where new friendships were made and new activities to do with bump and baby discovered for the mums and the dads! And Evan's snug for the kids proved a hit with the toddlers that accompanied their parents.
So exhausted but filled with joy that the event had been successful it was time to get my head into triplet shoot space!!
Wednesday morning and after not much sleep it was triplet shoot day!! Initially I had asked my mentor to come and help on the shoot but she took poorly the day before (increase panic!) but my lovely friend Leeoffered to come and be an extra pair of hands to help manage the 30 fingers and toes!! I think she secretly LOVED it!!
I had planned about eight different shots, with the reality that if I got one shot of three settled babies I would be happy. The triplets were conceived naturally, and are non identical. They came at 34 weeks and were 13 days old in their shoot, all weighing over 4.5 pounds but less that 5lbs. In all shots together they are in birth order of Master O, Miss E, and Master H. Their parents though are so chilled out and have really embraced the gift they have been sent. They just let us get on with it, and that chilled nature is definitely reflected in how fantastic their babies were, and the whole shoot was completed between feeds!! For all of them!!
The technical issues of the shoot were, lighting three faces correctly and evenly, symmetry, and a level eye line. As aswell as thinking about the technical stuff, Ive three babies to wrap, and 30 fingers and toes to manage, aswell as making sure I can see all their chins (ie their chins haven't dropped too far onto their chests), and then managing the different lengths of them and shapes of head. There was ALOT to think about!
The final shot of the shoot was my most ambitious shot - three babies and a prop! But the little superstars only went and did it!! Introducing the prop meant thinking about the shadow on the whole shot not just the faces, being different lengths getting them evenly lit was a real challenge, they were snug and there was significant 'small adjustments' made to heights and angles to get this one as I wanted it.
So having done all but one shot (which I forgot to do of their feet!) we got packed up and let them get on with their next feed and rest of their day. When I came out I think the adrenaline just ran out through my toes..... I felt exhausted!! I don't think I realised I was so wound up about managing three babies on my own! So Lee and I went and had some well deserved lunch. Lunch time meant one other thing - it was time for the Image of the Month results to come out. Now I had a tricky month in Feb and I was less than confident about any of my entries. I hadn't been in the right head space when I entered them in and felt that I was in for a disappointing month, but I knew why. So whilst walking to the cafe for lunch I was trying to log into the results site and managed to mis-spell my password enough times to get myself locked out for an hour!! Frustrating, but it meant I could just enjoy my lunch and reflect that I had just successfully completely my first set of triplets!!!
So there we are munching away, reflecting on the amazing morning, and I notice Ive been tagged in a post by the Guild. Immediately tap on it, taken to the album of Gold and Silver awardsfor the month - and there is my image........ SILVER
Que dropping phone and blubbing like a baby............ given how badly I thought I had done I just could not believe it. AND what made me even happier is that this little lady is a rainbow baby, I met her big sister through my volunteer work with Remember My Baby, so I felt all that much happier for her parents to have such a lovely new memory. A SILVER!!!! I then learnt that the Guild had had just short of 1500 entries across all the genres this month and 84 were in the Gold and Silver category! Unbelievable..... So later on when my feet did touch the ground and I passed my locked out period I discovered I'd achieved four bronzes aswell!! No FAKE news here!!! What a day!!!!!
You don't get many amazing weeks like that, and I really do appreciate it, in fact will reflect and ride off the amazing vibe and the confidence it has given me for some time yet! Have I ever mentioned I love my job..... he he he Tina
