Day 366 - Full Circle....THE END!

I can't believe it but this is actually by 366th photo! I have spent 2008 taking a photo a day and today is the end. I wasn't quite sure what to do as my last photo but after talking to my cousin Ben, who has also been doing the project, we decided to take a photo that was similar to the first one we took. Ben's first photo was of sparklers spelling 08 so his last photo was of sparklers spelling 09. My first photo of the year was from last year's new year's eve party. I had been to a Murder Mystery party and someone's costume was a blonde wig and big sunglasses. So for my last ever photo I got my friends who were at mine for new year's eve to pose with their backs to me and glasses on their heads! Not my best photo but it does bring me full circle to the end of Project 365+1. It's been an amazing year of photos which have documented my first year in business as Serendipity Photography. Thank you to all my friends and family who have supported me, encouraged me and commented on my photos!

I have decided not to do another Project 365 in 2009 as I want this to be special to 2008. What I have decided to do is to spend 2009 researching other portrait photographers and artists and look at recreating their styles in my own photography. I'm looking to be inspired in 2009.....watch this space! HAPPY NEW YEAR. 2008 has been great but 2009 is going to be even better. x x

Day 365 - Thank You

It's my friend Beth's birthday today so I went over to hers with my girlfriends to help her celebrate. The run up to Christmas had been so busy that I hadn't managed to catch up with them all properly. Lucy gave me this wonderful card from my goddaughter Amy which had to be my photo for the day! I had taken a photo of the birthday girl but I then opened this card and had to take a photo of this.

Day 364 - Christmas Chocolates

When I was teaching there were always boxes and tins of chocolates and biscuits but this year I have hardly see any! In fact these quality streets were the first I'd had all Christmas! That may explain why I have lost weight this year and why I struggled when I was teaching!

Day 363 - Candle Martini

I've had a brilliant Christmas at home with friends and family but it was good to get back to Sheffield and chill out in my lovely apartment. I got these Martini candles from my friend Michelle so decided to light them and relax before the New Year!

Day 362 - Christmas Wreath

I bought mum and dad a Christmas Wreath which was made by one of the ladies in my BNI group. Jayne and her partner run a Garden Centre and were selling these gorgeous wreaths for Christmas so I thought this would look great on mum and dad's red door.

Day 361 - Boxing Day Orienteering

Bill came over to join us today for our traditional Boxing Day walk. Mum and Dad bought him a compass for his birthday in November so he was under strict instructions to bring it with him so we could show him how to use it! His friends had found it very amusing that his girlfriend's parents had bought him a compass but when you're going out with someone who's parents are keen walkers and in the guide/scout movement you can't expect anything less! We have an orienteering route in our local woods so after lunch we went out for a walk and to teach Bill how to use his compass. He did really well and we ended up at the pub so I was happy!

Day 360 - Family Christmas

Merry Christmas! Christmas Day at home with mum, dad, Fiona, Granny, Michael, Milla and Milla's mum. We started the day off with Fiona waking me up saying "Merry Christmas" in a very silly voice! We then have a tradition of a smoked salmon, bagels and champagne breakfast. What a great way to start Christmas Day! Michael and Milla arrived about 10am and we then spent a great day eating, drinking and opening presents. I think Granny really enjoyed being surrounded by family and it was great to have her with us as she's spent the last few Christmases on her own. This is a definite photo for the family album!

Day 359 - Christmas Eve

This is my lovely friend Caroline and her 3 boys: Malo (5), Nolan (2 1/2) and Oliver (8 months). I met Caroline when she arrived in Luton to teach French at Icknield and we've been great friends ever since. I've been to her wedding, been around for the birth of all her boys and have been welcomed into her family by both her's and Lee's parents. Caro is French and they have a tradition of doing the big Christmas meal and opening of presents on Christmas Eve so for the last 3-4 years I have gone over to theirs to celebrate Christmas with them. Caro and I took the boys out for a drive around Luton to see the Christmas lights and when we got back Father Christmas had been! It was great to watch the boys open their presents and then whilst they played we opened our presents and had an amazing meal cooked by Caroline's parents. We started with Foie Gras and then had Duck with mango and grapefruit which had all been cooked in the juices. Desert was pear tart with chocolate and ice-cream, plus we had cheese....got to have cheese when it's a french meal!

Day 358 - London by Night

I stayed at my sister's last night and spent the day chilling out at hers with her boyfriend before heading into London to meet my parents and sister on London's South Bank. Fiona and Bill had got us all tickets for The Lost and Found Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall as a Christmas present. Bill and I went down a bit early to have a wander around the Christmas Markets on the South Bank, they weren't as impressive as we'd hoped but we did get some crepes to keep us warm! The South Bank is one of my favourite places for photos in London. As it got dark I took a few shots of the river and loved this one with the reflection of the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

Day 357 - Christmas on Carnaby Street

I went into London today to meet my friend Marion for lunch. It was great to catch up with her and then spend some time in London. I went to the Portrait Gallery to see their exhibition of "Portrait Photographer of the Year." I came away quite inspired and with lots of new ideas for more portraits. I then went for a wander through Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and finally to Carnaby Street which had to have the best Christmas decorations in London. I then went to Covent Garden and sat watching the street entertainers before meeting my sister to go out for drinks with her friends.

Day 356 - Christmas Lights in Croxley

I headed back home to mum and dad's today after seeing friends in Luton, St Albans and Kings Langley. As I drove home I had to go past this house which has the most amazing Christmas lights up every year! It's become infamous in Croxley and it's all part of coming home for Christmas. The family who do this raise lots of money for charity...and their electricity bill! It was great to get off the M25, drive through the lanes and into Croxley...home for Christmas..perfect.

Day 355 - Sunset

We had a bit of a slow start this morning after last night's party. As always I stayed at the wonderful Clarkey B&B with a few others who were out. Leanne was a star with cups of tea, bacon butties and ibuprofen on tap! We finally managed to get ourselves up and dressed and popped round to see our friends Claire, Stu and their little girl Georgie. I then had to do some last minute Christmas shopping so we went down to ToysRUs. As we came out of the shop we were greeted with this amazing sunset and I had to take a photo for my photo of the day. Beautiful.

Day 354 - 2 of my best friends.

I headed down south today for Christmas. I had to make sure everything was sorted in Sheffield before I headed down the M1 but I wanted to get down for the Icknield Christmas do. I spent 7 years teaching at Icknield High School in Luton and a lot of my friends still work there so I really wanted to go out with them to catch up before Christmas. It was a great night and brilliant to see everyone again. My friend Caroline came out with us, leaving her mum and husband to look after her 3 boys! It was great to be out with her again, no-one quite takes over the dance floor like Caro! A brilliant way to start my Christmas celebrations down south.

Day 353 - Ginger and Cranberry Fudge

Credit crunch, recession, new business.....all means saving the pennies so this year I decided to have a go at making fudge for friends and family for Christmas. Having lots of diabetics in the family doesn't particularly help but there were plenty of others who I could give fudge too. My friend Dave came round to help so we doubled the quantities and set out to make cranberry and ginger fudge and rum and raisin fudge. We didn't quite expect it to take as long as it did to make and soon got bored of watching & stirring hot sugar but we did and now have lots of fudge to give to friends and family! They'd better like it! Merry Christmas.

Day 352 - BNI Meeting

Every Wednesday morning I get up very early to go to my BNI meeting (Business Network International). We meet from 6:45am - 9am to do business over breakfast. It's a business group which I joined at the start of the year and has been an amazing way for me to network with other business men and women. It's also been a great way for me to get more business for Serendipity and without these meetings there is no way I would have done so well as I have done this year.

In April I was asked to take on one of the leadership roles in our chapter and then in October took on the role of Chapter Director which has been fun and challenging. For our final meeting of 2008 we did a secret santa and we had crackers on the table so it had a festive feel over breakfast and during out meeting. The main reason for getting together is to help each other get more business and every week we all get a 60 second slot to talk about our business and the kind of work that we are looking for. Will, in this photo, is a videographer but has a keen interest in wrestling so for the final meeting of the year he thought he'd do his 60 seconds wearing one of his masks, slightly different from everyone else's paper hats!

Day 351 - Aston Comprehensive

I popped into my old school to catch up with some of my ex-colleagues and drop off the Baby Montage frame for Ali. It was really good to catch up with people and realise that it's nearly been a year since I left teaching...can't quite believe it! When I arrived at school I saw that they had done up the entrance way and some of my photos were being displayed in the foyer! It was really good to see my photos up on the wall for all to see.

Day 350 - Baby Montage

I have been working on my Baby Montages this year and it's an area of Serendipity Photography that I really want to market next year with families. I have been taking photos for a number of families this year and one is for the sister of a friend of mine who I used to teach with at Aston. Ali had asked me to put a few photos, of her niece, into a montage and then get it framed so that she could give it to her sister and brother-in-law for their Christmas present. I went to collect the photo from the framer today and was really pleased with the way it came out. I'm going to get another done for me so that I can show people the type of photos they can get if they book me to take photos of their babies. I'm hoping this is something I can push and see take off in 2009.

Day 349 - Reaching for the bubbles.

I had a job today taking photos for a family that I have got to know over this year. Jon and Adele Wells had asked me to come and take photos of their two girls' dedication. They were having a small ceremony in a restaurant with family and friends. I had taken photos of Phoebe and Francesca earlier in the year so it was lovely to go and take more photos for them. I'm hoping there may be more work which comes from this job as there were a lot of young families there who were showing an interest in having Serendipity Portraits in 2009!

Day 348 - A Christmas Afternoon

I took my goddaughter, Amy, to the Botanical Gardens for a Christmassy afternoon. I wanted to spend some time with her and we decided to go and look at the Christmas lights, meet Father Christmas and have juice and cake; a girls' day out.

The Botanical Gardens had been decked out in lots of Christmas lights. We saw Father Christmas but Amy was too shy to actually meet him so we just watched other children talking to him. We did meet a couple of reindeer and there were a few rides to go on. Amy was particularly taken with the train ride as she found a pink carriage with the number 5 on it..."my favourite colour AND my age." Perfect! We finished off our afternoon by having juice and cake...a tradition I hope to continue. : )

Day 347 - 2 Trees

I wanted to get a photo of my Christmas Trees for my project. I don't just have the one tree though...I have 2! I remember my grandparents having a Christmas tree in the hallway when I was little and I have great memories of it being at the bottom of the stairs and coming down on Christmas morning to all the presents under the tree. I wanted to do the same thing and love my little tree in the hallway and then my larger tree in the lounge. It's all starting to feel very Christmassy. I just need to buy presents to put under the tree now!

Day 346 - Jelly Bean

My friends Mark, Lucy, Kevin and Yo have formed their own jazz band called Jelly Bean and they were playing at The Ivory Bar tonight. They want a few shots of them performing so that they can put them on their website so I went down to take some photos and enjoy a couple of cocktails!