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!