Today I had a mess around with doing self portraits. They are quite tricky to do because of not being behind the camera. I have been looking at the difference between the hot-lights and strobes on Youtube. I currently use a couple of hot-lights with soft-boxes on them but I'm finding that the light that they throw out is quite limited. I think that strobes are the way forward. Our lounge is also a bit small for a photo studio. So far, I think I'm getting adequate results. I need to do more portraits and produce some leaflets/business cards so that I can get a little hobby-business going to help fund my hobby. With the digital photography, the actual running cost is quite low because digital film can be used over and over. Likewise, publishing online allows me to show off my work with very little outlay. It's just the initial investment that costs a fortune.

It's that time of year again. Ellie came home with her school photo which looked like she had been out playing beforehand. Her hair was a mess and because of the way the image was proportioned, she looked quite fat really. So I thought, I can do better than that but I need a decent backdrop. This was the main hurdle because I simply cannot justify spending £100 on a backdrop that may get used once a year and I don't know enough people with school children to make the cost back. I started looking at digital backdrops and found someone who had uploaded his to share. After a bit of tweaking, I think I've got a result that is far superior to that of the school photographer. I'm hoping that the people I do know with schoolchildren will see my results and throw some work my way. I could do with some donations so that I can invest in some studio-strobes which will allow me to get even better results but again, I can't spend out £250 on something that is just a hobby at this time without some help. So, if you know me and don't live too far away, I'd be grateful for any willing models or donations.