Blog Archives

Value.

29/3/2015

So while sitting down I glanced at the back of my long length heart necklace. It was gifted to me from from my mum about ten months ago and since then I've worn it pretty much every day! it's definitely had its ware!! I tend to love jewellery that is versatile & pretty and having dabbled in jewellery making where I used a mixture of semi precious stones and sterling silver I know the industry mark up & have trouble spending money on items unless I truly really love them. I find accessorise great! I love the eclectic & ever changing contemporary ranges that they offer. Their shops are amazing and I can get lost easily looking at trinkets. Put it this way (for anyone not knowing) Imagine walking into Aladdin's cave! they have cute stylish little earrings, bracelets, bags, rings, scarfs etc. all bright rich colours and trendy metals. For me one of the best bits I think is that when you "buy" they wrap your item in a soft tissue paper with a fancy little sticker holding it all together.. no cello tape in sight. And you know what, I walk away looking forward to getting home to unwrapping my purchase.

Now i feel pretty much bare when I'm not wearing this "heart chain" it's slowly worked its way into one of my wardrobe staples, it's actually begun to become a part of me. How often do you slow down enough to look at something, really look at it. Well I'm sat looking at this necklace hanging around my neck, and it's suddenly aged.. its missing some shiny clear mini crystals on the front of it and when turned over as I look on the back I can see that the silver has started to wear away & where it once was is now a large patch of shiny orange copper colour metal staring right back at me. You can smell the sharp pungent smell from the exposed metal. Have you ever put a coin in your mouth (yes I've done this as a kid) one word "nasty!" So imagine that "metal smell/taste" that's there. My necklace is wayy more hygienic than a random coin tho.. i routinely wash it & most recently with coconut shower gel. I like to keep it fresh!

So as I'm looking at this necklace i have a random thought.. how all of our "new shiny things fade away with time" this necklace was, when bought "shiny & new" now its still shiny but shining with a very different colour.

So moral of an otherwise strange necklace story! I bet your dying to know hey?.. Well, for so many of us, and I'm high up in this list! We are all chasing that "something shiny" But nothing ever lasts forever. So I ask you.. what can actually get better with age? A nice bottle of red wine?. A marriage?.. Or should the message be that all in all.. shiny things fade.

But does that really make them any less shiny? I suppose it depends on the value of something. Or the beauty in the eyes of the beholder more so. And by value I don't mean the price I mean the deeper sense of the word. Something that is valued, that is cherished.

Something that is just "bought" can be thrown aside and doesn't really warrant the same charm as something valued.

So what am I saying? I know that I really want my photography work to be "valued" and to be "cherished" I want my clients to have something special, to give them a bit more.. Something that they look forward to opening & viewing. Something that leaves a lasting impression of love and quality.. Something that even with time, they will cherish the same. Something Ageless maybe.

One of the most important things to know is what "you want" for then you have your aim. Here's to every persons individual aim in 2015. Let it be full of value.

YJ X

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Something Special.

25/3/2015

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I always believed that I was destined for something special. Not Cinderella special, more like "Indiana Jones" with a splash of "Free Willy". I've got a big heart and a love of animals, adventure and freedom. The freedom to just be my own person.

What I found growing up was that I was more drawn to rock jumping with my friends & fires on the beach than what was expected from me at my school institution.

I've gone on to study different subjects at collage from jewellery making, basic counselling skills, introduction to first line management, Advanced Massage techniques, sauna & steam, shiatsu, acupressure, Indian head massage, nutrition, anatomy & physiology, make up application, lash & brow tint & shape, lash perm, lash extensions, business, health & safety, facials, TA level 2. I've done training for my role as support worker, dementia, diabetes, epilepsy, palliative care, positive response, Sense, to name a few.

And you know what I hate, I'll let you in on a secret gripe of mine... The phrase "Jack of all trades" it's like implying that society frowns on people who don't just choose one subject to master for the rest of their lives! I mean great! Hats off to you, if you went to school studied hard and then decided on becoming a doctor, lawyer, vet or whatever you decided.. I mean that takes a special type of person to know exactly what they want to do at 16 for the rest of their lives right?..

Can't we just celebrate the "Jacks" because isn't life about gaining different varied skills to make you a well rounded individual? Celebrate people who haven't got it together at 16 and who don't know what they want to do for the next 50 yrs. Shouldn't we teach value. "Value you" even if you haven't got all the answers right now, or even in the next 5yrs. Value what you have and make it work. After all isn't variety the "actual spice of life" and tell me who makes the rules anyway?.. That's up to you.

YJ

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Windy but worth it!..

9/3/2015

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Last Saturday I had a photo shoot, it was forecast as a heat wave saying that we'd get weather hotter than Cyprus! I woke up at the crack of dawn off a sleep over shift a house in Mold to gale force winds.. so i decided to wait it out & see how the weather fared later on. I sent a text to Sandra checking that they were happy to go ahead with the shoot & they were! Well we got some incredible images I'm "SO" happy she said yes! :)

/capturing motion from the wind in her hair/

/Greenfield Valley YJ/

usually you wouldn't pose a model in direct sunlight, but i love the natural relaxed energy of this image. In the other image you can see the sun coming through the trees behind her.