There and back again

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There and back again

So my last post was a bit traumatic. I wrote it, I lived it and I never want to revisit it. A few months on and I am much stronger. Life is still challenging as I am doing dialysis four times a day and sometimes its painful, sometimes its gruelling and sometimes its just over with no fuss. Fortunately there is a bit of light in sight. I am going to the overnight machine, which will give me my days back. I cannot wait, as I literally feel tethered to the house at the moment. They are also changing the fluid. Apparently it is less acidic and so will reduce the pain quite significantly, I am genuinely really excited about this new fluid.

After I started the dialysis, my body went into shock and my hb fell through the floor, because of this and because my weight was so low they decided I would not be strong enough to go through a transplant. So, 4 months ago I was suspended from the list. I was absolutely devastated about this. Transplant is my goal, my lifeline. So to be taken off was a blow, (even though I knew they were right.) Three weeks ago I thought they were going to let me back on the list. The meeting was scheduled to discuss my case and my consultant (who had to make sure I was strong enough) told me that he was sure I would be put back on. But I got the call and they told me that because I had been so poorly I still was not strong enough for the operation. So, I needed a bit of extra time and I needed to put on at least 2 kilos. I hadn’t put any weight on in 6 weeks. So for me this seemed like an impossible task. But, three weeks on and I am half a kilo away from my goal. I cannot imagine how I am going to feel when they put me back on the list. Elated springs to mind.

I have continued to work as much as I can. Shoots are still a way off. I get tired so quickly and shoots require such a continued burst of energy, which I just don’t have. I can though work on my digital backdrops on photoshop. I sold one to a photographer I really admire last week and I was chuffed to bits. I am also still doing my stock work. The two combined aren’t bringing me in a wage, but its enough to pay a few little bills and buy Darren a guinness every now and then. Plus, its kept up my skills in photoshop which would have been quickly lost had I not been regularly working in photoshop.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AuraDigitalBackdrops/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Digital Backdrop, fluffy sheepskin and teddies

Above is one of my backdrops and here is the backdrop with my niece composited into the image…

 

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Digital Backdrop, fluffy sheepskin and teddies

 

The one below is one of my most popular backdrops at the moment.

 

Digital backdrop, wicker basket and white fairy lights

I really hope that my next blog is even more positive and you never know that transplant call might be just round that corner. I don’t think there will be any stopping me then. I am going to grab life and celebrate everything. I am as before so grateful to the people in my life that have got me through this time. Their support means everything to me and it will not be forgotten.

 

Digital Backdrops, on Etsy.

Digital Backdrops – Link to my etsy shop –  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AuraDigitalBackdrops?ref=hdr_shop_menu

I’ve added more digital backdrops to my Etsy shop. One of my clients wanted a Christmas image with fairy lights. A simple request, but it took me a little while to get right. My studio lights are brighter than the fairy lights and so I couldn’t get the lights to show on camera. The image was so bright, so you couldn’t see the fairy lights at all. I realised, after some thinking that I needed to use my continuous light and a reflector. It worked well. I just had to make sure I was back as far as I could go, zoomed in, on my widest aperture and voila I could see the fairy lights! I’ve had fun thinking of ideas and creating backdrops with the fairy lights. I have also already used the fairy lights backdrop (from the bottom image) as a background on some of my sledge shots.

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Christmas Present digital Backdrop
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Christmas Present digital backdrop.

Christmas Present Backdrop – With baby composited into the shot. The backdrop for sale on etsy, has an overlay (the front of the box) so that you can correctly position baby. The backdrops are ready to buy as an instant download through my etsy shop.

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Digital Backdrop. Fairy lights with red baubles.

6 month old Baby Photo Shoot

This 6 month old baby photo shoot with Ava, was a joy to do. Ava’s big sister 3 year old Amy joined in too and we got lovely photos of the both of them. 6 months is such a lovely age, babies are very expressive and Ava was so smiley! She even woke up smiling. I must have done close to 500 baby shoots and you don’t see that very often. Ava was just starting to sit, although she was a bit wobbly. So Ava’s Mum used her hand to prop her up a few times. I was then able to photoshop Helen’s hand out of the picture. We did images on Ava’s back and tummy and also in a prop. Ava didn’t like staying on her back for long, so I had to be quick! I’ve been told babies can concentrate for a minute for every month, so at 6 months babies can concentrate for 6 minutes. There are lots of breaks and I’ve got quite proficient at reading baby cues. So I generally know when they’ve had enough. The shoot normally lasts an hour (with lots of breaks) and I can get quite a few different pictures in that time.

I normally find 3 year olds the most difficult to photograph. They are at an age where they are independent and it’s difficult to get them to be in a picture if they don’t want to do it. They have also found their freedom, so understandably don’t want to sit still. But Amy was great, such a lovely big sister and we were able to achieve quite a lot. This was a lovely 6 month old baby photo shoot, it is usually one of my favourites and this shoot was no exception!

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So smiley! and just adorable. 6 month old babies like grabbing their hands at this stage and I love being able to capture this.



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Both Ava and Amy’s first teddies are in this picture. I love it when parents bring items that are sentimental and we are able to incorporate them in the shoot.

 

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Etsy Shop Digital Backdrops

Here are the digital backdrops I’ve created over the last month. I’ve used a few for myself, for my own galleries, and I’m sure I will be using the red sledge Christmas backdrops very soon! (My Christmas Shoots start in September.) I’m updating and adding to my Etsy shop each week, and I’m really enjoying the process.

I started doing the digital backdrops after one of my newborn shoots. My clients desperately wanted a certain setup, which I said was of course no problem. It wasn’t a complicated set up. The first hour of the shoot was a breeze and the newborn slept like a dream. We did the beanbag pictures, which all went smoothly. The beanbag pictures are flow posing the baby on their back, side and tummy and then we did the parent and baby images. For what ever reason, it could have been wind! she woke up and didn’t want to do any more pictures. But I hadn’t done the setup the clients wanted! I knew we’d already got great images in the first half of the session and I didn’t want to upset or distress the baby in any way. So we called it a day. After the shoot I photographed the setup without the baby and then was able to composite an image (from one of the earlier beanbag shots) When the parents saw the setup they bought the picture and were very happy. My brain then started to whirl, if for whatever reason this happened again, I could just composite the baby from the beanbag into a prop shot. It’s been fun creating digital backdrops, and I have many more ideas!

 https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AuraDigitalBackdrops?ref=hdr_shop_menu

white background and brown long bowl
Digital backdrop, Newborn dark wooden bowl
red sledge 1
Digital Backdrop, Red sledge, snowy background.
red sledge with teddy
Digital backdrop, red sledge with teddy

 

red sledge 1 with baby
Example of what the digital backdrop can look like… composited baby onto the red sledge.

 

red sledge with teddy and baby
Example of what the digital backdrop can look like… composited baby on the sledge with the teddy behind

 

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