In 2014 I resolve to… (by Cheshire Photographer Jane Burkinshaw)

Is it too late to be talking about New Year's resolutions? It usually takes me a few weeks to work out which ones I'm serious about and therefore have a chance of actually keeping for a while. On New Year's Day I'm usually suffering a tad from the night before (if not from the effects of the whole of December) and I vow to cut down on wine consumption and with that goes losing a few pounds and getting fitter. Yeah well, I know in which direction those resolutions quickly go and it's not up! I have spent a few quid on a phone app that measures how far I walk with the dog and I'm cautiously optimistic that I will get a bit fitter that way.

Now that we've passed the mid January mark I've settled on some resolutions that I've had time to think about a bit more and - surprise, surprise - they are photography related all the way! I've made a few business ones and overall they are focused on making a living from the things I really enjoy about photography, but I'm keeping them under my hat for the moment! I can share with you the resolutions I've made regarding my personal photography:

To be in more photographs. I hate pictures of myself and delete most of them before they have a chance of being seen by anyone else. I do not exist in albums or sideshows and this is sad. I also realised that as time passes we become more forgiving and I now quite like pictures of me that I used to hate and see them for what they are. An image of me looking bloated and exhausted after giving birth to Abigail, is actually a lovely shot of me in the first moments of motherhood.

I hated this when it was taken in 2001. I love it now, especially the way Abigail is doing Phones 4 U with her fingers!

So I took my first selfie late last year and posted it on Facebook. No one wrote rude comments, not even my brother, in fact some people were quite complementary. 

My first (and to date only) selfie

I was even more daring when I included in a slideshow a picture of me slumped asleep on Christmas Day.

The only picture of me Christmas 2014… oh dear.

And again, the world didn't stop turning and I wasn't banned from Facebook for offending public decency. I love my family and I love remembering where we've been and the stupid things we've done together. But where are the shots of me hugging them, laughing with them and being hugged back? So watch this space and apologies if I'm not always airbrushed within an inch of my life! And of course there's a chance that knowing I'm going to be photographed more might drive my never quite achieved fitness and weight loss goals!

Get photographs off the computer and into photo books. I suspect we're all guilty of doing nothing with our digital images and I find it a bit frightening if I'm honest. When we are dead and buried will our children know where to find all our photographs in the Cloud or on our hard drives? They won't have heavy, battered albums with yellowed tissue paper separators to leaf through and reminisce about. So I'm resolved to create an annual photo book, no mean task as I went digital in 2001. But it will be well worth it, as I imagine our great grand kids looking through them and asking who is the blond lady who isn't in many pictures?! (Until 2014 that is, of course!)

I've created lots of photo books for clients and recommend Bobs Books for their quality and colour accuracy. The software is quite easy to use and layouts can be easily customised. Delivery is quick, rare problems are resolved quickly and without quibble. They are not the cheapest photo book supplier but that's because they're good. For everyday albums go for their standard quality but if it's for something a bit more special it's well worth paying that bit extra for "photographic quality" paper. Aside from superb print quality the pages lie completely flat so you don't lose part of the image in the book spine.

Photographic quality book from Bobs Books

I was sorely tempted to add a few more resolutions but instead think I'll store them under Projects I Hope To Do In 2014. I've more chance of sticking to a couple of resolutions rather than a long list. Feel free to challenge me and ask how I'm getting on. If I do well it should be obvious on Facebook. And I'd love to hear if you've set yourself any photography related resolutions.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Don't let your favourite photos languish on your hard drive - get 'em out!!

We returned from our summer holiday in Cornwall with hundreds of lovely photos of the beautiful cornish scenery, the kids playing on the beach, surfing in the sea - the usual stuff. I sort of had a plan right from the start of the holiday to do something special with the pictures when we got back, rather than leave them on the computer, never to see the light of day. We don't use albums any more (does anyone?) and we only print a few pictures out every now and again - in fact I think it's almost a year ago since we last did.

I've put lots of photobooks together for clients but never for ourselves, so this time I was determined to. As ever I took photographs every day and almost everywhere we visited and

from time to time I spent a little time in the evening jotting down a few notes about the day's events, anything funny the kids had said or the dog had done!

I was all set up when I got home to put the book together and couldn't wait to get on with it. I used Bobsbooks for the first time as they offered full double page spreads, nice quality binding and a full colour wraparound hard cover. They are not the cheapest around but I think you get what you pay for. I downloaded their software and over the next couple of weeks I did a bit of the book at a time. The software for all the different companies is usually pretty intuitive - each has its little foibles which can be frustrating at times but overall it's drag and drop your image into a standard template, move it around and resize it if you want, add some text and so on.

Well, I don't know about you but I was absolutely delighted with the finished result and was dancing around in excitement when it was delivered. The quality is great, lovely vibrant colours, thick pages and just fab! It's slightly under A4 size and now sits in pride of place on my new cabinet in the family room. Any visitors to the house get it shoved into their hands but I've not had any complaints yet!

So go on - get those pictures off your computer and do something with them. I'm already planning a lot of Christmas presents and had better get started as I'm sure they'll get busy soon, as photo books are becoming increasingly popular and are replacing the traditional photo album. (And Bobsbooks are not paying me - I just think credit should be given where it's due!).

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!