Our Summer | Lifestyle Documentary Photography in Staffordshire and Beyond!

4 minute read

Our Summer Break in Photographs - My Photo-a-Day Mini Project

I had a busy summer coming up as the kids were due to finish school for their holidays.  Weddings and family bookings were filling up my schedule and I knew that I'd have to commit a certain amount of time to preparing, shooting and editing (you know, "work"!).  At the same time, I love the school holidays as I get to spend time with my kids doing things that we don't get around to in school weeks.  We can go to bed later, get up a bit later, the weather is better (well, marginally...) and we don't have as many commitments or appointments.  Freedom!!

So, to make sure that I valued the summer break and didn't let it skip by in a blink, I decided to document it with a photo-a-day project that I would post every day on Instagram.  Let's face it, I'd pretty much be taking photographs every day anyway, so it didn't seem that big a demand.  I struggled with editing and posting them fast enough towards the end of the summer (2 weddings in 3 days may be the reason for that!), but I completed the project and I can now look back on our summer and remember something about every day.  

Day 1 - Library visit

Day 1 - Library visit

Day 2 - An evening in Leek

Day 2 - An evening in Leek

Day 3 - Dodging the rain in Brampton Park

Day 3 - Dodging the rain in Brampton Park

Day 4 - The Princess and The Frog

Day 4 - The Princess and The Frog

Day 5 - Family time at the pub

Day 5 - Family time at the pub

Day 6 - All day wedding photos, one of my favourite things to do

Day 6 - All day wedding photos, one of my favourite things to do

Day 7 - Pondering at Nana's

Day 7 - Pondering at Nana's

Day 8 - Back at the library

Day 8 - Back at the library

Day 9 - Visiting Great-Nanny

Day 9 - Visiting Great-Nanny

Day 10 - The Saxon Horde at the Potteries Museum

Day 10 - The Saxon Horde at the Potteries Museum

Day 11 - Checking out the view from my parents'

Day 11 - Checking out the view from my parents'

Day 12 - Back at work on a beautiful sunny wedding day

Day 12 - Back at work on a beautiful sunny wedding day

Day 13 - The usual Saturday morning at parkrun

Day 13 - The usual Saturday morning at parkrun

Day 14 - Gooseberry sorting with the grandparents

Day 14 - Gooseberry sorting with the grandparents

Day 15 - Quick portrait of Jorja on a catch-up with work day

Day 15 - Quick portrait of Jorja on a catch-up with work day

Day 16 - Dilhorne Rec

Day 16 - Dilhorne Rec

Day 17 - Baking

Day 17 - Baking

Day 18 - Just Kidding

Day 18 - Just Kidding

Day 19 - Best friends

Day 19 - Best friends

Day 20 - Beautiful evening skies

Day 20 - Beautiful evening skies

Day 21 - Lavender picking at Shropshire Lavender

Day 21 - Lavender picking at Shropshire Lavender

Day 22 - Dex's last portrait as a 4 year-old

Day 22 - Dex's last portrait as a 4 year-old

Day 23 - Happy Birthday Dexter!

Day 23 - Happy Birthday Dexter!

Day 24 - She reminds me of me

Day 24 - She reminds me of me

Day 25 - Hair face on the bouncy slide

Day 25 - Hair face on the bouncy slide

Day 26 - Playing with cars

Day 26 - Playing with cars

Day 27 - Visiting friends  and finding nature treasure in Wales

Day 27 - Visiting friends  and finding nature treasure in Wales

Day 28 - Walking in Wales

Day 28 - Walking in Wales

Day 29 - Drayton Manor theme park

Day 29 - Drayton Manor theme park

Day 30 - Harvesting weird and wonderful carrots

Day 30 - Harvesting weird and wonderful carrots

Day 31 - 18th birthday gathering

Day 31 - 18th birthday gathering

Day 32 - DS play

Day 32 - DS play

Day 33 - Shopping for new school shoes

Day 33 - Shopping for new school shoes

Day 34 - Glitter tattoos at a birthday party

Day 34 - Glitter tattoos at a birthday party

Day 35 - Family portrait fails on our 10th wedding anniversary

Day 35 - Family portrait fails on our 10th wedding anniversary

Day 36 - Library book haul

Day 36 - Library book haul

Day 37 - Disgruntled senorita

Day 37 - Disgruntled senorita

Day 38 - The end of the rainbow

Day 38 - The end of the rainbow

Day 39 - Touching the sky at the top of Thorpe Cloud

Day 39 - Touching the sky at the top of Thorpe Cloud

Day 40 - Mr Wilson's Second Line at The Big Feast in Stoke

Day 40 - Mr Wilson's Second Line at The Big Feast in Stoke

Day 41 - Organ player at my next wedding

Day 41 - Organ player at my next wedding

Day 42 - My niece's baptism

Day 42 - My niece's baptism

Day 43 - Srumptious looking wedding cake

Day 43 - Srumptious looking wedding cake

Day 44 - Mario

Day 44 - Mario

Day 45 - Tutbury Castle

Day 45 - Tutbury Castle

Day 46 - I'm Batman

Day 46 - I'm Batman

Day 47 - New haircut ready for school

Day 47 - New haircut ready for school

Day 48 - Creating Lily the Hare at the Grand Cross Fayre

Day 48 - Creating Lily the Hare at the Grand Cross Fayre

Day 49 - Birthday party bouncing

Day 49 - Birthday party bouncing

Day 50 - Map reading and adventure planning

Day 50 - Map reading and adventure planning

Now there's an element of normality in the house with the kids back at school.  Peace has descended for a few hours a day, though I barely tick anything on my 'to-do' list before it's time to collect them.  Looking forward to next summer already!

You can follow me on Instagram @jenharpers to see what I'm up to.  I always post fairly regularly on there.  Or sign up to get an email when I post on my blog at the top right of this page.