{captured memories} the original me and mine

Family photos mean the absolute world to me. And I'm sure that that is, in part, because I come from a bit of a camera mad family. We take a lot of photos, we have always taken a lot of photos. And I will forever be grateful that so many of my childhood memories are preserved because my mum and dad always thought to get the camera out. Just the other week we went out for the day and took 5 cameras with us, not including phone cameras. If that isn't a family commitment to capturing memories then I really don't know what is.

Some of my favourite old photos are ones of the four of us together through the years... and I'm sure it's no coincidence that I've become obsessed with taking photos of my own little foursome, knowing how many lovely memories are held in photos of my original foursome; my original me and mine.

This photo was taken on New Years Eve/Day of 2008/2009. We had gone away to Center Parcs to celebrate and we had such a fun time. 2008 was my last full year as a Bennett, before getting married in 2009, so I think it's really lovely that we thought to capture this photo of our little gang.

I have no idea why my dad is wearing my mum's hat... I think we should probably blame the alcohol that had been consumed in the evening before we headed out to watch the fireworks on the beach at midnight. I have great memories of what a fun night it was. All us mad Bennetts dancing dancing on the sand, kissing my fiancé at midnight and screaming "We're getting married this year!!!", my brother Matt and I swigging champagne from the bottle and shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR" with random American accents. 

If my kids have half the amazing memories captured through photos that I do, then I'll consider myself to have done a good job.

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an autumn stroll

I kind of feel like a stuck record for saying it, but family photos really do mean the world to me. There is something so incredibly precious and priceless about capturing a moment in time, especially when that moment includes children, who seem to have this tendency to change and grow so fast.

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memories made, memories captured

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record,

photos matter to me a lot;

it's so important to me 

to capture our memories of now,

to look back on in the future.

Time flies past so fast and we don't know what is just around the corner,

we'll only be in this moment once,

and I want to grab it and remember it.

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happiness and capturing us

Family photos mean a lot to me,

to us actually.

And I think anyone who has ever taken part in Me and Mine knows why;

there is something addictive about having yourselves recorded as a family.

Something about the beauty of seeing your family as the world sees you,

together,

a unit,

the embodiment of what love means.

I see photos of us as a four

and I just feel such overwhelming pride,

that that happy, smiling family I see is mine.

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pictures in frames

I kind of feel like,

at this point,

saying "I take a lot of photos"

is kind of stating the obvious.

I am never far from my camera,

and it's extremely rare I go a day without snapping something.

But despite my obsession with capturing our memories,

I am shamefully bad at printing, framing, and otherwise displaying those photos.

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our day in the spotlight

I have always loved photos and the moments in time that they capture.

Having children really awakened a passion for photos

in my bid to record and remember every single one of their quirks and charms.

This year the Me & Mine project was started

and I've noticed my mindset change,

and instead of just recording my beautiful babies,

I've been making more and more attempts to record us as a family.

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being in the memories

I have always taken a lot of photographs

and becoming a mother for the first time 

(shortly after buying a DSLR)

just made that obsession with photo taking even greater.

Mothers grab at memories,

they try to remember every detail of their growing children,

cataloguing every milestone,

desperate to record their babies

as the moments and the time speed by

like sand through their fingers.

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the day that review

I first came across 'The Day That...' at The Baby Show last year;

and was really taken with what a simple and beautiful idea it was.

The idea is that two photographers have photographed the dawn of every single day since mid June in 2005.

You can then pick a photo from the dawn of your own special day.

I think they make for a stunning and unique gift.

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hello canvas review

I adore this photograph of my beautiful boy

and have been meaning to get it put onto a canvas

or to print it and frame it for a long time.

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the clippy london photo bag review

When I got offered the opportunity to review a Clippy bag I couldn't believe my luck.

I genuinely couldn't think of a product that would be a better fit for me to review on my blog.

Clippy offer bags which you customise with your own photographs.

What girl doesn't love a new bag, right?

And as some one who loves photographs

and who takes A LOT of them

it seemed a perfect product.

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