Photo Blog Round-up: The SNAP Finalists

After being inspired by the magnificent finalists when judging the SNAP! Category for the BiB Awards (yes, I used a spreadsheet, as they pointed out), I decided that this month, I would highlight a post from each of their blogs to inspire you. And if you are still feeling that you need more inspiration, head over to I Carried A Watermelon for the Blog Carnival that I hosted earlier this month on the subject of photo stories.

First up and in no particular order, snaps go to A Mummy Too for her post, Caring for Small Kids When You’re Ill. Aside from being full of insights (I actually pointed my currently ill husband in the direction of this post), I love the fact that she went to the trouble to bake piggy cupcakes, put cute little faces on them, and make one of the faces look ill to illustrate her blog post. That’s dedication.

The Ar-Blog, run by Becky, is a great place to stop for lovely photography and an interesting read. Recently, Becky took her big Weasley jumper and her baby to the Harry Potter Experience in a post entitled Jump. When I mentioned to my husband that I’d like to go see it, I was turned down – despite the fact that I went to the Dr Who Experience with him, I might add. Well, thanks to Becky, I feel like I’ve been there!

Next up is Chloe Witters, who documented something that’s been at the top of everyone’s “Must See” list lately: the Torch Relay! I was really excited when the torch practically ran past my door. Unfortunately, I had a very clingy, ill baby who just wanted to hold onto mommy and didn’t care about no stinkin’ torch, so I didn’t take the photos. James did. From looking at them, I must question whether he’s actually ever used a camera before. Lots of photos of the back of my head. So, I’ll have to live vicariously through Chloe’s post called Arlo and the Olympic Torch Relay and perhaps just superimpose my daughter’s head on Arlo’s and pretend they are our photos.

I love this post called The Best Kind of Toy by Lucy from Dear Beautiful Boy, mostly because it resonates with something I’ve been thinking lately: your child’s favourite toy isn’t necessarily the expensive one you bought at the toyshop. My daughter’s current favourite toy is a pirate magnet with stringy legs that I bought at the Jamaica Inn. Who knew? So enjoy Lucy’s nicely illustrated post about the delights of an F1 tire.

Not too long ago, I decided to give knitting a go. I got all the kit: needles in various materials, lengths, and thicknesses; yarn woven in every colour of a jumbo pack of Crayolas; books telling me how to knit everything from a jumper to a g-string. So one day I sat down to try it all out. Hated it. I had to unravel my simple winter scarf about 500 times. Eventually, I gave up and gifted all the kit to my Norwegian friend who is a religious knitter. So I was really impressed when I went onto Debbie’s blog, My So Called Life and Other Lies, and saw her post, Applied Yarn, in which she not only knits a hat, but also made the yarn. Debbie is a bit of a crafting goddess, so it’s always worth looking at her site for craft ideas (or just to craft vicariously through her). Also, Debbie is currently celebrating Ramadan, which can’t be easy in this heat, so why don’t you pop onto this post and wish her luck.

It’s taken me ages to choose which post to highlight from Sticky Fingers. I got lost in reading the blog – what a fantastic writer! But I also absolutely LOVE her passion for photography and the way she really encourages others to take photos, too. The post I chose is from her Photo Gallery series, focusing on things that happen everyday. Some of my shoots of my daughter just being herself are some of my favourites that I’ve done. Also, one of my resolutions for my blog is that I’m going to start using my iPhone more for taking photos (especially after the talk I gave at BritMums Live!). Thank you, Tara!

Another fantastic blog (well, they all are really!), The Boy and Me is packed full of interesting and informative posts. This idea in The Boy…Aged 3 is a great way to use words and pictures to freeze your child and their favourite things in time. I am sooooo going to do this with Baby. They change so quickly. I find I’m already forgetting things from just a few months ago. In fact, I’m going to go home and do this RIGHT NOW.

Okay, I’m back. Last in the round up is the winner of this year’s Snap! Category, Emily from The Start-Up Wife. Another idea that I might borrow (read: steal) is her sweet series called It’s the Little Things. Because it really is. No matter how busy or stressed I get, I’ll go home and hold Baby or see one of her toys shoved somewhere it isn’t supposed to be, and I’ll know that all is right in the world.

Congratulations again to all of the finalists! It was such a difficult category to judge. Your blogs are full of great ideas for using photography and I, for one, felt really inspired after looking through them all.

Please add your own photography posts to the Linky below

About Julia Boggio

Julia Boggio is a professional photographer (www.juliaboggiostudios.com) and columnist for Photo Professional magazine. In 2010 and 2011, Julia won Entrepreneur of the Year in the Merton Business Awards as well as the You & Your Wedding Bride's Choice award in 2010. Her own mummy blog, www.icarriedawatermelon.co.uk, features images she has taken of her daughter and stories of becoming a mum while maintaining a successful business. Julia is also well-known across the globe for recreating the dance from Dirty Dancing at her wedding, the video of which went viral on You Tube and landed her in the arms of Patrick Swayze on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She will be joining us at BritMums Live! to talk about how to improve your photography for your blog. You won’t want to miss it!