This is a great little Polaroid camera if you simply want something you can point and shoot with and not worry too much about focusing or lighting. Whilst it’s quite a big hunk of plastic to carry around, I love the way it folds up and the balance of the thing in my hands – it’s a pleasure to use!

You can watch my video here for all the deets but I wanted to use this space to show some of the photos I have taken with it to demonstrate what this humble beast is capable of:

And finally – and this is a pretty scary photo, so apologies – this is the self portrait you saw me take if you watched the video.

I’ve ensured it stayed as true to what came out of the camera as possible – the yellow line about a centimetre from the bottom of the image; that’s the ‘edgecut’ – hardly noticeable I’m sure you’ll agree. This is Softone film and you can see it’s VERY soft and the colours are pretty muted. I think it should produce better results in lots of natural light (and no flash). I’ll keep you posted!

Wow. I love what Trey Ratcliff has to say in this video.

It was in my stack of videos to watch for ages, but to be honest the thumbnail image didn’t really appeal so I kept skipping past it! I’m so glad I didn’t let the HDR sunset and woman’s arse put me off though – the content is EXCELLENT. I promise.

If I had to quickly sum up what he’s saying to try and persuade you to watch it (please watch it) it would be something along the lines of:

• Fear and hiding away is demotivating
• Aim to project yourself beyond your ‘peer bubble’
• Open yourself up and and share what you do
• If you make yourself vulnerable, awesome stuff will flow into your life and everything will feel simple.

The video is an hour long but the main speach is only half of this – the rest is Q&As (but they are good too).

I love this time of year – when you get to see little signs that winter might finally be thinking about finishing. Today, in amongst the wintry berries and christmassy robins I spotted catkins AND snowdrops. Yay!

All taken this afternoon with my Canon 5D MkII and 135mm f/2.0 lens

Please note: I promise to stop banging on about this soon.

I have a new love in my life. It’s not something I thought I would ever be comfortable with or confident enough to do myself – not in a million years, somehow though I have found myself vlogging and am totally smitten with video.

For a while now I have been seriously addicted to watching videos. People are basically awesome and couple this with my innate nosiness and the fact I can easily access YouTube on my computer, TV or phone – it really is the most perfect way to while away the time.

‘Traditional’ TV is now (at best) in second place in our house these days. We’ve cancelled a lot of the satellite channels we were paying for and are using the savings to increase our broadband limit – that’s how much of an addiction it’s become!

So far I have just done vlog-type videos – straight to camera and virtually no editing. This has been a way of dipping my toe in the water and seeing if I like it. I love it!

It’s like… if all the things I’m passionate about and that interest me were put into a big Venn-diagram, video would be the bit in the middle that is encompasses everything. I think that’s why it feels so exciting!

I talked earlier in the month about my word for the year; STRIVE. This is something I want to strive for.

Here’s a flavour of what I am (more often than not) glued to on YouTube – any recommendations gratefully received!

• FleurDeForce
• The Readables
• TylerStalman
• HealthyVegan (i’m not a vegan btw)
• GridMonster

And because I couldn’t not include a photo…

Taken with my Hasselbladski – a Zenith 80 and 120 film