Do you like writing? Every year I compete in Camp NaNoWriMo, a challenge where you write a novel in one month.

But then, the day before Camp NaNo began, I had an idea for a plot. I was excited. The plot felt like it would be so much fun to write. I just knew I had to compete in Camp NaNo after all.


The next day, I started my novel. I didn't know any of the important detail like the main character's name or what was going to happen. That didn't bother me, though.


I'll work out what's happening in the middle of the story when I get there, I told myself, unconcernedly.


We're now almost twos weeks into Camp NaNo. I'm still very excited about the plot of my novel. It's one of the most fun novels I've ever written. I rather like the characters and how the story is developing. I can see myself wanting to come back and edit this story in the future.


I hope that the next two weeks of writing will be just as fun as the first two were. I also hope that I discover the middle of my plot soon. But that's not important!


But what about you? Do you like writing? Have you ever done Camp NaNo before? Are you doing it this time? How is your novel going? Please tell me in a comment!

photo credit: sue elvis

I have a job where I get paid in spoons. I’ll explain.

Last week after we filmed Imogen's latest music video (Hallelujah), we went second-hand shopping. We hoped to find some clothes or jewellery we could use in one of Imogen's videos.

While everyone else looked at the clothes, I got distracted. Sitting in a corner of the shop was a rack of spoons. Little silver old-looking spoons.


"They'd be an amazing prop for photography," I commented.

Imogen looked over at me and then down the spoons, but she didn't say anything.

Soon, we finished looking around the shop. As we were heading over to the counter to buy our treasures, Imogen turned to me. "Would you like three of those spoons?" she asked.

My mouth dropped open.

"Think of it as payment for filming my videos," Imogen told me. We walked back to the rack.


I ran my eyes over the unique spoons. It was hard to pick, but I finally selected my three favourites and passed them to Imogen to buy. "Thank you so much!" I cried, wrapping my arms around her.

Imogen smiled at my excitement. Even though she doesn't do photography, she understands my love of it.

So yes, I do have a job. I film music videos for my sister Imogen. And I did get paid in spoons. I can't think of a better payment!

I've just uploaded a video to my YouTube channel. It’s about Imogen's music. I hope you'd like to watch!

While we’re filming my sister Imogen’s music video, she spots the location where she wants to sing her next song.

"It's a big tree, close to where we filmed the first verse of Long, Long Ago," Imogen tells us. "It would be the perfect place to record Scarborough Fair."

So a couple of weeks later, we head back down to the nature reserve before breakfast. I set up the cameras and we start recording Imogen's third music video.

Then we move the cameras to get some different angles and I hit the 'record' button again.

By the time we've finished filming, we're all tired but happy with what clips we have.

"It's amazing that you can make a video with only a tree as your setting," Mum comments later. She's right. The location was very simple, but early in the morning everything looked beautiful.

Would you like to see the music video for Scarborough Fair? I hope so! It's the best video we've recorded yet.

What does a day in my life look like? A few days ago, I took the 'Day in my Life' photography challenge where I photographed everything I did in a day. Today I'm going to be sharing my photos.

You won't believe what's been going on recently! A lot of very unexpected things have been happening, most of them involving my photography.

Today I wanted to share some of these experiences with you.

credit: Sue Elvis

 Mum and I have a new 'toy'. It's a mirrorless camera. An Olympus OM-D-E-M10 to be precise! It was really unexpected. One evening out of the blue, Mum asked me what the benefits of a mirrorless camera are and what they cost. After a lot of research, Mum decided that it was worth buying us one. So she did.

credit: Sue Elvis

Since it arrived, I've been teaching myself how to use it. Mum and I have discovered that it's a great camera for video. It has inbuilt image stabilisation so we can do handheld clips and its continuous auto-focus is nearly silent. I think I'm going to be filming most of my videos on this camera from now on.


While I've been playing with the Olympus, I haven't been ignoring my Nikon D3100. I took it on a photo shoot with my younger sister, Gemma-Rose. When Mum first published her novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek, I took some photos of Gemma-Rose and the book for Mum to use on her blog. Since then Mum has updated the cover of the book, so I decided I'd take some new photos for her.
  

I was really pleased with how the photos turned out. It's surprising to see how much my photography has improved since the original shoot. That was an unexpected discovery.


Earlier this week we had a heat wave. The temperature was constantly above 30c. But I didn't let that stop me from doing a Fitness Blender workout.

"Be careful!" Mum called as I entered my room to exercise. I didn’t think I needed to heed her warning, but something unexpected happened.

Half an hour later, I hobbled out of my room again. "I need a seat," I groaned.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" my sister Charlotte asked, thinking I'd overdone it in the heat. But I hadn't.

"My ankle!" I explained. "I tripped on a dumbbell and twisted my ankle."

My ankle was swollen and bruised. I had to walk around on crutches for several days. Luckily I’m off the crutches now, but my ankle is still sore.

credit: Sue Elvis

I haven't been bored while I've been off my feet, though because something else unexpected happened. Mum surprised me with a present that is keeping me entertained. Well, to be honest, she bought me TWO presents. They're Tony Northrup's photo editing books, Lightroom Video Book and Photoshop Essentials

The Photoshop one hasn’t been published yet, but as soon as it is, we will have it because we pre-ordered it.

credit: Sue Elvis

The books come with hours and hours of video training. Once I've read a chapter, I can watch the videos that go with it. The videos help me understand everything more clearly.

So that's what has been happening in my life. What's been going on in yours? Has anything unexpected happened to you recently? Also, would you be interested in me making a review of our camera?