Photos by Jenny...

So this is a little bit about me, Jenny Shepherd and how all of this came about.

I have been taking photos since I got my first camera 22 years ago. I loved taking pictures and then sending the film off then waiting a week or so for the package to be returned. Back then it was just a case of pointing and shooting and hoping for the best. When you are 9 years old you are not worried about the content.

Since then I have progressed from a Minolta 110 film camera up to my current Sony A200 DSLR camera. I have tried many different cameras in those twenty two years and never really thought about the pictures. It was generally a case of taking pictures when the mood arose. I was one of those people who generally took a camera with me, so whether that is out clubbing, for dinner, on holiday or just down the park with the kids. All of that started to change, rather by chance.

I had started to take Our Sony DSLR out when we were going out and about with our children and when we were at parties with the kids I would generally go around the room taking pictures of anything I found interesting. Usually I would go home upload the pictures to the laptop and discover I had taken some really nice shots, generally quite close up face shots. I started to send these pictures to the parents of these children and often got really positive comments back about these pictures.

In July 2009, a friend asked if I could take some pictures of her children so that she could create a piece of art to give her Husband a Wedding Anniversary gift. This went down a treat and she was so pleased with the images that we created an A1 Canvas of collaged photos. Her husband was delighted and many other people came to me to comment on that particular job. From that I got asked to do another few Canvas pictures.

In September 2009, whilst sitting with a group of friends at Noah's House Community Cafe, we were discussing fundraising ideas. This is because our friend has a son who suffers from Cryptogenic Infantile Spasms. This means he needs his house to be adapted to accommodate him as he gets older. The family needed to raise £25,000 towards these adaptations, as the disability grant will only cover the other £25,000. It was decided that we should create a "calendar girls" style calendar in the hope that we could raise some money to put towards this fund. I was given the job as photographer, whilst Naomi was the main creative director, Kerry was in charge of gaining sponsorship and Lucy did many of the adverts for these sponsors. At first this started off as a bit of fun and we were never 100% certain that this would ever take off. However it did and The "Ketton Yummy Mummys 2010 Alfie's Fund Calendar" is now officially on sale. It's been really hard work and getting everything just right was difficult and often very stressful. The initial response has been fabulous though and we are hoping that the initial 250 we have had printed by Printwisegroup.com, will be sold out and that we can order more. We hope to raise £2500.

Some of the ladies, who were unable to appear in the calendar for one reason or another, have been so keen to have their own photo taken that I have done a few nude portraits, so they can surprise their partners. And several of the "yummy mummy's" have had their pictures put onto canvas.

So as 2010 fast approaches and I will be hanging up my calendar, my achievement that I am immensely proud of. I will be hoping that more and more people will like what they have seen and hope to get some more business. At the minute this is all about me gaining experience and taking my hobby to a whole new level and at the same time hoping to create art that other people appreciate. I have decided that while I am gaining this experience I will not really be making any money as this is about learning new skills.

I hope that this has made interesting reading. If you would be interested in me taking some photos you can by contacting me here.