The Birds

The Birds, originally uploaded by Sean Tiernan.

I can't sleep at the moment, it now 4:43 and I've been up since 2am. Just added a new picture to flickr of some pigeons that I took last week

Needles Eye

“Again I say to YOU, it is easier for a camel to get through the needle’s eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God” – Matthew 19:24

I’m not going anyway, so when am I going to win the lottery!

P.S. If there are any rich people reading this and want to go, I’m quite happy to help them if they want to give me all of their money.

The problem with Myeloma

is that when you follow peoples blogs you know eventually that they will come to an end.

One of the blogs that I read now and again is from Susie Hemingway her husband Hamada has Multiple Myeloma and I have found it very helpful to see how Susie and her husband Hamada are coping. Hamada myeloma was much further along than mine, so I found it useful to know what is coming up and how other have dealt with it.

Today when I logged onto the blog at http://www.susiehemingway.blogspot.com/ I was upset to learn that Hamada has now passed away.

May you rest in peace.

Keys

 

This morning when Charito was getting up for work I asked her if she wanted me to give her a lift in, rather than her riding her bike to work as it was very cold and icy out. She said no at a first, but after me asking a few times ‘are you sure’ she gave in and let me take her. It’s about 5.5 miles in the car, i’m not sure on the cycle lane which is just be our house and leads all the way to Charitos work.

Anyway I went out first and waited in the car, started the engine and waited for the ice to melt. It hadn’t quite melted when Charito came out so she scraped the side windows and finished off the windscreen.

Dropped her off at about 7:10am and set off home. When I arrived I went to get the house keys out of the cup holder and they weren’t there. Charito still had them!  We normally use my keys to lock the door and when Charito gets in the car in the morning she either gives them to me in my hand or puts them in the cup holder. As she went straight to the boot to get the scraper when she came out, she put the keys in her pocket, where they stayed!

So … I called her to let her know, some how it was my fault for not getting the keys off her!

We now have a new rule I take my own keys and she has to go to the trouble of finding her keys at the bottom of her back. Which should be too hard as she has about three keys on her key ring and around 30 key rings.

It wont happen again …. mind you I said that last time!!!!

Portrait examples

OK, I now know that the family has viewed the images so below are some examples from the shoot. All images are with the families permission.

I’ve included examples of the various different styles Using highkey (white background) and lowkey (you’ve guessed it using black background) Some have saturated colours and I've used high tones and contrast, which I think really makes the images stand out.

Hope you like them.

 

 

 

If you like them and would like some of your own, just fill in my online google form and I will be in touch.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dENsSUV6UnhQeXB4RUZPZ2sxYmxUeWc6MQ

JustGiving – Thank you

Many thanks to those that are donating to my myeloma just giving campaign. It is very much appreciated.

http://www.justgiving.com/mylifewithmyeloma

It’s good to see that people who I don’t know personally are donating and I just want to let you know that it is personally very much appreciated.

Thanks again

New Date

I feel as though I have neglected my blogging over the last few weeks, so thought it about time to write something.

I have a new date for my appointment at the hospital again. It was supposed to be mid January, but I have had a letter asking me to go on the 29 December. I think my Dr is on holiday in January; at least I’m hoping it’s that and they don’t want me earlier for any other reasons, such as giving me bad news! I’m sure if it was bad news though, they would have me in earlier still (wouldn’t they!!!)

I’ve been doing more with my photography and had my first family shoot on Monday. It went really well and I will be putting up some pics for everyone to see. I could put some up now, but I haven’t shown the family yet and I don’t want to spoil the surprise (good one I hope) for them.

For those that have said that they would like me to take some photos of them, I have created an online form to help me out. Just fill it in and I will get back to you.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dENsSUV6UnhQeXB4RUZPZ2sxYmxUeWc6MQ

I learned a lot from my first shoot, the first being I’m nowhere near as fit as I used to be, I’m still aching now after a few days. I’m not sure if it is because I haven’t done anything strenuous for a while (not that it was too strenuous for a person in good health) or its the myeloma/treatment still. Hopefully it will be get better with each one I do.

I did really enjoy it though and the results are looking good, even if I do say so myself. Ideally I would love to do this full time as it is so rewarding. After these few free ones that I am doing, I will start to charge for them and see how it goes. I’d much rather be doing photography for the rest of my life (no matter how short or long) than in a stressful job that doesn’t have the same rewards (providing something that is appreciated). So maybe it is time for a complete career change.  At first it will be only word of mouth, so if I do take some photos of you, please let others know how pleased you were with them and ask them to give me a call or let me know and I will contact them (or better still, get them to fill in the form).

My favourite drink

Single hand coffee one, originally uploaded by Sean Tiernan.

This inspiration for this photo was taken from my frequent visits to starbucks. One of the pictures on the wall in Starbucks is two hands holding coffee beans.

In this case I was taking a photo of my own hand so could only use one as I was taking the picture with the other.

I'm going to take some more shots like this and Charito has volunteered to hold the coffee for me..... that reminds me I must tell her!

Some how I think people are going to argue with me about it being my favourite drink though.

Chemo Model Mandy

Let me introduce to you Mandy, she is a new model and ideal for practicing lighting techniques!

The postman knocked on my door Friday morning asking me to sign for a package. It came delivered in a grey plastic bag. He had a bit of a worried look on his face when he gave it to me and said it feels like a head! I had to explain it was a plastic head to alleviate his worries.

She looks remarkably like some of the people I have met during my visits to the hospital after they have had their chemo. I’ve called her Mandy (to protect the look-a-likes) as I didn’t meet anyone called Mandy. I know people are going to say … is it me! and the answer is … if you think it is yes.

The reason I bought this is so that I can practice taking my portraits photography without having to have someone sit for me all of the time. It doesn’t replace the practicing with a real human model, but it is the next best thing in there absence.

I didn’t tell my wife Charito that I was buying this, so when it arrived and before she came home from work I thought I would play a bit of a joke (I should really think these things through thought before I do them). I got some cushions and clothes and went upstairs…. yes you’ve guessed it, I put her in my bed with the head on the pillow and the cushions etc underneath to make it look liker her body. When Charito came home I sheepishly tried to persuade her to stay in the kitchen with me. She wanted to go upstairs to have her shower but I asked her to stay for a while…. I slowly built up the suspicion as I was hiding something upstairs, so sure enough after me begging her not to go upstairs … she went upstairs. She looked in the bathroom, then the spare room, all the time asking what are you hiding and me denying anything. Then she went into the bedroom looked around and gasped and shuddered as she saw the woman in our bed! Then after a second or two realised it obviously wasn’t real. I then got called lots of names in Spanish that I can’t repeat on here except that I was an ‘imbecile’.

We both laughed about it at least I think she was laughing, it could have been more of a sneer.

As I was writing this, it reminded me of another instance when daughter was born and I pretended to drop her on the kitchen floor using a doll dressed up in her baby clothes!…. Trust me don’t ever try that one, it really isn’t worth the emotional upset! I think maybe I should go to counselling for my warped sense of humour.

Portraits for Christmas

I could do with some willing volunteers to model for me. In return I will give them some prints or a CD/DVD with images on. I want to practice taking some portraits, so if your a budding model, just want some pics  done for Christmas or even would just like to help me out then get in touch.

I have my own lighting equipment and background that I can bring over to your house or I can set up a room at home for taking the shots, whichever is the most convenient.

Oh… obviously you shouldn’t live too far away from me (Chester/North Wales/North West)… I’m good but not that good to travel to the other side of the country (not unless you want to pay my travel expenses that is)

Photography

I’m been taking some more shots indoors, as the weather hasn’t been too good. Here are a couple of results. These have been tweaked in photoshops (just a little!)

 

One year on

It is exactly one year since I found out I have Myeloma – time flies.

Most of the year I’ve been having Chemo in some form or other, 7 months in tablet form and a month in hospital with high dose for my stem cell transplant.

How am I doing? Well my last blood test that I had at Liverpool, the results came back ok. Although I was on the day ward as it was supposed to be quicker, turned out to be a much longer wait. Never mind I don’t have to go back there again so it wont happen again. My next appointment is in January at Chester hospital. I wont know until then if the transplant has done what it has supposed to i.e. my paraprotein levels should now be really low and stay low (the paraprotein is the bad stuff in the blood that I don’t want any of). So a nervous wait until then.

I’m waiting to hear back from the HR department at work who are arranging a meeting with my boss or bosses! I’m very  apprehensive about going back and get stressed even thinking about it. Is this the right time to go back ….not sure but I have to try, not the least because I need to start earning some money again; either that or win the lottery!

 

Myeloma Buddies

These are the myeloma buddies that I received from Paula with a congratulations card. I won these by correctly identifying her auntie Ann in a photograph. The card reads…

Sean,

Who would have thought congratulations had so many letters, not me! It’s a good job I didn’t do a smaller card. Anyhoo, even though Saints lost you get two buddies. Hope you like them Paula x

Although you can’t tell from the picture, the letters are made up of plastic buttons with letters on them. The little note around the coloured buddy says: Since you recognise me from the knitting needles last Friday, you  get another Buddy too!  as Paula says the other Friday when I bumped into her in Phlebotomy waiting to have her blood taken she was knitting something multicoloured, which happened to be my buddy. I nearly didn’t notice Paula as she now has hair! The Buddies have pride of place on the shelf next to me and may be appearing in future photo shoots .