My wife has been known to have a word in my ‘shell-like’ on the odd occasion concerning the combination of clothing items that I sometimes dress our daughter in. To be honest, it’s actually not that frequent that she has to have words, so I have to assume that she approves most of the time when it’s my turn to select our daughter’s attire. Frankly, I think my daughter looks pretty funky when I dress her.

Today, my little girl and I decided to bake a white loaf. For some time now I have wanted to start making my own bread. Having been a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off right from the first series and having sat through all the triumphs and disasters that the contestants have served up; I got to thinking that at least I ought to have a go. Upon seeing Nadiya win series 6 last night and take the crown with humility, stating that she will never doubt herself in going forwards again; she showed that anyone can do anything that they put their minds to. All you need is guts, gusto and determination. So I decided that it was time to get the baking tins out. I thought I would start simple, a crusty white cob loaf.

What does any of this have to do with what my daughter wears, or indeed photography?  A good question.

Bear with me!

I was recently looking through our fancy dress box when I came across this red devil wig with horns attached. I think my wife bought it some years ago for a Halloween bash that we went to, long before our daughter arrived. Anyway, it gave me an idea for a mini photo shoot I could do with my little girl. She is at that age now where she flatly refuses to pose for the camera any more. Daddy nearly always has a camera in his hand and for the longest time she would play up to it without hesitation or ever getting bored. Lately though, when she sees a camera (not just mine but any pointing her way) she swiftly turns her head almost 180 degrees and refuses to look back, regardless of our patient pleading or any amount of persuasive bribery. That said, I guess I will have to consider myself privileged today, as we have had a devilishly good time getting these photos.

So, to explain! My daughter and I needed something fun to do while our bread dough was proving. She had been hugely supportive in the kitchen, helping me with the mixing and throwing flour absolutely everywhere. So when I suggested that she could dress up in the red wig and polka dot attire, she was giddy and on this occasion, more than happy to play along. We took a few snaps and returned to the kitchen in time to put the bread in the oven; after which we made odd characters out of pink and blue Plasticine while waiting for our bread to bake. Today turned out to be a lot of fun. The house has an amazing smell of freshly baked bread and we got some lovely photos. The bread tasted amazing too.
I’m now on the hunt for the next bread recipe.

All Images are copyright:

© Mike Barrett Photography – All Rights Reserved