Fat Mum Slim Photo a day

I had been wanting a camera for over a year. I felt like a little kid, saving my pocket money, putting a little aside each week to buy something I really wanted. I researched. I saved. I lusted. About a month ago the camera I really wanted went on sale and I bought it.

But I didn't know what to do with it.  A huge manual and tricky controls had me terrified I would break it, so it stayed in its case for a week. Then I took it out and put it on auto. After a few days of this I knew that if I didn't start teaching myself how to use it soon it would stay on auto for the rest of its days and I would be very disappointed in myself. About the same time Chantelle of Fat Mum Slim announced her October Photo a Day list; a real treasure-hunt list using the alphabet. I decided that I would set myself a little challenge, to participate in Photo a Day and only allow myself to use my new camera, the Olympus OMD-EM10 (and some photo editing done with Little Moments App, PS Express, VSOCam and Instagram).

If you aren't familiar with Photo a Day, it is a little initiative Fat Mum Slim, a pretty famous Aussie blogger, started in 2012. Each month she publishes a list of prompts and people all over the world take photos and share them on social media using #fmsphotoaday. You can use whatever kind of picture-taker you have and it is all just good, free, community-building fun.

So here is my effort so far, the first half of the month:

A is for... Antony, one of the vineyard workers. He is the best storyteller in the world, getting so animated and excited as he talks that he makes everyone laugh.

B is for... Barrels. Something quite romantic about wine quietly resting in the barrel.

C is for... Cherry. A brand new resident of Australia, she named herself after her favourite fruit.

D is for... Dandelion. We used to call them Santa Claus' when I was little. We would whisper our christmas wish-list and blow the 'whiskers' away.

E is for... Edward. He moved to Melbourne with us. As flatmates go he is pretty quiet but needs a dust now and again.

F is for... Fresh. Only 5 days old.

G is for... Green. The leaves just suddenly appeared on the trees that (I'm sure) were bare only a week ago.

H is for... Hayfever. These seed pods just kill me, but they are so pretty.

I is for... Ink. My work buddy helped me out after no ice idea didn't work.

J is for... Jute. Every Friday night for my entire childhood I would wait eagerly as my dad cut the jute tying up the chicken before he carved it for dinner.

K is for... Kransky. A big cheese kransky- which is apparently the Australian name for a Slovenian sausage.

L is for... Luxury. The little luxuries are important, a nice glass of riesling at the end of a long work week with lovely company.

M is for... Miinot Gelato. Check out my review tomorrow.

N is for... Nicole. Nothing more. No make up, hair scraped back wearing a cardigan covered in Ted hair.

O is for... Once Upon a Time. The way all the best stories begin.

P is for... Pom pom on my Pretty Parcel cape.

I would love you to follow me on Instagram (@nicole_rouge - cause I have red hair geddit? :) and watch my photography journey continue.

Which social media challenges or link-ups are your favourites?