I can’t believe our luck and I am so happy to watch this beautiful tree blossom and grow. The pretty delicate flowers are fleeting though, they were soft pink buds one week, beautiful white petals the next and within a fortnight they were falling like snow, lining the grass as confetti.

Luckily I managed to grab some photographs of the blossom in its prime and at its most alluring to the eager population of bees that visited. I got a bit obsessed with trying to capture the bumble bees’ soft, furry bodies and fragile, ethereal wings whilst trying not to get in the way of their very busy work.

For me, this beautiful combination of blossom and bees sums up the excitement of Spring and I am so delighted to be able to celebrate this wonderful season from our very own garden.

It was completely fascinating appearing as a guest and I now know how all those contributors felt on the shows I worked on: a little bit overwhelmed, awestruck and NERVOUS!

Luckily I managed to rope in my friend Lucy and her gorgeous baby Lyra to come with me as my ‘models’ and thank goodness I did. Lyra was the star of the show and so sweet and good-natured: a proper TV star in the making.

We arrived at ITV studios on the Southbank nice and early and were led up to our very own dressing room, where we mostly panicked about what we should wear (heels or no heels, that was the question). Then it was down to the Green Room where we hung out with lovely psychologist Karen Pine and talented wildlife photographer, Paul Goldstein who were also appearing on the show.

Then it was into make-up where Lucy and I were made to look half decent and given fabulous bouncy hairstyles which we both found quite hilarious. Lyra was busy making friends with all the crew backstage as she gave everyone, including Alan T, her trademark winning smile.

The show was impressively organised and we were pretty much straight on for our segment with only a quick block through before we recorded. Our bit went really quickly and I just about managed to get to grips with the very tricky live filming set up where you can’t actually see what you are capturing on the camera. Photographers will appreciate how terrifying that was. Luckily Lyra behaved impeccably and we got a lovely shot of her on her colourful blanket.

Once it was over Lucy, Lyra and I went back to the Green Room to debrief and I of course started to obsess about all the things I should have said and would have done differently.

But that’s live TV for you – you only get one chance at it and I reasoned I’d done a passably good job, especially without a rehearsal or the luxury of re-takes. It definitely made me respect Mr Titchmarsh, keeping the conversation and the show flowing is a real skill.

After a bit of a backstage tour around the studio and set with Lyra posing beautifully for photos, Lucy and I then took ourselves off for a well-deserved lunch.

It’s not every day you get to appear on the telly but it certainly makes your day more exciting when you do.

Here’s a clip of me in action along with some backstage photos.

The lovely producer Lauren….

Just chilling in the Green Room, beneath Joan…

With photographer Paul Goldstein and psychologist Karen Pine.

Hanging out on set.

It’s pretty exhausting this TV malarky.

Backstage in the studio. Water and fruit, what a healthy lot.

A lone crew member takes a break.

After a little bit more playing at home and some fun with reflections at the window, we ventured out into the February cold, with Lili wrapped up in her colourful coat and hat. It was a misty, frosty morning but we still had plenty of fun running around, collecting sticks.

Thank you Francesca and Leon for a lovely shoot. I hope Lili doesn’t shoot too fast up that height tree!

So, to celebrate my virtual return, and to get a blog post up on the very rare day of 29th feb, here are my butterfly portraits, taken in the Butterfly House at RHS Wisley Gardens last week.

I had never photographed butterflies before and I have to say it was even harder than photographing toddlers! They move so fast and inevitably when they land they like to close their wings which can be frustrating when you know they have such colourful wings to display.

With a lot of patience and sweat (wow, was it hot in there, these are tropical butterflies after all!) I managed to get some pictures I was pleased with. It was lovely to see people completely mesmerised by these beautiful creatures. There is something so magical about a butterfly fluttering past, so close to you but still so elusive and ethereal. I wonder if they know they are the beauty queens of the insect world and realise how much pleasure and delight they bring.

I have tried to identify some of these gorgeous specimens but I am missing a few names and I would love to label them correctly so please do leave me a comment if you know what names I’m missing. I am particularly interested to find out what my favourite one is called – the purple and orange beauty with the velvety soft wings. I LOVE that one so much, especially the way it was basking in the sunshine (a butterfly after my own heart).

You will notice some X-rated butterfly shenanigans towards the end of this set – it is mating season and there was a fair bit of ‘action’ going on. There were male butterflies fighting while the ladies waited patiently (what’s new?) and there was a lot of frenzied chasing going on mid-flight, which all added to the wonderful atmosphere of beauty and excitement.

Simply stunning. I can’t wait to go again next year. I hope you enjoy the pictures, I’d love to know your favourites.

Here is a mystery white butterfly and the Blue Morpho.

My favourite – but what is it called?

The stunning Blue Morpho.

The common Mormon (I think) and the Malachite.

The mystery white one again.

My beautiful mystery butterfly, sunbathing.

The wonderfully furry Malachite.

Don’t you just love those powdery purple wings?

Or is this one the common Mormon? What beady eyes…

The beautiful white one again.

Not sure what this one is either, but he/she is well camouflaged.

Hello Blue Morpho.

The closed Blue Morpho on the left and the Owl butterfly on the right.

The delicate Tree Nymph.

Some resting Blue Morphos and some ‘not resting’ Blue Morphos.

Three’s a crowd as these Blue Morpho’s discovered.

Well it is mating season after all…

Get a room!

I think they found it via this post on Judy Heminsley’s fabulous Work From Home Wisdom website – thank you Judy!

One of the challenging things about working from home and particularly blogging from home is that you’re not really sure who is reading or if people are interested in what you’re writing. Of course there’s the fabulous Google Analytics for stats galore but you still want to know more about your readers. I love the internet for these little moments that show you that people are actually reading and enjoying your content.

So thank you Anderson Costa, (or should I say Muito Obrigada) for making me feel appreciated from thousands of miles away!

Now I am no linguist (although my cousin-in-law is from Brazil so I know a few words) but I translated the introductory sentences via Google Translate and here they are, a little bit off but not bad:

“Everyone always asks me for tips on how to work better at home. And this came in very handy illustration mounted by the photographer Rosie Bray, who took the liberty to freely translate into Portuguese.

Rosie took the top 10 tips you have learned during the first year of home office and turned in this image below. I corroborate all of them.”

It is good to see that the highs and lows of home working are universal and span across many continents!

Today I am celebrating my first official year in business. It feels great to have reached this milestone and I am quietly celebrating with a cup of tea and a slice of cake. (Forgive my poser photo – it was for an article in The Independent, more on that soon!)

I thought it would be interesting to observe what I have learnt during my first year in business which has been exciting, scary, wonderful and worrying in equal measure. I should now say ‘but I wouldn’t change a thing’ but actually I would. So, looking back, here are some of the lessons I have learnt just in case anyone else is at the same stage I was a year ago.

Lesson 1: Ditch the perfectionism, stop procrastinating and just get on with it. I spent four months ‘getting things ready’ before I was brave enough to launch my website but in the end it wasn’t the ‘perfect’ font or the ‘best’ shade of turquoise that was needed, it was just being visible and having a reasonable website up and running.

Lesson 2: Stop theorizing and start doing. When it comes to starting up a business I should be a millionaire guru judging by the number of ‘self-development’ books I’ve read: twenty-seven at the current count. Oh yes I am very familiar with the strategies of passive income, creating my tribe and don’t get me started on the purple cow. Perhaps these techniques do work but you actually have to DO THEM; just reading about them doesn’t count.

Lesson 3: Make it easy for your clients to find you, then go and find them. I was certain my dream clients would somehow miraculously find me in the sea of Google. I was wrong. You need to learn/invest in SEO to have a fighting chance with Google, BUT more importantly don’t rely on your clients finding you. You have to find them, impress them and then persuade them to invest. This is hard.

Lesson 4: Beware of meetings. At first I was afraid of networking and my ‘elevator pitch’. Then I started to enjoy it and arrange an endless stream of ‘one-to-ones’ with other small-business owners. I’ve met some amazing women and found some really great business friendships but there is a danger of spending all the time chatting ‘about’ my business and eating cake and not actually ‘doing’ the work and making money. Networking is crucial but so is time-management.

Lesson 5: Join Twitter NOW. It started with a nervous 124 characters. Now, a year later I’m at 1921 tweets. It’s eaten up a lot of my time but I’ve made some great connections on there (and not just with George Michael and the Beiber Army). I’ve featured in the national press 3 times thanks to ‘tweet outs’ from journalists. And I won our holiday this year to a spa hotel thanks to a competition on Twitter.

Lesson 6: Keep it simple stupid. After much scribbling and miscalculating, I ended up with a pricelist consisting of 6 different sizes of canvas, 15 different sizes and finishes of albums and an infinite number of ways to buy packages. Wonderful, I thought, I am the sweetshop of photography, whatever you wish for, I can provide. But it turns out busy people don’t wish for endless choice and instead just wish for an easy life. Less choice, more guidance.

Lesson 7: It’s all boils down to discipline. I’ve run the marathon, produced TV shows, organised my wedding with the precision of a North Korean dictator (apparently) so the last thing I thought I would struggle with would be discipline. But it turns out, when you don’t have to get up to catch a train and your office is ten steps away, it’s pretty easy to hit snooze and not worry too much about getting to ‘work’ before midday. Discipline, or lack thereof, is the only thing stopping me from getting the work done. And the work has to be done. And I have to do it. No excuses.

Lesson 8: Believe in yourself and stick to the plan. I was used to praise and support from bosses and colleagues and then suddenly the only voice I had to listen to was my own and let’s face it, most people’s internal chatter is fairly self-critical. There have been plenty of “I can’t do this” moments but in the end the only way to succeed is to bulldoze your way through the confidence crises and self-doubt and hold out for praise from happy clients, which makes it all worthwhile. Expect highs and lows, good days and bad days but channel your inner Churchill and “Never give up”.

Lesson 9: Get geeky with a spreadsheet. Nobody likes doing their accounts. But I have come to realise that shoving receipts into a drawer is not a great avoidance tactic. Get a system (not a drawer) and record cash in & out as you go. Either go on a (free) HMRC course or get an accountant. They’re quite cheap, not as strange as you might think and can actually lengthen your life expectancy.

Lesson 10: Find your niche. I started the year specialising in ‘natural, relaxed photographs of your family’ and quickly found plenty of other photographers doing exactly the same thing. I had to find a point of differentiation and it came quite naturally through observing what I love to do: photographing kids at home, playing with their toys, surrounded by their favourite things, dressing up, being silly and being themselves. So now I am all about capturing the magic of childhood and creating happy childhood memories. I have finally found my all-important niche and am just beginning to communicate that in all that I do.

Here are my Top Ten Tips for working from home….

I hope you found that interesting. Here’s to year two! You can join me on my journey by liking Rosie Bray Photography on facebook and following me on Twitter.

Lyra was such a joy to photograph. She is cute and giggly one minute and thoughtful and intense the next, and all her expressions are full of personality, despite being only six months old!

This was an extended shoot which meant we had a lot more time together to do all the things that Lyra loves best, including a walk in the park and bath time with all her toys. I am planning to launch my ‘Day in the Life’ sessions in the next few months which give you much more flexibility and a lot more of my time and mean we can spend a really special day doing all your family’s favourite things, which could involve relaxing at home or a fun day out at the Zoo!

It was lovely hanging out with Lyra and watching her explore her surroundings and soak up the love from her doting parents.

The frost made everything look suitably crisp and fresh, particularly with the sun glistening overhead, so I was able to capture some delightfully crunchy leaves and crystallised flowers.

The most astonishing thing has been watching a little trio of ladybirds survive the elements. I photographed them across three different days, in sunshine, rain and frost and they’re not budging. I am hoping this is because they are hardy and determined and not for any other reason… I will keep an eye on them.

I hope you enjoyed week two from our Weybridge garden.

It was really lovely to concentrate on the bond between the two of them, with lots of play, cuddles and laughter. We began the session inside and then wrapped up and ventured outside to the nearby park. We found the last of the Autumn colour and had lots of fun running up and down the avenue of trees.

Check out baby Louis’ stunning blue eyes that perfectly matched the beautiful blue wallpaper… how clever of him! I especially love the final two images that show the deep emotional connection between mother and son.