I’ve always liked the idea of High Tea. Tiered trays of tiny soft sandwiches and sticky sweets…flaky scones with butter and jam. And of course the ‘slow’ ritual of steeping and pouring fragrant teas from Eastern Lands into delicate cups on saucers. And then there’s the average Brit’s slightly less romantic interpretation, where the term ‘Tea’ refers to their dinner or a late afternoon meal eaten in the hours of 4-7pm. Whatever the words conjure up in your imagination, ‘Tea Time’ was what has inspired our Photo Story idea this week.Turn a 4pm after school trip to a cafe for tea and a treat into a photo story that you’ll cherish forever. Most cities these days are full of cozy cafes with quirky cups and decor that make for interesting backdrops to your tea time. Include the walk there in the story to get your eye warmed up for capturing colours, shapes, and expressions. We parked a few blocks away and walked through a great alley full of graffiti and cityscape. I know, the whole ‘graffiti + kids’ thing is a bit overdone but I hadn’t done it so here we are! It could be a parkette or an intricate stone wall, a row of shops with colourful doors and awnings, or a even a subway ride. Ooh, especially a subway ride. Next photo story…
I am by no means a ‘good’ photographer but you can see how just being mindful of the fact that you want to tell a story in that hour you spend with your kids one random day can celebrate such a simple everyday memory? Even though I was snapping photos it did make me pay more attention to that time we were spending together and how much richer their adventure became because of it. I try to be a present parent but it’s difficult sometimes to mentally leave work at 4pm, knowing you still have 4 hours of work to do when they go to bed that night! Making that hour into a tea time adventure made me actually focus in the moment - and I plan on creating more tea time adventures this winter.