Farewell Wellfare. 30th November.

I was in Cambridge today, originally I was going to organise a shoot for my home education documentary, but this didn't work out. So I decided to shoot a little bit of the Unison Public Workers Pension Strike, I shot a few frames digitally and a few more with the Bronica (which are yet to be developed), and only after shooting did I realise that I had taken this rather clever photograph! I was reviewing the photographs and I saw that by chance I had captured these two police officers so it looked like they were carrying the coffin, at the time I was rather miffed because I thought that the police officers had got in the way of the shot.

For the full set click here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150985419165046.767865.407058550045&type=3

A C Ostler Garden Centre. 29th November.

So today I started working on a new documentary project, where I take portraits of people who work in small independent shops. These shops are the ones that our towns and villages rely on, they are the ones that some people take for granted as they have "always been there", people may not even notice them. Recently I have watched a number of these independent shops close due to either retirement or not being able to live up to competition, this made me want to capture the small British independent shops as there is always a possibility that they will be taken over by clinical commercial large scale retailers. 

One shop which I can remember from my childhood is a Garden Centre called A C Ostler, it sells everything! Toys, Kitchen Utensils, Garden Tools, Plugs, Christmas Decorations (when it's christmas!), Clothes Dyes... the list is endless!  I know that this Garden Centre may not be around forever, I hope that it is, but it is one of the many shops which would be missed if it did have to leave our high street.

I shall update this album during the production of this series: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150983027765046.767614.407058550045&type=1

Abstract Lights. 28th November.

Thought I would do something a little bit abstract today with the photograph, I don't like the idea of being stuck in a creative rut, so this daily photography project is really helping me generate new ideas and do things which I would not normally do!

In other news, I'm off to Hertfordshire tomorrow for my first shoot for my home education documentary! Really looking forward to this and I can not wait to share my results with you all on here!

Moo. 27th November.

I went out for a walk today in Kirkby Underwood, a little Lincolnshire village! There's lots of fields, and trees, and animals. There was also a field full of cows which were identical, one of the cows decided it would be kind enough to pose for me, so here is it's portrait!

In other news, I am really trying to get the ball rolling on my two new portrait-documentary-projects, exciting times. Going to have an admin day tomorrow full of contacting people in relation to the project. Crazy but fun times!

Colours of the sky. 26th November.

Today was great! I was playing guitar for my friends wedding ceremony with my church youth band which he used to play with, it was a wonderful ceremony and a great time just hanging out with the band and friends. Also, there was a beautiful sunset tonight, so I thought that I just had to capture it for my photo of the day. I would have liked to go somewhere a little bit more picturesque, but due to the time I realised the sunset was so wonderful I would not have been able to get anywhere in time to capture it!

Slowly getting moved on my Home-Education documentary! It is hard, but hopefully I can get shooting within the week, VERY EXCITED! 

Bagpipes. 25th November.

So today I have started forming ideas for a couple of new projects. One projects is where I am going to document the local business, I want to show typical British businesses and people who work in them through this documentary, it is quite open to me and I am just going to watch it unfold. The second project is a landscape piece where I am going to show how human constructions, such as pylons and wind turbines, are having to come acceptable as part of the landscape. Here's a piece of test work from this project:

Taken with 6x6 Bronica.

Flower of Light. 24th of November.

Here is a flower, not a normal flower, it's a flower of light... the normal eye can't see it, but the camera can!

Today I have been researching into and planning my new project, a series of photographs documenting home education families in England. I was home educated up until the age of 16 and I absolutely loved it and benefited from it a lot, this subject is something I am passionate about and I am really excited to start working on this project! I will keep you informed whilst I am working on it!

Christmas Lights. 23rd November.

So... it's almost a month till Christmas! I love Christmas, but I have only started touching on Christmas shopping at the moment, I really need to get my head down and start buying! Anyway.... one of the lovely things about Christmas is the lights, and even though my town has had the same set of lights since I can remember, I sill love them being up, they bring colour and joy to the cold, dark winter nights... and they also hint to the fact that Christmas is definitely on it's way.

I took this photograph and made it all out of focus and bokeh-ified to bring the focus to the lights, when I was little I always used to make my eyes go out of focus so I could see the little round balls of coloured lights on the Christmas tree, or on the street lights as I was in the car... I love the fact that you can make the camera do that, so this photograph is a little bit nostalgic for me!

Coffee. 22nd November.

I apologise, today's photograph is anything but amazing! But is does say a lot about my day, it's been a long day and it's still got a little bit more to go, so now I'm on the coffee.... my amazing Boyfriend bought me this mug for my birthday, and it is actually my best mug, and I am personally quite picky when it comes to mugs!

I don't have much else to say today. I have now finished my short series called "Toys At War", this is where I recreated war photographs using toys, so I'd suggest you keep your eyes open for that.. I'll post it on facebook and flickr when I've uploaded it, I'll probably tweet about it too! 

Night people!

Leopard Print Girl. 21st November.

I was in Ely today, so I did a little bit of Street Photography (which can be found here) and I saw this woman and I asked for her portrait, because I thought she had a really unique style! 

I also started a little bit of Christmas shopping today too, the thing is I always find it really hard to work out what to get people for Christmas... it'll be worth it when everyone opens their presents and I can see the joyful looks on their faces! 

The Rubik's Cube. 20th November.

I can solve rubik's cubes, that's a little random fact about myself that I thought I would share through my daily photograph! I used to be able to solve one in under a minute, but I've become a little bit rusty at that.

Today my town lost it's water supply, we are still waiting for it to come back, apparently there has been quite a big pipe burst somewhere... you don't realise how dependant you are on things like running water until you loose them, hopefully it'll be back by tomorrow though.

I'm doing some studio shooting tomorrow, which will be fun, and I am also planning on doing some darkroom printing, even more fun!

The Foggy Day. 19th November.

Today was a very foggy day! So foggy that my driving test was cancelled, which was quite annoying as I had driven completely safely to the test centre, just to be told that I couldn't have my test, hopefully I'll be able to book it asap!

I went out in my town today to take some street photographs, as there are some interesting people in my town! I took this photograph and I did quite like it, although it isn't quite street photography... the foggyness of the street and the Christmas decoration make the photograph feel slightly festive... and I love feeling festive :D

Hair. 18th November.

Today I did a Toni & Guy hair shoot with a group of other photographers. It was great fun and we got to be creative with it within our plans for the shoot. This photograph was one of my favourite pictures from the shoot. We had a great model and her hair was styled beautifully, our make up artist worked really well with our directions and she was great to work with. (Make up artist can be found here.). 

These Hands. 17th November.

These are my hands, they're what is behind my photography, my blogging, my music... pretty much everything! Hands are important, I don't know how I'd get by without them! Even though my nail paint may be chipped, my skin may be dry, and the back of my hands are all written over, I still love my hands just as they are!

Noel McGlinchey - Security Guard. 16th November.

This photograph is inspired by Richard Avedon's "American West" portrait series, I took a 5x4 large format technical view camera ( sinar ) into Peterborough and photographed a couple of people who I thought looked interesting, one of them was this man, Noel McGlinchey. I had stuck some white colourama against a wall to serve as a backdrop and got him to stand against it for a portrait. I love the portrait, only shame is that scratch that is on the negative due to the tray developing process. 

I took this photograph last wednesday, but I had only got round to printing it today.. so I think it does count as my daily photo as darkroom printing is a process which finalises a photograph!

I'll be watching you. 15th November.

I went out for a little walk today and this cat was sitting at a window just watching people pass by, so I took a photo of it! I have always liked the idea of having a cat, maybe one day I will get a cat, I mainly like the idea of a cat because they are quite simple to look after, whereas dogs are quite high maintenance (I would prefer dogs though!). Going to be a bit hectic over the next few days, have quite a few deadlines for briefs coming up and I want to make sure that the photographs are as good as they can possibly be! 

Just Like Polly Chandler. 14th November.

Today I was using the 5x4 technical view camera, I asked my friend to model (Mary Tenney), and I took a couple of Polly Chandler inspired photographs. I also developed and printed this negative today, so it is actually a photograph which shows exactly what I have done today! I also have another shot which I did not get round to printing, so I'll try and upload that soon... and I have a couple of 5x4 street portraits which I need to print!

I love this photograph, and I am soooo happy with it, I am inspired to take more photographs like this.. so WATCH OUT! :D

This is the photograph I was trying to copy:

Remembrance. 13th November.

So today in the UK it was Remembrance Sunday, a day where we honour people who have been involved and still are involved in conflict throughout the world, to symbolise this we wear a poppy. At 11am the nation spends 2 minutes of the day in silence remembering people involved in conflict. I spent the day in London as I was at a Masterchef Live food show, and it was full of people trying/buying/selling stuff and it was quite loud and busy, but at 11am The Last Post was played throughout the building and everyone stopped, stood still and honoured the people involved in war, reflecting on that moment I think that it is absolutely amazing how one nation can just stop for 2 minutes to honour and respect people who have been and are involved in conflict. Moments like this, which are so full of respect make me proud to be British!

I have also been inspired to start developing a project around the idea of remembrance day and people who have been involved or have family involved in conflict, so watch this space!

Pylons in the Morning. 12th November.

Ok, so today I have probably committed a photographic crime as I am using a photograph I took on my phone for my daily photo, let me explain! I went out this morning with the Bronica & my 35mm SLR to do a little bit of Landscape work as the conditions were perfect with there being a little bit of mist about. I did not take my DSLR though and I have to wait till Monday till I can develop my films! 

I have a few more plans for the Bronica over the weekend, want to shoot some portraits, maybe try a little bit of street photography as I'm in London tomorrow... so my analogue output this week will be high, but my digital output will be low! 

Film is better!

Bronica! 11th November.

So, I am shooting with this beautiful piece of image-making machinery over the weekend. It's a Bronica SQ-B and I fear that when I finish using if I am going to end up spending all of my money on one! I have a few different films to try out in it, all black and white (so I'll be developing them shortly after shooting them), I have a few different styles I want to try out with it (landscape/portrait) and I'm just generally excited about using it!

The Flower of Light. 10th November.

Tried out some more long exposures tonight, I was trying to do another light orb with some glow sticks but they were not bright enough sadly! I decided to draw a flower instead, so here it is!

I was printing some 5x4 film today in the darkroom, I LOVE the quality, so superior to anything else. Amazing!

Light Orb attempt 1. 9th of November.

I have recently been inspired by some photographs of light orbs which I found online, so I decided to give it a go with my little LED torch tied onto some string. It is a lot harder than I thought it was! I think I am going to have another go tomorrow night, but once I have mastered the art of light orbs I think that I could develop a project around them... so watch this space...

Here's a photograph of what successful light orbs look like:

The Pomegranate. 8th November.

Today I was in my local greengrocers and they were selling pomegranates, I am a fruit fan and I especially like exotic fruits, so I bought a pomegranate for my lunch! I decided that it would made a good photograph for today, so I took a photograph of it against some white paper and with a flash. I have decided that I should do some more food photography! Food is fun to work with, but also quite challenging and hard to make visually appealing! 

The Perfume Bottle. 7th of November.

I found a perfume bottle today! My brother gave it to me for a birthday ages ago! I thought it would work well for my daily photo and I decided to be a little bit experimental with it. I used a small LED torch and shined it at the bottle from different angles, this photograph came out of my experimenting, and even if I say so myself.. it is cool!

I did a couple more architectural interiors today, I have now finished working on my architecture brief, but I do enjoy architectural photography... and if you know anyone who is looking for an architectural photographer give me a shout! 

The Guitarist Elf. 6th November.

I found this little guy at my boyfriend's house, it reminded me of the fact that it's almost Christmas! And the fact that I have only bought 1 Christmas present.... eek, I shall be writing a list soon! 

I have been shooting with a Canon this weekend, for those who don't know, I'm a Nikon owner.. and I love being a Nikon owner. Even though the Canon I am using is a more superior camera to my Nikon, I just do not like the feel and functionality of it, if anything it has made me want to upgrade my Nikon to a better Nikon Body! 

Anyway, technical stuff aside, I am shooting a couple more architectural pieces tomorrow! I have two interior shoots and possibly another exterior shoot, hoping to get some good shots... and if I do they may be my photo of the day! I have also finished shooting my toy soldier project, so that will be on facebook/flickr (and eventually my website, which I am working on) quite soon! 

The Ukulele. 5th of November.

I painted this Ukulele last year, I never got round to re-stringing it though. I have always wanted to learn ukulele, it is a really cool instrument with a great sound! 

Today has been busy and the rest of my week is pretty busy-looking too! I have a couple more architecture shoots to complete, a hair shoot, and some 5x4 work. But it's photography, so it it fun! 

The Balloon and Bassist! 4th November.

Hola, so today... I have a double day for you! Two photographs for the price of one day! I've had a bit of a crazy day, but out of it I have gained motivation to become a photographer who stands out, tries new things, and pushed boundaries! New projects on the way, so watch out!

Anyway... photos of the day:

The Balloon.

The Bassist.

Lloyds of London in 5x4. 3rd of November.

So, today I developed the film from the 5x4 shoot I did at Lloyds of London.. and here's a quick scan from the shoot! The quality is not that great as I have a basic scanner, but looking at the negative you can really appreciate the great amount of quality that using Large Format can bring! 

Trains Trains Trains. 2nd November.

I have been shooting in London twice in the past five days, for someone who usually goes less than once a month.... it's quite a lot! I am currently working on all the photographs I took in London on the past two trips, and I have taken some great photographs!

I have uploaded the latest photographs from the Occupy London protest, they can be found here: 

On the way to St.Pauls. 1st November.

So once again I was in the big city of London! The main reason for this trip was to take some architectural photographs for a brief... but alongside the brief I did a little bit of personal work (including today's photograph) and worked some more on the Occupy London Stock Exchange protest. 

I took today's photograph when walking from the Tait Modern (where there are currently a couple of great photography exhibitions!) to Lloyds, it was quite busy and I think that helped bring life to a much photographed scene!

The architecture photograph went well, and I shall upload the photographs to my online portfolio when they are done, I also shot the exterior of the Lloyds building today using a 5x4 large format view camera, excellent piece of photographic equipment, got some interesting looks when I was using it! 

Photographs shall be coming in the future, have a busy week coming up.. but I will keep you updated!