Summertime

Ive been sunbathing in the garden today..well for the last 3days actually..in an attempt to get a suntan before my cousins wedding in September. After 3days in the sun..nothing..not even a pink glow..not that i want that but still..anything is better than nothing. From the elbow down im abit brown..but thats normal,they are always out in the open..and the mixture of a hundred freckles and tattoos make them look darker anyway. But the top half of my arms are as white as a ghost..not even a single freckle..they dont look like they've ever seen the sun before in my 21years of life...and well...dont even get me started on my legs. Ive got 5wks to loose 14lbs (at least) and get a tan..and at the rate im going in..its gonna take me more like 5months!!!


Bordem in the garden earlier led to me messing around and taking photos of pretty much anything to do with ME : )
I searched my wardrobe for my newish surf shorts..that havent seen the light of day since they were bought last summer in Newquay when i last went surfing,pulled all my shoes out to find some vans that matched the colors and then found some daisies and snapped. Bordem leads me to such stupid stuff..i mean i found shorts and matching vans just to take a picture of my feet on the grass..like anyone cares if they watch my shorts..you cant even see my shorts anyway!

After this i lay around for abit longer..getting a giant tennis ball dropped on my face everynow and then by my dog Holly and pulled out piles of grass from by my sides until i decided to take a couple of pictures of my tattooed arms.

Bordem is a terrible thing..but i was home alone..well apart from my dog..and sunbathing was getting me no where. Lets home tomorrow is a better day..more productive and well..alittle bit more fun.

365

Ok..so after thinking about it even more i decided to start my 365 project on http://www.flickr.com/ and im today is going to be Day 3. Ive already had comments and a good amount of views which is great..it inspires me that people are taking the time to look at my pictures and sometimes comment. I dont have that many views and even less comments but even some views are better than none and my comments have been encouraging,caring,constructive...every little bit helps. Hopefully as my contacts grow and my photography gets better and more varied i'll get more views and more comments and that'll inspire me even more to keep trying and improving.

DAY 1

This was my day 1 self portrait. Nothing special but i was sitting in my car really bored and so i just snapped this for fun. I have a really goofy look on my face but its better than that no smile stone face that i usually have in photos. I thought i'd use this as my first..a starter..just typical and boring and then see where i go from here.

Day 2

This is my day 2 from yesterday. Its crap i know but i had this idea in my head that unfortunately i wasnt able to pull off. I have some ideas but at the moment..my skill isnt upto my imagination. Hopefully...somewhere down the line my skills will have improved and i'll be able to re-visit this and produce something clever and closer to what i see in my mind..but for now this will have to do.

Thanks to my folks for having whiskey.brandy and baileys in their cupboard..the vodka and martini are mine : )

Let the fun times begin!!

Today I....

...Went for a walk around my neighbourhood. Its been a boring day and there wasnt much to do. I popped to the shop and noticed that the Reform Church just around the corner from me has had this new big metal cross sculpture put up outside...it looks great!

Im not sure what the building was before it was turned into a church..i cant imagine that it has always been a chuch especially because its surrouned by so many houses..although saying that St Pauls' Church is just down the road.
On the way back past..i stopped to take this shot. I was stood across the road from the church and used my wide angle 17.5-45mm to take the shot. I had to wait til there was no cars as the road runs right in front and i was getting a couple of funny looks..but thats normal now as i walk around with my camera and a tripod sticking out of my bag 24/7.

I walked down past the river where i normally walk my dog and cut up this lane. Ive walked up this lane many times in my life..when i was young i used to walk up here with my friends and then duck under or jump over a fence on the right
side...just past the bend...into an orchard owned by Bulmers Cider Company who make Strongbow and other ciders. We used to walk through the orchards,picking the apples and playing stupid games...we could spend hours in there doing nothing at all. Further up the lane of the left side theres a field that backs onto some houses where they have a kids playground and basketball court where i used to play 2 on 2 with my bestmates. And,right at the top of the lane there are more fields that belong to a local farmer..we used to play hide & seek in his crop fields..ducking in and out of corn and hay growing in them...where we used to make rope swings and tie them to the big oaks.
When i was a kid living in this little town was soo exciting. It didnt matter that it was in the middle of the countryside..that instead of giant shopping centers and motorway links we had farms and villages. I got to play outside all the time..go fishing with my big brother down the river and make up endless games in big open fields. Now that im older..living in this little town isnt as exciting as it used to be. The jobs are limited and the houses are expensive. There arent the opportunities here that there are in other places..in bigger places. As much as i love this town and walking around memembering all the good fun times..i long for the day when i can leave again..when finally my adult life becomes more important than my childhood!

Self

Since ive been on flickr ive noticed this thing called the 365 project..basically,you have to take a self-portrait a day for a whole year. Some of the pictures ive seen are absolutely fantastic..the imagination of some people just blows me away. Recently ive been really wanting to get in on the 365 action but i think it takes a certain skill and imagination that i just dont possess. This guy Pete http://www.flickr.com/photos/arkworld/ has the greatest imagination you can think of,awesome skills and such beautiful little girls aswell..his 365's really inspire me!

The more i look at everyone's 365 projects the more i want to do it and ive been taking afew self portraits..and trying to think of good ideas for them..none of which ive been able to pull off so far..more practive is needed i think.

I took this one last week...using my new tripod to enable more freedom/flexibility. Im using my brothers old bedroom..the spare room...as a sort of studio at the moment..the walls are bare and neutral and the natural light is better. I cant smile in self portrait..i cant really smile at all..but in a self portrait..it feels stupid smiling..i mean,what are you smiling at..theres nothing there : )

Anyway,i took this for fun..i wanted to mess around in acr and play around with color and exposure etc and eventually i came up with this. I like it but as yet havent found any other pictures to use it on. Because of the tint..it gives a green look to everything and makes my red hair look redder.

I took this picture this afternoon..i spent about 1/2 hour taking a bunch of photos trying to achieve what i wanted but it just wasnt happening so in the end i snapped this just before i gave up. I have a slight smile for a change but for some reason it looks like i have a lazy eye or something...lol. I neve manage to take a picture where you can actually really see my eyes either so they just end up looking like black dots. I think it might be because of the lighting or by the looks of them in this picture..they arent open enough or enough of a focus in the picture. I'll get better...like i say..its all part of the learning process.

Worcester

I went all the way to worcester yesterday with my mate Dave...all the way..like its really that far! Hes doing work experience at Wyvern as part of his university course so we drove up there so he knows where hes got to go in Sept when he starts. The place was pretty easy to find and we went in and he had a quick chat with the woman he'll be working with..she gave us abit of a tour..doesnt look all the impressive i have to admit but what he'll be doing sounds exciting.
After that we headed back into worcester town to do some shopping..i say we..more HIM! I had a look around the shops though and looked longingly at all the things i couldnt afford to buy. It was a really nice day..the sun came out at last despite loads of rain in the morning.
After Dave spent all his money we headed for a late lunch and just chilled out abit before the journey home. I took my camera with me but for some reason didnt take a single picture... Next time i'll make sure i take some..its shame,it was such a fun day!!

Photo of the Day:Friday

My photo of the day today is from another walk down to the river. This time we were able to walk the field..along the top bank,down the side of the field and back along in front of the river.


I took this on July 30th in the late evening so the light was great. I used photoshop to edit using a lomo effect. This is one of the first photos ive used lomo on..i really like the look it gives.

Photo of the Day:Thursday

Photo of the Day for Thursday is this beautiful flower. Ive been watering my neighbours garden while they're on holiday.


I took this on July 27th in the evening just after id watered all the pots. I used a color pop setting in ACR to boost the brightness.

The Woods

At the weekend we decided to take my dog up to Queenswood for a lovely long walk somewhere different. My mum called my brother and we picked up his dog Meg and step-son Ty and headed up to the woods. Ty was really into it and made sure we followed the right route up to the viewing point.

Every so often we stopped to check maps that were dotted along the paths and read signs that had been put up on the trees about the wildlife in the woods. I havent been upto Queenswood since i was a child so it was great to go back up there and see how much Ty enjoys it,just like i did when i was his age. We followed a couple of different routes and wondered around the woods for at least an hour before we reached the viewing point where we stopped and rested.

When i was little it seemed like the journey to the viewing point took forever..it seems like miles and miles of walking before we got anywhere..but now,as an adult it feels like no effort at all. I must admit,the view has changed abit since i was a kid though. Nowadays the countryside views are dotted with polytunnels and there isnt a field in sight without something on it. S&A Davies the fruit farmers use all the fields to grow strawberries an so there are polytunnels as far as the eye can see.

On the walk back down from the viewing point we took another route...which turned out to be a pretty long one : )

We met more people on the way back and stopped to talk to a woman and her dog. I noticed something among the trees that looked like a gravestone so Ty & me ventured into the trees to check it out. It wasnt a gravestone but more a marker for some trees planted in honor of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

The stone looked alittle worse for where and was in need of alittle TLC but considering its been there since 1953 and is in the middle of the woods..it still looks ok.

By the time we got back to the carpark we were in need of a rest again so got a couple of drinks and and ice-cream for Ty and sat down on the benches while Ty played on the great kids park they have on the edge of the woods.

It was great being somewhere different even for a couple of hours even if it was only for a short time and wasnt very far away it was nice being out and doing something different rather than sitting around at home or going into town to look at things you cant afford and probably wouldnt buy anyway. Next time,i think we'll spend a few more hours there and take a picnic aswell.

Photo of the Day:Wednesday

My photo of the day for today has to be a picture of my lovely dog Holly. Still one of the only people i can take pictures of...because although she looks away,she can be tricked into looking at me or even given treats : )


I dont even remember when this was taken,i do remember that we were out on a walk though and she was staring at a squirrel on the other side of the dog park..she really wanted to chase it!

Having fun

I spent the afternoon at the park today with a couple of mates. I felt like i was a teenager all over again,hanging out doing nothing with nothing to worry about. We sat around talking,remembering high school and the crazy things we did and wore back then like it was soo long ago..a distant memory strained to remember. We talked about how back then..we could never imagine life after school,how we were determined to 'make it work' and stay the bestest friends that we had been all through school. Being a '20 something' seemed like forever away when we were at high school and now..being '20 somethings' is lasting forever. We complained...alot!! None of us have children yet,nearly all of us have jobs..none of us have actually decided what we want to do with our lives but for some reason we all feel like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders.

Best of all...we talked about how great it would of been to have been the ones to 'make it work'

Ok,so we stayed in contact through college but after that..the last 2/3yrs have left us with on/off contact..being in different cities..sometimes different countries meant that we just didnt make the effort that we should have. But now that some of us are back in our home town..back in the place we know best..we can meet up and act like we've never been apart..like the last 2/3yrs are just in our imagination and though we've changed and experienced new things...ultimately we are still the same people deep down and the things that drew us to each other and made us friends in the first place are still the same!

For a change,i handed my camera over to someone else and instead of being behind it i was infront of it. Im still not completely comfortable with it..but whats the point of being with friends if you cant feel comfortable with them. It was just like the good old days all over again..god ive missed these guys over the last 2yrs. It looks like im gonna be back home for a while now..at least until i have the money to move away again so im definately going to make the effort to meet up with them more often...even if all we do is hang around at the park or go to the pub for a few too many beers.

Its soo much fun being yourself around your friends and not having to act like a grown up anymore..i need to do this more often..i need to get the fun back into my life and stuff worrying about everything. I know we all need to worry sometimes..worrying is part of what makes us human..and if i didnt worry about where my money is gonna come from and what im going to do with the rest of my life..well there wouldnt be much point would there?! But eventually...we all have to just learn that there is more to life than money and sometimes..not knowing what your going to do is the best part..it leaves us more free to experience new things. Life is all about learning and i intend to learn in my own good way!

The Tormentor

My neighbours have a new kitten and my dog hates cats so everytime she sees Jess the cat..she runs at her,chases her through the garden,down the street is she can..anywhere aslong as its away from our house. Last week i couldnt find her anywhere in the house..i even went upstairs to look for her and when i looked out my bedroom window into the backyard i saw her sat on the grass looking up at our tree. When i got out into the garden i noticed that the cat was sitting in the tree on top of the bird house...no one Holly was sat there. She was waiting for Jess to venture out of the tree so she could chase her. But Jess isnt that stupid..but she is mean!!

Jess doesnt back down..she will hiss and stare and i swear she does it on purpose..she knows that it annoys my dog..she knows that my dog wants to chase her and get her away but still she sits there just looking at her..watching her try and get into the tree,watching her watching.

I think Holly spent 2hrs just sat at the bottom of the tree watching Jess and she didnt move a muscle. In the end,after watching her just sit there i went outside and saw Jess,stroked her and tried to get her to leave..just to give my dog a rest. It didnt work and i had to make my dog come inside..she was driving me crazy just sat there. But,it wasnt good enough! She kept going and sitting by the backdoor until i let her out again to continue sitting by the tree watching Jess.

I cant afford a lens baby for my camera yet so in the meantime i have to settle for a photoshop action which gives the same affect as the lens baby..just not quite as good i guess.
But i went with a black & white action with this and then just used the lens baby action...just for fun!

Fear

A few weeks ago we found out that my Grandad has cancer. I cant say that i was suprised..he has been a smoker all his life and suffers from a few other health conditions like diabeties,asthma and angina. Even though deep down i think i knew this would happen,it still doesnt prepare you for hearing it. His health has been getting worse for weeks..maybe even months and we all know that sadly,he wont be with us for much longer.
Im sad that it has to be like this,i would wish that he could live forever if it was a happy and painless life but i know that he cant and probably wouldnt wish to either. Im quite close to my grandad in that i see him alot,i get on with him well and i love him very much. My nan died 13/14 years ago so he has been on his own for a long time now and im sure he looks forward to the day when he will see her again. Hes the only one of my grandparents still alive and perhaps thats what makes it harder for me to accept. Once hes gone..there will be none of them left and a part of my world will be missing forever..never to return.

Its a dark time in our lives right now as we learn to deal with the information we have and knowledge that one day..maybe sooner than we hope..he will leave us for good.

I dont deal with death well...i doubt anyone does. I dont believe in God,im Buddhist so i know that he will return even if it isnt to me. But maybe that makes it harder for me to let go. Both my parents are christian and they know and feel that once you die that is it,you go to heaven and thats the end of it...maybe that gives them the closure they need..im not sure.

I took probably one of the only self portraits i have ever taken in my life to document how i was feeling the day i got the news about my grandad. The waiting is the bit that will probably get to me the most..the uncertainty of it all. We know it will happen,we know it will be a very sad and traumatic time..but when will it happen. I hope not very soon but i know that sadly,maybe the sooner the better if he is in pain.

I feel confused still. In the dark. Waiting for the day when my grandad will be with me no more!

Photo of the Day:Tuesday

My Photo of the day for Tuesday. This is one of the first photos that i took with my dslr back at the beginning of June.
Taken on 6th June on a walk with the dog. I think this was in someone's garden. I processed in photoshop and used a childish david b&w action.

Catch up

I'll be playing catch up with my blog for at least a week. Ive been neglecting it and havent blogged properly at all so for the next week maybe more i'll be uploading pictures from the weeks before..all in an attempt to get myself back on track. Eventually i will have to give up on back dating otherwise i'll never catch up with myself. Maybe the best way to do it is to make more than one post a day..which as evidence suggests..im currently doing. If anyone reads this blog..and its probably doubtful..then just bare with me. I make no sense at all most of the time and probably less sense at 12.30am after 2 bottles of Stella but nevermind.


Anyway..here's a picture from a couple of weeks ago when i was down at the Vicky Bridge in Hereford checking out the river during the flooding.

Its not the river..but a picture of Nelson's Colum on the Castle Green next to the river. It marks the original site of Hereford castle.

Herefordshire Countryside

A few days ago i decided to take Holly on a nice long walk down the river. I think shes feeling abit neglected as my dad isnt well enough to take her on nice long walks anymore and so it all falls down to me. I decided it'd be nice to go down to the river...after the flooding i wondered how wet it would be down there and i know she loves running through the fields. So we set off on the 20min walk to the river and spent an hour walking along the top bank of the field as the bank over the river was still water logged and muddy from all the flooding.

Just through the gate..this was the lovely view we were greeted by. The corn is still pretty much in tack and the whole field is covered in it but i dont think it will be any good after all the water that filled the field for a couple days while the river was up.

Wide angle is great when you have such a nice view to look at. I used my 17.5-45mm to take this..i love the sweeping landscape look.

Every now and then along the bank Holly would run off into the corn hunting down a bird or other creature that she had seen/heard move. It was so much fun watching her run around having a great time in the late evening sunshine and running in and out of bushes and corn following her own path.

With a field full of corn i just had to stop and take a couple of pictures,they arent really anything interesting but every picture i take is like a learning experience for me. If it turns out good or looks interesting then thats great,if not...then i know not to do it again!

I processed this shot in Photoshop and used a Childish David black and white action on it. I love David's black and white actions because they arent just your average black and white and his range gives great subtle changed in tone and light.

Half way along the bank i saw this lonely looking tree on the other side of the river in the middle of a field. Then i noticed all these little white dots along side..changed my lens over to the zoom and looked again..i realised that it was sheep all along the top of the hill.

I recently got ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and so ive been starting to process alot..almost all of my pictures in that.

I love the results that you get in ACR and the fact that you can get settings for the program like the actions you get for photoshop.

The results might not what you would consider traditional but thats what i like about it,you get to experiment and think outside the box abit more..give a different and unique edge to your photographs and work. I think i will be using ACR more in the long run,especially when i have the money to purchase Marina Miller's Underground set.

Photo of the Day:Monday

Its technically Monday now so in an attempt to start as i mean to go on...here is my photo of the day for Monday.

This was taken on June 17th at a graveyard where my grandparents are buried in Wentnor,Shropshire. Its a memorial to soldiers who fought during the war.

Wish List

Im being second shooter at my cousins wedding in September...woohoo..my first photography job. But at the moment im lacking in equipment really so...ive put together a wish list in the hope that before the wedding i'll have the money to buy at least a couple of things from it.

Wish List:

Olympus FL-36 Flash
Gary Fong Lightsphere
OM Adapter
Sigma 50mm
Olympus 24-70mm

A combined cost of lets say....around £700
I want to at least get the flash before then so that i can use it at the wedding..the gary fong lightsphere wound be excellent to have by then aswell as i want to use it at the same time.
After that..i just hope to get the money for the adapter and 50mm....i can dream huh!!

Promise

Its been weeks since i last posted and ive decided..seeing as i havent got anything better to do with my time at the moment and i should really make more of an effort,im going to make at least one proper post a week and post at least 1 photo a day..even if it isnt of anything specific.
I need to get back into a routine of doing this and maybe it will take my mind of other things that are going on at the moment.
Ive decided that im not going to go back to university in september..i plan to take at least a year off and then think about it. Eventually,i will need to do my third year,i dont think there is any point in me spending 2 years at university getting 1/2 way towards a degree that i ultimately do like and want to get..just to drop out and not bother.
In the meantime..i need to find a new job,now that im back from uni and have left my old job behind..i need something to do. I plan to concentrate on my photography abit more,with some money coming in i can get more equipment,books...Marina Miller's awesome 'Undergroud Raw Settings' and practice more,do more photography work and hopefully make a name for myself...thats the plan anyway!

Hollydog & Meggymoo

My dog Holly and my bros dog Meg have now become my models. A lack of human models willing to have their photo taken means im gonna concentrate on animals for a while. Its not that easy to keep Meg still,at 9months old shes full of energy and constantly running around but i managed to get a couple of good photos of her a couple of days ago while she sat watching my brother across the street.

Like my dog Holly she is obsessed with her owner and follows him absolutely everywhere, if she cant see him then she'll look until she finds him. I was sat on my porch watching both Holly and Meg as they played and then found bits of sunshine to lie in. At the moment Meg is still eating grass just for the hell of it and i love that you can see little bits of grass hanging out of her mouth.

She doesnt mind having her picture taken but she gets so excited when she sees you that she just runs straight at you anyway making it quite hard,but i was pleased i caught her in this quiet moment.

Holly is alittle harder to get a picture of..she isnt a fan of the camera..she looks away everytime she sees on pointed at her. Sadly i have to try and trick her so that she'll look at me..whispering 'cat' or 'psst' seems to do the trick but she always gives me a 'you just said cat but there isnt a cat' look. I think im gonna have to go with offering her small treats in the future,eventually she will learn that even though i say 'cat' there isnt actually a cat.

Lenses

Ive had my new camera for a couple of weeks now but i havent really had the opportunity to photograph as much as i'd like. At the moment my only models are my new baby niece Lola and my dog Holly..the other people who are either still for long enough or around to have their picture taken. I decided to get another lens,other than the kit one,to enable me to take a better range of pictures..more landscapes or nature shots..the more practice the better.

When i first got the camera i took it with me on walks with my dog and managed to get a couple of great shots with my kit lens. I really like the way they turned out and i suppose because i was so close there is no problem.

This is one of the first shots i took with my camera,trying out the settings and the range.

My kit lens is a 17.5-45mm which is great for the close ups but i want to get into more portrait photography and plan on buying the sigma 50mm when i get the money...at £229 its not exactly cheap.

I went ahead and bought the sigma 55-200mm lens which has great zoom and range on it...£129 so again not cheap but a fantastic lens and ive used it loads since i bought it. I really want to use it to its full potential. I want to get some great nature/wildlife shots from it. Im having some luck,at least i think i am and producing some at least OK photos.

Again on a walk with the dog...i was looking at some trees and taking some pics of the bloom when i noticed this bee dipping in and out. I got a couple of good shots of him going in and out of the flowers collecting the pollen but liked this one the best as you can see its wings open

DSLR

Ive always been interested in photography and for ages ive wanted to buy a good DSLR..i already have a normal small digital camera which are great for snapshots but not for proper photography. As it was my 21st birthday in April i decided i would use the money to buy a good camera. So i had a look in all the usual shops and realised that a good one was gonna be more than i had hoped and i probably wouldnt be able to afford it after all...but then,saw an advert on tv for a sale in Currys..including a dslr. Went down and had a look at it...nice and light,not too big perfect for a dslr virgin like me. So the next day i went down and bought it and im so glad i did.

Ive found it really easy to use and the settings offer so much range to produce some great dramatic photos. Im still getting to grips with it as i havent even had it a week yet but ive been experimenting and taking pictures of pretty much everything around me.

My cousins just happened to be at home when i got back from buying the camera and while playing in the back garden with my dog and theres,i took this snap. Although ive chopped off the top of his ear (im still learning) i think the quality is pretty good and it makes a nice photo. Duffy is a real cooperative dog aswell,whenever my dog sees a camera she turns away..so its near impossible to get a photo of her.
I did manage to get one though,after whispering cat a couple of times..hehe!

Check out my Slide Show!

New Years Eve

As im back home i arranged to got out with a couple of mates that i knew at college for New Years and planned to meet up with afew other people at different pubs thoughout the night. I went out with Claire,who i went to college with and her mate Annika who i also knew.

We were at a pub when we met up with a couple of other friends,Ben and Kyle. Just before 12 we went into the centre of town,by the clock,where everyone was meeting together and saw loads of people i hadnt seen for years. I was busy hugging and chatting with loads of people when some guys starting being idiots and pushing people around. They pushed a big group of girls who fell over knocking me down at the same time. This wouldnt normally of bothered me because abit drunk at time and it didnt bother me until about 45mins later when i could feel something weird on my foot. I looked down to see my leg bleeding really badly. I hadnt noticed but there was 3 smashed glasses on the floor where i fell and so i'd fallen,bare legged onto broken glass cutting my leg several times between my ankle and knee. AND ive ruined my shoes which is really upsetting because i love those shoes :(

I had to leave the celebrations at about 1am to go home and be cleaned up which sucked because i wanted to keep celebrating,but as the drink wore off the pain kicked in..so it was a good job i did go home! It didnt look as bad once it was cleaned up but hell does it still hurt!!

ME

Im 20 years old,was born in London,live in Hereford in the west midlands and go to university in Northampton. Im in my 2nd year at university doing a law degree and modern art bachelors (odd combination i know) and love both. I live in a shared house with a great group of people who i generally love hanging out with either at home or in the pubs/clubs.

Im an adoptee and made contact with my birth parents nearly 2 years ago which was a strange but wonderful experience. I love my parents and couldnt of asked for better ones,they will always be the most important people to me and i have 1 older brother,Richard 25,who ive grown up with. I now have a younger brother,Perry 12 and 2 younger sisters,Dana 10 and Molly 7 from my birth father and 1 younger sister Hannah 12 from my birth mother.