Manmade Today!

College this evening and we went from fruit last week to manmade this week.

I have a slightly poorly girl after her flu jab yesterday so I wasn't particularly prepared for college. Thankfully other people brought plenty in and we were also given access to the workshop classroom which has some interesting things to shoot.

I did quite a bit of wandering from one room to the next to see what everyone else was up to! The main aim of the game was to experiment with lighting and compositions.

I quite like the 'lastic band ball and how it is lit and shaded...

My random contributions to the class were items retrieved from the boot of my car! Boxing gloves and roller-skates... It was suggested I put them both on and start a new sport whilst the others took shots, I think it could take off!

and finally the slightly worn-nippled mannequin, rocking it with the headphones...

I'm off to Bath this weekend and hoping to get some street photography in!

Baby & Big Brother Portraits

Another delightful weekend and the Canon getting plenty of action!

I had the pleasure of a spontaneous visit to see Bethany and Finley, two beautiful photography subjects I don't think I will tire of photographing!

Bethany was very sleepy when I first arrived but after lots of snoozy cuddles and a good feed she was wide awake and alert.

Following a scrumptious roast dinner we ventured up to the Park to take some lovely outdoor portraits of the Big Man! He's a little camera shy so the art of distraction is the way forward for the smiles...

It was particularly lovely to see a photo of Bethany on canvas on the living room wall, that I took when she was 2 day old... awww!

Juicy Fruity

Well it was a double whammy for me this week. My tutor asked us to bring in fruit & veg for college to experiment with lighting and composition in the studio AND the photography project group I am in set the task for "Strange Fruit", of which I have to upload one image.

So I went along to Tesco and I really wanted a dragon fruit but couldn't find one so practically ended up with half the fresh fruit there!

I'll be honest, photographing fruit didn't exactly get me excited but I knew there was a reason behind it and that was on lighting etc. Give me people, street photography and pretty buildings any day! We had a few things to play with, I started on the product table and began arranging my fruit like some sort of florist! I lit the table underneath....

Then I tried to go a little more minimalist with a back-light to enhance the straw like coconut...

I was getting a little peckish by now, no dinner as I go straight to college from work so was happily nibbling away at the pomegranate whilst pondering my next move! I went for a spot of Macro on the yummy pomegranate...

I moved over to the OHP (over head projector) to have a play on there with light and fruit. I can't actually remember the name of these little babies, I do remember them not tasting as nice as they looked!

Venturing into the dark room for my first time I came across two of my class mates playing around with fruit for photograms... lots of fun and very therapeutic in the dark room, chatting away swishing photos in trays. We were laying the fruit/veg on top of a clear wallet that was placed on the photographic paper, exposing the light then developing. Can you guess what has been used in this Photogram...

And my submission for "Strange Fruit" into my project group was this little number...
"Well you wouldn't want it in your fruit salad would you?"

We're going to London to buy a Heat magazine

Guess where I've been?

Had an awesome time in London at a friend's annual work party. Mr W came up trumps with the most amazing hotel in Soho... the Sanctum Hotel... amazing! The double upgrade was a bonus but the best thing about it besides the decor, the luxury, the professional photographs framed and lining the walls... was undoubtedly the concierge! With a voice like Ewan McGregor and the biggest personality, the man would quite simply do anything for you, I can think of a few people to send to him for a lesson in customer service, just fantastic, oh and there's the bowler hat.
He obliged for some photographs but actually the best shot I got was of him talking to a client in the lobby...

I also used this shot in my first submission to a project group, the theme was product placement... I'm a little nervous of what the other Togs will think of it... 

We went to the National Portrait Gallery this morning, was great to look at Portraiture paintings and photographs. I particularly enjoyed the comedian section.

There was so much to see around London, I must confess I am a mahoosive fan of people watching, probably why I enjoy portraits so much. As we pounded the pavements of Trafalgar Square, The Strand, and The Mall, I kept stopping for shots and giggling to myself each time Mr W noticed further up that I was no longer walking by his side!

I've gone for a bit of a black and white thang today... I absolutely love black and white but feel the need most the time to try and not do too much of it as I am going through this journey, however after my visit to the Gallery today I became inspired, I realised that portraits are amazing in B&W and if I like it then I should just go with it... they're my shots after all.

More Street Photography than Portrait but I love this shot

Best Busker ever!

And finally, I just had to share this photograph, nothing to do with the merits of the shot as it's not the best photo... just check this dude out in London in NOVEMBER....