Wednesday Wisdom

The London Eye on the most sunny, beautiful day.

It's that time of the week again, it's hump day!  For those of you that know me at all I may have mentioned watching (numerous times) a particular ad on TV while I was travelling through America, by a company named Geico.  For those of you that haven't heard me speak of this almighty ad then you seriously need to re-evaluate your life's priorities.  I'm only kidding, check out the ad here and let me know how much more joyful your Wednesday/Thursday (sorry, I forget about time zones!) is because of it.

Temporary Sun and Work

A day well spent baking in the sun on the roof of our shared house.

The cute cafe across from my new workplace.



After my photography course was over, I became slightly worried at the fact that I might be unemployed for quite some time.  That's if I don't look around for a permanent job sooner rather than later.  Fortunately I am currently listed with an agency that helps to get me temporary work placements (which is how I started work at my previous place of employment).  

'London Moves'

The Busker's Circle.

Empty Southbank Benches.

Light & Trees.

A Rotating Carousel.

Londoner's Feet.



This is my first ever photography project (*eep*)!  We were given the task of choosing a particular concept/colour/situation - pretty much any singular idea that we thought might work in a series of photos.  Then we headed to Southbank and our tutor told us to go out there and capture our idea!  My idea was simple - movement.  I am so often drawn to this particular concept due to the beautiful stillness you can capture in a single object or person whilst also capturing movement in other objects/people around them/it.  It’s just so interesting having a subject matter absolutely still in the frame while there is a bunch of movement going on around them.  It’s like a person/object is stuck in perfect, serene calmness while there is a whole lot of madness happening around them/it.  I so often relate to this concept  as I believe that I’m a very driven person so when I have an idea or something that I’m passionate about I will generally jump right into it not thinking about the mess it could create around me.  I’m just so glad I could end the photography course with this set of photos, I’m very proud of what I have learnt in these past four days and I’m excited to see what lays ahead for me.

Anyway, I hope I look back on this one day and realise how far I’ve come … until then.

A “Colour-Popping City”

A couple of colourful chairs along Dean St in Soho.

One of many graffiti doors in Soho.

A Pop of Blue!



Red!



London is definitely the place to find a heap of colour, and bright colours at that.  Every where you look, there is colour.  Whether it’s someone’s hair, a construction workers vest, the bright paint colour of a door or even the beautiful colours of the spring/summer flowers.  Ultimately London is a very lively, colourful and as I’ve learnt in the past, FREE (which is a coincidence because it’s actually stupidly expensive here) city.  During the second last day of my photography course we learnt all about colour, how to look for it and how to place it properly in a photograph.  As I’ve learnt, it’s actually surprisingly easy and quite powerful if used well in photography.

Here’s a little taste tester of some of the ‘Colour’ photos I took during our practical learning.

British Museum Trip

The infrastructure of the British Museum is sensational.
This is just the roof.



A Doorway to the Gallery.

Entrance at the British Museum.

Artefacts at the Museum.



Here’s a bunch of pictures I took at the British Museum today!  The photography course is going so well and I’m loving every moment of it.  The tutor/teacher has a wealth of knowledge relating to all things photography so it makes myself and the rest of the students feel at ease knowing that we will understand anything within at least 10 minutes.  There’s so much to take in it’s overwhelming but I will seriously treasure this learning curve for the rest of my life because it has helped me to understand so much more about photography than I ever knew.  Now I might just spend a few hours at my local library looking up famous photographers and famous photographic techniques that I love :)

Oh and just a side note… I also took a wonderful picture of an older man who allowed me to photograph him for this course.  The coincidence was that he was actually a portrait painter.  He was such a beautiful person and he kept questioning me asking if he looked okay and if his moustache looked okay on the camera…. it was just such a perfect end to my day!

So glad that I invested in this course, definitely a worthwhile move.

Beginner to Amateur

Lone bike rider in the traffic of Trafalgar Square.



Trafalgar Square fountain.



Soho Square gardens :)



Another fountain in Trafalgar Square.

Sunset Shadows.

A light painting of a love heart - for all of my friends that support  me! :)



Chimney silhouettes in the sunset.

For the past few days I have been undertaking a photography course which is something I have always wanted to pursue in life.  I still have a remanding two days left of the course but I have learnt so much in the first three days alone that I feel blown away with my own results.  I’m actually slightly humoured by the fact that I have had my DSLR for three years and for those three years I have not known how to do all of the simple things that a professional photographer does with these types of cameras.  Now that I know exactly what I’m able to do with my camera (and I still have a lot to learn of course), I can continue to practice in order to gain some sort of possible career out of it… perhaps — well they’re my own thoughts anyway. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends here and at home that support me through this particular decision.  Now to just find a temporary contract so I can start getting paid again next week…

Oh and I'm exceptionally bias with my own work, so if you could comment on my pictures or let me know which ones are terrible or awesome that would be fantastic! :)

The Great Contiki Challenge 2014

Our contiki lanyard and completed challenge sheet.

"A street named after a Pharrell song" - HAPPY!

A view of the London Eye on a beautiful blue-skyed day.

Team MAKA with a Mind the Gap sign.



The Banksy Tunnel. Which is essentially a massive tunnel used for graffiti.
In other words, The Graffiti Tunnel.



For those of you that follow me on my other social media sites (Facebook or instagram) you would’ve seen a bunch of photos go up that related to something named The Great Contiki Challege or #TGCC14.  For those of you that didn’t, I’ll fill you in a little bit more.  On Saturday my friends, Amz, Standie, Madz and I headed off to a challenge which is organised every year by our friends at Contiki.  This challenge is essentially a massive scavenger hunt throughout London where each team is given a challenge sheet in which they need to complete (or complete as much as possible) by the end of the day.  Anyway, I don’t want to go into too much detail of how the game works instead I’m going to fill you all in on where the scavenger hunt actually took us…

We roamed the streets of zones 1 and 2 throughout London, snapping pictures of Mind the Gap signs, royal street names, a famous memorial in Postman Park and the place where Sherlock Holmes jumped from the building.  We also travelled from tube station to tube station capturing images of the Banksy Tunnel, the London Eye, the view of Buck Palace from the blue bridge in King James’s park, the Truman brewery, a pop up shop made from a cargo ship, the houses where Jimmy Hendrix and Handel were neighbours 200 years apart and a shop named Choccywoccydoodah in Carnaby St.

Everyone had sore feet and retired to bed after the long day it was.  So all in all, it was quite the eventful day!