Processing

I recently uploaded an architectural shot to Flickr showing the dome of Blackpool Winter Gardens View Here.
It was suggested that the shot might look good in b&w, so I revisited the image and converted it to black and white.

While editing the image I tried out a few variations and came up with a more saturated version too. Processing an image can create many different looks and feel and in the end it can be quite subjective.

Spring sunshine

Wow today it has been sunny and I managed to get out and about with my camera. I took some long walks along the beach and shot some great pictures. The wind was blowing but it certainly felt like spring was in the air.

There are such super seascape and landscape photographers on Flickr so I thought I would try and give it a go. When I took shots of the beach before it was on my compact camera, so I haven't really done much with the DSLR.



I converted these to b&w as the blue sky wasn't dramatic enough on the beach shot and the severe b&w really packed a punch and gave it a sense of space. Under the pier again I felt lended itself to b&w. Keep an eye out for these and other beach shots on Flickr in the coming days. At the moment I am featuring some recent shots of the Blackpool Winter Gardens.

Art

Believe it or not but I actually went to art college. I love art from the abstract through to the classical. Art evokes so much emotion and feeling that is as individual to each person as a fingerprint is.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.~Thomas Merton

I hope that the images I create are more than what the eye can see, that they are hopefully in some small way art.

Just had to post this :)

Do i work? Uh yeah i do work... 24 hours a day.why??? Coz i'm a MUM... I am a cook, a cleaner, a parent, a teacher, a referee, a nanny, a nurse, a handyman, a maid, a photographer, a councilor, a chauffer and a comforter... I don't get holidays, sick pay or any days off.... I work through the DAY and NIGHT.... Am on call 24 hours!! Now tell me your job is harder than mine!

Flowers

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.~ Henry Ward Beecher

My husband gave me a beautiful bunch of tulips for valentines day so expect to see quite a few shots of them. Tulips are my favourite flower and I had them in my wedding bouquet. They remind me of my childhood and my mother and so many memories that are very special to me.

Flowers can melt even the hardest of hearts.

Architecture

Those of you who follow my Flickr stream will notice that every once in a while I shoot some statues or buildings. Sometimes I do like the contrast between these hard architectural shots and the more softer nature ones.

I am going to make a set purely for statues as I am gathering quite a few images.

















I am also working on a collection of images taken at Blackpool Winter Gardens which has been recently refurbished.
Here is the official website of Blackpool Winter Gardens

Love

Today is Valentines day and love is all around. There has been some lovely sweet images on Flickr today, everyone really has got into the spirit of the day.

Weather

I spent yesterday out taking some shots as it was sunny and I felt that spring was on the way and it made me eager to go out but today as I look out of the window it's cold and grey, its been raining and now the wind is picking up. So today has become a processing day!
Weather can make or break some shots and we are lucky or unlucky to have so many seasons and sometimes it feels as if we get them all in the one day!

We had some heavy snow fall over the Christmas period and it was beautiful to see so much of our surroundings looking so different. Snow can transform the grimmest places into a winter wonderland.

Birds

I was sat today looking out of the window at all the birds flying over. Geese heading south, starlings swooping and diving through the sky and the seagulls doing a merry dance on the grass to catch worms. There are so many talented photographers on Flickr who specialise in bird photography that I am always seriously impressed with their patience and skill.

Photography is all about not just looking ahead but looking up to the sky and down to the ground to see and capture what others do not see.

I have taken some bird photographs last year but haven’t been too happy with the results, more patience and practice needed. I may not have the technical skill at times but what I do have is the enthusiasm and tirelessness to have a go.

Busy Busy Busy

Have you noticed that sometimes there isn't enough hours in the day to do everything! Having a Blog and a Flickr account is fantastic, and now I also have a RedBubble shop, but wow doesn't it take up a lot of time. There's so much to keep up with it's hard to find the time to take any photos!
In the meantime I have ordered a greetings card for myself from RedBubble as I want to see the quality. As it doesn't seem right to expect others to buy from it if I haven't done so myself.
There are a lot of very talented artists, writers and photographers on RedBubble and I am very proud to be in their too.

Shop

I have taken the plunge and offered some of my work for sale on RedBubble. Not all the work featured is on Flickr or on this Blog, and not all the images on Flickr are available over at the shop. So if you take an interest in something and would like to purchase it then contact me on the form below on your right and I will do what I can to help.
You can reach my shop by clicking on the 'Tab' at the top of the page, or clicking on the RedBubble logo to the right.
RedBubble is a safe shopping experience used worldwide for the art community. It is a must have for original artwork, prints and greetings cards. So if you are looking for something a little different to Moonpig then come on over.
Please check back too as I add more images.

Woof !

Hi everyone it's the weekend! Today I posted a lovely little picture of my dog Sammy. Pets and animals make such great subjects for photography, they have so many expressions and don't complain either when I keep taking their photo!

This is a cat I saw sat in the street just watching the world go by. It isn't a bad habit to adopt sometimes, to sit and listen and watch.

HFF !

For those not in the know HFF stands for Happy Fence Friday.
One of my favourite days of the week...but not only for the reason that it's the start of the weekend! Friday is fence day, when all those lovely fence shots are posted. Superb strong focus and dof and always impressive creativity from my Flickr chums.

Fences also include barriers, railings, gates...all things to keep you out, or in !
It is one of my most enjoyed photography subjects, and is very addictive. I look at fences and railings wherever I am.

The Fence Friday Flickr Group Come and have a look at so many great images.

Weekly

I am begining to like the idea of doing weekly challenges, so I am just getting some ideas together then I will begin. I still have a few images to post that I took in January, but I havent done much photography this year as yet. Here below are a few that I haven't posted before.

I will also this week put more information and "Tabs" onto this Blog. It is very much a work in progress so I hope you can keep popping by to see what I am upto.

Wall art

Today I have spent some considerable time looking through my images trying to decide what would look good hanging in two frames above my bed. It was a lot harder than I imagined as I am so self critical. I felt that 2 images together really needed to be of a similar theme. I also realised that although quite a lot of my images are interesting and reasonably good they aren't really what I would want large on my wall.

Some images would be good if I was doing say an exhibition or showing what I can do....but do I want them large and on my wall...erm No. So that begs the question as to why I took them. This is again to do with my style, or lack of. Do I want to take photos of images to hang on a wall or is what I do with the final image not really important. The jury is out on this for now.