Quite a perky bunch today, have a lovely week.
Monday, 12 November 2012
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Boot Sale Bargains
It was a nice sunny day today, what better way to spend the morning than at a car boot sale, so off we went loose change at the ready. One stall had a fantastic deal, for £1 you were allowed to fill a carrier bag with anything you liked, we managed to bag a handful of toys, some retro table linens and some other great items which you can see in the photo below. A lovely tinned puzzle, a 1960's tray, a floral tapestry and a slightly battered but all present and correct game of Twister. Roll on next Sunday!
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Weekend baking Granny Stylie
I was asked to bake some cakes for a family birthday party. I do love to bake a cupcake and have learnt you can hide a multiple of sins through the use of glitter! However I was a bit drip happy with the blue food colouring and didn't realise that red food colouring makes a peach colour when added to butter icing, not the pink I was expecting. Instead of baby pink and blue cupcakes I ended up with retro Granny chic peach and turquoise cupcakes. A happy accident or not? I'll let you decide.
Monday, 5 November 2012
Photography Heroes, Goals and Pointers #Blog School Homework
Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, my Dad was a press photographer, that's how he met my Mum. She was a model and he was assigned to photograph her in her bikini on Southend seafront. You could say that my brothers and I came in to existence because of photography! My Dad was a predominantly a press photographer during the 1960's-1970's, he used a manual 35mm SLR Nikon camera and Ilford black and white film. After taking his photos he then processed them all in the darkroom ready to go press that same day. Here are some of his images below.
I remember stumbling across a small photography book in the Uni library, it was called 'Living Room' by Nick Waplington. It candidly documents the photographers family and their neighbours, warts and all. I was immediately drawn to this style of photography and have been in love with it ever since.
A similar photographer is Richard Billingham, he also documents his family in a very candid way unashamedly photographing the poverty and deprivation he grew up in. In his book 'Rays a Laugh' Billingham uses the cheapest film and leaves the images purposely unfocused to add a rawness to his work. His father is an alcoholic, his mother a chain smoker, his life seems chaotic and brutal but there are moments of true tenderness that shine through.
World Press Photo is an annual competition that showcases all the best press photography from around the world. Some of these images are truly inspiring and at time very upsetting and harrowing. I have chosen a few below to illustrate the power of press photography, to see the full archive click on the link.
::masked Iraqi war prisoner holding his 4 year old son::
::young jockey and horse in Mongolia::
::Maria, drug addict and sex worker::
Photography can raise a smile, make us shed a tear, bring back strong and profound memories and ultimately capture a moment in time that would otherwise fade or be forgotten.
My photography goals are to keep practicing, try to use manual mode more often and to learn some of the more key functions of my camera. I would like to set up a mini studio and to put more planning and thought into the composition of my photos.
The photographer who has most inspired me has been my Dad, it was his work that sparked a lifelong love of visual language and creativity. He is still taking photos today because he loves to.
A Final Photography pointer (from my Dad)
For craft/lifestyle blogging purposes natural daylight takes the best photograph, flash can flatten an image and occasionally look garish. If there is a lack of natural daylight and you have no choice but to use flash, place a paper tissue over the flash, this will diffuse the light and give a better result.
Lou xx
#Monday Moodboard - Colour Splash
Well half terms officially over and with only 7 weeks until Christmas I thought a splash if colour was in order. Firework night tonight, just off to buy my jacket spuds...yum!
Friday, 2 November 2012
My Machine Embroidery in Gathered by Mollie Makes
My free motion typography embroidery (see post 28th Oct) is in the 'Show and Tell' feature of Gathered by Mollie Makes (issue3).
It's only a small photo but good things come in small packages!
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