2011 - My year in Flickr photos...

I write my most philosophical and reflective posts at this time of year. A lot can happen in twelve months. You meet new people and build new friendships and if you are lucky, ones that last a lifetime. You can begin a career, or take the baby steps towards that big goal that you know will make you and everyone who knows you, proud.

I have come some way over this year with my photography and though I have mentioned some of my achievements in some of my recent posts; I can't help but relive them in my mind and the influence that those achievements will have when the bigger picture comes in to sight. 

In the last few days of the year, I look over what I have done. I like to keep journals and blogs as such, as a reminder or what I have done, what I have thought and what I have felt, but not only that. I like to see what I have done on certain days that I may have done differently in other years or write about new experiences or even life-changing ones like starting University and really knowing what it is like to grow up. 

I don't always write about Photography in a direct way but you will know that I gift-wrap it in somewhere. You can record many memories in many ways. This can be through writing, through song, through video but sometimes it can be the pictures that we take, whether they are captured with our minds eye, or through a camera. I'm an owner of a few cameras now and each one that I look through; I get a different experience. We can look at the same thing but our minds place a different significance on it, no matter how similar we could argue against it, but it is the same world, and that is what I find interesting. 

Since 2008, I have been a Flickr member. Each year, I create a Set and fill all my pictures I have uploaded from that year and review them at the end. I would like to share with you my photos of 2011. 

I wish you a very happy new year. 

Merry Christmas Day!

A big Merry Christmas to the near and dear, the Blogging community and beyond!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

Reflections through a Christmas bauble...

I always seem reflective when the end if the year comes. Each new year, we try to better ourselves and I particularly reflect on how far I have come and what I have achieved. I have achieved a lot in Photography for 2011. I feel more confident with myself and have excelled from just taking Landscapes and Still Life and taking on board some extra tasks during my photographers assistant job at Weddings. His clients have apparently chosen some of my photos that I have taken. Im hoping for 2012 that I will be able to use my own camera this time. I don't have quite as an expensive lens as he does and that probably makes a difference. Some copies to show off, could be nice. I also begun my work in portraiture, with evidence of improvements just over 12 weeks. I have a lot to be proud of.

I am beginning to think of my aims for next year. A mixture of personal project and set assignments for University. My motivation is soaring right now but it is not good just to think and dream about what you want to do. You actually have to do it.

So before wrapping up this post, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, if I don't post again before. I would also like to share an early Christmas I got.



Seasons Greetings everyone!

Lost in Thought (Portfolio) - My first at University

I have done a lot of slideshows and mini films recently but here I have another. What I am about to present is my first official portfolio that I have created at University. I have used a Pentax 35mm camera, Hp5 Ilford film, a darkroom and my very good friend and star model, George.

My portfolio set is called Lost in Thought made of three sets of two in relevance. The single images are on my Flickr  and some more info on there too. Now, sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy my work. The slideshow comes with an option of sound. (The slideshow is also on repeat) If you want to listen; hover your mouse of the top right hand corner and click the volume symbol. On the other hand you may just want to see the pictures in peace. I have left the choice up to you.

Commuting through pictures and video...

Beautiful Sun (morning commute) a video by brown_eyed_dreamer on Flickr.

Did a bit of videography on my commute, one beautiful morning this week. ( You will have to mute the audio from this post to watch this one if you watch this from the homepage)

The song is called Gravity Happens, by American singer and (One Tree Hill) actress, Kate Voegele.

My theme of commuting continues in my first print of my Digital Photography portfolio.

Photography by Zoe Bull 

First semester of University - Over. It seems very surreal and so grown up and sophisticated. I have definitely felt that I have grown up over 2011, but only in the work side. I think I will always be a child inside. 

I will always have the story to tell of how I fell in love with photography. It was yesterday when I was presenting my Digital and Film prints to my course, that I actually fell in love with Photography. Before, it was most likely a Lust or Infatuation - certainly an obsession that I couldn't do much with. It was the day after I left school that I felt this overwhelming lust for it. I had no knowledge of where to go or let alone use a Digital SLR or a 35mm camera. The fact that I have learned so much about Photography in just a few months has made me get to know it and therefore fall deeply and head-over-heels in love with it. They say you can not love a person unless you really know them. I definitely go by that but we are all infatuated to begin with. I feel now that I can start building my skills on a higher level. I am ready to progress and feel so determined to get a career out of this because this is what I want. Photography is what makes me happy. I have never really thought of it as a hobby, but I guess it is. I have always seen it as a little more than that, and now more than ever, I feel like I can work hard and eventually get to being a true professional. 

I shall end this post with a few words of wisdom from Kate, that I find more than inspiring. 

"..I have gathered that the moments that shaped me
Were the ones that have tested my faith
And all that matters is the courage they gave me
I fell down and my fears were erased

'Cause in the wreckage of heartache and hindsight
A new beginning starts to unfold
And if you let it, it just might save your life..."

                                                                -- Kate Voegele, Gravity Happens 

Lost in Thought... (Portfolio Preview)

Lost in Thought... (Portfolio Preview), a photo by brown_eyed_dreamer on Flickr.

The brisk breeze and twinkle of lights in the distance, certainly signifies that December is here and Christmas is coming.

In previous years, I would get excited about the prospect of Christmas around the First of December but from being stuffed to the brim with work, the excitement of Christmas has to be patient.

Next Friday I shall be on my Holidays but before then I have still got prints to complete in the darkroom and not just practice prints this time; Portfolio Prints! And I'm quite looking forward to building my first collection of images while I have been at University.

I hope I can be of inspiration to aspiring Photographers out there.

Via Flickr:

*NOTE: This preview is a digital mock up of my final portfolio. The official prints are yet to be completed and scanned and should be uploaded to Flickr with in the new few weeks. *

Prague Through Pictures... - My Refections

Desire for a perfect life is simply inaccurate. Not everything we do in life has pointed us to the right track or the right direction, as much we try to take the best route. We make mistakes and we learn from them. Like many, I don't like the feeling of regret. Maybe some people do, but to me it feels so wrong, but in the long run, it is something we learn from. Life is for Living but it is also for Learning.

Trams of Prague (November 2011)

I had a regret the other day for going to Prague during the mid weeks of the just gone November. I regret pushing myself too hard and making myself ill, but the thing was that I am learning from my mistake and therefore no longer regret it. I had to be ill so I could be better; not just in my general health but in my well being and how I look and approach life. Though I didn't get out what I wanted to that month to go, I have managed to appreciate that I was given an experience. An experience to visit a new place and enjoy my youth with many like minded creative people on the Photography and Film courses of my University. It was a chance to bond and feel accepted in a thriving society. I also was given the opportunity to capture the significant parts of my stay on my camera. And that, made it personal.

Without further ado:My Top Photos of Prague.

Architecture of Prague (November 2011)

Prague (November 2011)

Prague (November 2011)

Center of Prague (November 2011)

Want to visit my Flickr photostream with the featured photos in my blog and more then click the following link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brown_eyed_dreamer/