On my travels...

Why is it when i'm stuck in the library on a rare warm day, supposed to be doing work, where I get the inspiration to write to my blog. It's been a while and it always has been.

Fortunatly you will be happy to hear that I have been doing alot of photography as I have been away - that is another story. Over April I was to go away to Florida for my birthday. I didn't realise that I would be staying away for another two weeks. Now, everyone has been saying that there could be worst places to get stranded, which is true, but maybe i'd be selfish saying that I wanted to be home more than away. Ok, I need head back to my photography, this isn't a travel blog!

In these extra two weeks, we got a Trans-Atlantic cruise around Europe. Yes, it blew most of the money that my family have but we needed to get back due to family affairs. What I did get out was a trip down nostalgia lane to Rome and Florence. They are such beautiful places and amazing photography oppertunities. If you have been on my Flickr recently then you would have seen some photos I have taken. It was a bit of a shame though because seeing as I thought I was just going to Disneyworld I didn't think I would need my beatiful SLR - Canon 500D. Luckily I still keep my little digi camera, so that was ok, but imagine how much depth and quality was wasted. I guess I will never know....

So, I havn't been to couple of photography events with Stuart, the photographer. He has been away too so we had to cancel some weddings etc. I'm a bit dissapointed because I really want to learn, and dispite the fact I missed a photography day course he was holding when I was away. It's a shame because that would have been another tip filled post for you to share and I would have had the chance to meet young teenagers with dreams like mine. Kinda annoying.

This Saturday should hopefully be heading on the right track again, as long its not cancelled. With having this almost job is that its starting to collide with my social life and my friends and I are starting to go out more. I think I will need to learn how to balance everything out, but it is really time for some more photography...

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/

Magazines and Competitions

As a beginner I only really knew the simple things about photography but in May I decided why I don't I collect a photography magazine. I sort of felt lost about what I was doing and had no idea about some things in photography at all until I came acorss Practical Photography Magazine'.

There were many magazines to choose from on the stand but they didn't seem right to me. I would look on the covers and think they may be too complicated right now or thats not what I am looking for, but Practical Photography I felt that I could easily understand what was being showed and that I could learn efficently.


So I read and found some useful tips abot shoots, types of cameras, photoshop ideas and ways to enhance your photography that have really helped. Annoyingly I don't have enough money to buy a professional looking camera, so when I read about "shooting raw" etc I can't use that with my tiny digital camera. Although I am keeping each months magazine for when do eventually own one and can use the tools to my advantage.

One thing that bothered me when I began photogprahy was the lack of views and comments on my Flickr page. I wanted feedback and to be noticed. I began to feel that no one wanted to look at my photos, as if they wern't important. The thing was, they hadn't been discovered. Even so after 14 months of Flickr, comments, feedback and views are on the gradual increase. It is a good feeling to be noticed, so I put my photography to the test and have entered two competitions in my magazine.
The first one was the topic of Action with the photo oppersite. I didn't win or become a runner up, but out of the seven stages i got to the fifth, with a feedback card. "Technically good but lacks impact". I was slightlly dissapointed as I thought maybe i had the chance of winning, but i had no idea of the range of photography there was, so in last months competition "Creative Colour" I sent in this photo. I havn't got any feedback yet as the closing date is on the 15th of August so next month i will found out. I am not getting my hopes up too much but i tried to add some more depth into my work so hope it goes well.

Competitions are an acheivement, whether you win or not. You never know what impact it will have on your career. So have you entered any photography competitions? Get very far? Or do you read a photography magazine. I would be interesting to see which ones you do read.



[both photos used are for competiton use only and cannot be re-entered into any other competition]




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/