polaroids

Emily x

Painting the Roses red

I went to the park yesterday (its just by my house). Roath park is typically victorian. It has a rose garden, boating lake with lighthouse, botanical gardens etc.

I love the rose garden it makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland in the Queen of Heart's garden, because the weather was nice I had a stroll over with my camera and took some pictures.

Its hard to take a bad photo of a flower really since they are so beautiful and intricate but still it was what I needed to ease myself back into photography. I literally havent picked up my proper camera since I graduated a year ago!



Also take a look at this lilac coloured roase, I literally couldnt believe how beautiful it was and it smelt so lovely too! (slightly blurred photo it got windy!!couldnt tell until i got home)

Let them eat Cake

Beautiful photography spread for Zoya jewellery based heavily on the Marie Antoinette movie by Sophia Copolla. I saw these on Absolutely Lady Like blog.

What I like:
I love the theme, I love the makeup and hair styling. The Zoya jewellery range is decadent in every way I really like the necklet and earring in the bath photo and the sparkling rose ring, it reminds me of a range we sell at work called Le Vian. (I will do a separate post on that as there is so much of the jewellery I want!)

I have some images from the film which you can see the very obvious influence it has had on this shoot.


I left the photographs which were less influenced by the film out because they were more contemporary and generic, I didnt like them as much.

Photoshop

Had a play about on photoshop and using various tutorials online I managed to create this 3D effect.


cool huh?

need a pair of these soon, i'll have converted all my photographs into 3D!

Resolutions

My resolution this year is to worry less about things, seriously get back into photography (ive done nothing since Uni!) and enjoy myself more!

I want to travel a bit this year. I have a holiday or 2 in mind, another trip to Paris for Paris Photo would be wonderful.

I havent done much to write about since my last post, apart from seeing in the new year with friends.

Here is the Moomin house at this point in time. It has gained a garden and the roof will be attatched soon.



I desperatly need a visit to the craft shop.

1.Felt- in white, red, brown and peach
2. Canvas- for my many cross stitch ideas.
3.Ribbon-for various crafts (main idea is to make bunting)

anyway bye for now!

Business cards!

I finish uni forever next week! Scary and exciting times! I'm actually really looking forward to joining the real world.

I have a graduate exhibition at the end of the month where I will exhibit my final piece of work. I am having 9 A4 images mounted onto dibond and fixed to the wall.

I also want business cards made, I can't decide which image to choose for my cards though! I could do a pack with some of each image but some look better than others.

Here are the examples I have with the phtographs I have chosen for the cards, I just need to narrow it down to one! Maybe you could help me choose which?



My contact details will probably go on the back.

thanks :)

Photography Book Auction

My course is holding an auction of photographic books to raise money for our final year publication.

We have an amazing list of signed books and rare prints on offer kindly donated by photographers such as Broomberg and Chanarin, Martin Parr, Stephen Gill, Josef Schulz and Richard Long.


visit this blog for further information on making a bid and a complete list of items for sale:

http://www.photoart2010.co.uk/


(it is possible to make an absent bid if you cannot make the event)

Apologies and Peter Fraser Exhibition

Hi, its been a long time since I wrote something really interesting/ detailed on this blog. I am really busy with uni work and my part time job. However, I am going home this weekend and am going to write a blog on 1970s the 'nostalgic romanticism' trend (think laura ashley), with examples of course :)

I have also managed to persued my boyfriend to take some decent pictures of me in some of my vintage or vintage inspired outfits as well, just because I don't do it often! I definitely want to steer this blog back to a vintage fashion, historical and photography theme, is that too varied?

Also, some sad news yesterday. I went on a day trip to see the most recent Peter Fraser exhibition so I thought I would pop into my favourite vintage shop which was nearby, only to find it had closed down :(
I'm pretty gutted!


anyway here are some of the images from the Peter Fraser exhibition, I believe he has photographed stately homes around Wales. You will not be able to tell from these images but if you do get to see the exhibition or the book you will notice the reoccuring blue theme throughout which I like very much.

Wind Turbines

Hello again,

So it's March already! I turned my calendar today to find this lovely photograph...'Somewhere over the Rainbow'

I saw a rainbow this weekend, I went down to Oxfordshire, where my boyfriend is from. I needed to take some photographs for my university project. The weather was pretty miserable but I have a few decent photographs for my next seminar.

I love wind turbines, they are beautiful. Here are some of the pictures, I wont put the images I plan to use in my project on here until its all handed in.



Whilst down in Oxford we went to see The Wolfman at the cinema, it was really good! I was expecting it to be a bit cheesy as gothic style horror films can be eg: Van Helsing. Instead it was a really good film that harked back to classic horror. No excessive CGI which is a pet hate of mine!

It was a nice relief from the zombie movies that the box office has been inundated with recently. I like a good zombie film, but there are too many now, nothing new seems to happen in them.

Emily Blunt was fantastic in the film, as was Benicio Del Toro. Anthony Hopkins also acted well, however I really didn't like his character! The costumes were nice and I love the moody atmospheric way it was filmed, the old neglected mansion was great too. The film is gory, but I could handle it so it can't have been too bad.

I figured out the plot pretty quickly but it didnt ruin the film for me, there were still a few twists to enjoy.

Paris part Trois!

Day 3

After the Eiffel tower we headed out to Republique on the Metro. We were trying to find a different photography exhibition, this turned out to be adventure!

By this point in the day we had begun to get hungry and since we had yet to sink our teeth into a marvelous french cake we went on the hunt for a patisserie.
We found a lovely little shop and all chose a cake. I had a chocolate religious, which is essentially a big profiterole topped with a little one, they are supposed to look like nuns (hence the name) they are also very much the same as eclairs.
Here is a pink one off google images.

Me and vinnie with our cakes, and I <3 Paris t-shirts.

I look a bit of a mess, I had on a lot of layers because I'm always cold!


We then went for a drink in a german cafe/restaurant. They were putting up their christmas decorations. We sat outside and had our drinks, the place reminded me of a ski lodge it was beautiful! (I think it was on Place d'Republique if I havent just made that up!)


After being suitably filled up and having our thirst quenched, next up was the exhibition. It was located on Rue Charlot. It didnt take long to find but it was a very long road and we were at the opposite end!
Luckily there was plenty of really cool shops and galleries along the way.
We didnt walk far before we found Mon Amour. This little gem of a vintage shop was full of glizy jumpers. It had a huge collection of accessories such as bows and belts as well as some awesome platform shoes and an adorable fur collared coat! It wasn't outragously expensive but I didnt have many Euros left. This place will be my first stop next time I go to Paris.

A little bit further down on the opposite side of the street there was a rockabilly shop called Mademoiselle Vegas, think tattoo culture and rock and roll inspired gifts and that pretty much sums up this boutique! It had it's very own pink scooter in the window too.



We carried on walking and stumbled across an antiques shop which had a carousel horse in the window. It looked as if it had come straight out of the Mary Poppins scene where they jump into the chalk picture on the pavement, I love it!
'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!'



There were a few small galleries on the way, including one that was showing some photography work inspired by Coco Chanel. I stupidly forgot to take pictures or write any of it down.I will ask the girls if any of them made a note of the photographer.

Eventually we got to the exhibition we were planning to see Prix Pictet 2009. It is another annual event, this years theme was earth and had photographer such as Andreas Gursky and Naoya Hatakeyama showing work. unfortunatly we hadnt realsied it was 9 euros to get in, so we had a peek through the window and then walked back haha!

we had a busy night as it was my friend Alexa's 21st birthday, so I will post another blog soon! A taster: eating out, getting drunk and an incident with the french police (almost)

Au revoir!

Paris part Deux!

So day 2 of my trip to Paris.

We got up early and walked to the Eiffel Tower, there wasnt much of a queue when we got there, especially not for the stairs so we went straight in.


There are 700 stairs from the ground to the 2nd floor and we climbed them all, when you reach that stage you have to get a lift to the summit, so after a few group photographs and some nice shots of the view we got in line for the lifts.
Here is a picture from the second floor looking up at far we still had to go in the lifts! it looked like it was swaying and makes you a bit dizzy and im not even afraid of heights!


This guy cant be afraid of heights either, he was painting!

It had started to get busier by this point so we had to wait for 10 minutes or so.
At the top theres is an enclosed viewing stage with images to help you pick out the landmarks. one of my friends asked 'but wheres the Eiffel Tower?!' it was funny, I think she was joking (I hope she was joking!)
You then climb a small staircase to the outside. It was incredibly windy up there! Again we took a few pictures and put a euro in the telescope to check out the view a little closer. here are some of the photographs

The art du Triomphe there.

We made our way down in the lift and then the stairs, it felt a bit scarier going down for some reason, I felt like I might fall forward down the stairs! We crossed the road and a bridge over the Seine and walked along the riverside, I dont think we really had any idea where we were going (i certainly didnt). We stumbled across this:


It is a replica of the Liberty flame, I definitley recognised it but it still intrigued me so I looked it up when I got home. I found out that the Liberty Flame sits above the entrance to the tunnel in which Princess Diana died during a car crash in 1997. The structure itself had no metion of this so me and my friends were quite surprised. anyway I think its beautiful.

There will have to be another wait for the next half of my Paris excursion because
Im going away for the weekend to Bristol (its only about 30mins away) but still it means no blogging for a few days and I'll probably have even more to write about when I get back.

au revoir! x

Essay Finished!

My essay is finished!

:D

I now just have to print and frame my photographs for the Exhibition on the 21st.

Bank Holiday Fun!

The title to this blog is misleading because I am currently eyes deep in my essay on German Architectural Photography (not fun). Ive written 3134 words of 3500 so I'm not doing too badly. However progress seems to have slowed down and I can't get back into it, another trip to the uni library is needed. I only have until Friday to finish.PANIC!

I realise for a photography student i dont talk a lot about my photography work so heres a bit more of an insight. I am very interested in Architectural Photography and in my opinions the Germans are the best at it.
Bernd and Hilla Becher are one of my favourites here is an example of their work
Bernd and Hilla Becher - Water Towers.

Researching my essay Ive come across a lot of German photographers I hadn't previously heard of such as Laurenz Berges


and Jorg Sasse. I love this image

(yes i know its not architectural) both Sasse and Berges were taught by Bernd Becher at the Dusseldrof Academy.


I also just wanted to mention The Duchess because I finally watched it yesterday, (no one would see it at the cinema with me!) same as Young Victoria.... now i have to wait months until it comes out on DVD! I find it really unfair actually because I'm always getting dragged off to see films I have no interest in by my boyfriend.

ANYWAY!

The Duchess, beautiful costumes as expected, i am a huge fan of 18th century fashion and decor.
I never used to like Kiera Knightley, i used to find her constant pouting and over the top english accent annoying, but I must admit after watching Atonement and The Duchess, she is growing on me considerably.
Her portrayal of Georgiana Cavendish Duchess of Devonshire was wonderful. The Duchess' marriage was a very unhappy one, she ended up having to share her husband with her best friend Lady Elizabeth Foster.
Georgiana's life is often compared to the life of Marie Antoinette there certainly are many similarities (i love the Sophia Coppola film starring Kirsten Dunst, you should watch it if you havent already). Also Princess Diana was an ancestor of the Duchess of Devonshire...more paralells?

Georgiana was at her time one of the most fashionable women in England, and she used her 'celebrity status' to help popularise the Whigs party.
The film is very sad, but worth watching, the cinematography is wonderful.
This is a portrait of Georiana by Thomas Gainsborough and a film still of Keira Knightly in my favourite of her costumes from the film.(her campaign outfit promoting Charles James Fox)




anyway thats all for now :) cya x