#12 Snow Drops

I left my photography lesson to wander around a graveyard to take some pictures and I found this cluster of Snow Drops. They are by far my favourite flower due to their purity and raw beauty. I loved this image I took because it's focused perfectly on the bottom of the image where the Snow Drops are, but it also has the blurred out background which adds a certain perspective to the image.

This has hardly been edited at all, only the contrast and exposure.

Hope you enjoy x

#11 I'm back!

Right so I haven't been on in a while because my old camera frustrated me a lot and restricted me in terms of my photography, but now I've bought a second hand Canon 1100D with a 18-55mm lens for £245 (pretty good bargain I would say). This means that I'll be posting a lot more than I have been for the past few months (which is exciting for me, but not so much the rest of the internet population).

This is one of the first photos I took on this new camera. I love the way the focal point is so sharp and how I can make the background as blurry as I like. This is just a taster of what is to come when I get out and take some more photos.

Glad to be back! x

#10 - an analysis for my photography course

Matthew Merrett is a contemporary photographer, most famously known for his urban decay photography. He has travelled across the world photographing various forms of urban decay.

This photograph can be found here, and was one of these images taken from his various trips around the world, and is a natural shot, capturing something he came across in that particular moment in time I think the image may have been edited slightly, by perhaps darkening the dark areas, brightening the light areas and increasing the intensity of the colours. This has created a prominent contrast between the separate areas within the image, and therefore makes the blue of the door the main focus of the image. The composition of the image is extremely effective in creating a powerful image. The lines of the wooden wall are exactly in line with the edge of the image, creating a repetitive stripe effect across the whole of it. The door is also placed strategically in the right hand side of the image, so to split it in half unequally, and is sort of like my image of the broken window on the yellow wall.

                I really like this image because of the way that the photographer has composed it, and clearly put a lot of thought into how it should be taken in terms of composition, lighting and colour. I feel that it shows urban decay through the graduation of moss and mould at the bottom of the building, and that it suggests that decay is a slow process in which time plays a big part.                However, I think the image could be improved if it had contrasted natural decay, with man-made vandalism. For example, if this image had some graffiti incorporated in it, maybe it would have been more powerful through the contrast of the two separate types of urban decay.                I will use this as inspiration in my own work by creating similar images that show natural urban decay of buildings and objects. I will do this by searching for buildings that have got creepers growing up them, or perhaps have got dirty over time, or have not been taken care of and so have begun to go mouldy. I will also use a similar composition to Merrett, and will think about how to create a powerful image in great detail before snapping the shot.

Success!

I have worked it out now so I will continue to blog as normal.

Although, I have just realised that all the comments I was trying to enable were in fact spam, and consisted of people trying to advertise their own blogs. Where are the interesting comments people?!

Help?

Okay so, I went on my gmail for the first time in forever and I've noticed that quite a few people have commented on some of my posts, but when I view the posts I cannot see the comments. Would someone be able to help me? I'm fairly new to is so I'm still learning.

If you can help, please email me at laureeengray@gmail.com

Thanks x

#9 shadows

This is my absolute favourite picture that I took while on holiday/vacation in America. It was taken from my hotel balcony and about 6am while we were suffering from jet lag after just arriving. I loved how the sun was reflecting off the water and into my camera, creating a sort of over-exposure look; I also loved how the beach umbrella was the darkest object in the image, and how it's not surrounded by anything except sand, sea and a couple of people. I felt that this created a contrast within the image and meant that the umbrella is the main focus, rather than anything else.

This is unedited (as are most of my photographs)

Hope you enjoy :)

#8 leopard-print slug

This was taken by me on a walk with my family last year. I tend to walk looking at the floor (because I'm a bit clumsy and don't want to trip over) and while I was doing so, I spotted this rather unusual leopard print slug. I just had to get a picture of it because I've never seen anything like it in my life and thought it was fascinating. 

Unfortunately the pictures didn't come out as clear as I had hoped, but the pattern is still visible. Enjoy!