Everyday Life

I see beauty in many things, in particular flowers. I love having a mobile with a camera so I can take photos of all sorts of things I see. Here is a couple of photos of flowers I took whilst walking to work.

Hollyhock growing by the side of a church I pass on the way to work. It was windy and rainy but I quite like the effect and also the visible raindrops.

Growing through the bars of the bridge I cross.

Whitstable, Beautiful As Ever

People enjoying a summer's evening at low tide

One of the fresh seafood stands in Whitstable

Whitstable Harbour

Britain's's Bluebells

Estimates suggest that up to 70% of the world's bluebells bloom in the UK. I anticipate their arrival every year and when their particular shade of violet-blue does sweep the woods and flower beds I know summer is on the way. Now we are in the second half of May, some of the bluebells are looking a little tired and I know it is nearly time to say good bye to them until next year.

I found these beauties in Brenchley Gardens in Maidstone whilst waiting for my bus.

Some of the most popular places to find bluebells are here (including the famous Ashridge Estate in Buckinghamshire).

Next year I'm hoping to fulfill a dream and take a trip to Buckinghamshire to photograph the bluebells on the Ashridge estate at sunrise. Fingers crossed.

Lullingstone Castle and Woods

A few photos taken at Lullingstone Country Park on Saturday with my iPhone. Editing also done with various iPhone apps. Tulips, twisted branches, primroses, bluebells, a castle gatehouse and a viaduct were all sighted on the walk. Few things make me happier than walking in the spring, even if it was overcast and cool.

...and isn't Lullingstone one of the most beautiful words? During a discussion with my friend I said I would love to marry a man with the last name Lullingstone. After some debate we decided on Meredith as a nice name to match Lullingstone with for me. Meredith Lullingstone. My friend commented diplomatically that it was certainly the name of 'somebody'.

 

Decided after I'd saved the photo that I preferred myself in focus. Too late to retrieve and edit again though

New Project

A new project which I'm very excited about is in the pipeline...and here is a sneak preview!

I hope it will be completed in about 6 weeks, perhaps even less. It requires lots of flower buying which is wonderful, if expensive-and that's what is slowing things down.

An Etsy page will be linked shortly.

New Jewellery with Snapseed

A few weeks ago I bought the Snapseed app. There are some wonderful effects to play with, as well as standard adjustments, such as altering contrast and increasing sharpness etc..

A couple of photos of a necklace I made

The original effect was created in the I Love Analogue app. Lastly the photo was run through snapseed to decolour parts of the photo, give a lit/overexposed edge, and then saturated again to keep the red of the necklace.

A little of the drama effect was used to increase contrast and bring out the colours. A border was added. My only complaint about Snapseed is that there is not a big variety of borders.

The full blog is here: http://kentishwanderer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/handmade-rose-stitched-necklace.html



Rosie and Rob's Save the Date Card

A little while ago Rosie messaged me and asked me if I'd be willing to help them with their save the date cards. Of course I said yes as I always love a photography challenge!

Rosie and Rob had some really good ideas about how they wanted the card to look and if the creativity shown in their card ideas is anything to go by it's going to be a very beautiful and original wedding.

We went to one of their favourite places to get the photo and after some experimenting, and some strange light realisations, we managed to get enough photos they liked to choose one. The idea was to have just the details in focus.

We did some editing to bring out the greeness (a little is always lost in the snapping process) of the woods, the dreaminess and the beautiful light that day, as well as on the focus area.

Here is the final result which they've kindly let me share :)