I keep meaning to write in here.
A lot has happened since I last posted. . . .

September '09, I went to University to pursue my dream of Photography, improve and find the right path for myself. Four months later, I left. The course wasn't at all for me, being self-taught it certainly makes it harder for you. I don't k now about others you may have experienced this, but I had this 'idea' of what Uni would be like, and sadly, it was nothing how I thought it would be. I'm happy with my choice, and I certainly do not regret going there in the first place. I've met some amazing people, all of which I'm missing this second. Cambridge is a beautiful place which suited me perfectly. I loved my job and the people in it are beyond great. But I felt I was paying for something I don't need.
Most of all I know what I want now, I feel like I've grown and realised what, (cliche I know) but Art, photography, is what I was made for. There's nothing else I'd rather do, this is my passion and only I can make it really. One lecturer was awesome there, he made the decision a lot easier. Afterall, it's a massive decision.
Something I've worked out (the hard way) that if you want something that bad, do it. Just do it. There's nothing stopping you, everything I know about photography even make-up I've done myself because I've been so passionate about it.

I am content with my life right now. I have SO much good things coming. I thought my head was going to explode at one point when I realised just how much I could do! I want to travel for sure. I never did before, but I want to explore, discover and shoot!

Also, I've just upgraded my camera! I now am a Canon 5D mark II which I LOVE! my new best friend.

The beginning of this year started so well. Though I've had to make some very hard decisions lately, some I thought I would never have to make but I had to. Had some extreme upset. But I've learnt, I am me. And I have alot of good things coming no matter what. Whatever happens, I won't let it effect me massively, focus on the goal ;) that's all that matters.

This is my year. I'll make sure of that ;)


x Dimples

Have you ever..

felt like you just needed a big cry? To let it all out?

I have a massively bad cold. i cant breathe, stupid cough, and i can't lift my head properly it feels that heavy, and i seem to always be uncomfortable! ou know I even left my own formal early cos i felt so naf. lol I'll put some pictures below!
Just a wee bit unhappy as of now lol Also with a few other issues......which are properly my fault to be honest, but like my wise sister said to me, 'see the bigger picture here.' Which is massively true.

I feel very very ready for a change. I need september to come quicker. At the moment I have my full-time job which is wicked, I'm enjoying it and it's keeping me busy. Even though I've had to miss two flippin' days of it! gutted!Plus the wedding is'nt far off! 14th August! Will be exciting :) Then magaluf hopefully. if my passport gets sorted... expired awhile ago. One of many jobs i must do.

Anyways, better happier news! I have a lot of shoots in mind, 4 to be exact planned. very excited. Just need to prepare for them and gather certain things. :)

Inspiration hits!

Busy Bee again!

New job! I'm a nursery assistant which is great, lots of lovely people there :) i'm actually really enjoying it! All up until August as I'l be leaving for
Cambridge hopefully lol But anyway, like I said before, inspiration lately has been hard to find! Although the other day my sisters & mum (Robert tagged along but saw nothing! :D) went to our bridesmaid dress fittings for my sisters wedding, Robert & I drove past some really cool ruins. Looks great for a shoot. So after the fittings the both of us got our cameras and ventured around! It's about time I got some location shoots done! I have plenty of ideas!

Also had my friends birthday party which was wicked :) lasted like four days for her really! So glad she had fun though, friday night we had a big picnic with a band and then we went out for drinks on the saturday night :D was exhausted by the end of it all!
It was just great spending so much time with Robert to be honest, he's gone away for three weeks now fulfilling his dream which is wickeddd! Gone to a recording studio to produce his album with the lads! Extremely sad and gutted he's gone cos I'll miss him a ridiculous amount, but I couldn't be more happy for him :) And! He's doing really well, my lil' star!
I love him very much.

www.myspace.com/depththeband <<>








Can't wait til he comes home to meeeeeee! :)

x Dimples

I've just noticed....

Just how many sites I 'm on ! haha

> Blogspot > DeviantART > Myspace > Facebook > ModelMayhem > Msn > Yahoo > Flickr.

Anyway!

My shoot yesterday went really well. Had models Jess Smith, Sian Hibbert and Charlotte Rule. Jess and Sian I've shot before, Charlotte was new :) who, was amazing to shoot! Stunning girl! It was great though, I met the models and my two asisstants, Capricia Peart and Michael Aleen, at our college. Then we walked to my house. From there we did hair and make-up in my kitchen. Bless my mum, she bought us snacks aha. So the girls munched through them whilst getting ready!

Me just doing Charlottes hair :)

So I've been editing for a good solid two days now and managed a fair few. Some of which I love! Found a new editing technique as well ;) Which is always good haha Shame I had to cancel the shoot today, or well yesterday [thursday]. I was exhausted and quite ill. Plus one of the girls had to cancel also, due to exams, etc. which I should have realised before really!

C H A R L O T T E

S I A N

J E S S

Have edited quite a few more, but I won't upload them on here, they're mainly on facebook and DeviantART. I'm very glad I did this shoot, got some good shots out of it, plus the girls and me enjoyed it a lot! Also, it's given me a new idea for a theme.....which I will keep a secret but I'm well looking forward to it!

Also, coming up soon is mine and Roberts 6 month anniversairy :D Can't tell you how much he means to me, I count myself a very lucky girl! He makes me smile like no one else can. He's perfect for me, makes me laugh, feel so safe, supportive, someone I can talk to and trust completely. boyfriend and a best friend :) I hate being away from him, I miss him so much when he's not around. Just doesn't feel right. Some of my best memories are with him, and I can't wait to make more!
He is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Even though I don't say it near enough ! He is everything to me . I love you, Robert Stephan Collins! x




Enough of my mushyness! haha
Well I guess I should start organising and making plans!

x Dimples

Corr

What a hectic month!

Been a stressful to be honest, organising University was manic! Visited it again and sorted out my accommodation which I'm happy with :) happy that I've given in all my work so I am pretty much finished, just exams to go! Next 2 weeks should be busy! few parties, end of sixth form! but mainly some shoots! Have one today actually which I'll load pictures up of later of work behind the scenes maybe, which I rarely get to do =/
Have models, Jess S, Sian and maybe her friend Charlie coming which is awesome. New models are always good! Then tomorrow I have another shoot with Jess B and Charlotte, which I've shot before so it should be fun to work on things! All done in my studio at home, originally I was going to bring my equipment into my college and set it up there, but because of the amount of stuff I'd need to take! And for someone who doesn't drive, it's very difficult! aha
So basically everyone's coming here, where we can have more fun and time with it. One thing I've learnt from shoots is to not have so many people on it! aha the first shoot I ever had was last year, I shot 15 people in one day in a short amount of time. It was manic and horrible haha I couldn't properly enjoy it really. It felt rushed. So this time three is my tops. I want to spend more time on each individual also work together on the shoot without any distractions.
These pictures are from my art journal, some I did of my sister Emily and some a replica of an artist in Italy, Rosaria Battiloro. I love her! I think she's brilliant. Check out her gallery http://nachan.deviantart.com/!

my favourite! [watercolours]

Also the newest deviation I have put on on my own DeviantART is 'Why' which I really like actually, everything about it is different for me. Editing is better, I prefer the tone of it. Plus the angle is totally different. I hope to do more like this later. Which! I should go get ready for! I need to go get them in... 90 minutes! ahhhh!
run ahaha


x Dimples

Busy Bee

I thought to myself last night, it's been a long time since I'd written on my Blogspot, so its about time I write another one. . . .

Well like per usual I've been super busy with Sixth Form work; it's been taking up all my time! Media Studies has been fine, everything finished just Art thats been time consuming. I did enjoy doing it, there was so much work to do that it wasn't as fun as it should of been. Was a great topic I did actually, my favourite, portraiture. I looked a painter from Indianola Iowa, Scott Hutchison [http://www.scotthutchison.com/], fantastic figurative artist. His work is great, I think the way her can connect with the audience is great. Karen Stamper, another artist I've studied, uses colours in the most effective way I seen.

http://hollymossart.deviantart.com/art/Hand-Print-114175010

I've been working really hard on my Portfolio as well for University interviews. Just had my first interview on Monday at Norwich Art and Design. Personally I didn't think it went fantastically well, but when I came back I checked UCAS and I had a conditional, that quick! So at least Norwich now is an option =) One down, four more to go! Little bit nervous but not as nervous as I was before Norwich. Managed to include some of my photos from when I first started Photography, still life, animals, etc. And of course my latest work, Portraiture. Also been loading them onto my DeviantART account, one of which has done really well. Now that my wing theme is done I've been starting up new ones. It's a new theme I've started, entitled Paint. At the time I was just playing around my lights and paint. Then when editing later I really like the concept. It was like Karen Stamper and Scott Hutchison combined. Mainly because I've kept the same tone and expression as Hutchison and I've used Stampers expressive use of colour, but all in my own style. I've had some good feedback off of a few Deviants :) this is the photo I uploaded onto the site. I uploaded it 1 day and 4 hours ago, since then I've had 930 views and 70 favourites. Thats mental! haha My best deviation has been Fairy with 1,006 views and 70 favourites, that's since 9th January.... Hand Print has managed to do that within a day! Quite happy with it but I honestly didn't think it'd be anywhere near as popular as that =)

I have managed to get ten models together to do another shoot similar to Hand Print. Off the top of my head the girls are, Laura, Jess B, Jess B, Jade, Rachel, Sian, Amanda, and a few others. Some are doing it just for fun, some for their modelling portfolio. So either way it's fun! Thinking of doing it all in Sixth Form, be easier because they'll be able to get to it and help/assistance will be there if needed. This time I think I'll ask a friend to take some pictures, like 'Behind The Scenes' style. Will be good to start putting them in a folder or a sketchbook. Should be happening on Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th. Hopefully will be able to get some beauty shots in too. Can't wait =D wish I had more help with it al though. I t's nice doing it all yourself and being able to say with the result I did everything, but in the long run, it's a lot quicker to have people helping =/

Well apart from that, everything's going pretty well. Except I'm missing Robert a hell of a lot! Looking forward to seeing him next =) It's our 3 month anniversairy on Sunday, it'l be fantastic =D

More soon =)


x Dimples

Friday finally

Nearly the end of another eventful week...

It's been very busy this week! Well I like it busy but with a minutes break is nice too especially after being ill. No rest for the wicked! ;) Been spending the majority of the week on Art and Media at sixth form. Every free period I've been in the art studio with Mike just working. Really glad though... really want to work hard! =) The week actually started off pretty badly, health wise, todays been the worst day for it though. Media exam is over!!! Had that on wednesday, wasn't too bad to be honest. I've never been good at writing but I did my best. Before the exam though, me and my friend Mike met up for a few photos, part of my wing theme. I had a picture in my head of what I wanted but they turned out better than I thought actually =) Mike seemed to really like them so that's a plus. We did the shoot at the Abbey in Wymondham, luckily it was a nice day. Got a good sky as you can see in the shot on the right >>>
I'll be uploading the edited versions onto my DeviantART probably next week... I have so many new shots to put on there! It's insane haha going to do one or two more shots for the wing collection. Thinking of trying a new style. Been looking a some other photographers about and have found some really funky design to some of them. I want to try and fit in as many different photos as possible for my portfolio. Will still be focusing on portraits though =)


Thinking something along the lines of the photo on the left. I found this on 'ThisIsVenture,' a portrait photography business [http://www.thisisventure.co.uk/]. I really like the use of colour, my portraits have had a certain...tone to it lol never really experimented with colour very much. I've been having so much fun trying new mediums recently! This artist I've been looking at in Art, Karen Stamper, she's absolutely brilliant. I love her style, use of colour and everything really aha
Her self portrait was one of my favourites, I even copied it in watercolour. [ Next step was to create my own self-portrait in the style of Stamper. Still in the process, mainly because it's going to be such a large piece. I hope it turn out OK. Of course, before adding it to my journal I'd edited it! I would never allow a shot to be put in there without any form of digital manipulation! woah! maybe i belong in the publishing business! lol
I have gotten really into editing lately, been staying up working out how to do different things. Thing is, I've missed out on a lot of courses to do with photography, like the sixth form i go to have only just brought in Art Multimedia as an A-level. Just as I'm about to leave. What are the chances lol well. Everything I've know is completely self-taught when it comes to Adobe Photoshop. started off with complete simple edits such as airbrushing, colour enhancement, lighting, etc. Like my self-portrait on the right. Taken in my studio at home, was one of the very first shots I did in there actually. Completely accidental shot this because I had bought myself a new toy.... a remote for my camera =) [very handy to have!] but I really like the result. Very simple but doesn't look to shabby at all..=) I wish I played around with the shutter speed before taking the shot as I would of liked this to be a lot sharper so I could have played around the the editing a bit more but overall I like it. My art teacher seemed to like it a lot too, he said it reminded him of the simplistic artist, Alex Katz. . . . I wasn't too keen on the artist... neither was Mike =P




I've got to start thinking of new ideas for my portfolio! Need some inspiration...actually what I need is a holiday! baha Well, it is currently... 03:08 in the morning. Haven't been able to sleep in a long time now. =/ have sixth form today at 8ish. Have a couple of jobs to do today as well;
1. Media lesson first period [coursework]
2. Art painting to be getting on with
3. Got to take some shots for the Media Poster
4. Talk to a few Year 12 Media students bout their coursework
5. Home. Art essay.
'The life of an artist' my friend says. More like the life of a student haha =P I do like keeping busy though and it helps out my media teacher a lot. My media coursework, PICTURE THIS [fashion Magazine on the left], has been quite successful! Everyone has been asking bout it, wanting to see it! I've been told that I'll get full marks for it too, which is incredible for me! Looking forward to creating another one! Hmmm....workaholic? maybe ;) Now I have my studio I reckon the photos produced would be of a better quality.
I was just about to upload it onto DA but changed my mind... took a shot of it and everything but I have a better idea. So again, keep an eye on my DeviantART page! Like I said, loads to upload yet! ;)


The lovely Robert is back tomorrow =D! I have missed him so so so so so so so sooooo much! Can't wait to cuddle him! I hope he's had a nice time, by the sounds of it he has though. He's been rowing, swimming, all sorts of stuff at centre parcs! Shame I couldn't go with him, but Media calls! >=/ It'll pay off in the end, just keep telling myself that ;P
His band, Depth, has a gig tonight in Norwich. Not sure whether I'll be able to attend, really want to cos I desperately want to see him! plus I've never seen him perform before. Ahhh I love this boy, I really do =)



Well. That's enough for one day ... well morning =P. So I'm gonna try and get at least an hours sleep.







x Dimples