Urban Decay - Some Thoughts...

Nok Woz 'Ere

I have a love/hate relationship with urban decay. On the one hand it's terrible - a blight on our cities and towns. A lack of respect for public and private property and our communities. On the other hand it makes for great photography! Am I saying let's keep trashing our towns in order to give me something to photograph? No. I hope that by taking these photos I will both offer a kind of beauty and inspire people to clean up their act. I'm making a statement - a commentary on urban decay. Sometimes I simply take the photo because I can't physically or safely remove or fix the offending item. But I won't lie, a dumped trolley in a frozen pond is like catnip to me and my camera..!

The Ditch

Dog Ends

The Boot

The Skip

Pondlife
Until next time,

Emma ♥

Free Giveaway Winner!!!

...And the winner is... MySaviour!

Congratulations on your win! I'll be in touch.

A massive thank you to everyone who entered - you will all recieve 10% off any print from my Etsy or Folksy shops. Just mention it in the checkout and I'll refund the difference.

Love,
Emma ♥

It's FREE GIVEAWAY time again!

As a thank you to all my loyal blog followers and to celebrate reaching over 100 (157 at the last count!) I'm going to offer a giveaway of prints to the first lucky winner 'out of the hat'!

The prizes: Any TWO large prints - 8"x8", 8x10", or A4 - (as available in my Folksy and Etsy shops) plus a goodie pack of postcards, sweeties and the much coveted 'Emma in Wonderland' fridge magnet! Woohoo :-D

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is simply leave a comment below. For extra chances, just Tweet, Facebook, blog or link the competition elsewhere. For every link you'll receive an extra free entry! (This is NOT compulsory and is completely up to you.)

Competition ends on Sunday 3rd October and the winner will be announced on Monday 4th.

Good luck!

Emma ♥

Hello friends, it's been a while..!

The Old Singer

Sorry to have neglected you all for so long. As many of you know I suffer from recurrent depression and boy, did it recur! I'm living like a hermit at the moment (albeit a married one with a small child!) but in terms of my photography it's forced me to think small - inside the box (well, house!)

Ever since I can remember, my Mum has had this huge Victorian sideboard, inherited (I think) from my maternal Grandmother. On it my Mum displays all her blue-and-white china and other assorted antique and antique-looking knicknacks, interspersed with the usual handmade bits and bobs and bizarre strangeness made with more love than talent in my and my sister's school art classes! (I'm sure that last sentence is screaming out with grammatical errors but you know what I mean!) Anyway - the point is that it inspired me to do a whole new series of sepia-toned, vignetted images, evoking the past with a touch of romance. I thought about those Victorian brides-to-be, safely storing away items for their new lives as married women and all the romantic ideals, excitement and anxieties ahead. 'Her Bottom Drawer' is the story of one such young lady - and it all starts with a wedding cake...

A Fine Romance

The Little Russian

The Painted Duck

(In case you're wondering about the giveaway, I hadn't forgotten - I just wanted to make sure I could include these new prints! The giveaway will be my next blog post. Promise!)

Love, Emma ♥

-----

To buy these photographs:

Folksy (UK)

~

Etsy (USA)

Dreamaid on the BBC!!!

...I forgot to mention; the BBC will be featuring Dreamaid on Theo's Adventure Capitalists, presented by the wonderful Theo Paphitis of 'Dragon's Den' fame! How cool is that?!

It'll be shown on BBC2 on Tuesday, 18th May at 8pm, GMT. Get the details here!

(Yay!)

Emma in Wonderland Photography - Now on Dreamaid!

I'm very proud to announce that I'm now selling my work through Dreamaid!

Dreamaid is wonderful organization with a great charity.

You can find out all about their brilliant work HERE!

~

...and my shop is HERE!

~

Every print sold will include a donation to this very worthy cause!

Shopping with a conscience. Cool!

♥

Until next time,

Emma

♥

(BTW; I haven't forgotten about the giveaway. I'm just waiting for the printing lab to send my most recent test prints, then I'll put together a goody bag!)

Just a quickie...

Just in case you were wondering just exactly how cool lomo cameras are,

Click here for the proof!

Yes - Lomo cameras are cool - official! (But you knew that anyway...)

♥

World Pinhole Day and Something for YOU!

Now before I begin - a big sorry for not posting for a little while. Life really creeps up on us sometimes, doesn't it?! By the time you reach the end of this post, however, you should hopefully feel it was worth the wait!



Anyhoo; I took part in this year's WPD, having been itching to use the true pinhole function on my Diana F+! It was quite exciting! I was busy until 3:30pm (I co-run a film and animation group for people with mental health problems) so on the way home I stopped at a lovely wood near our town centre. Despite being surrounded on two sides by a busy main road and a railway line, it's a nice, peaceful area. The sun was shining and warm too, which always helps, doesn't it?! I went right back to basics - no memory cards, no batteries, not even a lens! I was able to sit and eat my sandwiches while the little box did it's thing - I just had to make sure I kept an eye on the time ticking away! It's a tricky thing to get right (which I didn't, mostly, but that's the fun of learning) and it all depends on how much ambient light there is and how many seconds/minutes you leave the shutter open for.

I enjoyed it all sooo much - I can't believe I waited so long do have a go! I assumed it would be a tricky process, best done by a more technically-minded person. Quite the opposite! It goes right back to the earliest days of photography and was a reminder of how far we've come in a relatively short time - and how amazing it is that an entire scene can be captured on film at all!

♥

Sooo.. this was my very first (and only) successful shot. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and have been spurred on to do more, this time indoors and at night. Watch this space!

Far From the Madding Crowd

Now I know this post was a little long, so thanks for sticking with me. Now here's your reward!

I've now reached over 100 followers of this blog, so to celebrate and say a big 'thank you' I'll be having a free giveaway. Yay!!! I'm getting together some goodies for a lucky someone, so see a future blog post for details!

Until next time,

Emma ♥

B&W V. Colour - Film V. Digital

It's no secret that I have a long-standing and very deep love affair with black and white film, but I also love shooting digitally in B&W. Lately I've started shooting more in colour, too and it really does require a different way of seeing the world. I'm used to framing everything in my mind and mentally converting all the shades and tones into greyscale. After years of doing this almost constantly, everywhere and anywhere I found myself (and with or without a camera) I developed a 'feel' for how B&W film behaves. I pretty much knew how a shot would turn out, using a mix of intuition and the right shutter speed. Now I use a digital SLR for about 70% of my work and have had to relearn. It means getting to really know the camera and that means practice - a lot of it! Two years on and I've learnt a whole new photographic discipline.

The other 30% of the time I use film and was using 120mm medium format B&W almost exclusively, until I forced myself to go back to colour - and that meant relearning all over again! I've really enjoyed seeing the world 'in colour' again!



The shots in this blog post are examples of my very latest work - at different ends of the spectrum. One was shot on colour film, the other in B&W digital. See what you think...

The Arches

Glorious Springtime!

Until next time!
Emma ♥


(BTW; When I was a child I saw old black and white films on TV and actually thought the world was like that in 'the olden days.' I'm sure that's relevant, but I'm not entirely sure how..!)

Just For The Fun Of It!

The Gate

Sometimes it's great just to wander with my camera and shoot purely for myself, with no customers or commercial value in mind. I had two such chances very recently:

Tangle

We were invited to a wedding at a country hotel last weekend and at the very tail-end of it, the next morning after everyone had left, hubby, William and myself went for a wander around the grounds. We stumbled upon a beautiful collection of lawns and walled gardens and right at the back was an 'urban decay' paradise! A wonderful array of old statues, hotel furnishings and various building materials, all piled high amongst the crumbling walls of an abandoned outhouse.

Shears & Sickles

Broken #2

Broken #1

♥

Last Sunday evening hubby and I took our son over to our local airport/business park, where there is a fabulous flat area just right for a young chap to break his first bike in!

The Arches #1

Reach

Aviators Cafe

Silhouette

The Arches #2

Because all flights were cancelled and the offices and cafe were shut it was so peaceful and quiet. Just an occasional passer-by. It was also perfect weather - for biking and for photography!

Blocks #1

Blocks #2

It was my husband who suggested I bring the camera, thinking I would get a few shots of William on his bike, but I shot much more than that. In fact, I almost did an entire industrial landscape project right there and then!

♥

After both sessions I felt elated - genuinely happy inside. It has proved to me once again that photography really is good therapy for me. Long may it continue!

Until next time,
Emma ♥


PS: The above are a selection from all the shots taken. I don't know if any of them will be put up for sale yet. I'll gauge everyone's reactions and decide then, but if you do specifically want a print of any of the above - or any of the rest from my Flickr gallery - please ask!

Cloudy With a Chance of Rain

...No, not the weather report here in England - which is cloudy and windy with almost certainty of rain - but my latest Lomo print!


A couple of weeks ago I found myself with an hour or so to spare, so I went for a walk along the canal. I had my Diana Lomo camera with me, loaded with B&W film, so of course the walk turned into a scouting party for good shots! I took a few photos, but nothing really exciting, then just as I was about to climb the steps back up to the road, I saw this wonderful view!

One little problem with older 'toy' cameras is that unlike modern compacts and SLRs, the viewfinder on top doesn't look through the lens itself, so you have to remember to adjust your eyes accordingly and lift the camera a little higher to get the right frame. It's something which I've found quite easy to do but it has meant that I've really had to start concentrating on composition again. I would much rather get it right 'in camera' than have to spend too much time fixing any little mistakes in post-processing. Don't get me wrong, I love using my Photoshop Elements software and when it comes to digital I think the sky's the limit, but with my film work I like to keep it as true to the original shot as possible.

Cloudy With a Chance of Rain

So, I hope you like this latest offering? If you have any thoughts or feelings about the image, this blog or just photography in general, please feel free to leave a comment below!

Until next time!

Emma ♥

Racing the Wind!

I'm very pleased to announce two brand new prints, both available to buy in my Folksy and Etsy online shops!

Racing the Wind #1 and #2 are both lomography shots, taken with my Diana F+ Lomo camera, on 120mm medium format film. As with all my Lomo photographs, I scan the negatives in and they are then printed digitally on archive-safe paper by a professional lab.

I personally prefer #1 and was only going to list that, but my darling husband likes #2 better, so to keep him happy (and in case he's right) I'm offering them both for sale!

So, which one do you prefer?

Racing the Wind #1

Racing the Wind #2

My Folksy (UK) Shop

~

My Etsy Shop

Until next time,

Emma ♥

Now available as free wallpaper!

...well, on an iPhone, anyway!

One of my prints has been chosen as part of Inspiks.com's iPhone wallpaper showcase!

If you're a Christian, as I am, or simply in need of some divine inspiration, download an Inspiks wallpaper for free today!

Click here to check them out!

Or go straight to Inspiks.com's homepage here!

Bye for now,

Emma ♥

Lomo Prints ~ Now Available!

I've just listed the first of my new lomography images in my Etsy and Folksy shops! Regular followers of this blog will know by now how in love I am with lomography and I hope my latest work will meet with your approval!

Canopy
The three prints on sale so far are Canopy, Trash TV and Pondlife. Two are on an urban decay theme and the third is simply a lovely image of tangled trees! All three are full of dreamy, blurry, vintage-feel lomographic fabulousness!

Trash TV

Pondlife

All three were shot on 120mm medium format film, then the negatives were digitally scanned.

As time goes on I intend to experiment more with old skool and bygone photographic techniques. Having gone from 35mm and medium format film to digital, then back to 120mm film, I feel like I've gone full circle!

If you would more information on each image or if you'd like to purchase 5x5" or 8x8" digital prints of the above, either visit my Folksy or Etsy shops, or contact me for direct orders.

Folksy

~

Etsy

Em ♥

Meet Sugarmice and Mary Vican - the winners!

The two winners of my recent giveaway won copies of my prints, a fridge magnet and a plug for their own blogs and online shops...

First prize went to Sarah aka Sugarmice. She has two Folksy shops, one selling her own tiny jewellery creations, made from polymer clay and the other selling craft supplies. Both shops are gorgeous, full of lots of lovely little items which will make your mouth water! I seriously recommend you go take a look!

Sugarmice

~

Sugarmice Supplies

Sarah also has a blog, full of her own craft experiments. Fascinating stuff! It's a great read!

Experiments with Sugarmice

♥♥♥

Our second winner is Mary Vican, a fellow photographer and also a member of the fPOE Team (Female Photographers of Etsy.) Mary sells her own range of beautiful prints in her shop and I promise you it's well worth a look! As well as great photography, Mary also sells her own range of handmade jewellery on Etsy.

Mary Vican Photography

~

Bad Apple Jewellery

Mary has also started a blog, documenting her rediscovered love of photography. It's full of fabulous images, too!

Mary Vican Blog

♥

I feel very fortunate to have met two great and friendly fellow artists through this giveaway and have throughly enjoyed browsing through their shops and reading their blogs! Make yourself a cup of something hot, or pour something cold ;-) - settle down and enjoy!

Until next time!

Em ♥

♥ Valentine's Giveaway Winners!!! ♥

Huge thanks to everyone who entered the competition! You're all fabulous people! I particularly loved reading about some of the places you'd hang the prints and so appreciated all the comments! ♥

And so, without further ado, here are the winners (as picked by my glamorous assistant, also known as my husband!) #Feigns opening gold envelope to drum roll#

First prize and huge congratulations goes to Sugarmice (Sarah) who wins a 10x8" print of Recurring Nightmare. Second prize and a respectful round of applause goes to Mary who wins a 7x5" of The Gathering Storm. Both winners also receive an 'Emma in Wonderland' fridge magnet and a free plug for their own blogs and online shops (if they have them!) I'll be in touch with both winners very shortly to sort all the details.

Recurring Nightmare

The Gathering Storm

♥♥♥ Special Exclusive Blog Offer For All Entrants!!! ♥♥♥

I would also like to give all the entrants a very special offer: FREE worldwide shipping on ANY print currently available in my Folksy and/or Etsy shops! Just mention 'Valentine's offer' in the 'message to seller' box during checkout and I will refund the shipping costs within 24 hours. Alternatively, tell me which print(s) you'd like and I'll set up a reserved listing especially for you on Etsy or Folksy. (Offer is open to all giveaway entrants, one per person.)

My Etsy Shop (USA)

♥

My Folksy Shop (UK)

Once again, many thanks to everyone who took part - I hope you enjoy your special offer!

Love,

Em ♥

'Winter Wonderland' - my latest series

Here in my little corner of the world (SE England) we had our fair share of this winter's snow. I went out walking with my camera at various times of the day, enjoying the pure cleansing whiteness, the silence, the crunchy snow under my feet and the incredible colours at sunset. I don't generally 'do' cold weather, but a blanket of snow is a whole different story - I love it! I'm like a child when it snows!

Winter WonderlandWhen my son and I weren't making snowmen or having impromptu snowball fights with the neighbours (amazing how something as simple as snow can bring people together) I was scouting for scenes to record or setting up my tripod and shooting.

Here are some of my favourites, now available in both my Etsy and Folksy shops.

A Little Piece of Narnia

Chilly Softness

The Big Thaw!

Dead & Buried

Sepia in Winter

Sunset Bird in Winter
A Winter's Tale #1

A Winter's Tale #2

All the above are included in my Valentine's Giveaway, as are all my prints, including any which are listed on Etsy and Folksy between now and Monday (22nd Feb.)

Em ♥

My Etsy Shop

♥

My Folksy Shop

♥ Exciting Valentine's Giveaway Update!!! ♥

Hello again!

Firstly, a HUGE 'thank you' to everyone who's entered the giveaway so far! I'm really feelin' the lurve! Your comments are very valuable -and quite flattering; I fair blushed when I read some of them! - and useful in helping my gauge what prints are most popular and why.

Secondly; I've noticed that some people have chosen a print which is not available as a 10x8" - in which case I'll offer the winner 2 smaller prints instead. Unless you want to change your mind of course! I'll contact the winner and they can make their final decision then. (Huge apologies. My own silly fault for not stating that before and I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused.)

Thirdly; (and this is the really good bit) because I've been so moved by some of your lovely comments, I've decided just one winner simply isn't fair. Soooo...

...I've decided to award a SECOND PRIZE of a 7x5" or 5x5" print (plus the magnet and blog/shop plug)!!!


Same rules apply: just leave a comment saying which print you'd choose if you won and why you like it - and possibly where you'd hang it and why!


Good luck!
Em ♥

♥♥♥ I love you all! ♥♥♥

♥♥♥ Valentine's Giveaway! ♥♥♥

Because I love all my blog readers so much - and because it's Valentine's Day tomorrow - I'm giving away a free 10x8" print! The lucky winner will recieve a print of their choice, plus a fabulous official 'Emma in Wonderland' fridge magnet! :-) I'll also give your own blog/Etsy shop/Folksy shop or whatever a good plug!

♥

If you'd like to enter, simply leave a comment below telling me which print you'd like and why - and maybe where you'd hang it and why. I'll pull a name out of the hat (or whatever I can find) next Sunday (21st) and announce it on Monday.

♥

Good luck!

Em ♥

My Etsy Shop

~

My Folksy Shop

♥

Are You Getting Your Five-A-Day?!

Well, the weather has been very miserable since the the snow melted away; grey skies, rain and cold wind. Not having all-weather gear and having a toddler in tow is not at all conducive to landscape photography!


So; I've stayed indoors and done a lot of soul searching, as well as some still life photography. Two things that are definite are: A) I love still life and will always return to it and B) I don't eat enough fruit. Actually, I eat almost no fruit at all (unless the raisins in a Cadbury's Fruit & Nut bar counts? It doesn't? Oh...)



And now, ladies and gentlemen #clears throat# for the obligatory joke:

Here is the fruit of my most recent labour... and it looks like I've cracked up more than myself!
(Please don't feel you have to laugh. Oh, you didn't...)

Eat A Rainbow

Until next time!

Em ♥

The very 1st photos with my fabulous new Diana F+!!!

So, what do you think? Be honest - love 'em or hate 'em? I need to know! (Personally I adore them, but then I haven't been this excited about photography in a long time!)

St Peter's Parish Church

Pondlife

I know I'm biased; I love lomography and all that goes with it and so far the feedback has been very positive. But what do you think?!

Film info (for those who want to know!):

Shot on Ilford HP5 and Fujicolor Superia X-Tra 400 - both 120mm rollfilm.

Em ♥

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls - Please welcome... Diana!!!

I've got a new baby! No, Wiliam doesn't have a new sibling, but I am now the very proud owner of a Diana F+ 120 film camera!

Regular readers of this blog will know that over the past year I have developed (see what I did there?!) a passion for lomography-style photography. Well, now I can focus (I did it again!) on the real thing!

If you want to know more about lomography, you can find lots of very interesting and often entertaining info HERE!

The Diana is seriously old skool - around 99% plastic, it leaks light like a sieve, the colours are often very saturated and sometimes there's a shadow or blur on the photo. So why then, you may ask? Why on Earth would a professional photographer with a perfectly good collection of SLR and digital SLR cameras want one?

Well; my answer is simple: happy accidents!

I want to get right back to basics and rediscover the magic of capturing images on film. I also want to have some fun and stop worrying too much about all the rules and regs of photography. I want to enjoy and capture the looks on people's faces when I get Diana out and start taking photos!

Remember the first time you picked up a camera and took a photo? You didn't know if it would turn out alright but you assumed it would. Remember collecting the photos from the lab or chemist? Remember nearly getting knocked down by a car because you couldn't wait 'til you got home before looking at them?

I want that back! (Except for the getting knocked down bit, obviously...)

And just LOOK at her - she's beautiful! Pure Daily Planet retro class! That blue and black body is straight out of the swinging sixties! Her flash looks like something from thirties Hollywood! Pure class!

Can you tell I'm in love..?

Now... off to buy some film...

'Til next time,

Em ♥