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 ♥

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To buy these photographs:

Folksy (UK)

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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!

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...and my shop is HERE!

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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

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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 ♥