The Finale (but not really)

Evening Surfers!

I'm back for the new year! Sorry about the lack of posts but I started a new job and suddenly became insanely busy!! New years resolution: actually write my blog...

So we're going back a few months to July for this post; it was the final class of my photography course and we all headed over to the beautiful riverside village of Henley-on-Thames to try out some street photography. Below is just a quick shot of the main square; Henley really is the epitome of the quaint, English village, and it is quite an affluent area: riverside getaways, private boats and beautiful wrought iron gates; all of which made for some pretty interesting pictures.

A pretty little cafe which was reminiscent of Paris.

Our main aim for this final class was to put all of our new skills into practice using the village as our setting. Our teacher, Rich, told us to keep an eye out for interesting reflections in shop windows, similar to what I was taught on the Topshop workshop. I loved this vintage flower display with the old tudor building tucked into the background, its a little like seeing Henley as it was when it was first built. It's amazing how such a simple technique can create an insight into the history of a place.

a 'lil bit of old meets new.

Our wandering took us down to the Thames River where we found a striking statue of a woman which stood looking out across the water. It was hard work trying to get a decent picture as the lighting was terrible but I think they turned out quite well.

Wouldn't be complete without a coloursplash photo

Exploring the village with all of my class mates was a really great adventure; we ended the trip with a coffee and an email exchange. The classes themselves were a fantastic way to learn more about my camera and the techniques which made me a better, more thoughtful photographer.

I'll hopefully be back soon with another post.

Love Lily

Fashion is an Art

Hey Surfers!

Wow it's been ages since I've posted, I haven't been feeling very inspired blogwise and fancied a bit of a break but now I'm back and raring to write!

So this the long promised continuation from my trip to London with my friend and fellow blogger, Josie of A Pretty Post It. After we finished with the Topshop event, which you can read about here, it was far too early to go home so we decided to head over to the Tate Britain and check out some of the artwork which was soon to be moving on. After jumping off of the tube we spotted a picturesque side street and Josie asked me to take some pictures for her blog. It was my first time attempting fashion photography and I had a lot of fun with it. I especially loved having a model for the first time, it took me a little while to get used to but soon I was ordering her to pose all along our route!

Had some fun photoshopping these. The light flare for example :)

This has got to be one of my favourite pictures of the day! I love the colour splash setting on my camera, I've used it for London pictures before which you can see here and it always gives great results, of course it helps when you have such a gorgeous model :)

After a stroll along the Thames we arrived at the Tate Britain Museum and had a very artistic afternoon taking pictures of, and with the pieces on display. The Tate has such a wide collection of art, ranging from classic paintings of the Greek gods to modern, thought provoking sculptures. It's most definitely worth a visit.

This was a picture of the beautiful domed roof, I had to lean very precariously over a spiral staircase to get the shot which is why it is slightly off centre. I so want to go back and shoot it again in the winter, get the night sky and also get the angle right!

More fun with the colour splash

Poor Josie being papped again.

The two pictures above are of the fantastic artwork to which the museum is home. I took quite a few photographs but these were two of my favourites; especially the one with the cameras. 

Unfortunately I'm not very well educated in art so my comments are limited >.<

We finally left the Tate in search of food, and a short tube journey found us near Trafalgar Square; all of the restaurants were packed but we managed to squeeze into Bella Italia for a delicious dinner and to rest our aching feet! My pedometer said we had walked nearly ten miles in one day.

We had a brief stroll through the square on our way to the station and I got some of my final shots of the day. I would have liked to have stayed longer but we still had to get back to Paddington and get on the long train journey home.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I have a little stock pile of pictures ready so I'll hopefully be back next week, I'll leave you with the fountains until next time.

Love Lily