Trying out Tumblr

Click - here - to be directed straight to my new Tumblr blog to see some of my photographs :) I'll keep adding more and more of my own images including some of my less recent ones...

Thanks. 

-Ella-

Tumblr & Watermarking.

So I've decided to create a tumblr blog for my photography where I'll be posting my images as often as possible. obviously it's a bit bare looking at the moment as I only decided to create one this morning so I'll post a link up soon once I've uploaded more content So if your interested in solely looking through my images rather than reading through the blog posts then you can check it out soon.

 Also I've been thinking for a while now about having my own watermark for my images to protect them that little bit further so I spent some time on making one this morning which you will start to see in my images. I looked around on Etsy as people have businesses of creating watermarks however I thought surely there's a simple and easy free way to do it and to have it exactly how I want, so I searched on google and found this page here: Create your free watermark

Which tells you step by step on how to make your own which was really fun to do because you can experiment with it in any way you'd like.

As I was looking through some of my older photographs I stumbled across this :

On my flickr account and thought I'd upload it here and talk about it a little.

I took this with my Canon 600D whilst I was sat in the back of the car on a journey to see a relative. It was raining and at the time I was really intrigued with images taken in this kind of situation (shooting whilst in a moving vehicle). So I was playing around with my manual settings on my camera and took this , once I had taken it I went into settings on the camera and put a black & white grain filter on it and voila!

What I was really pleased with about this photo is the eerie atmosphere it has. It looks very ghost like and mysterious and it can also be thought provoking. I love that this kind of work is so opinionated too so...

What do you think?

-Ella-

Changing & Improving

My photography is constantly changing, I'm always working on new techniques and shooting in different ways, focusing on different genres and it's great, I love it. I love that one day I'll be working on portraits and the next I'll be working on still life or nature shots. The best way to figure out what you are good at is by trying different things so don't be afraid to reach out of your comfort zone!.

Also , I have recently created an account on 500px as I have started using Flickr less, so check it out here;

500px.com/ellamcquoid

-Ella-

New York State Of Mind

I've been so busy recently with projects in college and trying to meet deadlines that I've been neglecting my blog so I apologise !

Recently I've been experimenting more with double exposure images and I've also re discovered my love for black and white images. So you'll probably notice more and more black & white photograph's as I write & shoot more.

''When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls''- Ted Grant

One of my favourite photo related quotes.

Photograph of Danny layered with another one of my images, from New York City.

-Ella-

Light & Time

Light & Time , what a perfectly titled project now that it's Autumn!.

 My favourite thing about this time of the year is the light (especially when it's highlighting all of the beautiful coloured leaves that quickly surround us). It's my favourite time of year to photograph so here are some of my image's from this exciting new project.

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You might be thinking that these photograph's are all a bit 'mismatched' and you'd be right in thinking so. My first shoot for this project I decided to photograph various things that relate to both or either Light & Time and that may be the only link between the different photographs but that's the only link they really need. 

Photograph 1:

An image of my hand with a stroke of light. In this image my hand represents the element of time. With time my hand will age.

Photograph 2: 

Time being Autumn in this case, the leaf has fallen because its that 'time' of the year. Taken on the window shelf directly facing the light.

Photograph 3:

An image of an instant photograph capturing a moment of light 'in an instant'.

-Ella-

More Film

Here are two more of my double exposure colour film photographs taken in Liverpool last week. Like I said in my last post a lot of the photo's I took didn't turn out as I hoped and would of looked far better if they weren't double exposed.

Note to self ; Trust photographic gut instinct rather than what the tutor says.

Camera used; Pentax K1000

Film Used; Kodak Colour Plus (36 exposure)

Location; Liverpool

-Ella-

Double Exposed

I went to Liverpool last week with a Pentax K1000 and a Kodak 36 exposure colour film. It felt so long ago since I last shot with a traditional camera that I was so excited to start shooting. I started taking photograph's as soon as I stepped off the train. I was requested to double expose the images which meant taking 72 photographs overall. 

For those of you who aren't sure what double exposure is where traditional film is concerned , it's loading your camera with film, using the film up , rewinding the film back and loading it back in, so you basically shoot over your images. 

Half way through shooting I felt a little regretful about having to double expose because I was quite pleased with the shots I was getting however I proceeded. 

One of the great things about shooting the old school way is the anticipation of getting back your pictures after they've been developed.

I got them back and I was fairly disappointed with the results. Flicking through the photo's made me wish I had followed my gut instinct and not double expose. Although there was a few I quite liked so here are one or two which didn't turn out so bad. 

-Ella-

This weeks favourites

As mentioned in my previous post it was 2012 that I started becoming more and more familiar with the idea of photography and pursuing it as a passionate interest, I've explored lots of different genres in photography since. Ranging from Landscapes to Still life , the more I have experimented with the more gradually I have found where I am most comfortable (however I do like a good challenge). Recently I have discovered my love for Product photography and Still life photography.

Here are some images from the past week.

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This last image is a photo of a Nikon film camera (without the lens attached), I took the image with my Canon DSLR looking directly towards the mirror which is inside the Nikon body. What I like most amount this photo is that it looks quite unusual, not to everyone's taste.

-Ella-

Plan B

Today I was inspired to write a blog post after reading an article in a magazine about the famous redhead musician, Ed Sheeran.

'I just made sure I didn't have a plan B'

- Ed Sheeran

I was surprised at how such a simple sentence could have such an effect on me. In school's and sometimes even in college we are constantly taught to always have a plan B , how important it is to have a back up plan and that's exactly what Sheeran made sure he didn't have. 

When I was in high school it took me a while to decide what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. most of the time I was struggling to decide what to have for dinner let alone how I wanted the rest of my life to pan out. However back in 2012 when I discovered that photography could be something I might actually be good at I didn't once think about a back up plan, I put all my effort into extending my skills and knowledge where photography is concerned and I'm still like that to this day and I think that when you find what you are really passionate about then nothing can really stop you from achieving that goal. 

Yes I am only 17 at the moment and you might be thinking all this is rather bold coming from someone who is only in their second year at college nevertheless I have spent most of my education being told my grades were never good enough and previous teachers would probably be knocked off their feet if they found out I'm studying Level 3 due to their lack of belief in me and I'm saying that you don't need their belief. You need to believe in yourself. It doesn't matter what anyone else categorises you as, everyone has their own individual unique way of learning and sometimes it takes longer for others but that's OK too.

I have big dreams where my photography is concerned , I've excepted the fact I wont ever be able to get good maths results or be the next Einstein but that's OK too. I've learnt that I don't need other people to tell me what I can and can't do, that I need to have a back up plan because I know what I'm capable of and I know that if I have enough incentive & passion to fuel my dreams then I can make it.

'Whatever you are, be a good one'

-abraham lincoln

-Ella-

Product Photography

Recently I've been increasing my knowledge about Product Photography! something I have never really spent too much time thinking about until recently and now I quite like the concept of it. I spent some time photographing a Tiffany & Co bracelet with packaging and here are my results:

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I experimented with lighting and placing the bracelet in different positions until I decided where I thought was best to showcase both the packaging and bracelet. I really enjoyed taking these photographs and playing around with different backgrounds, I tried both a white backdrop and a black one and for me the back background was a winner, I think it enhanced the soft tones within the packaging and make it more appealing. 

-Ella-