Photography Shoot

Hi everyone! And welcome back,

Today I have a blog post for you which I don't tend to do, but I thought that it would be a nice idea, for perhaps some inspiration? Or just for you to have a little look at.
Without further ado, I am going to be telling you what I have planned for the next 2/3 weeks.

I am going to be doing a different photoshoot 3 times in the next 2/3 weeks, which will include some of my closest friends, and (hopefully) my sister. As you are all aware, I love photography, and not just animal/nature photography! I do also like doing portrait work, as there is so much you can do and have fun with it.

My favourite place to do a photo shoot is usually near my house, because there are so many different things you can do, and create amazing backgrounds/ back-drops for your photographs.
This week, one of my best friends (Alice) came over, and as it was such a lovely day, we came up with the idea of doing a photo shoot. We both wanted to wait just before it got dark, so not many people were out walking their dogs.

We found a lovely place to take photographs, to create different moods, and using different lighting.

Here are some of the photographs that were taken:

I know this has been a rather short blog post, but I hope that you have enjoyed!

Thank you for reading x

Amy xx

How I edit my photographs!

Hi everyone!

Welcome back! Hope that you are having an amazing week so far!
Today I am going to be writing to you about how I edit my photographs. As I know that many who are reading this might take some advantage out of this, whether you are starting college and taking photography, same as GCSE if you have decided to take photography, or if you just like photography as more of a hobby!

Hopefully this will be helpful, and will be able to show you how you can get these results just by using a simple method! If you are interested keep on reading x

1. How to create an antique tone:
Before:

this is the photography before I have done anything to it, I sometimes just like to keep the photograph as it is, but sometimes it is nice for change, to boost the contrast or by using a black and white filter or antique filter.

For this image I thought that it would be  a nice idea to give it more of an antique look, as the setting is in a field, and it can change the mood of a picture.

For editing I like to use PicMonkey as it is very easy to use, and gives excellent results, to do this, I go on to the edit button on the top left, and click (which seems simple enough) By clicking on exposure, I boost up the brightness by (8), the highlights (14) the shadows (6) and lastly the contrast (-7)

But this is just to give the picture the right colour! After doing this click apply and your picture will automatically save as it is. 

The next step is by going down 1 (the wand tool) and it will come up with a load of filters to choose from. For this photograph I have used the tool (Dusk) this just alters the mood slightly to give it a more worn out look, I do this to (17%) and thats pretty much all I wanted to do for this photograph!

Here is the finished result 

More of a spooky effect:

Before 

This image is very simple, all I wanted to do was make it look more halloween-y? (if thats even a word), so I didn't do too much for the photograph, so all I did was:

Again, click on exposure, and I boosted the brightness level to 27, this time round I didn't do any highlights, as I thought that it would be too much, so I skipped that part, went on to shadows and only changed to (5) and then contrast to (-41)

And that is all I did for this photograph!

Here is the finished result

And lastly for black and white photography!(My favourite one)

Theres something about black and white photography, which I love, too me it makes the image look old, and sometimes it can look better than a coloured image.

This one is probably the easiest to do, as all you need to do is: 

All I did (on PicMonkey again) was go on to the wand tool, click on black and white and boost the up to 1%, I then went back on to the crop tool and went on exposure, then put the brightness to 2.

Done!

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post, and if it has helped you, please comment below and like!

Thank you for reading x

Amy xx

First Blog Collab- What I love about Photography

Hello again, Amy here!

Sorry I have not been posting recently, I have been taking many photos, but I still need to upload them, so they will be up in a blog possibly Thursday?

Carrying on, I have recently been on twitter and just wanting to have a nice chat, and I have become really good friends with the lovely Chloe (Mochasuggx), who has just started a blog (TheLifeOfChloella.Blogspot.com ) and we have decided we wanted to do a collab together!

This post is going to be about what I love about photography, and we are also going to be doing another sometime next week, so I will keep you updated!

Anyways! Here are a few reasons why I love photography!

1. It is a way of expressing yourself- for example there is so much to take photographs of, and you can do it whenever, where ever, and it shows what you are capable of and your creative side. If you hadn't known already, my favourite thing to take pictures of are animals (surprise, surprise) and I absolutely love Black and White photography!
These are just a few photographs which I took quite a while back, but are one of my favourites

2. No one will ever take the same photograph- this is another reason to love photography, because no one, no matter how you hard you try, there will never be a photograph, exactly the same. Which makes photography so wonderful!

3. They keep special memories- if you love photography as much as I do, you know how important it is to take photographs on special occassions, because you never know when you are going to need those photographs, or if you are ever going to be able to go to that particular place again. I like to think of it as a visual diary.

4. Doing photoshoots with friends: I adore doing this, pretty much every time one of my friends come round, we do something with photography, even if it is for less than an hour. It is always fun to put on special makeup, and different outfits, going to find the perfect place to take pictures. And creating different atmospheres. For example:

5. Using different filters for you pictures: I am going to be doing another photograph, on how I edit my photographs, as I have been talking about it to some of my friends, and they think that it would be a good idea. I know quite alot of you guys, like to see my photography, as they are always the ones which get more views: is this correct?

Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this collab, and I will see you next time on my next post!

Thank you for reading <3

Amy xx

What I love about Summer

Hi everyone!

Today I thought that I would do something a little different, I have done this before but for spring, so now I am doing the summer edition!

I love summer, everything about it makes me so happy, and especially when its warm and sunny.
I love taking photographs any month, but I think summer is my favourite season, as there is so much colour and varity of plants, and everything seems to be reborn.

Anyways, here are a few reasons why I love summer.

1. You can finally go to the beach! I go pretty much every season, because I go dog walking there a lot. The beach is one of my favourite places because I always feel happy there, and it is such a beautiful landscape

(All photographs are mine) I took these when I went to my grandads house in Devon, and the beach is beautiful! I usually go to Boscombe beach, but as we were on holiday, we wanted to explore here!

These pancakes are amazing! There is a little cafe down by the beach in Boscombe called 'Urban reef' and the food there is amazing! I especially like getting these pancakes and an English breakfast, everyone who works there are lovely and friendly, and it is dog friendly, which is great news for us!

I would highly recommend coming here if you are ever in Bournemouth!

2. Nature around you: This seems pretty specific, but I love going out and seeing all the pretty flowers, and beautiful landscapes, no matter where I go, I also love going up to the park, at sunset because you can get amazing pictures, and I love how it gets dark later, so that you can enjoy the day more. 

I took this photograph at a National trust property, and I love the outcome of it, especially because of the bee getting pollen from the plant. I also love the colour, and how the background is blurred.

3. Salads: This is pretty strange I guess, but I love having salads for my lunch, especially with egg! I like to have it quite simple though, as I don't tend to like many things in my salad, but I like the 'traditional' salads that you can make or buy.

4. Strawberries and cream: This is my all time favourite pudding, especially in the summer months, I am very fond of having strawberries and yoghurt for breakfast, but add it with double cream/ ice cream and a meringue nest. It is amazing!

And these are a few things that I love about summer!

Hope you liked this post!

Thank you for reading,

Amy x

What's coming up in the next few weeks

Hi everyone!

Hope you are all doing well, and for those that are still in school, I hope you have a great final days left, and have time to enjoy the summer!

There are a lot of things that I want to do this summer for example:

* Write more blog posts

* Manage to write at least 2 blog posts a day, so that you can have a post every day.

* Be a lot more tidy

* Use more photography in my blogs, and do something that not everyone does.

I do want my blog to be original, so that people would actually want to read it. I have many ideas that I want to do on here, and one of those things is to do a photography challenge post.

For this photography challenge, each day I am going to do a new post, involving different photography, for example I will have a key theme ie: Nature, Buildings, Close- Ups, Animals and so on and so on. I am going to see how far I can get with this type of blog post, as I do want this to be a photography blog. 

I hope that you like the idea, and hopefully each one will be completely different, and for those of you who want to know more about photography, or want to know how to do a certain thing. I know that quite of you, like photography (otherwise you probably won't read this) so hopefully, this will be interesting to you, and hope that you like this new style that I am going to try and do for this blog. And if you have any questions or comments, please comment below, and I will answer all questions (if there are any)

Thank you for reading <3

Amy xx

Hello July!

not my own source: photobucket

Hello everyone!

I can't believe that we are already in the month of July, that is crazy! I know I haven't been posting much recently but that is all going to change this month. I am going to try and post 3 times a week (lets see how that goes) and I am going to do different posts each time going from (reviews, beauty products and photography) I am hopefully going to go on holiday this summer, so I will bring my camera with me and take as many as I can.

The reason that I haven't been posting as recent, is because I have been doing photography workshop thing?! I am practicing different skills, and where the best places are to take photographs and what props I need to use. As when I am older (if you have been here long enough) I want to be a photographer, and specialise in animal photography. I have recently had a subscription from outdoor photography magazine, and I am hoping to save up to go on a two day photography event thing and getting the chance to go into animal enclosures with professional photographers! I am really hoping that I will be able to do this, but I will have to save up (oh no!). But that is enough about that and onto what I am planning for this month!

1. Take more photographs: I know I have said this time and time again, but I really need to practice more so that when I go to college, I will know what I am doing, and exploring different avenues of photography, exploring with the lighting, and locations.

2. Go to more places: This sounds easy enough, but I am hoping that when it gets to end of July/ August, I will be able to places around the UK, especially to places like Devon where I might be going on holiday, so that I can get great images for this blog!

3. Still use my work experience: I did my work experience at a photographers last year, and I had an amazing time, from shooting portrait photography, to going to proms. I had an amazing time! This Friday I am working with them again and going to another prom to take photos.

4. Eat healthier: I know that everyone is saying this, but for me I really want to cut back on the food I eat, and make more things including fruit in. I am trying to persuade my parents to get a nutribullet or a smoothie machine similar, so then I will actually be having fruit for my breakfast.

These are just a couple of things that I want to do this month. What do you want to do this month? Anything you want to try out or do this summer? Comment below and I would love to know what is on your 'bucket list'!

Thank you for reading <3

Amy xx

Favourite beauty products

Hello! I hope that you have all had a great week, and all your exams are going well (if you are still doing them) and I have thought long and hard about doing this blog post, but as many people like to know what sort of make-up to try out, I thought that I should give you a few products to try out for yourself, and what is worth your money. *Disclaimer: this is not sponsored, these are genuinely things that I use on a daily basis and what I think works the best.

I will do this in order from what make-up you put on first to last.

I don't have a primer, even though I would love one, I just haven't got round to buying one for myself.

Without further ado, lets get on with this post:- both drugstore and high-end, I will be talking through whether or not you should buy a dupe, or not.

1. Face- No7 Stay Perfect Superlight foundation- this is only a little more expensive (i'm not quite sure how much it is as it was a present), but this foundation is sensational, if you prefer more of a matte finish as to not, this will be perfect for you. You can check at the no7 counter at what colour you are, as they do a quick scan, and it is accurate.

This is more of a medium coverage, and it last all day. I don't have anything more to say about this product, it is just genuinely a great product. However the only thing I don't like about this foundation, is that you can't tell when you are about to finish, which disappoints me a little. But overall I love this foundation.

2. Benefits roller lash mascara: I know that you have probably heard alot about this product, but it is truly great. I wasn't too keen on it for the first 3 times I used it, but once you use it for more than 4 days, you can see a huge difference! I don't usually buy "expensive makeup" as to be honest, I think that drugstore makeup work just as well, even though it may not be an expensive brand. But I decided to get this mascara, as it curls and lengthens, and you can see a huge difference wearing this mascara. I am also very fond of the packaging, so that also sold the product or me!


3. Rimmel clear complexion powder: This powder is amazing, I prefer it to the stay matte, because it has no colour to it, so it isn't uneven skin tone, I also love how it blends in and how it keeps my makeup on all day. I was never into wearing powder, as like I have already said, I used to put too much on so you could see uneven coverage and  I didn't like having a matte finish to my makeup, but after using this, my makeup stays on much longer than it had done before.


4. Garnier Anti-spot exfoliating scrub: This is incredible, I have used it for 3 days so far, and I am seeing a very vast improvement in my skin. I have had it for a while, but I wasn't too keen on using it, and I liked to use my neutrogina pink grapefruit scrub, which  because it smells gorgeous and it has many skin benefits to it.


5. Barry M Speedy Quick Dry nail Polish in the colour 502 lap of honour: This is a stunning lilacy shade, and it dries extremely quickly, you can use just one coat and that would be enough, but to build up the colour I would use 2 at the maximum. If you are lazy like me about doing your nails all the time because you aren't patient enough to wait for them to dry this is the perfect nail polish to use.


6. Mac lipstick in the colour; Modesty: I love this lipstick colour, it is a cremesheen finish, which I adore, and the colour stay is amazing, you can have it quite subtle or build it up and it looks stunning either way, it is a gorgeous nude pink/brown shade and it is one of my favourite lipsticks to use at the moment.


I am sorry this is quite a rambly post, but these are the products that I have been loving at the moment, I am going to try my best and upload more posts this month, as you will find out in my next blog post.
Thank you for reading<3

Amy xx