Its been a little while since my last post, which for me has been a very hard time. I wont go into too much on here as I always wanted to use this Blog for my Photography, but as I have found out over the past few weeks, life tends to get in the way, and my photography has been a wonderful coping mechanism for me, so it would be wrong of me not to discuss it here. On this occasion it was a big part of my life that was affected, and my photography has acted as a way of coping with things when all seemed lost. For a while I did not know if I would do this blog anymore let alone get back to a normality that I have taken for granted for so long. This was until I read a blog from an old friend who's words resonated with me. She has used her blog to help her through things that have challenged her In her life so I guess i'm pretty similar in that way now in some ways. Reading it made doing this blog a lot easier, but I differ from her in that I can not write for toffee (she can), my grammar is awful, and getting out what I want to say is much harder for me it seems (I guess for some it comes more naturally). However the combination of putting my mind into something that I love and writing this blog has helped me in a lot of ways that I would not have thought possible just a few weeks ago.  I relied heavily on family and friends to get me through this tough time which I had touched on in my Last post - 'Lemonade' but on a much larger scale this time. These past few weeks has been a time of reflection for me as well as some time away from work which has given me the chance to shoot a diverse range of images, using some of the techniques I have learnt over the past few years. So enough background of all this sadness, lets get on to the good bit...

My first port of call was going back to my home town - Royal Wootton Bassett. I don't get to go back here nearly enough these days, and with my parents moving soon down to Cornwall, it will be a place I will soon have little reason to go back to, which is sad as this is a place that I grew up in so not coming back here even for Christmas is a sad thought. It was great to be back with family as well, and to try to forget about the world just for a while. I would take myself off for walks every day with my camera bag on my back, with vivid memories of growing up at every turn. I found a field of wild flowers that I have been in 100 times over the years, so I sat down in the long grass in the sunshine and went about taking some closer, macro images of the buttercups as well as composing a landscape with the 35mm, that showed off the vibrancy of the yellows that was covering the whole field around me (see above).

The Image above was shot with the 100mm Macro on the 5D MK3 with my now trusty Macro Ring. This ring, as discussed in previous posts allows me to use a very low aperture to black out the background, keeping the focus and light only on the subject. This I think makes for some striking images that can not be achieved without using this flash. 

I also took a trip up onto Hackpen Hill, it was a beautiful evening and there were birds everywhere. I took my 400mm with me but as can be the case with this lens, you can either get the most amazing image or, if the subject is far away like they were on this occasion, the images just did not come out to the level that I would want. I managed to get images of a partridge, Yellow hammer, white throats and goldfinches that surrounded me but no one image came out well enough for me to use sadly.  Instead I switched to the trusty 35mm F/1.4 to get some shots of the Landscape. The image above was looking back down the track where I had been walking. I have started to use the live view function a lot more these days which gives me the option to zoom into a point of the scene to make sure focus is spot on. This works particularly well when using a tripod as was done in this instance.

This Panorama (above) was taken hand held, and comprises of 5 images stitched together in Lightroom. My 35MM lens is wide but I love that this sort of image can be achieved fairly easily.

After spending some time back in Wiltshire I decided, along with my friend Toby, to get the train down to my families flat in Cornwall. I wanted to get away from everything and be in a place that I could just get away from everything. We both jumped on a train (him from Paddington and me from Swindon) and met about 5 hours later down in Penzance. The flat itself is situated just up the coast in a place called Praa Sands. The flat is a 5 Minute walk from the beach so this was to be my base for the next almost 2 weeks. I spent my time drinking, walking, editing and thinking, with the first part of my time there being with Toby and the last half being on my own. 

The image above shows just how beautiful this beach is. I was lucky with the weather to begin with and so we spent the first few days in the sunshine. Nothing can beat the UK in the sun, and this shows in the image above.

For this shot above, I used a tripod, 35mm, 10 stop ND filter and a remote trigger. I love getting this sort of image and it is a technique that I find myself coming back to again and again. (as you will see later) I love the way it smooths out water, and brings out the clouds..

Walking on the beach we came across this young deer that had washed up. It's a pretty grizzly shot but I really see the dark, macabre beauty in the image, which comes through really well in black and white, I guess it matched my mood but it's oddly one of my favorite images from my time away. I also think this is because of the drama behind the image which draws you into the picture. How did this deer come to be here, dead on this beach? I like that a lot about this image as it is hard to find in everyday life.

Towards the end of the beach there was one tree, blasted by the sand and wind, it was quite a striking focal-point and made a prefect place to sit, drink and relax. I decided to set my camera up on my tripod on one evening as the sun went down, and use a remote shutter (in my hand) to take a series of shots of us relaxing and taking in the views around us. The series of images I got work really well with the dark cliffs behind us, offset with the bleached white tree (we named Darren) which we are sat under. This would be 'our spot' for the rest of the time Toby was down with me. I would pass by the tree several more times after he had gone but I did not stop.

The amount of flowers in bloom was amazing. Every time I left the flat I would be greeted with more flowers. This image was typical of most of the grass verges and walls in the area. I only wished I had a fish eye lens to make this image look a little more barreled but I still think its a nice Image. I was/am very close to swapping my Canon 24-70mm F/4 IS for a Canon 8-15mm F/4L USM fish eye but have not got round to it yet (Plus its a considerable amount more so would need finance). So I have been weighing up the pros and cons of getting this lens or waiting and saving up for the Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II lens, which will be more beneficial to my wedding business but at a whopping £1800 new its just not a lens I can even dream of at this time. Who knows maybe one day I will be able to afford it. I may yet do a post about this internal struggle of what do do about these 2 lenses but I will save that for another time.

On one of our walks across the cliffs we came across a pair of Kestrels sat below us on the cliff edge. As quick as I could the 400mm was on them and managed to capture the male bringing a slow worm to the female. Getting this sort of behavior is exactly what I was looking for, and being so close meant I was able to get some great images. If you look at the first image you can see clearly what I believe to be a slow worm in its talons. 

Toby went back up to London, leaving me on my own for the rest of my time in Cornwall. The weather was also quite changeable from then on, with several of the days a total write-off. This gave me time to edit my latest wedding that I had shot the week previously (blog entry to come).

 On the days that were fine, I was back out walking around, and exploring the immediate area around me. My mind would sometimes wonder off, and on occasions I would do something stupid like go out for a walk without a card in the camera, but for the most part I tried to engross myself in what was around me. One area that I did take an interest in was the local surfers. I have not had the opportunity to shoot any sports photography so this was my chance. I positioned myself in in front of the surfers on some rocks so I would be at eye level when they caught the waves. I used the 400mm on my tripod with the 7D for maximum reach (X1.6 crop so 640mm approx). I did however start to resent how good the all were, and how easily they made it look, so I found more pleasure in seeing them fall than actually catch the waves. The series of images above are a mix of them getting it right, and getting it terribly wrong. I think I do still prefer the ones where they get it wrong though...

The Rocks and cliffs around Praa sands were also a great source of photo opportunities, I would walk along the cliffs for ages, looking for the perfect composition. The issue I did find was that these areas are very exposed to the wind so when I did find a spot the wind would be at its strongest. This meant a 1 minute exposure even on a tripod would move. This movement would totally ruin the picture, so many images were unusable. I persevered though and managed to get a few images with the ethereal look that I wanted to achieve and that I love so much.

This time away was great for me and really pushed my passion for photography to the forefront of my mind, it strengthened my love for Photography and my belief in myself to carry on with my blog and business, that I have worked so hard on over the past few years.

Where I will be in a years time is anyone's guess, but what I do know is that I will be doing my photography, building my wedding business and above all getting back to being happy again. Also a massive shout out to my parents who have looked after me and of course my DM4 boys, who have been there for me no matter what. Now bring on the future lets hope its up from here.

Before I end this post, my last thought for today goes to my wonderful gran. She hates having her picture taken, but here she is in all her wonderfulness. As well as my own personal problems, this little one was taken ill at the same time (trying to steal my limelight lol), and has been recovering in hospital. She is on the mend now thank goodness and is never far from my thoughts. It is times like this that family and friends are so important and I have found out just how fortunate I am.