Photographic Eye Challenge!

So what do you do when 2 miles out from home, on the way to a "Lovely day out in the sunshine, lets go on a drive for a few hours and take some photos!" the car breaks down, is totally unable to move and you get stuck by the side of a dual carriageway......? Well.... you either freak out OR see it as an opportunity to "see the beauty and truth in the everyday" as my  blog strap line says! So all I had for inspiration was a patch of scrub land next to the lay by with a "no rubbish dumping sign" which had been ignored! So lets see what I managed to capture....(The photo above is the fiancee calling the rescue services team in!)

I first of all decided to use my long lens as a macro lens and up close to some wildlife, I do LOVE a ladybird or two! And then a close up of a beautiful feather in the sunlight.

Then some textural shots of a fence post and a lamp post against the sky.

Then I found out how to use the spot metering on my camera to capture the effect of sunlight through green leaves looking like some amazing nature fairy lights!

And then I looked for colours and found a whole spectrum as long as I looked up, down and everywhere possible (and not at the grey tarmac road!)

Then for patterns: in a stone wall, in tree branches like webs against a blue sky.

And also giving a new compositional twist to familiar subjects, we are all so used to seeing daffodils in Spring, but from the front of course, and yet how beautiful they are from behind as well.

So even though after six, yes SIX hours of waiting for the tow truck to take us home my patience was wearing a bit thin, I got home and looked through my shots and was really happy with them! And I think to myself how often I think "Oh I'd love to take some photos, but I don't have time to go anywhere / I'm not inspired" and yet here I was with nothing of interest in sight, with a dozen shots I love! Just proves a little more my belief that it's not the equipment,  it's not the subject, its not the money you throw at photography. Instead its cultivating the photographic "eye". Learn about your camera, learn a few photographic rules, and then use them or break them to fit what you want your shot to convey. I think some of it is learnt, some of it is practice, and some of it just is, and by that I mean a combination of the right light, intuition, patientience and creativity! :)

Wedding Planning!

So if you have been following me you will know I recently got engaged, and we decided to get married in the autumn of this year so I got straight into the wedding planning! We got the venue of our dreams in a beautiful huge vineyard, at that time of the year the vines will be full just before the harvest and turning into the beautiful oranges, red and golds of autumn. We are having a ceremony and wonderful lunch with a small group of our nearest and dearest and then a big party with a live band for everyone! So then my mind turned to the details and I guess the "theme" I so didn't want to be a bridezilla so rather than making the planning last all year every weekend until the day, we made most of the decisions already and have a loose theme of.... and this will be no surprise....Iceland! So the colours are all about ice blues, silvers and extra white white! So from the top my engagement ring (I know you've seen it a hundred times already now! But I just LOVE it and can't stop looking at it!) and of course it's Icelandic glacier blue, next some trial nail polish practice! I so don't want to be a big meringue and super traditional, so I am playing with mixing a few little "Julesy" bits in to the mix :) Next some adorable little snow globe bauble place card holders I found and just had to have! Then some of my ideas for the tables, some ice blue tea light holders and "table crystals" they are like mini gemstones! loooove! And then a tiny look into my shoes and dress!Just a little peek *wink* But I can tell you it's a short dress, cos I am going to be dancing with new husband all night long!

Hold on, where is 365? What's The Decisive Moment then?

:) Change is upon me! I promised I would be back! After a well earned rest from the blogosphere.... (during which I became an engaged lady!... see me, my man and the ring in the photos above!) - I am BACK! With a new twist on my mission to "Capture the beauty and truth in the everyday"! Despite the fun of 365 it's a) pretty rigorous and intense to have to post and create every day, and b) I am not sure it gave me the space and focus to push myself photographically. So the idea with The Decisive Moment is that I take longer to plan and execute a photo shoot, and show you a mini portfolio of shots, along with my interesting / illuminating / rambling / crazy (delete as required) commentary as I go! I toyed with the idea of setting topics in advance, but part of what I loved about last years 365 is that it ended up being a photographic diary of a year in my life, and also working in an intensely stressful goal driven job as I do, I don't really want to start on a "metric driven, continuously improving" personal life too! *wink* Also if you follow my on my other joint blog you will see that we set topics on that one already. So 365 has been renamed The Decisive Moment and is going to be a free form photographic blog of various subjects / semi autobiographical / diary recording of my life / world / thoughts and emotions... here we go!!!!