Photoshop

In a previous post, I talked about how I had such a dislike for Photoshop and how my feelings towards the programme changed. Well, my feelings now have changed ever more; I recently downloaded Photoshop onto my laptop which works perfectly fine now after some glitches. After searching the internet, I found out that you could download brushes and use them to edit or create the photos you want. I decided to go on a hunt for a website that would provide quality brushes that were easy to download.

After some time surfing the internet, I found a website called QBrushes. It's a brilliant; one that I would definitely recommend. I've downloaded a series of blood brushes, smoke brushes, scratches, and fractal brushes. If you are looking for new brushes to play around with then definitely have a look at this site. I have yet to actually produce any work with these new brushes or even Photoshop itself but I have a feeling I'll be spending quite a lot of time on it. I'll be sure to post products once they've been finished.

Prom

The final gathering, before going off to university, for the Rhetoric II students from St. Edmund's College was June 27, 2012. It took place at the Hertfordshire Golf Club. The night was filled with music, dancing, drink and laughter. A prom that I will not be forgetting any time soon. Here are some pictures from the evening:

Brent, Pascal and Eddie

Charlotte and Scott

James and I

Connor and Sam

Kim, James, Rachel and Connie

Fiona, Kim and Rachel

DigitalRev TV

Tonight I've signed up for yet another website where I'll be sharing my photographs and what equipment I have (and may possibly buy later on). It's for a company called DigitalRev. They've got a YouTube account where they review cameras, give you tips on how to photograph different subjects and do different themes. It's a brilliant channel to subscribe it. There are many videos on there that I would like to try like 'Bikini powder girl' which is their latest video.

I cannot wait to be able to go out to Cambridge in September, if I get into university, and take photos of brand new things and different people. I need a new scene.

Here are some links:
http://www.digitalrev.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DigitalRevTv

Inanimate Apparel T-shirt Customisation

The internet is a wonderful place. On Facebook I came across a photo that James Cheal (aka ChealyTheNinja) posted, it was of a t-shirt design entered into a competition and he was asking for people to vote for the design.

I really wanted the design to win the competition as I thought it was really good. Thinking that this wasn't going to be the first design, I did a bit of searching and found out who designed the t-shirt and if there were any other designs. What I found was a clothing line called Inanimate Apparel, which was founded and is owned by Alex Dyson from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. I had a look at the site where you can buy his clothing and I fell in love with the 'Owl Predator' sweatshirt. I contacted him via Twitter to ask about the sweatshirt and he said he wasn't printing any more which did upset me. He then said that I should get the t-shirt.

I ordered it and was beyond excited to get it.  In my previous post I had cut up an old t-shirt, I thought about doing the same with the owl t-shirt. this is because the t-shirt is a unisex t-shirt and did nothing for my figure as it made me look quite boxy. At first I was very afraid, the material is very comfortable and the print is very well done but most importantly I didn't want to ruin the shirt. However I spoke to Alex via Twitter and he said I should definitely go for it so I redesigned the t-shirt to make it more feminine.

This is the result:

I highly reccomend you like the Facebook page and follow him on Twitter. Watch out for upcoming designs and products because this guy is going places! Well done and good luck to Alex for future success with Inanimate Apparel.

Links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inanimateapparel
Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/inanimatead
Big Cartel: http://inanimateapparel.bigcartel.com/

Old t-shirt cut up

I had an evening of going through YouTube videos and I found one on how to cut up band t-shirts so that they would look more feminine. Instead of cutting up band t-shirts and messing them up I decided to try it out on some old t-shirts that were at home. Like this one:

The t-shirt I started with

After cutting the t-shirt for about half an hour this is the result:

Front

Back

Poison Ivy Sketch - Complete

I've finally been able to finish my Ivy drawing. This is the result. I had to edit the photo because the colours didn't come out bright enough. Let me introduce, Pin-up Poison Ivy.

Tribal/Aztec Nails

Spiderman nails

Nautical Nails

Seeing as summer is just round the corner and I've taken up rowing this year, I decided to go for an ocean-y theme for my nails. Hence the nautical nails:

End of era

There comes a point in life where you've got to say goodbye and move onto the next step. Tonight was the first night that this happened for me. It was the upper sixth boarders leavers' dinner. We had a pre-drinks session, a lovely 3 course meal, gifts and of course speeches. It was the speeches that did it for me. When you start to reminisce about a place where you've spent the last four years of your life, it does take its toll on you. When the speech givers said 'I'm going to miss you all', I love you' and that I felt my eyes well up and my throat start to tighten; I was literally choking back tears. This is the first night of these times, the evening of our Prom will be one of the saddest yet happiest times I think.

Here is some photos from this evening:

Three Worlds: Sea, Earth and Space

The other week I got a taxi from Bishops Stortford train station back to school after spending the day in Cambridge at Anglia Ruskin's open day. I thought it'd just be another regular journey where I tell the cab driver where I'm from and all that, but it wasn't. Before I had gotten in the taxi the driver had been revising for his diving exam. I asked him how long he had been diving and where he'd been to.
Then the conversation got quite philosophical. He started telling me how he thinks that there are three worlds; at first I thought he was a little mad but I heard him out. He explained that there's the underwater world, there's our world and then there's space. He said that as much as he'd love to go to space that really isn't possible so he likes going diving. He said that when he goes diving, it's like sleeping for 45 minutes as its as if he was dreaming.
Underwater is a different world; he likes the idea of just being able to get a glimpse of the underwater world as you can only really dive for 45 minutes to an hour. The underwater world is huge, if you were to explore it, it would be difficult to choose where to start. The world we live in has too many problems; granted it does have its beauty but the idea of being able to just get away for a while, go underwater and explore something so incredible and peaceful, is incredible.
I would love to go on a diving trip for a week or so and do some underwater photography shoots, capture the weird and wonderful.

I GOT IT!

I am very pleased to say that I've got a conditional offer from Anglia Ruskin University to do Film and Television Production starting in September. I need to get a minimum of 200 UCAS points. I honestly did not think that I would get an offer because of how badly I thought the interview went. Oh well, I've now just got to work hard to get those grades! There's still hope! 

FutureProof

Back in December last year, I was proud to have organised the entertainment for my Sixth Form Christmas party. I was able to get FutureProof, a pop band, from Herts. The members are Jonni Wedge the lead man as vocals, Kiran Marshall the guitarist and Charlie Leftwich the percussionist.

 It started with a tweet to Charlie over the summer. I spoke to my head of year and Charlie, back and forth until it was all organised. I met Charlie, Kiran and Jonni the day before the gig as they wanted to set up the PA system beforehand and do a set run through. And we were all set for the gig; 9AM not exactly a rock star hour.

On the day, I borrowed a camera and decided to go shutter happy. Here are some of the photos I took:

Jonni during rehersal

Charlie

Kiran

Jonni

FutureProof fans

The boys with some students after the show

I'm so glad that the morning was a success after much unwanted comments from people at school.

They guys have just recently announced their first ever headline tour so if you live in the UK don't miss your chance to see them!

Here's a few links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/futureproofmusicuk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FutureProofBand
Charlie Twitter: http://twitter.com/CharlesLeftwich
Jonni Twitter: http://twitter.com/jonniwedge
Kiran Twitter: http://twitter.com/kiranmarshall

They've got two music videos of original songs up on YouTube which you can find here:
One More Chance - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVRyICi2oRo
Maniac - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO6ggznSISY

Binham Priory, Norfolk

These are some photos I took at the Binham Priory in Norfolk; one of the places on my dad's random adventure list. This place was absolutely gorgeous; a lot of it was broken walls and towers which are the ruins of the original Priory. However, there is the main part of the church that is still intact and used which you are able to go in. 

List of books from my childhood until now

This isn't my normal post but this evening I decided that I wanted to write down all the books I've read, want to re-read and have my kids read.

A lot of these books I read when I was growing up, spending time in the library, always having 3 or 4 books checked out at a time. Thinking back, I remember always bugging the librarians for new book suggestions or books that I'd like them to order or books I should order. I was always involved in the 'Battle of the Books'; a competition within the year where we were given a list of books to read over the course of the school year, at the end the end of the year we'd be put into teams and quizzed about the books on the list. We'd be given part of a story where we would then have to name the book title for a point and the author for another. I loved this about primary school, getting us to read to perform well. If it wasn't for the great primary school librarians I had I don't think I would of been interested in reading.

The books I used to read were always quite dark or of mature topics, probably one of the reasons why I am who I am today.

Here is the list (*'s indicate which books I'd like my children to read):

Childhood:
* ~ Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
* ~ Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
~ Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech
~ Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell
* ~ A Summer to Die - Lois Lowry
* ~ Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
~ Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
~ The Giver - Lois Lowry
* ~ How to Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
* ~ The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
~ A Child Called It - Dave J Pelzer
~ The Lost Boy - Dave J Pelzer
~ A Man Named Dave - Dave J Pelzer
~ The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin
* ~ Hatchet - Gray Paulsen
~ Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
* ~ Indian in the Cupboard - Lynne Reid Banks
~ Muggie Maggie - Beverly Cleary
~ A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
~ Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo
~ The Dollhouse Murders - Betty Ben Wright
~ Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman - Dorothy Sterling
~ The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman
~ The Watson's go to Birmingham - Christopher Paul Curtis
~ Artemis Fowl Series - Eoin Colfer
~ Bud, Not Buddy - Christopher Paul Curtis
* ~ The Magic Tree House Series - Mary Pope Osbourne
* ~ Among the Hidden (Shadow Children Books series) - Margaret Peterson Haddix
~ Holes - Louis Sachar
* ~ Maximum Ride Series - James Patterson
~ Z for Zachariah - Robert C. O'Brien
* ~ The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
~ The Cay - Theodore Taylor
~ Summer of the Monkeys - Wilson Rawls
~ Ramona Series - Beverly Clearly
~ Everything on a Waffle - Polly Horvath
~ The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
~  Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans
* ~ Just Listen - Sarah Dessen
~ The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series - Anne Brashares
~ Before I Die - Jenny Downham
~ So B. It - Sarah Weeks
* ~ Chicken Soup Series - Compliation of Authours
~ Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
~ Running Out Of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix
~ Pay It Forward - Catherine Ryan Hyde

Secondary School+ (\'s currently not finished):
~ Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
~ Handle with Care - Jodi Picoult
~ My Sister's Keep - Jodi Picoult
~ The Pact - Jodi Picoult
~ The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
~ Dear John - Nicholas Sparks
~ The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
~ A Walk to Remember - Nicholas Sparks
\ ~ My Week with Marilyn - Colin Clark
\ ~ Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
~ The Woman in Black - Susan Hill

I probably haven't mentioned all the books here but I've started using a great website called GoodReads. It is a website where you can rate books that you've read and add them to your read shelf, find recommendations that are tailored to your liking from the books you've read, make a list of the books you are currently reading, and save a list of books that you'd like to read in the future. Here is a link to my book shelf. Happy reading!

London

M & M World

Just a couple of photos from M & M World, London from when I visited back in October. 

Occupy London Protest: Part 4

This is probably my favourite photo from that day so I decided to give it its own post. How kind some of use humans can be, eh?

Occupy London Protest: Part 3

Occupy London Protest: Part 2