Around where I live...

I'm quite enjoying this accidental series I've created... and it makes taking photos for it even more fun.

(I'm not 100% sure whats happening here, he was either hiding or digging for bugs, either way... cute!)

The Zenit B came with a Helios 44-2 lens which has a slight zoom, and as well as being able to focus on more interesting details (which is a struggle with plastic cameras) I also got to play around with the aperture. I am still not bored of playing with depth of field... I'm pretty sure I might never get bored of it.

Camera: Zenit B
Film: Fuji Superia 400
Location: Leeds

Spring is in the air...

Hurray and finally! Though today is actually cold and foggy, but still, Spring is definitely coming.

These were taken with my new to me Zenit-B and I'm totally and utterly in love with them!! And the camera, gosh that camera... You have no idea how relieved I was to see that this first roll worked with it as I absolutely loved carrying that camera around with me and using it was a dream - it sounds amazing, it feels amazing, the lens is beautiful (see that light?!) oh boy... I haven't been this excited about a camera since I got my LC-A... I'm even more excited about it after seeing the photos that Tanit has take with her ZenitB too - I think this camera has amazing potential!

(Our first snowdrop)

That last photo... I have no words for how happy I am with it - it might have made me cry a little when I first saw it as I was so happy the camera worked, and the yellow is so beautiful, and daffodils are my favourite. I think its as close to perfect in a photo that I've ever been... hurray!

Camera: Zenit B
Film: Fuji Superia 400
Location Leeds

My photoswap photos from our holiday

I've been really unorganised with the photoswap this year and a lot of people taking part have also been really busy, so its been coming along slowly... I don't really mind to much, as its not an urgent project and its the sharing of photos process that I enjoy the best rather than the speed of it.

I used my holga camera, as I haven't used it for a while and I sent my film to Dianna to get developed and I'm really thrilled with the results, I love how soft they look.

I'm also really thrilled that the photo of the goats head around its shed worked out, it was only there for a minute and I thought I'd missed it.

These photos are also making me excited about our holidays this year, hurray!

Camera: Holga 135bc
Film: Lomography CN400
Location: Whitby, Yorkshire

Why I love this photo

I've been wondering what to post today - some days I just have nothing to share, and I rarely schedules posts very far ahead, but then Twitter saved me (hurray). Adam Bronkhorst tweeted a link to a post that described why he loved one photo so much and I absolutely loved reading it. I've been trying not to get too sappy whilst I've been writing my Ecourse (I know I keep mentioning it, I'm sorry, its pretty much all I think about in my spare time right now...) but I've come to realise that taking photos for me is an emotional process, and Dawn even described my photos as 'emotive' yesterday in her LC-A test roll post (which you should read...) so this post is really a progression from that and something that I wanted to share with everyone who reads this.

So here we are, photo number one in my new '"Why I love this photo" series.

I tried to start this off with a photo from my first rolls of film in 2009, but looking back at these photos, I realised that even though I loved the process of using a film camera again, it wasn't until I was in Wales, in September 2009, using my 7th roll of film with my Holga 135bc, that I fell back in love with photography but also in love with light.

That probably sounds a little odd, but its true. And this photo reminds of how I felt on that beach, on our first night in Wales. Of how beautiful the beach looked, of how the light bounced off the thin layer of water and hazily reflected across the sand. Of how relaxed I felt, just soaking that beautiful golden light in and how happy I was to just be taking photos, walking along the beach with some of my favourite people in the world...

It took me 7 rolls of film to begin to understand that a wonderful photo isn't just about composition or the camera or the film, but its the light, its looking for that perfect light that expresses exactly how you feel in that moment. Even now, nearly 4 years later, I'm still learning how I want to take photos and how to look for that moment of light that expresses me so well, and honestly, I don't think I've even fully realised these things yet... I may never fully realise them.

This photo however, marks the unrealised beginning of that journey for me - none of the photos I had taken before, although I love them for being a part of my journey, have sung to me, have made me gasp, or look at my photos in wonder. None of the photos before this made me think 'I've found it...' that missing whatever it is that I'm looking for.

I think the best thing now, looking back at this photo, is knowing that I had no clue about what was ahead of me... about where I would go with my photography, the photos I would take, how much it would really mean to me later. Though I guess really, I could say the same thing about any of my photos. But this photo especially, means that much to me now because without even realising it, it was that first photo that really made my heart sing, not just in taking it, but looking at it afterwards as well.