Summer Antics

Summer Photography

I finished my first year at Uni in May, so I have had 4 and a half months to keep thinking and making photography. I will be honest and say I haven't always had my digital or film camera with me, however what does go everywhere with me is my iphone and I have to say it does deliver reasonable results. I don't have this idea of what makes an amazing photographer is expensive equipment, I just think camera, creativity and "having a good eye", and to be honest, thats all you need in my opinion.

As you may have seen in my Instagram post I have been using this application to share my recent and past photography that I know people will appreciate and if it means I'm still making photography and keeping the subject in mind than that's what I'll continue to do. 

I have always been a lover of nature and landscape photography because these two things never fail in their beauty and aesthetics department. Other than relying on the weather you are not regularly disappointed, and even this can be a positive. I have particularly grown fond of cloud formations, as this can create very dramatic and interesting compositions.

The Garden

The first few photos you will see have come from an obvious place for nature and that's the garden. Although it's very cliche I always think you can't disregard what's closest to home.

These images have been taken from instagram, hence the square composition, the first two have been made with my Canon 600d and the others with my iphone. Some have had filters applied and others haven't, I don't always feel the need to use them.

These Roses were taken with my iphone and it just shows that you can still get sharp images, if you just take the time and patience.

Egypt

In July I had my beach holiday in Egypt, Sharm, and it was great! I didn't take many photographs here as we didn't go out of the complex very often so I thought there isn't a lot of art in people sitting round the pool, (well depends how you look at it I guess). These were shot on my phone.

The hotel gardens, Coral Sea Resort, Sharm

The Private Beach

Soho Square fountain show, Sharm

The West Country

A few times a year I go with my boyfriend to see his Dad in Somerset and this year we went to a place called Wimbleball Lake in Exmoor where his Dad has a sailing boat and sails regularly. I thought the lake and its' surroundings were beautiful. We also drive past Stonehenge and as it was such a moody day outside I had to get a shot of this ever popular monument.

A View of the hills through shrubbery.

Stonehenge and its' visitors.

Hayling Island

The beach is not just a stoney beach but is littered with cockle shells ,and this fascinated me most.

Newtown

 I like to go for "mystery" drives where we end up somewhere different, normally with my boyfriend as he has the car! Newtown is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, located just south of Newbury. We found this common which has several different walks and directions you could go.

Avington and Easton

Easton is a village in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Itchen, 2¾ miles north east of Winchester. Avington is another village nearby and it's landmark is Avington Park which dates back to the 16th Century, but has been considerably altered since then. You are able to take a tour round the house, I plan to go back and do this.

http://www.avingtonpark.co.uk/ 

Easton village church

A few more flowers...

There may be more to come...

INSTAGRAM LOVE

Instagrammers!

There has been a debate about the successful smart phone application, Instagram. Uploading and sharing photographs you have or haven't taken with your phone and then changing the filters (or not) to create something new and interesting whether it took them 1 minute to a whole day. The debate here is that aspiring photographer's and professionals alike have been concerned to whether the app adds value to the photograph or even classifies as "photography". Another debate is to whether people who don't study the subject have become or are oblivious to the skill, creativity and technical aspect to any kind of photography.

I am discussing this because I am a fan of Instagram, and I believe that any photo, belongs to the subject, "Photography" because when isn't a photograph a photograph? There are people people who believe that it isn't good enough to make you a pro, but then why are there so many people who use it? 

I have been using Instagram for quite a while now and it has never really occurred to me whether it changes the value of photography or not. I use it to share my photos with other people, experiment with the filters it gives you and really for a bit of fun and to pass the time! I also enjoy seeing what other people have made and there really is some amazing work. 

Instagram has expanded its reputation rapidly in such a short space of time and I don't think people should regard it as competition at all. People can share what ever they like, there are no restrictions and no expectations, some people even share their dinner with us!

I have never thought that anyone was judging me and that's why I have always liked the application itself and to be honest it's quite a buzz when people "like" you photo or even follow you. I agree that there is some amazing photography on there and that's one of the reasons why I use it, however there are many people with 1000's of followers with pictures purely of food, or images uploaded from the internet, so I don't consider the app as a gateway to photography as not everyone is there for that, it's just what ever floats your boat at the time and sharing your experiences with the world.

Another point I will raise is that It encourages the use of mobile photography, and for me this does not effect whether you are good or bad at photography it's "how you use it" that counts. We as students in photography are always encouraged to experiment and explore the different ways and techniques of other equipment other than DSLRs, and I totally agree that you can make some equally as good images.

I have shared some of my images from Instagram. Visit my  Instacanvas gallery at:

instacanv.as/rosieknightley

Please share your thoughts and opinions too.

Have some fun with Instagram now!