Wednesday 30 April 2014

California Dreaming...LaLa Land

Ahh LaLa land, home to the stars, sunshine and very very good looking people. Los Angeles was our final destination on our USA road trip last year, you can check part one and two here.


I've visited LA twice before but this was definitely my favourite visit, being there with friends made me and Dan much more adventurous and really changed our experience. We packed quite alot into our time there which meant I took alotttt of photos. So instead of one mega heavy photo post I'm going to stretch it to one more post after this, sorry if you're bored! 

We booked this apartment through air bnb for the entirety of our stay, it was perfect for two couples and just 8 blocks away from the main shopping area in Santa Monica and ten blocks to the beach. I've stayed in Hollywood before but have to say I much prefer to stay near the beach, I always thought Hollywood would be all glamorous and make me go woww. It's not! It's pretty grim, not very clean and just not my kind of place whereas Santa Monica and Venice Beach are my cup of tea. You have the beach, the boardwalk, the pier, shops, restaurants, entertainment all withing walking distance. 

Above are some photos from out first few days there. First up a lazy day at the beach, which was well needed after such a busy first week. Next we went to Disneyland Resort which is split into two parks, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure park. We all much preferred the latter where we spent most of our day, Disneyland was fun but we didn't need alot of time there and the castle was so small!

Being typical Brits we decided to check out a British pub one night only to be very surprised when Ed Sheeran walked in! How very LA! After a few to many blue moons I went over to him to introduce myself and we had a lovely chat about Game of Thrones and how he'd met some of the cast. Such a nice, friendly guy and happy to have a photo with me and Dan.

Safe to say I was very hungover the next day so what better time to go ride some roller coasters at Universal Studios! (barfff). Highlight was the haunted house! So funny having two grown men hiding behind me, using me as a shield whilst a little man dressed as chucky jumped out as us with a knife! haha!!

Monday 28 April 2014

Girl on Campus

Happy Monday! 

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was wicked! Haven't had such a fun weekend in a long time, I went down to Bristol for two nights to celebrate Leanne's birthday. It involved lots of food, drinking, bowling, dancing and karaoke! I took my fish eye camera with me so once I get the film developed I'll definitely write abit more about it. Safe to say we all loved Bristol.

Below are a few images to brighten those Monday blues, I took them a few weeks ago around Keele University campus using my Chinon CS cameras and Fuji Superia X-Tra 400 ISO film...



Thursday 24 April 2014

Instax mini 25


The Fujifilm Instax mini 25 is a lovely little camera that is much more compact and convenient than the Instax 210. Unlike the bulky 210 the Instax mini fits in the palm of your hand and doesn't take up much room in your bag. I find it's much more reliable for indoor photography to. Here's a few more pros and cons for this particular camera;

Pros

  • Lovely Design- This is a good looking camera, small and slim the lens automatically opens out when you turn it on so does not take up unnecessary room when not in use.
  • Mirror attached to the lens- Perfect for framing self portraits
  • Can be used indoor or in poor light- Unlike the Instax 210 this is perfect for indoor use. I've taken it on a lot of nights out as you can see from some of the images below. It's always fun the next day looking at what you shot.
  • Has two shutter buttons- One at the top of the camera for portrait photos and one at the side for landscape pictures.
  • Film is readily available and cheaper than that Instax 210 Film
  • You can also buy fun film with goofy borders. You can see some of the cool themed films I've used in the past below.

Cons

  • If your taking a landscape photo and forgot to switch to landscape mode it will be quite blurry
  • Credit card sized photo might not please everyone but that's why it's got mini in the title!

Overall I always enjoy using this camera and tend to use it more in social situations, capturing fun times with friends and family rather than anything to arty farty.

Below are some of my favourites...

 


Wednesday 23 April 2014

Life Lately

I carry a camera with me all the time so have plenty of shots taken from day to day which probably won't be very interesting to other people but mean alot to me. In the digital age we live in people share what they are up to the second they do it and move on, whereas with film it could be weeks or even months before I get my films developed. When I finally see the images it takes me back to the moment I pressed the shutter and reminds me of times I might otherwise of forgotten. 

Here's some images from films I've had developed so far this year (pictures taken between last Halloween and March this year).

Seems only fitting to start it off with a sparkly picture of Leanne, who's birthday it is today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEANNE!!