I really want to watch LOVE ETC.

So it is Friday and I officially have a weekend of relaxation ahead - the plan tonight is leftovers and a film.

I like going to the cinema and sharing the popcorn but I do not go often at all - for the last year I have gone 3 1/2 times.

1. Hangover 2
2. Kinky Boots (watched at an Independent film festival - so so so good - real British humour)
3. Bridesmaids
4. ... attempted to go to Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Pt 2 ... got there at the wrong time.

A couple months ago I saw the trailer for a documentary film called LOVE ETC. on a blog I follow and have been wanting to see it ever since.

The film's website describes the documentary as "a witty, poignant and humorous exploration about the universal stages of love, depicted through five real stories over the course of one year in New York City. Young, old, gay straight - everyone has experienced love - and the joy and frustration that come with it. ... LOVE ETC. documents the intimate journeys of engaging characters aged 18-89 who reflect the city's diversity, and takes an honest look at life's most challenging pursuit."

To me this movie looks like the real life LOVE ACTUALLY! One of my all time favourite films - especially coming up to Christmas time.

Take a look at the trailer:

I really wanted to watch this movie tonight (after watching the trailer - you might want to as well) but sadly I could not find it on sale on iTunes. :-(

Looks like I have to remain waiting with baited breath and tonight I have to settle with HBO.

If you too want to see this documentary film check out their website!

Happy Weekend All! x

A learning experience - Child photography

Last weekend one of my closest friends asked me to take photographs of her beautiful 2 1/2 year old daughter. She liked the photograph that I entered in the Royal Commonwealth Photography competition and really wanted some nice photos of her baby girl.

Now as a very amateur photographer - I jumped at the opportunity. Afterall I said I was going to take the reins of photography and move forward. Another challenge :)

Now we decided to meet up on the island's boardwalk located on the South Coast. It had been raining for two days straight and by the afternoon it was still overcast but later there was an amazing orange glow - got to love a good sunset.

Again I used my 50mm 1.8 lens.

What I love about this lens is that I can get the 1.8 aperture - this is depth of field on a camera (it allows a small area of the photo in focus and the rest of the photo (in my case the background) to be blurry). For some reason I enjoy photographing faces with a small/short aperture - I think it is because you automatically focus on the face because there is no/little distraction in the background.

What you need to know is that this lens does not allow you to zoom in and out because it is a fixed lens. This is a challenge because you physically have to move to be able to get your desired frame of the subject.

So down the line I will need to upgrade and find a more versatile lens.

But you be the judge. Take a look at what I got!

Kayleigh (blurry background)

Kayleigh and Mummy

Now one of the things I learnt that day - when taking photographs of children especially ones that are shy in the beginning (most will be like deers in a headlight) - you need some props. Luckily, Jackie came to the rescue with a fantastic black and white umbrella. The umbrella changed Kayleigh's demeanour. She was now playing and not getting her photograph taken by mum's weird friend.

Thanks Jacks for the umbrella (it added so much to the photos) - I will know now that props are necessary. Because PROPS = DISTRACTION.

Somebody was excited!! :)

Then there were baby turtles being rescued from the shore (poor little things were going in the opposite direction of the sea) that was the next distraction. 

Checking out the turtles - but not getting too close.

And then the last bit of the sun's rays poking through the clouds - what a nice glow!

Toodles! 

Royal Commonwealth Photographic Awards 2011

Exactly one month ago today - I was having a pretty shitty morning. Most of you can relate.


I came to work looking like a wreck and feeling like a wreck but little did I know what glorious news was waiting for me in my inbox. So I continued with the usual routine - made a latte, checked my work  inbox, chatted to my work colleagues about my shitty morning and then finally made it to my personal inbox.


BOOM!


There it was the pivotal moment when my shitty day took a turn for the best. An email from the Royal Commonwealth Society announcing that I was a Senior Bronze Winner for the 2011 Commonwealth Photographic Award.


WOW!


I entered this competition at the beginning of summer - the primary reason was simply to enter a competition. I have only been doing photography for one year and 2 months and I wanted to "push" myself to enter a photo of mine into something... anything.


And the second reason - was not only the well recognized Society but also the theme that the photograph needed to embody: "Women as agents of change". I like boundaries and outlines and in this case themes: it makes me more creative and ultimately challenges me.


So I entered the following image:

My main goal was to get an image to illustrate that Women are agents of change through generations. I did a little write up to go with my photograph and it can all be found and read on the society's Flickr account. You can also browse through the other winners - Amazing stuff :)

And to quote the congratulatory email: "We received hundreds of entries from young aspiring and professional photographers from every corner of the Commonwealth. Just 22 photos have been chosen for exhibition and 8 have been awarded these top prizes. The standard of entry is always extremely high and entrants competed with their peers from 46 countries. Congratulations!

As a special prize commissioned by the Western Australian Government, your photo will be exhibited at the Commonwealth Festival Perth. This will take place during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (23-30 October), attended by 54 leaders from across the world. Every two years all Commonwealth leaders come together, with Her Majesty the Queen, to discuss important global priorities. The 2011 CHOGM in Perth is a special event as it is here that the findings of the Eminent Persons Report into the future of the Commonwealth will be released."

There will also be an exhibition of the winning photographs during the Commonwealth Week in March 2012 in London, England.

BLIMEY!!

You can check out more about the Royal Commonwealth Society on their website. They also have a competition running at the moment: Jubilee Time Capsule - go check it out!

And on top of all this lovely stuff already - I just got an email yesterday saying 12 photographs (mine included) will be featured in the October Edition of Silvershotz - the International Journal of Contemporary Photography.

BOY OH BOY!!! 

Below you can see some other photographs I was able to snap that morning. The biggest challenge was photographing inside the house on a cloudy day with no external lighting (need to work on my flash photography skills) - I used a 50mm 1.8f and it worked :)

Drawing on Toilet Paper

Norma and I

So 1 photoshoot, 1 photograph and 1 award later - I have decided to take this photography thing a little more seriously. I am participating in the Barbados Photographic Society's events. In the last month I have done one workshop (macro photography) and one photowalk (a rundown sugar factory) and I am signed up for another photowalk this Saturday morning.


So look out for photographs!!

Gift giving - make it personal

For my birthday this summer I was given a basket of grocery goodies. Fun and exotic spices you do not find on the shelves of the ordinary grocery store or even items that I think to put in my shopping cart.

Nowadays birthday-present shopping is not easy.

People of today are usually able to buy what they want, when they want it and it leaves the present-buyer asking the question "what the **** can I get them??".

My solution is to turn to personal gifts.

Now to the ordinary person - getting a bunch of packaged spices and herbs is not the idea of a fantastic gift.

But this gift was tailored to me!!

I enjoy cooking and experimenting with different ingredients. Occasionally I read recipe books and now I have the challenge (a good one) of introducing new flavours to future dishes.

Here is what was in the birthday basket of grocery goodies:

1. Mathie: also known as Fenugreek is used in pickles, curry powders and pastes. 
2. Mix Massala: is a combination of dried spices. Mine is a mix of Coriander seed, cumin seed, mathie, Souphe (not sure what that is), black cumin, mustard seed, and other spices. 
3. Geera (whole cumin): Apparently cumin is the second most popular spice in the world after black pepper - who would have thought? Cumin in either its whole or ground form is used in many different cuisines around the world.
4. Red Cooking Peppers: the bag says that it is a selection of dried chili peppers - add a little spice to my cooking.
5. Saffron powder (tumeric): Tumeric comes from the ginger family and is a spice commonly used in curries and other South Asian Middle Eastern cuisine.
6. Massori Dhal: also known as Dal is a preparation of pulses (dried lentils, peas or beans) which have been striped of their outer hulls and split. Massori is red lentils.  
7. Whole Cardamon: also a member of the ginger family and also known as Cardamom. There are two types and this one photographed is Elettaria (Elichie). It is used in Indian cuisine - they even use it to flavour coffee and teas.
8. Raw Geera: same as number 3 just ground into a fine powder.
9. Tamarind: is used in desserts and apparently is found in Worcestershire sauce and HP sauce. 
10. Mangril (black cumin): there are two types of seeds that come from different plants and are both given the name black cumin - mine is Nigella (or Nangilla as my packet says) and is more common in the West.

All the above information was taken from Wikipedia. I hope to start cooking something soon. Mostly it will be a big pot of curry - mmm mmm good!!

So the moral of the story: give the gift some thought and go with something personal :)

Need an Exercising Playlist!

Last Christmas, I received an iShuffle from Santa Claus aka Dad. This device was on my Christmas wishlist because my MP3 wasn't waterproof and decided to go belly up upon contact with water.

Now I want to start back running and desperately need a musical companion - Mr. iShuffle. But unfortunately he is a mute - due to lack of music files.

So this weekend's challenge is to put a high-energy, good running, self motivating, booty shaking playlist together. This will definitely be a challenge for me - I haven't had a radio in my car for over a year and a half - so my only connection to the musical world is via Jango.com (my internet radio of choice), Rick.com (Top 40s - that plays on the radio every Sunday here in Barbados), and from the occasional night out to the bar (mind you - I rarely can recall the songs I heard and liked).

It will also be difficult because I am stuck on mellower music (only listen when I am doing mellow things). I decided to share one of my favourite songs of the moment - he is Paolo Nutini (a mix up of Jason Mraz, David Grey, and Damien Rice - and some old school feel). It is hard to explain - this is not my forte. But anyway - have a listen!

Guess who's back?

So I am starting small. I took a very long hiatus - 2 months and 16 days - but who is counting... honestly.

I am not.

But today is the day - I am back. And I am starting small.

On Saturday we got a new puppy and we have named her Rosie. She is a mutt, about 8 weeks old and we adopted her her from the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in Barbados.

And after work this evening I picked some avocados from our neighbour's tree (the tree is littered with these wonderful fruit)- they are so green and perfect - photo op.

So here are some photos - so enjoy!

Rosie

See you again soon!