Double Exposures

For my experimental brief, I wanted to do something totally out of my nature. So, I went back to film. I'm not great with film, I've never used it properly, mainly because in this day and age its quite a rare thing to see someone in a dark room. I'm not against film photography in the slightest, I am very envious of people who have that skill, as they are keeping the beginning processes of photography alive in there work.  

As I student, I can't afford to try developing in the dark room four or five times so I thought I would go back to my childhood and try to create some double exposures with a disposable camera. I felt that this way, I would be able to have a film effect with it still being affordable. My purpose of this was to create a ghostly effect using a camera, as I have recently been looking at a lot of Spirit Photography and wanted to create something of my own that was spirit like, but with more of a landscape theme rather than a portrait one. I read somewhere that if you use a disposable camera, the way to create a double exposure is to take a photograph, then without winding the film wheel on is to charge the flash and give the camera a good whack on your hand, arm or a hard surface. I went out and tested, and this is what I ended up with;

These are just some of the photographs that worked. I find that some of them have a Lomography style, which I may try and get into. Also, you may notice the red patches in the photographs, don't worry, it's just where the camera hit off my sleeve, unfortunately! However I still think the double exposure gives off a ghostly effect. It might be because you can't clearly see the photograph, so it gives off an eerie feeling. As you can see on the day I was taking my photographs it was raining, so naturally the sky was dark which has left a good effect from the flash going off in the double exposure, leaving the impression of a strange light which I think is quite a nice effect on the overall photograph.

Barcelona Sunrise - November 2009

On a college trip to Barcelona, in our group we decided to get up early and sneak out of the hotel and try and get a glimpse of a real sunrise. So, at 6am one morning we all got up threw on some clothes and headed down to the beach, probably wearing alot less layers than we should have been wearing. It may have been Barcelona, but it was still November. We got there and waited, and waited and then waited some more. We decided that this just wasn't going to happen for us, we were absolutely freezing and were going to head back to the hotel but then this happened;

Suddenly I felt a very strong lift of relief as the sun began to rise from the horizon. Watching the sunrise happen, I no longer cared that I couldn't feel my fingers, that I was tired from being awake so early, nor did I care about anything else that was taking up unnecessary space in my head. The combination of the warm orange sun and the sound of the gentle sea took over my entire mind and I didn't have a care in the world.

It's a funny feeling watching something like this. Something so simple, but so beautiful. It sounds corny, but this was honestly the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed. Personally, I'm a bottler - not in the sense that I bottle out of awkward situations, but I bottle feelings and I don't ever really talk about them, so to be able to witness this for me was amazing. I don't remember what I was bottling at the time but what I do remember is how quickly it all disappeared when I saw the sun coming into the sky. So whenever I have a bad day, or feel fed up, I go back to that beach and hear my friends talking and see them taking pictures and turning blue at the same time (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating how cold it was slightly, and it also helps that I made a video on my camera) and that feeling of relief is there, every single time.  

One Day Project - Childlike Drawings

On our first day back to University, we were set an 'Intentions' project. We had to take a single photograph of anything we wanted, and write a 200 word statement on the expected reaction to our image. Above is the photograph I took. I did expect that people would laugh, but they didn't; they smiled. 

The aim of the photograph was to create a childlike drawing of a house to make the viewer think of home. The paper is crumpled up to demonstrate how when we grow up we lose this innocent way of thinking and seeing things, and always aim for perfection. As a child we don't always care if we colour slightly outside the lines or if we don't get the picture right the first time round - this would explain the scissors in the photograph, they're there again to show the idea that these thoughts and ideas have been cut up. However, though these are the reasons I took the photograph, I wanted each viewer to have a different view of the photograph, I wanted it to mean different things to different people. 

Malham Cove, Yorkshire.

In  this post you'll find some Landscape shots taken on a visit to Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales about a fortnight ago. It was a lovely visit (and a little bit painful afterwards) and it was hard to believe such amazing views were just an hour away from the house I've lived in for eighteen years of my life! The scenery was actually stunning and I would recommend Malham Cove to anybody, but would make sure they were prepared for a very long walk (mostly uphill!) and a pair of stiff legs afterwards.

- This photograph was taken at the top of the cove on the famous Limestone pavement which was used in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.