Light painting around Edinburgh

Last week I joined the photography society at the University of Edinburgh and our first project was a night walk around hidden parts of the city, capturing light in interesting forms. We were given an initial briefing, with suggestions about which settings we should be using on our cameras to capture the best shots. This proved invaluable information, as I was able to finally stray away from the safety of 'auto' and try my hand at manual photography... a little bit scary, especially without a tripod. However I actually preferred the slightly more abstract photos, as with a 6 second exposure and the traffic and shop lights of Princes Street, there was a little bit of magic in waiting for the shutter to close.

photography society

Experimenting with Collage

My love of playful imagery and dislike of Photoshop resulted in me stepping away from the computer and revisiting some old friends: scissors and glue. These collages include images from a variety of sources as well as some hand drawn elements.

Happy Street Day

From my perspective, Shelbourne Road is just another long, fairly anonymous Bournemouth street.
Nothing really happens here.
Other than the occasional social gathering in the corner shop, we go about our daily routines side by side and yet our paths never seem to overlap. I only really know my next door neighbour Paul and his dog Foo. I don't know who lives opposite, or 2 houses down, which really makes for quite a sad state of affairs.
So how can I make a difference?
One smile at a time.

I don't intend to change the world. but I know that if you brighten one person's day they are highly likely to brighten someone else's. Happy Street Day took place on Monday 15th April 2013. It was my personal mission to bring some unexpected cheer to my fellow Shelbournians, encouraging them only to stop for a moment and talk to one another.

This project was about inspiring people. So take my ideas and share them with your community.
Go on, spread a little joy.

Tiny Stars Sparkle

These are some images from a zine I created for a graphic design project. The idea behind the project was to investigate the stories behind people's pieces of jewellery and the personal associations they hold.

The Outsider - Albert Camus

Over the Christmas holidays, I designed 3 new covers for the classic, cult novel 'The Outsider' as part of my course in graphic design. After reading the book, I decided that I wanted to stay away from incorporating any obvious figure in my work, as many previous covers had done this and I was keen to keep the contents of the book as ambiguous as possible. I tried a range of styles with my covers, and I think some worked better than others, however after the group critique I felt confident in my own ability to balance composition and colour, as well as suggest an appropriate mood and tone.