Tulips Grow Anywhere

New Blog!

2007-08-27T20:48:00.000Z

I've been contemplating switching for a while, much as I adore this blog, because I have so many problems with Blogger...the fussy girl that I am...and I am so technologically behind that I refuse to comprehend Blogger Beta, or whatever it is called now. :)
So, for various reasons, I have a new blog! Woo! But please promise not to desert me now I am a Blogger traitor. Pretty please? I won't be deserting you guys! And please update your links. Thank you!

Tulips Grow Anywhere Photoblog

So Me.

2007-08-25T09:41:00.000Z

Ths photograph is SO me. It is inextricably linked to who I am, to Lulu. My starry bracelet, that never leaves my wrist, and my etiolated wristwatch - the timekeeper that I am - and my pose: all are so utterly Lulu. This image really, to me, exemplifies me and who I am. Who I want to become, and who I will be. My sister took it. I wanted her to take a picture of my bracelet, just for fun, and she managed to capture this one too. I think it's funny, how, in the end it's the ones who love you - the ones who know you inside-out and back-to-front, who would give their lives for you, who could find you in a twisting maze - who really capture you. She managed to bring out the person that IS me. And I think that is why I am so often astounded by the picture YOU all share of your children and loved one; so full of childish whimsy, vitality and absolute childhood honesty. And now I realise that honesty is the children themselves. Captured by their mothers, who love them and know them more than anybody could know.

I have SO much to tell you guys!

2007-08-23T21:16:00.000Z

So much! Remember, in May and June, I did all those exams? All those exams that tore me away from photography and blogging and whatnot? Well, they're pretty important really. They're called GCSEs, and they go on your CV, they sometimes look at them for university and if you don't do well, you're not allowed to carry on at school anymore. So major. People freak out about them a lot. I got the results today! The system works a bit differently in the UK to in America, we have grades A* - G and then UNGRADED, God forbid, which means it was so bad they basically couldn't bear to touch it! But, thankfully, they're pretty rare...at least in my school. And, in the US and Canada, I think straight As is pretty normal, right? Or maybe not, but only 5% of the population gets an A* in each subject so, yea, pretty tough. I took 10 subjects...and I was so sick to my stomach with nerves...and so worried I was going to fail (a pass is A*-C) ... and I did so well!!!!!

I received six A* grades in English Literature, English Language, Latin, History, Religious Studies (I got 100% in that!) and German. And two A grades in Biology and Physics - which I am so happy about. I am the most unscientific person you could ever meet, and I generally got straight Cs the whole two years of the course (unfortunately Bio, Chem, Physics are compulsory to GCSE level here) but I worked so hard for the exam, and it obviously paid off! And then I got a B in Chemistry and Maths. Maths I find terribly difficult so I was really pleased about that, and a B is still about 70%...Chemistry I really couldn't care less, I hate it that much. It's being remarked though, because it was only 1 single mark off an A. So, yes, I am so excited! I've had more phone calls today than ever, even when it's my birthday!

We had to go into school to collect the results, and I saw so many people crying and being consoled on the way, that I started to worry even more - and then my Chemistry teacher (who is a bit scary and who you would NOT want to meet in a dark alley, even in daylight) strode up to me and said he wanted a word after I'd opened my envelope...so then I thought he might take me round the corner and punch me because I'd got a C or something but no, it was okay! He just wanted to ask if it was alright to have it remarked. Phew!

And, if you haven't realised, this is going to be a very very long post! And, so, I walked over to the table and one of my old teachers handed me my envelope. And, literally, guys, I was shaking. I should really have read all the signs but I think I was too nervous to really register it and take it all in. My Religious Studies teacher, the lovely and beautiful Miss W, was smiling at me and my English teacher gave me a huge thumbs up and my Physics teacher was looking at me giddy with happiness (probably relieved that I didn't fail his course entirely) but I refused to open my envelope for 10 minutes. I needed time to prepare myself!

.... so I just watched for a while. I watched Mr G hand out all those brown envelopes to my friends, as they sidled up to the table, with nervous shy smiles on their faces. I watched as the pile of envelopes, each bringing either joy or sorrow, dwindled and vanished...and I watched as the girls around me tore open their brown packages and smiled or wept or hugged their friends. It was nice to just watch. And, finally, I opened mine. And I was so so amazed. I truly was. And then my Biology teacher ran up to hug me, and I just started to cry, I was that amazed - and her daughter Abigail was jumping up and down. And the people around me were all so happy, so smiley and lovely...all looking at their marks and comparing. And that is when I realised IT.

I realised that I do so want to be a teacher . I realised in that singular moment, that moment so tiny and absolutely insignificant in my entire life, that school is my home. I want to be there forever - as student or teacher. If it can't be me walking in each day to learn, to receive brown envelopes that contain the unknown, I want to be there learning with other, giving THEM the brown envelopes and helping them realise their individual potentials. :) So I'm happy. I thought I was sad school holidays are coming to a close, much as I adore school, and I thought I was happy to have a break. Yet when I arrived to collect my envelope, and I saw all my favourite people - my teachers and friends who are all so wonderful - and I saw the green grass and the lacrosse pitch and the hall and the squeaky clean floors - I was enveloped with a sense of wonder and an utter joy to be where I was. I love it so. I cannot wait until school begins on the 3rd. Yea!

So, I hope you managed to keep up with my rambles thus far. Not much longer to go! I promise to have many more Toronto posts, and to be a better Blogger - it's just hard to be inspired to take pictures in all this gloom and rain - and I promise that about the Toronto pictures. Ellen made me swear I would post all 200, even the grainy blurred ones (who's saying there are any?!), because she wants to see them. Ellen, maybe not all 200, but I'll post most of them anyway!

Again, sorry I haven't been commenting much. I've been too sick with my throat and worried about results. But today was much better. So I'll leave you with one of my favourite Toronto pictures, my yummy chocolate frapp. They taste better in Canada! The best thing to drink in such humid heat :)

Love, happy as a cat Lulu

Miss Me?

2007-08-21T15:18:00.000Z

Ladies! I'm back! I had an absolutely exquisite time in Canada; it's very different to England, and London, but the change was certainly refreshing. I'm afraid I'll have quite a few posts on my trip for a while now, hope you don't mind! My two weeks were jam-packed: visiting the CN tower, walking around Toronto, going up north for a week, seeing Niagara Falls, taking pictures, baking cookies, taking more pictures and much much more. It was hectic but really fun. Here's just a few from the two hours my sister and I spent chilling out in the Indigo Bookstore on Bloor Street, whilst my mum and her lovely friend and colleague Karen were in a meeting. Ellen, you are SO lucky to have such a store....we don't have any bookshops as large and comprehensive here. You lucky thing!

Thank you for all your lovely comments whilst I was away - I truly do appreciate them. I hope to get back into the swing of things soon, although I caught a nasty sore throat on the plane back home, so don't count on it for a day or two. More photos to come very soon!

Love, Lulu

Bye, Bye

2007-08-06T12:20:00.000Z

Promise to take loads of good photos and post them on your blogs so I can see them all when I get back! I'm going to Canada, Toronto and Ottawa and Lake Ontario, for 2 weeks and will have limited internet access. :) I might be able to pop in and comment on a few blogs though. We'll see!

Have a great two weeks and I'll see you when I get back, hopefully with lotsa fun pictures to share. Love you all!

Love, Lulu

Costa Coffee and The Guardian

2007-08-05T06:55:00.000Z

Yum. Costa Coffee and The Guardian on Saturday to read...my favourite. [The Guardian is a newspaper in the UK, and the best one in my humble opinion!]

Sorry I haven't been commenting on blogs much. I've been all wrapped up with packing for Canada and things. Today is the 2nd anniversary of my grandmother's death too, so we are going up to Suffolk to celebrate, well...commemorate, with my grandfather and aunts and uncles. And beautiful baby Lottie, who never got the chance to meet my Grandma. Also, a note for Ellen - I keep trying to e-mail you but it keeps bouncing back! I'll try again but I thought I'd mention it here, so you don't wonder why I'm not mailing you my pictures.

Thanks for reading!

Love, Lulu

Ellen, you sweetie!!

2007-08-02T11:47:00.000Z

So the oh-so-wonderful, absolutely lovely, kind and totally fab Ellen has given me a Creative Blogger Award. Thank you Miss E! You can check out Ellen's blog over at http://photographybyellen.blogspot.com/ She has some great backlighting going on and some shots from her trip to Cuba that I just adore. So, go on over! Apparently it's now my duty to pass on this torch to three more creative bloggers who deserve the award. There are SO many people I could choose, truly and utterly, but thankfully many have already been chosen by another Blogger so my list is narrowed somewhat.

1) Amanda - http://www.littlelabyrinth.com/bloggin

Her images and words always inspire and amaze me. She never ceases to move me with her images. Their DOF, colour and soul is out of this world. And her knitting...well...tell me that is NOT creative!

2) Rebekah - http://52weeks.blogspot.com/

Rebekah is a girl after my own heart. Her posts and pictures are full of joy and fun, gorgeous light and wise words. I always enjoy a visit to her infinitely creative blog.

3) Brenda - http://bloggingwithbrenda.blogspot.com/

It's impossible not to love Brenda and her wonderful creative images of Gracie and Sam. Her B/W conversions are always wonderful and her creative use of light is stunning.

Now I think Brenda, Rebekah and Amanda...you pass on the award to three other Bloggers you deem as especially creative. Glad to know and learn through you three!! Thank you all for your words of encouragement yesterday. Today I made a resolution to just shoot, shoot, shoot. I was going to go downtown to the Tate or the V&A Museum but my mum left me a list of chores to do so I doubt I'll have time. I might just take a train ride or treat myself to a Starbucks icy milkshake or something! We'll see. Meanwhile I *think* might be getting out of my rut. Finally! It's taken long enough. :) I was really pleased with these shots from today...so pleased I might even share it and some others on ILP...I really was, even though they're just my everyday.

This is #5 in my 10 things project. A pile of unread novels, and a polka dot mug of hot chocolate. What could be better? You tell me. Anywho, have a nice day. Love, Lulu. :)

Today.

2007-08-01T18:50:00.000Z

Today was such a warm, sunny day - for London, at least! It was nice to see the sun for once, and to marvel at the blue skies reflected in the navy glass of buildings downtown. I went for a little photo walk central, and ended up being pretty disappointed with my shots. I don't know what it is with me lately, but whatever I photograph, I seem to find something wrong. Something I could have done better. Something I wished I'd snapped but only thought about later. Maybe I need to take more time, maybe I'm just not at that stage yet where it all comes naturally, or maybe I just need to stop beating myself up about the little things. It's mighty strange though - in fact, it's not like the Lulu I know at all. Please talk some sense into me!

But I'll share them anyway...that's what blogs are for, right? :) I love Tower Bridge. Seriously, it's the best bridge in the city. It's just so cool. It was only built in 1894 but they built it in a gothic kinda style to ensure it fitted in with its surroundings. Today they couldn't have failed better (and I love that!) because on either side of the beautiful River Thames, opposite Tower Bridge, are brilliantly shiny buildings made of glass and other metallic substances which shine and gleam in the morning sunshine. I ended up hitching on a boat ride to get this shot...the things we do for the love of photography!!!

I also love the London Eye. I swear, London is home to some of the *best* modern architecture. I've only been on it once, a few years back now, but it's a whole lotta fun. It's high too - so a bit of a no-no for those with vertigo (I love that word!) - but if you don't mind heights, it's a lot of fun. I have been wanting to try a shot like this for a while but it's hard to get the right light and the right conditions. The sky clouded over for a moment, in true English style, so I snapped. It's not quite how I imagined it would look, the photograph I mean, but I still like it okay.

I wish I'd had the time to snap a few of the passers-by and of a train rolling into a station on the Underground...not sure how the TFL (that's Transport for London) guys would have like that...! And of the tube and the river and just little details but I met up with my cousin and grandparents so time was limited. Next time. It's not like I have ages to travel or anything. It's right on my doorstep. I love my city. It rocks. :)

Now, onto 10 things. For those that wanted the link, it is in the previous post (you just have to search for it)...but here it is again -10 things photo project

4. Funny faces. They get me every time. My cousin Thomas, who's 6 going on 4, was making funny expressions the whole time today and I was just in fits of giggles. His faces never cease to make me smile.

That's all from me :)

LOve, L.

10 Things

2007-07-31T13:14:00.000Z

Apologies that I have been neglecting my blog a little lately...I have just been feeling in such a rut, know what I mean? I, Lulu who practically has her camera glued to her hip 21 hours a day, was getting tired of taking photographs. I was! It seems so unbelievable, even, especially, to me because I haven't stopped for breath since I received my camera last December - but it's true.

So I stopped. I stopped taking photographs all together for a few days. I didn't photograph Thomas when I stopped by my aunt's house yesterday, I didn't shoot the beautiful sunset our street was graced with last night and I refused to take the camera with me to my friend's birthday party. And, you know what, it actually worked. Combined with a resolution to get out of my comfort zone - to shoot inside more and seek out difficult lighting conditions and great natural light spots in my house - I feel completely completely completely liberated. I feel as if I can shoot anything, whenever I want, and don't *have* to take some photographs to post on the blog every day. I can just shoot when I want, how I want, where I want...for ME.

So, being so embraced by freedom and all, I decided to embark on the 10 things photo project - in short, you are asked to photograph and document 10 things you love and that bring a smile to your face...blue skies or bath oils or babies or Brighton...you name it! It's so much fun, it truly is...if you have time on your hands, ladies, you should definitely try it...and I *know* I will treasure these images close to my heart when I am old and wrinky and archaic and 103, and my favourites are lavender parfum and false teeth and Wedgwood ornaments. I will look back at them lovingly and remember what it was like to be 16 and young and carefree, and to love psychadelic felt tip pens and mad red polka dot totes and washing lines full of vim. I just know it.

1. I don't eat them often at all, maybe once every few months if that, but when I do, I adore them. I only like 'thin' chips, not horrible thick ones that look like somebody's severed fingers...but thin, golden, crispy ones from Marks and Spencers that taste just ike divinity warmed up.

2. I am also a self-confessed stationey junkie. I mean it. Don't ever take me into Paperchase or WH Smith because you cannot hope to see daylight again until the store closes. I got it from my mother, although her passion has somewhat ceased with age. Since the ripe old age of six, people don't bother to ask me what I'd like for my birthday or for Christmas. They just buy me stationery - felt tips pens or coloured markers or pretty notebooks or stickers - and they know without a doubt I'll be delighted. That's me easily pleased.

3. Ever since I could stand, I have loved standing in the back yard between the washing lines. We have three in total, sometimes four, and they are always pegged full with brightly coloured towels and clothes and polka dot knickers and crispy white bed linen. I love to stand between the lines and feel the swish of the fabric around me; I love to look from my window at sunrise and see the bright hues of the garments reflecting our sun's golden light; and I love to read beneath the lines being fanned gently by my favourite summer dress as it dries.

More to come soon...until then, be happy! Love, L.

Back Home

2007-07-26T22:40:00.000Z

I had a wonderful time in Suffolk, deep in the heart of the English countryside, but am very glad to be back home. I love coming home - inhaling the familiar scent of violets that plagues our home (I'm guessing it's those purple sweet discs I ate as a young child!) - and seeing the new shoots that have sprung up and how my room looks exactly the same...untouched and untarnished. I don't know why but I just love it so.

My friend Katie, aka Katherine, K or Kate, stayed over Saturday night with her family and us girls (that's our mothers, my sister and the two of us) went up to the Tate to see the wonderful photographic exhibition that's on there at the mo, and then her whole family + my little sister and I drove back the 100 miles to their house in Suffolk. I love their family. Our fathers went to school together and we meet up all the time, despite living so far apart. Katie and I are best friends forever and write each other a letter a week. She's a year younger but we get on like a house on fire, despite being complete opposites. Anyways... :) this is Kate...if she's reading, doubt it Miss Forgetful that she is, hi girl. Loved my time at your place, as always!

We had SUCH fun together. Despite being complete and utter soulmates, as friends anyhow, we hardly ever spend more than two days at a time together except in summer, so this was a real treat. They (that's Kates, her parents, her 2 little brothers who I adore, and the menagerie of exotic animals) on a beautiful farm near Flatford and grow alllll of their own food. Imagine that...I'd love it! Want a snack? Just take a stroll in the yard and pick up a few cherry plums and apples whilst you're out there! Heck, you might as well fry a few eggs (kept safe by their seven hens) in the summer sun whilst you're out there! It was pretty difficult to get a good picture of the hens, I did *try* though, because they scattered as soon as you got even a hundred yards close, but I did try! Here's a nice one I loved...that's them through the wheat. They don't have names, which I found pretty sad, so I christened them - Freckles, Spattergroit, Toby, Emmeline, Lucy, Josepha and Michael. :) One of them was SUCH a Michael, I'm telling you! ;P

As I was saying, we had *such* fun. I wish I could go and live with them for the whole summer. Because our families go back 30 years, and because I met Katie as soon as she was born, we're like family. Really. My sister and I are treated like extra daughters whilst we are there, and it goes both ways. Anyways, I love being there (how many times is it I've said that now? I hope nobody is counting!) We picked homegrown mirabels and mange-tout, we played bountiful games of cricket in the field, I gave Katherine a photography lesson in the orchard, and we rowed down the River Stour past John Constable's house and workplaces eating sardine sandwiches and boiled sweets as we went. I love days like that. (Hope no-one is counting how many times I use the word 'love' in this post either)!

Mrs. N and I made trips to the farm shop and little Tom, who is naughty as ever, danced his way down the aisles putting 5 packets of chocolate buttons and 3 jelly baby jars into the wooden trolley .... we read Harry Potter for a whole day (I finally finished and I have to say, amazing...my favourite of the whole series!) ... we danced at sunset ... paddled in the brook ... played basketball ... pogo sticked (my new verb for the day!) ... and had so much fun that is too delightful for description. I feel like I walk into another century and another time and place whilst I am there, and I come away all the better for it.

The family have a whole HOST of cats and dogs and bird and fish...you name the animal, they have probably had it at some point or have one or maybe eight now! There's the 2 dogs, 2 cats, 7 hens, a disabled and rather screeching pink cockatoo (no kidding!), 2 gerbils, 2 fish in a tank, 2 tortoises and...I musn't forget...70 fish in the pond! It's like a zoo there! The newest addition is Brenda, a Jack Russell puppy, who is the sweetest and naughtiest thing - and the most willing photography model I have met to this date!!

You see what I mean? She should be an Andrex model...they'd love her! And, it's getting late, so I'd better go. I have so much more to say and so much more to post but I have masses of stuff to do tomorrow and don't wish to be too tired for it all! Thanks for reading, and thanks for all your lovely comments whilst I was away. I loved reading them. Goodbye for now...

Love, Lulu. =)

I couldn't leave without...

2007-07-22T18:11:00.000Z

...saying goodbye. Blogging really is rather therapeutic. :) I wish I had the time and willpower to post everyday, and post some more INTERESTING things, but I'm afraid...in short...I don't! I'm going away to Suffolk for the week, until Thursday anyway, so I just wanted to let you know so you don't think I've been stupefied by a Death Eater or disapparated into a time void...

Yep, I am certainly in a Harry Potter mood - I'm on page 383 and loving every minute! It was funny, today I went downtown with friends to the Tate Britain to see the photographic exhibition 'How We Are' (if you're ever in London, you *must* go and see it...gorgeous, wonderful, inspiring, brilliant, absolutely wonderful...have I already said that? anyway...) and I saw people reading Harry Potter 7 in Hyde Park, on the riverbanks, in Costa and Starbucks and even Pizza Express! And on the train - every line, the Met, the Jubilee, the District - and even a traffic warden who I believe was meant to be on duty! But you MUST not tell me what happens. I want it to be a surprise. :) Here's a HP themed pic for now...

I promise, yes Miss Ellen, to have another wedding photo post when I return and to e-mail you my picture...and post something more intriguing. I'm rather worried that my blog is becoming rather boring! Anyway, have a fab week and promise not to desert me.

Love, Lu.

Wedding day!

2007-07-21T14:52:00.000Z

First, thank you for all your well wishes - it was seemingly a 24 hour thing because after churning out my insides a million times, I felt better the next day. And so, the wedding could go on in style! My Aunt Jane looked absolutely radiant...she's past 40 but a wonderful woman and an absolute beauty. My sister Elle (Eleanor) and I were bridesmaids and wore beautiful deep turquoise dresses and white satin slippers, with curls in our hair pinned up with gorgeous pearl pins (albeit from Claire's Accesories but you get the picture). It wasn't terrirbly fancy, which was lovely, but it was absolutely fun and I got to see so many people - old and younger...mostly old - that I hadn't seen in such a long time.

I loved the dancing most. Times like that always make me want to cry at the sheer brilliance and beauty that is life itself, kwim? I just looked around at everyone jiving and hustling and waltzing with their shoes kicked off, old and young, from 6 years to 106, and just smiled. The photographer was a lovely guy, very funny too, and didn't mind at all if other people took pictures. In fact, there was a whole crowd (nearly all of the 90 who attended) snapping pics behind him and he just said, "Well, if my pictures don't work out, we've got plenty of yours to go around." He was a Nikon/Fuji shooter but I forgave him because of that comment...such a sweet man. He left about 10 minutes into the reception and my aunt asked me, yes little old me, to take his place...just for snaps really...and I did so absolutely willingly and gladly of course! They aren't anything special but I think they sparked in me a love for wedding photography although I think I'd only ever want to be a second shooter - to capture all the details and little things that the main photographer might miss. Here's a few... :) ... just because!

And, my beautiful sister, who you never ever see. :)

Finally, the gorgeous bride! Isn't she beautiful? I think so anyway. :) In short, it was a wonderfully happy and blissful day!

And, I am dreadfully dreadfully sorry...I have so much to do at the moment, despite the fact that this is meant to be a relaxed summer, that I am rather neglecting commenting on blogs. I am reading, just not making my mark...so utmost apologies. I promise to be better. There is just so much going on - weddings and friends visiting and I'm going to my best friend's in the countryside next week and after that my lovely, wonderful and totally awesome cousin from Canda (who's 30) is visiting and then I'M going to Toronto (yess!) and then it's exam results and then it's back to school!! Anywho, sorry for that diversion, basically I'm pretty busy...but never too busy to read your blogs. :)

Sickadeedoodah, sickadeeday....

2007-07-18T16:42:00.000Z

Yep, I'm pretty sick - seems to be the 'in' thing at the moment. I so wish I could be out in the summer sunshine taking photos or doing anything but lying in bed anyway, but I've got a reallly nasty stomach bug that is just not nice at all. It's such a bad time as well...I'm a bridesmaid at my Aunt Jane's wedding on Friday and I had to miss a piano lesson, a hair consultation for the wedding and a wedding rehearsal today. Fingers crossed a million times over that I'm better for the wedding. My Canadian cousin that I adore, who's actually about 32, was meant to be coming to stay before the wedding but she's booked into a hotel now because silly Lulu had to go and get sick. So not a good day all in all but hopefully I'll be better soon - just wanted to check in and say hi, anyways. Here's a quick snap from sunset a few days ago, although the thought of food is still making me rather queasy. Thanks for reading.

@ f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 100 w/ 35mm and 300D

Love, L.

Another holiday snap...

2007-07-17T09:28:00.000Z

... I loved this one. I walked down to the beach about 6 or 7pm just to take some pictures of the sea as the sun set and hear the soft crashing of the waves once more before we went home. And, as I walked along the beach, I saw these three - a father and his two young children - standing silently by the sea. It was too beautiful not to snap (and, yes, I did check it was okay)!

It's one of my favourite pictures I've ever taken, even though I only met this family in passing and even though I am unlikely to meet Rose and Jude and their father Simon again. It just touches me how small and insignificant they seem next to the mighty and all-consuming yet utterly beautiful sea. Thanks for letting me share. And thanks for all the wonderful comments your guys leave me...I truly do appreciate it.

Love, miss Lulu ;)

Did you miss me?

2007-07-15T08:39:00.000Z

I missed you all! I really did. I had a wonderful - yet hectic, pandemonic, slightly chaotic - time at the ocean and miss it so much already. I love the ocean. It's like coming home. It's when you remember without thinking how to climb cliffs, go rockpooling and be the perfect paddler. It's when you can see the shore in your mind's eye, smell the pungent salty air of the seaside and feel the crunch of glistening wet sand crystals beneath your feet even when you are 100 miles inland. That's why it feels like home to me, although I have never lived near the sea.

There is something, some invisible force, that draws me to the ocean....that vast, huge body of water that nobody can ever hope to see the whole of. The uncountable drops of brine, the life it holds and the power it has over life and death and our land enchant me. I think it all began when I went on a trip to the beach with school, a beautiful beach with white sands and smooth pebbles, gleaming azure waters and green sand dunes as far as the eye could see. We had a booklet with some information about the beach itself and the ocean in general but one quotation, printed in small Times New Roman on the back of the leaflet, still stays with me.

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” ~ Mother Teresa

So I think the ocean kind of signifies the world to me...but each drop of water represents a human being, someone so tiny and diminutive in the whole scheme of living, but someone so brilliantly important in their own way. The ocean's special and ever since I first visited, many yonders ago when the sun shone in summer (!) and I could wear glittery mauve jelly shoes without feeling self-conscious, I have vowed that one day I will live in a house right by the sea so I can be breathless every minute of the day - astounded by its beauty and sheer mass and blueness.

So now that's over and done with, I just had to write it somewhere, I'll share some nice little details about my lovely holiday. And, if you haven't yet realised, this post will probably be a long one, so leave now unless you're in it for the long run...! My parents, little sister (who's actually not so little anymore) and I stayed in North Devon, one of the most beautiful and serene places on the English coastline. Many of the beaches are deserted, with only a few souls wandering their sand even in summer, and some days we had the sea to ourselves. The water was absolutely freezing, cold enough to give you frostbite I'm sure, but since when did that ever stop me?! I guess I'm just too used to the English Channel which is significantly warmer than the Atlantic Ocean, naturally. Still, here's some proof that I did actually go in [my feet in the water as you may not be able to decipher thanks to such limited DOF]...

It was sunny and warm most days, although rain plagued us on the last couple of afternoons in true English style. My mother and I drove to a deserted little cove and shore named Putsborough Sands together, just to see it. It was absolutely stunning. There really are no words to describe it. Seriously. You'd have to see it to believe it, and my photographs do not do it justice by a long way. The sun shone high in the bright blue sky illuminating puffy marshmallow cloud formations as Atlantic waves lapped the shore, and clouds reflected onto the sands. My heart just skipped a beat. It was that beautiful. The tide was out and my mum had my camera bag safe and sound round her neck so I just ran. I ran like I have never run before...wind blowing in my hair, wet sand at my feet, the crunchy pebbles between my toes and the absolutely blue sea waiting for me...almost calling my name. And as I ran, blue sweater round my waist and sandals long discarded, I felt truly happy. A different kind of happiness, a place of absolute sweetness and joy. I almost didn't write this for fear I could not even hope to emulate such beauty and such joy but I am glad I did, for I have tried. This is the view I was met with.

And...other stuff...we played a game of Boggle every evening (I always won, unapologetically, it's the only game I am good at), we ate ice-cream until we were bursting, we painted sugar dishes in a shop, my sister and I made up songs, wrote stories, cooked pasta and garlic bread, stayed up late, woke up late, went out to dinner in typical English pubs and had fun. Here's just a few more pictures from my stay....

And, a rare one of my little sister who recently turned thirteen. The sea is in the background, which I love, of course.

Thanks for reading. If you got this far, well done! From the bottom of my heart!! =) Have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful day...and thanks for the lovely comments you left me whilst I was away.

Love, miss Lulu =)

16060 days

2007-07-06T21:12:00.000Z

There are a dozen and three things I could talk about tonight: the last Brownie meeting until September, my crazy day, my excitement about going to the seaside tomorrow, just stuff really. But, instead, I want to write about my grandparents and their house.

I love my paternal grandparents unequivocally, you could say more than anything in the world. We are inextricably linked, so alike and love each other dearly. They have lived in their house, a three bedroom semi in the London suburbs for 44 years. Yes, 44 years. My two aunts were born in that house. Forty-four years is 16060 days. That many. Think of all the memories, the history. Eight Prime Ministers have been and gone whilst they lived in that house. Seven American presidents. Countless birthdays, 44 Christmases....think of all those moments in one house. The day they moved in President Kennedy was killed. Since then so much has happened, so much has changed... computers, mobile phones, 9/11, Civil Rights Bill, Women's Movement...so so much.

They're moving now. To a bungalow nearby. I will miss that old house. I could navigate it with my eyes closed, I bet you I could. Often I go there in my dreams...and I know where everything is. The Ribena bottle is in the bottom cupboard as you enter the kitchen, next to the lemon squash and Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers tin which hasn't housed any chocolate fingers since 1973, so I'm told. The calendar hangs on the wall below the red clock with white geometric numbers. The golden bell hangs from a hook on the ceiling in the hall. My grandfather's tartan napkin sits on the dining room table, next to his crosswords and his red Parker biro. I do love that house. Today I went over, just to say bye. I took pictures too. So I can always remember that house. I love it so. But things change, that's life I guess. When I was nine, I wrote in my diary (a pink check canvas book a la Anne Frank) that I wanted to bottle my life up in a glass jar so I could always go back to it. But as much as I loved my life when I was nine, I love it now too. There are things, of course, I miss. The freedom, the lack of homework, my maternal Grandmother....but things anew I adore. So it goes both ways, I guess.

So, here are some photographs that I will treasure of that old house of memories and history. That old house of, essentially, love.

{ The old cushion naming wildflowers and plants. }

{ Grandma's coloured pegs. }

{ Grandad's bonsai trees ready for the move. }

{ Flowers in his beloved garden. }

{ The notorious red faced clock. }

{ I love how you can see my Grandad in the background, moving box in his hand...says so much about the day. }

{ The dying apple tree in the backyard which is no surprise, that's it dying, the amount of rope swings it held and we climbed... =) }

{ Key in the bedroom door. }

{ Grandma's hat and favourite magazines on the table. }

Oh...and a PSA, I'm going away for the week tomorrow to the ocean so won't be posting until next Saturday (14 July 2007) .. I'll miss you guys but can't wait. I love the sea. Have a great week and I'll be back in a week with lots of pictures and stories, I promise!

Oh, and hey Ellllllen..hope you had a fab time in Cuba!

Books & Bloglines

2007-07-04T19:40:00.000Z

Today I discovered the joys of Bloglines...so much fun! And I think it'll be much quicker and easier. For those who don't know, it's a way to track the blogs you like and you're notified when someone creates a new post. If you aren't registered, you should be! It rocks!

Anyway, enough about Bloglines, and more about books. As a self-professed bookworm I thought it would be nice to have a thread JUST about books (kinda failed before I started, didn't I?!)....I'm going to recommend some books and I'd love it if you'd recommend some back! I think I shall have this every Wednesday...we'll call it Libellorum Wednesday (because Libellorum means 'little book' in Latin). =) I think it should be fun. And if you're not an avid reader, I hope we can persuade you to come join the Dark Side!

...I love these books. Most I have read recently and really enjoyed, so I thought for my first Libellorum Wednesday post I'd share these with you. I promise not to always recommend so many, but as this post is the first of many...I shall today!

1. The Time Traveller's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Brilliant! It's beautifully written and it was recommended to me by so many people that I just HAD to read it. I wondered what the hype was about at first but once I got into it, I adored it!

2. The Story of Us, by Marcia Preston

As a young mother struggles to overcome the death of her son, she embarks on a journey to find the family who received his organs. Raw, heart-wrenching and utterly compelling.

3. Perfect Match, by Jodi Picoult

I do love Jodi Picoult (whose name is pronounced Pee-KOH, I was surprised to recently discover) and was dismayed when I began to find her novels a little similar. This one was the exception. I loved it. Nathaniel was so endearing, as were Patrick and Nina, and the ending was so unexpected I was shocked for days. A great read.

4. The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, by Eva Rice

I keep a reading log of all the books I read and I have a category where I write "This book in one word:"... how sad, I know!...And for this one it was quirky. And this book truly is quirky. The characters have such depth and add so much character and interest to the book. Penelope is incredibly endearing, Charlotte fun and slightly aloof and Inigo, well, read it and you'll see! The great characted names just enhanced its charm!

5. The Importance of Being Kennedy, by Laurie Graham [no picture, sorry!]

As devoured in a previous post, Bobby Kennedy is my hero. His idealism, his belief in his duty to spread goodness and his triumph through adversity. This book is written by the neice of a woman who was a governess and nanny to the Kennedy children and, even if you loathe the Kennedys, is so beautifully written you cannot help but be drawn in. It does not read like a history book, even though it is based on the diaries of Laurie Graham's aunt: it reads like a beautiful, compelling story that cannot be put down until finished!

Hope that's given you some ideas for some summer reading! Now I'd love to hear what books YOU recommend! =)

Love, Lulu. x

Draw Me A Picture?

2007-07-01T20:49:00.000Z

Okay, sorry guys! I have been so busy this week, my first exam free week for months! School's officially over (sad but I'll cope) and I have been shopping for books, to a bridesmaids' dress fitting for my aunt's wedding, photographing wildflowers, cycling, shopping for books, to my auntie's hen night, swimming tonight, out to a play, shopping for books again!! So hectic, so fun and soooo chaotic! Every night I get in and eat dinner and read a little, maybe photograph, and I feel so tired that I just drop off to sleep. I keep thinking, and yearning, to blog about my adventures, but I just forget or fall asleep before I get the chance! So, my apologies. I plan to blog every night this week, to get back into the swing of things. Promise! =)

We've had my cousin staying over this week and he is the sweetest thing, letting me try out my new film SLR on him...drawing me pictures, making spyglasses and ID cards for his special 'ZoooMiNalS' secret club (don't even ask)! I said Grandma wanted a photo of him to put on the wall at her new bungalow, they're moving next week, and so he agreed to let me take a few...yay! All with the Pentax MG, 50mm lens, f2.2, asa 800/400 except the colour one which was with the 35mm lens and 300D, if you're wondering.

What else has been happening? Well, I read a GREAT book. You MUST read it. It's called Cage of Stars and is written by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I picked it up by chance in Waterstones because I liked the cover photograph and it sounded good so I bought it on a whim. It's amazing...about a young Mormon girl in Utah whose sisters are murdered completely unexpectedly by a schizophrenic. The novel details her initial revenge, her adolescence and journey into adulthood as she struggles to understand the deaths of her sisters and her eventual acceptance of the killer's condition. It was utterly compelling and wonderfully written. I have never been to Utah, I am not LDS nor do I know many, I do not have murdered sisters and I have never felt the need for revenge but I still felt able to relate and understand Veronica's feelings and emotions. It's a beautiful book, and one you must read. It should be on required reading lists on every high school in the country! =)

Anyway, enough babbling. I'm off to read Brothers by David Talbot...about John and Robert Kennedy. I love it so far. And, if you hadn't guessed or realised by now, I adore reading. Got any good books to recommend? Not that I don't have enough (I'm reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter too!) but I always love hearing new recommendations.

Thanks for reading...and I absolutely PrOmIsE to be back tomorrow! I do, I do. :) I don't have anything planned for once so I think I'll just have a lazy day at home, relaxing and reading (hey, what's new?) and photographing and catching up on TV. All the programmes I watch have ended their seasons now. =( Which is a bit distressing really!! I was so distraught, although not as much as my sister, that Doctor Who's season three ended on Saturday. Sooo upsetting. It doesn't come back until Christmas Day and that's only one episode, then not again until March. What a shock episode though - I did NOT expect Martha to not want to go with the Doctor at all. I think she'll be back though...and if not, I vote for Sally Sparrow (a la 'Blink') to be his new companion. She rocked. =)

Anywho, sorry if you have no IDEA what I'm on about. Doctor Who is a British show that ended in 1984 but was recently brought back in a new modern series. It rocks. Seriously. All the people my parent's age watched it when they were kids and almost all kids (and lots of adults) watch it now. It's amazing! ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/

See ya! Be good...oh, and happy July! =) Love, L... :)

End of Exams, Lots of Books and Fun :)

2007-06-27T10:45:00.000Z

Crazy title...I know, but I think it's called for. =) And pretty crazy few days, have I had! Apologies also for the crazy, crazy, crazy blog look at the moment; I tried (unsuccessfully) to switch over to the New Blogger Template and found myself Utterly Confused And Wracked With Discomfort at the thought of those difficult widgets and all my links being erased!! =) So I tried to switch back, again without success, so am left with a blank blog without links and a header or anything. I'm working on it though.

As I had my last examination on Monday (joy to the world!), my friend M came around to my house yesterday and we went round all the charity shops in town (that would be a measly TWO) ... I think you call them thrift stores in America ... and picked out books we liked and bought them. I can't wait to read them. I bought six, yes six, for just £3.25. That's a huge great whopping $6.49. If I'd bought them new in the shops, they would have cost about £35 altogether. What a steal! =P

And so to celebrate (although pre-planned) our Great Big Book Bargain (M bought seven for £3.50) and the end of examinations, we went to a play on the Southbank. That's not far from where I live, in central London, right on the river. The play was A Rose Tattoo, by Tennessee Williams, and it was wonderful! The cast were brilliant and so was the music. Afterwards we went out onto the balcony to see London all lit up by night and I took a few pictures. I am just loving my 35mm f2.0 lens...it's so sharp and so lightweight and so great for general purpose shooting. Here's just one. Oops, it didn't upload. Next time!

Have a great day! love, L. (Oh, and you can click to see the photo bigger, sorry they're so tiny but otherwise it makes my blog even more funky that it already is)!

Bad Blogger. Bad Blogger.

2007-06-24T20:42:00.000Z

Be honest, how bad a Blogger have I been? I haven't posted, haven't commented, haven't anything and I send my sincerest apologies to each and every one of you. =) But summer starts tomorrow at 10am, after my last exam. I can't believe these exams, GCSEs, are finally over after so so long! We've worked laboriously towards them for two years and I cannot wait to finally be free of their shadow. =) In brief revision breaks, I've been experimenting with film as well as with my newly repaired and sharp-as-tack 35mm f2.0 which finally arrived [love it!] so I think I'll share my film shots tomorrow, I'll be back free of study for 10 weeks and full of zealousness and zest for blog commenting and posting. I promise!

Digital ISO 400, f/2.0

Thanks for all your sweet comments on the last post. Love y'all!

Just popping in.

2007-06-19T10:13:00.000Z

To say thank you for all the support you have given me in the last 4 months of this blog. I love reading your comments and words, it really motivates me..so thanks. =) I know I haven't been posting as regularly as usual but exams are almost over...18 down and 4 to go! So I'll be back soon, exam-freeeeee and ready to snap! Just pulled one off the cards from the last week...hope you like it. =)

L. x

Overdue.

2007-06-16T08:40:00.000Z

I sincerely didn't realise I hadn't written since Tuesday! Life has been a wonderful chaos of studying, exams and in-between relaxing with little time for photographs or much else. Yet, when I snuggle down under the covers in my cosy bed by the window, I look out at the fading daylight..excited about what tomorrow will bring and I think of all the things I will do in 9 days...when exams are over and I have 60 days of peace and solitude and fun and giggles to myself! I want to read lots of biographies, a new one of Bobby Kennedy I haven't read and a couple of others and, oh, I just can't wait!

I am already making a reading list, planning to join the new library round the corner, to visit the secondhand book store and pick up as many 20p paperbacks as possible, to paint the antique desk in pyschadelic shades that sits forlornly on our bonfire, to plant some half-hardy perennials, to finish my book and write more in my diary. Oh, it shall just be pure bliss after two years of a voice in the back of mind nagging at me "You must study now, Lu!"...much as I love it! About 2/3 of our year group, that's Year 11, finished exams yesterday but because I take Religious Studies and Higher Level Bio, Chem and Physics I finish on the 25th. But as much as I am excited about the holidays and the summer, I don't want school to end. I do love it so...the people, the ethos, the girls, the teachers, the grounds and most of all the learning. I think if there is one thing I love, it is to learn. About anything! That's why I like photography, reading books, school...I just love to educate myself and to learn more about the wonderful and diverse and utterly beautiful planet and its people. =)

As for photographs, still no sign of my 35mm. I sent it almost two weeks ago First Class so it should have arrived at the photographic company HQ by now but they say they still haven't received it. What a nightmare. I'm thinking I might just buy another 50mm to save myself the trouble, but certainly not from there!! Anyway, here's two from recently...you just gotta love cheesecake and strawberries!

I'll be back later with some more photographs, no exams until Wednesday so I have some free time to do my thing. =) Love you all. Be good.

Bellis Perennis

2007-06-12T16:25:00.000Z

“If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.” ~ Nadine Stair

Daisies [bellis perennis], to me, are hope, joy and love wrapped up into one. They've always symbolised that to me, ever since I made my first daisy chain on a warm August night in 1998. I've loved them ever since.

Who Do You Admire?

2007-06-11T08:54:00.000Z

One of the first things I ask someone in life, when I meet a them or speak to them on the telephone, is "Who is your hero? Who do you admire?" ... I believe that from their role model, their inspiration, you can tell a lot about that person - their character, their interests, who they are and who they would like to become. So I'd love to hear who you admire - anyone, family, friends, a politician, a celebrity...whoever it is. I'd love to hear who and why and how it came to be, whether on your blog or in a comment.

I have a lot of idols. Well, I don't like to call them idols...more admirables, role models....my grandfathers, my grandmothers, my parents, Martin Luther King, Anne Frank, Harper Lee. But the one that always stands out, the one that always comes back to me, the one I can relate to most of all is Robert F. Kennedy. Ever since I watched a documentary on him a long while back I have admired his triumph through adversity, his devotion to his family, his courage and bravery, and his gentle nature, his belief in his duty to do right. There is something in his spirit and his policies that kindled a fire inside me, that made me want to change this world, to bring goodness and happiness to all. Whilst his brother took the fame and glory, he stood on the sidelines and worked harder than ever yet still managed a smile. His message was one of hope and of truth and of love. His idealism and views speak to me beyond words. I think he would've won, had he have lived. He would have won.

So, let me know, who do you admire?

L. x

Chaotic.

2007-06-07T15:40:00.000Z

That's how I would describe my life right now. Chaotic, but fun and engaging and interesting and terribly detailed and busy as banana jam. But fun. I guess that's what it's all about, being swept along for the ride and making the most of it, enjoying it in your own special way. Thankfully life is not so chaotic that I haven't had time to take a few pictures here and there. Most of what i have been doing is detailed in the next photo...it's me, my life right now. Not technically perfect but fun all the same! Yep, you win, revision, revision and yet more revision. But it's all fun.

I had Biology [difficult but doable] and Latin [easy!] yesterday and German today. I adore German so much..the way it flows, the culture, the literature but it was really ziemlich schwierig today. But my German teacher is utterly lovely and I know she'll be proud of us all whatever we achieve. She's nice like that.

It was lovely this morning, all of us German students studying together before the exam. Laughing and joking and practising our phrases. Do you ever have moments like this? Where you just marvel at the beauty of life and friendship and wonder why some people resort to violence and war? We were sitting in the big hall and as our voices echoed around the room, you could hear the soft tinkling of a grand piano in the background...from downstairs in the assembly hall. I wished I had my camera but there's a quote I read once, about how you shouldn't be bitter that you didn't have the chance to capture it...you should just soak up the moment and I did. I just smiled. As two girls [ballet fans...] pirouetted in time to our chanting of sein and haben, the sounds echoing around the room and the morning sunlight spilling through the window, I felt that moment of happiness. A moment of stillness and beauty and truth and life. I love moments like that. =)

And now, sorry for that little diversion...I just had to write it and etch it in time, some completely unrelated pictures from the last few days. I still don't have my 35mm back but I'm finding the kit lens quite fun (ssssshhhhh!).

Have a fab evening, I have to go study the Cold War! Love, Miss L.

Signature shot.

2007-06-04T14:49:00.000Z

This is fast becoming my signature shot...the experimental self-portrait at 18mm, looking down. I don't know why, but I always thought you could tell so much about a person from their shoes so this kind of portrait is so me. And, yes, all three of my recent 'signature shots' have been of me. =)

Other news? Well, I have Biology, Latin, History and German exams starting on Wednesday...but I'm okay. I need to go study the Cold War any minute now so this will be short..yep, hearing the shouts of glee and delight already!! =) I waited for a whole 18 minutes and 3 seconds in the queue in the postal office in the village this afternoon to mail my 35mm off...it's funny, I noticed all you have to do is go to a Post Office and you get a whole cross-section of the population waiting in line! Young, old, tall, short, black, white and every shade in between...it's beautiful and wonderful to understand the diversity of the place in which we live. So now I truly AM left with just the kit lens which I am loving more each day! Surprisingly enough. I plan to sell my 35mm when it gets back and purchase a 50mm 1.4 or a mid range zoom...we shall see. The world's my oyster...;) Sharing just another shot from yesterday... our lovely washing line...that's my dress, my sister's vest, and our pyjamas you can see! =) Enjoy!

Love, L. x

Funky distortion~

2007-06-02T15:05:00.001Z

Those of you who have a Flickr account, did you know about the blogging feature? It's so easy and so much fun! It feels like Christmas, in fact. =) It even allows you to title your photographs for your blog...oh, so much fun! I needed a bit of good news besides. My 50mm 1.8, my beloved, broke yesterday...just snapped in two...so all I have left if my 18-55 with which I uphold a love/hate relationship. What do I detest most in the world? Variable apertures! But what do I love most? 18mm focal length. So it's good and bad. But I'm sending off my 35mm lens for fixing so hopefully that'll be back soon. And, hey, maybe it's a good excuse to purchase the 1.4!!

And now, the news of the century!!

My little sister Elle, who is really not so little anymore [she'll be thirteen at the end of this month...oh, gosh, I still see her as an 8-year-old =P], decided that she'd be nice and let me snap a few of her. These are nothing special to most people but I love them! The distortion [yet again!], the conversions [yep, my first b/w's in absolutely forever] and the feel. They convey her life right now and I love all the little details...the pinboard, the cuddly toys, her faces...so yep, these are SO me...so HER and sooooo lovely I think!! We'll have to see if you agree.

Life of a 12-year-old..., originally uploaded by Lulu ♥

Thanks for reading! ~L.

Light.

2007-06-01T16:23:00.000Z

Light is like a language. An ancient, beautiful, unknown language. But when you are fluent, if only for a moment, you feel as if you possess the world's sweetest secret...the world's biggest treasure. Light is perpetually important...it gives us health, and happiness, it gives us strength and hope. Light was there in the beginning and it has never left us. Light is part of nature, part of ourselves and part of each person's soul. Light makes me think of a quote I love.

“There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle.” ~ Robert Alden

I like to think that's true. Light, like truth and life, gives us hope. Hope to go on, to strive for better and to appreciate what we have. In so many cultures it has such intrinsic value, it's something special. I am starting to see its beauty, to discover the light in each and every being, the light behind a smile...to sculpt it with my camera and to appreciate its enchanting and magical way.

Trip, trip, trip.

2007-05-31T07:42:00.000Z

You know what? I love my city. I love the hustle and bustle and people and places. =) Yesterday my grandfather, my 6-year-old-cousin and I went to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth North [London]. I have been many times before but it's always interesting; and the Holocaust exhibition never ceases to make me cry. It's beautiful there at this time, even though [true to England] it rained most of the day, with roses around the paths and other pretty flowers. Anyways, I'll let the photographs speak for themselves. =) Some taken at the museum, some back at our grandparents' house.

They aren't really great photographs but I like them for the memories they hold. The happiness of that day.

One Year.

2007-05-29T16:13:00.000Z

Today marks one year from the day I picked up an SLR. And, my what a year it's been! I still remember it vividly. I had purchased a Pentax 35mm SLR with a few lenses for next to nothing on eBay and I had packed it away with three rolls of film at the bottom of my suitcase, ready for our trip to the ocean. For the first few days, I left it where it was...neglected to unpack it. I was frightened I wouldn't be any good, unsure of where I should begin. One day I took it with us to the beach. I loaded some colour film, I set it to aperture priority and I started clicking. I found a lifelong love. Those first pictures hold memories that will never leave me...the waves, the crunch of the sand beneath my feet, my grandfather's silhouette as the sun went down and the harbour in all its glory.

Since then I have never stopped clicking, never stopped loving. A digital SLR found me in December and I was instantly in love. I still shoot film and I still shoot digital and I love both dearly. Photography makes me happy. Through my lens every flower, every sunset, every smile, seems more precious and a little brighter...a little more vivid. I doubt I will ever put my camera down.

Photography is just one of the many things that makes me happy. There was a thread over at ILP recently about twenty things that make me happy. Writing mine made me think how blessed I am, how easily my fortunes could change and how I must endeavour to appreciate each moment. I think photography helps me do that. So here's my twenty...

Being blessed...which seems to be every minute of the day. I feel so lucky.
My family who are my best friends in the world.
My two kittens – the loves of my life.
The smell of freshly cut grass.
That summer feeling.
Grilled haloumi cheese.
My hobbies ~ photography, writing, reading, knitting, ballet.
Apple juice with crushed ice!
Speaking to my best friend, Katie.
Learning something new.
Blue skies!
Just relaxing.
Watching Doctor Who (!) and ER.
A hot bubble bath, mmmmm.
Music.
Bluebells and green grass...
Writing in my diary.
Homemade Vanilla Milkshakes.
Going to church.
Smiling.

And I sure was happy today, the blue skies finally found us. :)

How's the weather?

2007-05-28T17:54:00.000Z

BUT, I do NOT want to know if it's sunny...!! Here it has been rainy, rainy, rainy, stormy, stormy, stormy and gloomy, gloomy, gloomy. I miss the sun but hopefully it'll come back soon. I have high hopes. As for now I am blissfully content at the thought of no exams for another 10 days, and blissfully confused about global warming...it seems more like global cooling! I do love rain, I really do, but only in moderation. There are only so many angles to the rainy window shot!

Rainy Days @ f/2.2, 1/125, ISO 100

And, big news, I have been tagged yet again! The fourth in three days...I have two to complete but for now I'll just do the one. Tagging is tiring! [Like my alliteration? I do.] I have to list my five favourite boy/girl names. I love names and their history and etymology. I used to keep a name blog before this one, and so I am rather pleased to have been tagged with this one!

Girls.

#1 Violet

#2 Mercy

#3 Clara

#4 Lydia

#5 Honora

Boys.

#1 Jonah

#2 William

#3 Henry

#4 Atticus

#5 Elisha

Now, who to tag? I think this is a relatively new tag but I know some people hate tags...so, I am going to tag Mindy, Lottie [because she always completes her tags!], Jeremi, Kris [because she tagged me with my first tag!] and....[insert drumroll of choice]...Frederique. I look forward to hearing your answers!

Five things I love I also have to say...erm, well {1. my family, cats and friends}, {2. my hobbies ~ reading, writing, knitting, cycling and unforgettably photography}, {3. my home}, {4. love..such a beautiful thing!} and {5. life}. Due to the rain and a current uncreative stint I haven't taken many photographs. Actually, that's a complete and utter untruth. I have taken hundreds but none of them very good. I don't have a flash, I don't have steady hands and I work best in full sun so these dull days find me feeling rather uninspired. I admire all of you who do such wonderful indoor photography. I couldn't suck harder at it!! Still, I have been discovering the joys of collages and storyboards. Here's, a la Blue Peter, one I made earlier...I am a stationery junkie and it just has to be matching. In fact, my favourite store is Paperchase! :) Anyways...cheerio. 'Till next time, L. x

How do you like your eggs?

2007-05-24T14:25:00.000Z

I like mine scrambled! Not fried, not poached, not boiled...but scrambled! Yum! If you're a vegan (I'm just vegetarian, not vegan)...erm, how do you like your tofu? =P I just saw the eggs on the table and loved the lines and soft lighting!

I've been tagged again! This time by Jinksee and Stacey, but it's a different tag so I'll endeavour to play along with what Sheye calls this 'blogly form of chain mail': I couldn't agree more! It's fun though! =) So I have to tell you why I blog in five sentences...

1) For Me.

2) For You.

3) Your wonderful comments truly rock.

4) On a down day, you're the perfect pick-me-up.

5) On an up day, it's fun to share your joy.

Last exam today! For 12 days! I had English Language which went pretty well, I think. =) By the way, how are you liking Tulips Grow Anywhere's new look?! I decided it needed a revamp...so new header, new music, new font, new links added etc. etc. etc. Isn't that a cool word? Et cetera? I know, I know...it's Latin. But Latin's cool. I had my Latin exam last week. Helen made me laugh when she said she remembered 'O fons Bandusiae'...it hasn't changed!

So after English Language today I decided to skip the [optional, I didn't really skip it] History 'rev sesh' [aka revision session, my teacher likes to use random phrases to try and relate to the younger generation [!] and come home. Aah, relaxation. Haven't had it in weeks! It was good to just chill out, watch some ER [ohmygollygosh, poor Sarah! Isn't she a great actress though?...or am I the only ER fan here? And I think the UK is way behind the US..but anyways...] and take some pictures. Here's a few I just pulled off the cards. I have a ton more from the last few weeks but have been so busy studying I haven't got round to proofing any.

My mum made me take the last one! =) I've been teaching her photography here and there and she just got her first prints. Okay, last one for now...

The End. Love L. :)

Tagged!

2007-05-23T17:04:00.000Z

I've been TAGGED! by the oh-so-lovely, talented and admirable Kris Leigh to list the following:

1. Four of my favourite jobs

2. Four of my favourite local places

3. Four of my favourite foods

4. Four of my favourite international places

5. Four name's of people I am tagging

So, of course I am obliged to play along! :) Hopefully, for those of you who don't know me, you'll get to know me a little better. Here goes!

1. Four of my favourite jobs

Well, I have to admit, at 16...I haven't had many paying jobs! Nope, not one! Unless you count blackberry picking in Suffolk. We were paid a ridiculously low amount and it was fun, that is until I fell into the blackberry bush and returned home with a hundred and one prickles in my legs! Apart from that I do voluntary stuff...at Girl Scouts and Brownie Guides and stuff. So yeah... :)

2. Four of my favourite local places

~ 1 would have to be my garden! Does that count? It's huge and vast and full to brimming of fab places and flowers to photograph.

~ 2 has to be the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Oh my, I used to spend hours as a young child running round the corridors and looking at the photographs hung on the walls.

~ 3...Somerset House! They have the best ice-skating rink there at Christmas and we go every year. It's absolutely beautiful!

~ 4 would be my school. I love my school. The grounds are wonderful, green as anything, and we have a swimming pool and great sports facilities there too. I love school.

3. Four of my favourite foods

~ My favourite food EVER is haloumi cheese! Oh my, it's absolutely delicious...it really truly is. Sooo yummy, especially when grilled. Mmmm...

~ Cucumber...so coool and juicy and totally rich green! How could you not love it?

~ I also admit to being rather partial to Haagen Daaz Pralines & Cream ice cream. I first tried it when I was 6 and have been having an affair with it ever since. :)

~ Green & Black's Organic Chocolate...yum!

~ Apples! I love apples...any kind, any type. As you probably know from the millions of pictures I take of them. Oops that makes 5...oh well! I guess I'm a foodie [yes, I do read the Observer Food Monthly]... :P

4. Four of my favourite international places

~ Germany! I love Germany...Aachen, Heidelberg, Munich, Berlin...everywhere I have been I have loved! The food, the people, the language, the ethos, the atmosphere...what a great place!

~ Amsterdam, capital of Holland. Home to the Anne Frank Museum, Van Gogh Art Museum, the canals, the...Well, it basically rocks!

~ Boston. I have only been once, to America, and we went to Boston. I was 9. I still remember it so vividly as if it were yesterday. I loved it there.

~ Cyprus. In our garden we had a huge walnut tree and we used to pick them under the glare of the hot October sun. We went swimming and cycling and fishing. It's simply beautiful. I love to travel. :)

5. Four names of people I am tagging

------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, some recent shots....nothing really that interesting but just some snaps I pulled of the card. BTW, English Lit went pretty well! :)

Have a fab evening. Off to my piano lesson now...Love L. x

Hiatus, sorry!

2007-05-22T20:05:00.000Z

Apologies for the hiatus! Exams have been crazy...I had Latin Poetry today and have English Literature tomorrow. Much as I love it, I am crazy about it, I am so nervous so can only stop by before getting back to the revision! Thank you all so much for the good luck wishes, I truly appreciate them. And I have been tagged by Kris AND Stacey, will be getting to that in my next post! Thanks girlies!

Sorry if this post is complete ramble and nonsense...my mind is full of A Raisin in the Sun, Lady Macbeth, Atticus Finch and a million poems...so worried! :( Anyway, I hope it will be fine. It's closed book so we can't take our books in which is a bit annoying but anyway! Don't give up on me, after Thursday I have 12 days off until the next batch of exams...going to the beach for the day (yay!) and will be blogging to make up for the time Ive missed. Sorry for the all short sentences and ellipsis too! Just a recent shot....see you, hope you have a great week...love L. :)

1.8, ISO 400 and 1/4000 :)

Lavender & Lulu

2007-05-17T19:09:00.000Z

f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100 :) ~ aren't they pretty?

Now I am sure you are total erschopft of my talk about exams, exams and, yep you guessed it, exams! But they take over your life....in a good way. They're really kind of fun. Today I had Maths [okay, but I don't want to get my hopes up] and Religious Studies - in two hours, I wrote 24 pages of A4 sheets and my hand does ache! I didn't even know it was possible to write that much! Anyway, enough exam talk...

And apologies that I am not commenting much on blogs...come June 25th (end of ex...I won't say it!) I will be blog comment queen.

Have a great evening. ~ L.

Simply Be.

2007-05-16T19:21:00.000Z

Simply be. That's what I learnt today. It popped up in the strangest of places...an advert on the bus, a question in an exam, said in passing but meant to mean something different, written on a cake in a shop window. It was like a sign. Simply be. Simply being, I have realised, is what life is all about. Simply being and breathing and living every second and moment as if it is the best ever to grace your life. So that's what I'll be doing from now on, simply being. Simply being me, unapologetically.

Just like this dandelion, I guess.

f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/640

Examinations are going well. German was a little hard to be polite, Latin was fine and English Language today was perfect! :) Tomorrow I have Maths and Religious Studies. It scares me that these are the real things. No more retakes if you don't do well, no more "Oh well. You'll do better next time." But I'll be fine. :)

70-210 lens...

2007-05-12T17:30:00.000Z

..my sister and I found it whilst we were tidying out the attic [revision procrastination drives you to do strange things, I have found]. And it's a Canon one! A 70-210 f/4.0-5.6. It's fun! I have never used anything *that* telephoto. So, since my sister wouldn't let me practise on her, I begrudgingly turned the tables...so here's me at 210mm (our attic is big with nice light!), f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 400. We had fun. My sister's pretty good, right? Although the crop's pretty funky. So, yes, introducing me. It's funny how different I look at 210mm than at 50mm. :)

Film, blue skies & the good life. :)

2007-05-11T13:43:00.000Z

At the weekend when I had my completely crazy and utterly liberating experience with the kit lens I also decided to pick up my film camera. This camera is in all of my memories. I can see, if a little fuzzily, my father carrying the big camera round during every family holiday. I can remember begging him and pleading him to be able to hold it, if only for a second, and to be able to click the shutter. The camera was a fantasy to me - a big black giant of a thing that ate cylinder shaped colourful plastic rolls for food. It was noisy too, and whirred...I yearned to own such a machine. Finally my father relented. I remember, we were in France, I lifted it out of his hands, and placed it round my neck feeling quite the grown-up! I pointed it at the sea and clicked. The love for that feeling has never faded since. I still have that photograph, just as we still have the mighty beast...outmoded as he is now. So I picked up the camera, the one from all my childhood memories, and I loaded a roll of black and white film and I manually focused and I metered and I played. It was freedom all over again.

Hearing the gentle thud of the prints on the doormat is like Christmas. No way will I ever give up digital but I have a newfound love for film again. These were cropped a little but apart from that nothing. I love the raw real life feeling they represent for me.

Today was our first blue sky for a little while. Yesterday I read some words from a friend, about how blue skies are God's gift to us - to help us make it through the day. I never really thought about it that way. But I think this picture portrays that notion perfectly. Such silent soft scenes of nature are empowering in their own way, don't you think?

Today I also received a present in the post [lotsa post for me!] from a Canadian friend. The t-shirt came with this wonderful card - she said she knew I would love it, and boy she must know me well. Thanks K, for the great shirt! That phrase just sums life up...I mean, what's the point if you don't enjoy yourself? :) Have a great day and, remember, like what you do! ;) {Sincere apologies about the quality of the following image}.

It's over!

2007-05-10T10:44:00.000Z

My German speaking exam that is. My first ever public examination. I was practically shaking but I think it went alright. Well, I did at first but now I am worried I failed. LOL. Hopefully not. I'll just have to do extra well in the writing and reading and listening to be sure. :) I am glad it's over though. I didn't make any major mistakes except once and I made a few minor ones but corrected myself as soon as I said them.

Next week I have six exams - Latin, German listening, English Lang, Maths x2 and Religious Studies. So I really ought to be working soon...my break is over in 10 minutes so I'll be quick. The bluebells in are garden are dying - it's the time of year. It still makes me sad though. I collected up a few and put them in a tin can [formally Heinz Spaghetti Hoops, for a little trivia!] and took pictures so I won't forget. Plus, do you like my new header? :)

I hope you are all having a good day! I am...am very motivated to revise so off I go now! :) Have a fun day!

P.S. ~ All at f/1.8, ISO 100, 1/1250

Freedom.

2007-05-08T20:17:00.000Z

That seems the right word to describe my feelings right now. At least within photography. In other news I have tons of studying to do; my first exam is on Thursday and I feel confident with that one as it is German [my best subject] but I have Maths next week and am also worried about English Language. Anywho, enough boring stuff. Let's talk about freedom. :)

You know, ever since I found photography, I thought I was FREE. I always thought I was following my own artistic expression and I suppose, to an extent, I was. It was just a little stifled. With film, I shot for myself. Nobody else saw the prints...they were just in the family album so I could take as many blurry grainy OOF shots as I wanted and nobody really cared. Then along came digital, which I absolutely adore. I really do. But at the same time it came, for me, with a kind of oppression....an "Oh, my pictures have to be super clear and super sharp and super smooth and super super bright" to be right. But what is right really? Right is what feels right to you as an individual. The bright colours are definitely my style but often I would think what do OTHER people want to see? And I'd shoot that. Sure, other people liked it and so did I but it wasn't quite the true me.

Then, just this weekend, I picked up my kit lens. Yes, the one talked only about in a dreaded hush in photography circles. That's the one. I found freedom. I could shoot wide, shoot with closed up aps and needed high ISOs, slow shutter speeds....I became a contortionist. Curling up in corners, lying down flat on the ground and jumping in the air to follow my artistic vision. And it was fun. The most fun I've ever had. I didn't think about how other people would perceive my images, or me as a photographer. Not for a moment. I just shot what I loved, before I could even think about anything else. And, ya know, it was SO liberating. It really was. For a while I decided I would just skip outside the circle of convention for a day or two but then I realised that this is what art is all about. It's you, your being and your soul breathed into a photograph. And I think that is what these images are. They are a part of me.

So you might not like them, you might find them too colourful, too fuzzy, too strange...but just know that they are memories and they are me.

Thanks for letting me share. As photographers I am sure you'll understand. Whew, that was a long post! BTW, like my Flickr badge on the side now? I do!! BTW, if you ever want any technical exif info or have any questions, don't hesitate to comment and ask. I'd love to answer, especially as my camera has acquired some crazy syndrome where it wipes out EXIF data. Anyways, thanks for reading. Wish me luck in exams! May God be with you, and happiness too.

~ L. x

Oh, happy day!

2007-05-04T20:09:00.000Z

Why? I don't know. Today was just one of those happy days where I lived life to its fullest blissfully unaware of anything going on around me. :) Yesterday I really got stuck into examination revision, which honestly isn't all that bad when you get right into it. I just wish 'revision' was one of those pretty mellifluous words that rolls off your tongue, seeing as I have to say it so much! Or maybe I'm just weird.

I did some Latin verse, a little Latin grammar, some Maths, some Nature of God and Biblical stuff and my favourite....German. :) I want to be a German teacher when I grow up. I love it so. I love the way all the words are so pretty and the rules are so regular and the culture is so wonderful, and so is the food! Anyway, I just love it. My first examination is next Thursday, my German speaking test, and I am not nervous at all! I can't wait...my lovely teacher always make one feel at ease. We also have to learn a lot of quotations from books for English Literature. I went out to the high street and bought a pack of eighty chalks in the colours of the rainbow and wrote quotations from Shakespeare's Macbeth (great book! great guy!) all over the sidewalk. That was fun!

I miss school so badly but I know it won't be long until we can go back. For those that don't know the deal here in England, at sixteen you do national big scary huge exams called GCSEs that go towards your university application and your CV and what sort of job you can do when you are older. I need at least an A in Maths, English and a Science to be a teacher (plus a degree, but that's not for a while yet!) which *should* be okay. I take English Literature, English Language, Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry (all compulsory) and my own options are Religious Studies, Modern World History, German and Latin. I have 21 exams which end on 25th June and start on the 10th May so I'll hope I'll get to blog a little in that time but I'm afraid I'll be a little scarce for a while. But promise not to give up on me, okay?! :)

I hope I haven't bored you so with too many words (and not very nice ones at that) and not enough pictures. It'll be better tomorrow. I have my darling 6-year-old sweetheart of a cousin staying for the weekend and he loves to model for the camera...so in between revision (there it is again!) I'll be snapping some of him. I hope you all had a great day!

~ L. x

Bittersweet.

2007-05-02T16:35:00.000Z

Today was a bittersweet day ~ the last day of school for Year 11 (10th Grade?) because we go on study leave to revise for our national exams. I laughed, I tried to stop myself crying but gave in in the end, I must have smiled for a thousand pictures, hugged many friends more than once, ate cake and homemade biscuits and remembered.

In German we gave our absolutely and utterly lovely teacher (words cannot explain how lovely she is) a card signed by all of us. She is leaving and I am going to miss her more than words can say. Of course, she'll keep in touch but it won't be the same. She burst into tears when she read my comment, "When I become a teacher, I hope I can be a nice a one as you." But it's true, she is the sweetest woman in the entire world and I will never forget all that she has taught me. We sat outside in the school grounds eating cakes and strawberries and reminiscing and it was just that; bittersweet. With the birds singing in the background and the sounds of giggles and laughter and chattering all around and our sweet teacher telling us how much she would miss us all, I never ceased smiling. I felt as if I had found a stillness deep inside my soul, a place of happiness and joy. Minutes later as we bade farewell to our teacher and I walked to my next lesson alone I was close to tears; so sad that this would be our last day as a form and a class and our last day with many teachers and students...yet I realised in that very moment that I could draw upon that place of joy within me when feeling blue, and that is why I need to inhale and live to their fullest the best moments in my life...so I can live them through again when I need to.

"Form-time", as it as affectionately called in our class, was another emotional affair. We were meant to write down our memories of the five years as a class (next year at school we are split up and quite a few people leave to go to Sixth Form Colleges - but not me!) and we did so quickly; then went outside and sat on the wall as a form ... just as we had in the very same place exactly four years before. Our teacher took a picture. The picture taken by another professor four years ago hangs on my wall. I am on the left with my head tilted to the side, blowing in the wind, my tights filled with holes as usual and my laces untied and mad. Today, as I sat on the wall, I realised that I have not changed. Nor do I want to. I was filled with an irrepressible happiness that I am ME. Nobody can change that. I am still an optimist, as I was when I was 12. I still walk around school with holes in my tights. I still skip through the corridors. I am still clumsy as ever. I remain scared of needles. I still have blonde curly hair. I still bite my nails. And I still pose in my pictures with my head titled to the side. It was in that second sitting on the wall next to the people I have shared problems and successes and sadness with for five years that it dawned on me: my circumstances, my friends, my place of study/work, my life as a whole may change but I will always be Lulu. I hope I always retain my integrity and love for life. And if I don't, well, tell me...okay?! :)

Did you miss me?

2007-04-30T17:58:00.000Z

Did you? These last few days have been action-packed, utterly chaotic, hectic, crazy and above all, FUN! You know when life speeds up so fast that you have no choice to fall head over heels in love with it and go along for the ride? That's what it has been like. In between exam revision, homework, a certain aunt's birthday, cycle rides, cooking, reading, a visit to Casualty with my sister, sun, rain and love; I STILL managed to snap lots of pictures. Hope you're ready to see lots!

Friday was fabulous. :) As always! School was the utmost fun and then I cycled over to Brownies; who were as delighted to see me as I was to see them. We had three new Brownies; K, L and K; who are adorably sweet and who I cannot wait to get to know better. Everyone got delightfully dizzy on the tyre swing in the park and exclaimed "Make Me Giddier" at least 100 times over!

Yesterday it was my aunt's birthday so she came over and we had a little party, with cake of course! It was chocolate and had chocolate sprinkles all over it that perfectly contrasted with the pure white icing...I know, it's only a cake but w/e! :)

Then we all went to the a nearby woods...since I last visited the trees have grown glorious green leaves and the ground has bloomed into colour with bluebells and elderflower and apple trees as far as the eye can see. I LOVE summer - the season of flowers and ice-cream and sun and holiday and bliss...and I can just tell in my heart that it is on its way!

And I absolutely promised Cousin Thomas that I would share the following picture, and how could I not! He just learnt to ride his bicycle without stabilisers/training wheels and although the tyres were flat as can be he had SO much fun! Congratulations Tom!!

Today's picture is of me, well sort of! :) I have the blondest hair which is subject to rather a lot of torment (as well as admiration :P as the majority of my class is of Asian descent and have dark hair) and Ellen inspired me to break out the wide angle and have a go at including some of me in pictures! So I did. *skip the following if you HATE lens talk!*...I had forgotten how much I love playing around with 18mm, so much so that I might swap my 35mm for a 17-50mm 2.8 or something. :) Yay! Anyways...me and my hair....

I also want to thank everyone for being so encouraging, so kind and so sweet! And those who read everyday! Yes, that means YOU! Yes, YOU! :P I don't know what I'd do without you! Anyway, happy days! I promise never to not blog for that long again! Promise!

Love your friend, Lulu. =)

Tomorrow is Friday.

2007-04-26T21:25:00.000Z

I like Fridays. Not for the reasons most people like them but still, they're fun. The time before the glorious freedom of the weekend, but everyone's *always* in a good mood because it's practically Saturday. Friday is the day, I always think, when people act as if they're on happy pills. I wish they could act like that every single day. I try to! :)

Today I wasn't really bothered about taking pictures. You know when you see someone else's pictures and as much as they inspire you, you also realise how your images pale in comparison to theirs? It's kind of discouraging! :P But I did, at about 9pm after sunset inside with my little sister, my best friend in the world. I had to use flash (yes, the on-camera dreaded one talked about only in hushed whispers of horror and terror within photography circles)! But it was fun. Memories are memories are memories, don't ya think?

She loves Clarice Bean. Yes, she's twelve. But who said growing up slowly was a bad thing?! Plus tomorrow, skipping back to the I-love-Friday ramble (hope you are keeping up okay!), is the first week back at Brownies/Girl Scouts/a bunch of crazy and undeniably sweet 7-10 year olds all together in one church hall in London. :) I missed them. We took off 5 weeks for the Easter break and it was sad not to be able to look forward to hearing what all the little girls have done during the week and drawing millions of flowery pictures for me and hugging me round the legs. They're the sweetest kids. In case you don't know I'm the 'young leader' which means I just wander around and help them out and stuff with anything they're stuck with and I supervise activities and things. I love it. It's great fun. We have three new ones coming tomorrow which should be fun as well. I'll let you know how it goooooes. :)

ANYWAY since I have been rather mischevious and neglected to post yesterday I'll share a few recent pictures. Do you like Marmite? They say you either love it or you hate it. It's a really English thing is Marmite. Do you have it in America? It's gloopy spread with the same consistency as Nutella that's the colour of dark chocolate and has a sharp tangy taste. It's absolutely delicious. The Australians prefer Vegemite but believe me, it is no match to Marmite. I have it in my sandwiches every day at school.

ISO 100, 1/400, f/5.6 (this was my first time shooting at 5.6 with the 50 and my oh my, that bokeh is absolutely divine)!

Plus I couldn't not share our little kitty kat, Miss C. Her sister unfortunately has been diagnosed with Photographer's Cat Syndrome and runs at the sight of my lens but Miss C is as willing a model as ever.

Hope you all have a beautiful evening! Have a great Friday as well. Hopefully I'll have more invigorating images then to share!!

Love Miss L.

Ride Safely.

2007-04-24T20:55:00.000Z

I just wanted to remind everyone to force their children to wear a helmet when riding their bicycles, or remind themselves! I know I sometimes forget, and I cycle practically everywhere, and it's really easy to forget. I say this because today I started an assignment to take photographs for fliers and leaflets and posters about the importance of wearing a helmet when cycling. Not just me, for schools...a lot of people are involved because recently a little girl in our community was knocked off her bike when riding. She had such severe brain damage that her parents decided to take her off life support and she died almost instantly. The doctors said she would never walk or talk again. :( If she had been wearing a helmet the damage done would have been significantly reduced. And the sad thing is that she wore one all the time, she just forgot that one day...and that happened to be her unlucky day. So ride safely, and appreciate every single day you are given. :)

Glad you all liked my video! Have a great day! Love Miss L. :)

Look! It's me!

2007-04-23T16:39:00.000Z

Today it was such an overcast day and I took a few pictures but I'd rather share this :) Also the company agreed to repair my 35mm free of charge and my team won our match at school today! :) So a great day. I feel delightfully blessed sometimes. Anyway, hope you like my accent and enjoy! ;) I'm a little crazy but what's new?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umjR59dotSU

Just with the dreaded 'point & shoot' cam so no complaints about quality pretty please. =) YT made me funny and pixelated and permanently sunburnt but I'm not like that in real life... :P

I make FAB milkshakes. ;)

2007-04-22T16:39:00.000Z

Today my 35mm broke! :( I just think I'm lucky I have another lens (the 50), what would I do if I didn't? :) Phew! So it's back to the 50mm. Hopefully I can give it back as I only got it last week and it has a 6 month warranty anyway. It completely refuses to focus, and in manual focus the focus ring becomes stuck. Shame but it could be worse, of course!

I took a lot of pictures today, at random intervals in between making vanilla milkshakes with my sister - we make the best milkshakes EVER! If you're ever in London, stop by and we'll make you one. Seriously, you won't ever want to leave after you've tasted it. :) The secret is three teaspoons of vanilla essence. ;) Ssssh!

New flowers are blooming everywhere; up and down and side to side. It's lovely to see our garden come to life now spring is here. I'm making the most of the beautiful light now we're in British Summertime!

I tried to take some photographs for our school's digital photography competition today - the theme is People & Places - but didn't get much worth entering. I had an idea of a whole pile of books in our field of bluebells, as if nature had been invaded by humanity, but it didn't quite come out as planned. Is it too abstract? It does look better bigger but no can do on this above-400 pixel-width-blog of mine! My school is a little primitive as far as photography goes. Photography is not offered as a subject, there is no photo club, no photo department, no nothing. Hmm, maybe I should start one! The competition is judged by a Physics teacher, of all people, with no prior photography knowledge... ;) If you see what I mean... :P

I don't know about you, but I love to cycle. I use my dad's bicycle and I cycle everywhere. I hardly ever go by train or bus anymore - I just cycle. It's quick and easy, non-polluting (a big plus for eco-friendly-old-me) and so good for you. Plus it's simply pleasant to feel the wind blowing through your hair as you pedal through cornrows and bluebell fields to get to your preferred destination. So an ode to my bicycle!

And last but not least, my old camera. You've seen it a hundred and three times before; but I was practising B/W!

Now I really have to go study...really, and go swimming. I hope you have an absolutely fantastic evening (or day, depending on where you live on this big wonderful planet of ours - that's not sarcastic either!)...Love Lulu xxxxxx

PS> Sorry for the ramble and did I mention how much I adore adore adore this music? Sigh, it makes me feel so happy! And sorry for the huge watermarks; I found out some photos of mine were stolen yesterday so better safe than sorry. :)

Happiness.

2007-04-20T14:21:00.000Z

Funny how some things unleash a happiness in you, a stillness and a feeling of fulfilment that makes you stop and see how blessed you are? This song (on my blog) makes me feel like that. It makes me feel like I can do anything, go anywhere and be anyone I want to be. Gotta love Michael Buble (plus he's not bad looking either!)

I was thinking recently how excited I am about what the world holds in store for me. I am only young and I feel so invigorated by the prospect of growing up and meeting new people and doing things I had never dreamt of in my wildest dreams. I do love being a child. Of course, in most people's eyes I am not ...for I am sixteen, but for me I feel as if I am still one. Still involved in those fleeting young years of glorious summers and cold yet happy winters, years of perpetual happiness and a love for life that I hope will never leave me. Even when I "grow up".

I want to be able to look back on these times with a broad smile as wide as the Amazon and remember them with joy. That's why I adore photography, I suppose. And that's why I journal and write and compile my memory books from time to time. I added some pictures to my memory book today (I should have been studying, but which would you pick?!) ... my memory book is a beautiful parchment bound book with hundreds of pages waiting to be filled that I picked up at a Christmas market in Germany last year. It is not nearly full and the prospect of all those memories still waiting to happen, still waiting to be documented in my book, gives me a warm syrupy feeling like sweet toffee inside. I stick photographs and book tokens and train tickets and school lunch passes in it - all the little things I never want to forget. If you don't have one, you should make one. To hold it in your hands and know it is a document of YOU is simply wonderful. :)

And it wouldn't be a proper entry without a colour picture, can you believe I just posted THREE images in B/W?!

All @ 2.8, 1/160, ISO 200. Thank you so much for visiting, I appreciate your kindness more than words can say. :)

L x

So.

2007-04-19T18:24:00.000Z

Sorry that I didn't post for two days. Things have been pretty hectic around here, to say the least. Hectic, sad, happy, joyful, busy, invigorating, shocking. So much has happened. My friend in Virginia, Jessica, lost a friend in the Virginia Tech Shootings. I am sure they shocked all of you as much as they did me. I wanted to fly right over and cry with my friend for the person she would never see again. I once read in a book that you should pin red ribbons around your house and garden if someone close to you dies. So even though the school shooting was 4000 miles away, I felt the need to pay my respects somehow.

Besides that I have had at least a few thousand

pieces of schoolwork and meetings to attend and essays to write. It's all fun though. My national examinations (a hugely massive colossal 21 of them!!!!) start on May 10th so I am working hard for them as well. I had to go to a lecture yesterday about attending Oxford/Cambridge (most prestigious universities in the country) which I would absolutely adore to do but there's no chance I'd get in. No chance. Anyway...I just had time to snap a daisy. In this flurry of activity and schoolwork and terror in schools, this daisy seemed hopeful as its head poked above the grass. It almost seemed to be a sign. A sign saying "Don't worry. Don't give up." I liked this daisy. :)

And my favourite ever teacher Mrs. J is leaving at the end of the year. She's the best, so I'll savour the lessons we have left I guess. Hopefully I'll be feeling more upbeat tomorrow - just the things that happen in this world...they sometimes hit you with full force and remind you of the wrongs and evils. Don't you sometimes wish you could sit comfortably in a little bubble or in a field of flowers where everything could be hunky-dory? I have days like that. But we have to face it. Something I always tell myself, there is MUCH more good in this world than bad. Much. Let's dwell on that. :)

The bluebells bloomed...

2007-04-15T18:13:00.000Z

...and summer arrived. We had temperatures sky high today. I am so glad summer is here, sunshine is kind of an antidote for all the things gone wrong, I think. It smooths out the creases and puts a smile on everybody's face. :)

I just snapped these now. I love them. I couldn't tell you why. They are by no means perfect, they are technically incorrect in a thousand and one ways but I like them. I guess it's like Hans Christian Andersen said, “Just living is not enough... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

I hope summer has found you, wherever you are. May you have an extraordinary day! :) ~ Love Lulu xxxxxx

Can you say 'attitude'?

2007-04-14T14:11:00.000Z

I guess she's almost a teenager. :) I loved this one. Sorry for the lack of a ramble (although you'll probably be relieved!)...but I promise to be back. I just need to go and study. ♥

ISO 100, f/3.2, 1/1000...with the 35 2.o (I LOVE this thing)! ;-)

No, she's a sweetie really...this has to be the coolest book, it even has "How To Become A Photographer" in it!

ISO 100, f/2, 1/400, 35mm

Love Miss Lulu. Happiness be with you. :)

I ♥ the postman. :)

2007-04-13T12:47:00.000Z

My 35mm lens arrived. I decided that if I was going to have to endure so many injections, my dreaded fear, I should at least treat myself. I had some money saved up and found a *great* deal on a 35mm f/2 ... so it's here! First impressions? :) Hmmm, wider than expected, sharp, rather noisy focus and rubbish build but I like it! :P Here's just my VERY first shots that I pulled off the card. I will share more interesting and technically correct later when I get some more time to play. I was just chilling, eating my macaroni cheese and cucumber, and reading my Physics notes when I heard the knock on the door. I couldn't thank the postman enough! :D Oh, and I looooove the close focusin distance!

Mostly @ f/2-2.8, 1/800-1/1000 and all at 100 ISO. Lovin' the bokeh on this little lens. :D Plus it is s-h-a-r-p...that second one is SOOTC at f/2. :)

The package on our landing ;)

Fed up of hyacinths? I am, was just testing the focus!!

Old hot chocolate mug at f/2...

See, told ya they were boring! off to cycle to my grandparents' house. I'll take the camera and shoot something more interesting! :0) ~ Lulu

Can you turn my black roses red?

2007-04-12T18:30:00.000Z

Do you like my music? I just love it. It's from my favourite film in the whole word, and it epitomises my day today. Such a down day, constantly worrying about my dentist appointment, but when I got there I was fine and the new dentist ('the cackling witch' as we affectionately nicknamed her emigrated to Australia) was absolutely lovely. So you could definitely say my black roses turned red. My mouth is still numb (I had to have a whopping FIVE injections but they didn't really hurt) but I feel like the bravest girl in the world! :)

My cousin came round for tea and we played in our blue tent that I love to snuggle up in at twilight and read, or more likely these days revise! I was telling him about my oh-so-not-bad ordeal at the dentist and he relished in relaying every detail about his latest visit to the 'tooth doctor' (tell me that is not adorable!) ... when they sedated him to take two teeth out, he said the needle went so deep it almost came out of the other side of his hand! :P He was happier than he looks in that second one, btw! For those that asked, this little guy is also the one who graces my header image ~ Thomas, his name is. =)

And, lastly, my brown dress. This dress is pretty new but I just love it! I practically *live* in dresses in the spring and summer...and skirts. My friends think it's a little weird that I won't wear mini-skirts or anything but I love how I dress! The only stipulation is that they have to 'twirl'. =P So that when I spin around or dance or jump, they spin with me. I just love that feeling, kwim? So when I saw my little brown dress hanging on the washing line, with the gorgeous light and blue skies, I had to snap it. Mundane as it may seem, I love this dress. My old faithful. ;) ISO 100, 1.8, 1/1600

Thanks for reading ~ I truly truly do appreciate your kind words and comments. :) ~ lulu

I got my first prints. :)

2007-04-10T11:34:00.000Z

Today. It was so exciting to come downstairs this morning and find the envelope sitting on the doormat, just waiting to be ripped open and oohed and aahed over. :) That's just what I did! My aunt gave me a beautiful photograph album for my birthday and I filled some of the pages with the pictures; I could look at it for hours. Just the feel and the beautiful memories I will forever treasure.

Today I feel happy. It's just past noon, and although I have a ton of things to get on with - Latin, History, posting letters, Chemistry, tidying my room - I feel relaxed. Do you ever have days like that? Everything just seems perfect. It isn't - but when you string all the little things together, think of all the minute good things in your day; you have reasons as big as this world to be happy about. :) Just something I realised once and although I often forget how lucky I am, I remembered today how cherished we truly are.

I think it was the music that did it. :) I love music. It has such power to evoke memories and emotions - you can cry with it, laugh, dance...anything you want! It's beautiful. I was listening to a favourite song and I just wanted to get up and dance...twirl around and let my dress swirl around me and my hair too. KWIM? Music can make or break a film, make you think of people or events you thought you had forgotten and instil in us a happiness that we never knew was possible. *sigh* What a great thing. (The track was Unwritten, Ellen you'd like it!)

I also want to thank everyone who makes this blog what it is. I love coming back to read comments and to respond to questions. It's great. So thanks. A million. ~ Lulu

Welcome to pottery class~

2007-04-09T21:27:00.000Z

Wow, what a busy day! My friend M came over (see above!) to study for our exams but we ended up joining my sister Eleanor's pottery class in the back yard, although we did revise a little Macbeth too. ;) Then my friends Sasha and Ria visited for dinner, we've been friends since age 5 and I just love them...and their mother too. It was great fun looking at old pictures and remembering. I do believe that's the best part about life really, looking back and remembering the best parts. :)

Oh gosh, don't I sound old? I sound like I'm about 85 or something! That's what my mother always used to say; I was an old woman in a little girl's body! I used to read Hamlet and French plays (had to look up practically every word in the dictionary!) and write novels and host Victorian tea parties. My friends thought I was really strange...I guess i was, and still am. But I'm happy.

Tomorrow I really must do some hard studying. I keep procrastinating, and these exams are really really important. I am also going bridesmaid dress shopping in central via tube with my aunt and sister. She's getting married in July at long last and although I won't get to photograph much, I am looking forward to being bridesmaid. :) I've only been one once before, when I was 6. I think she's going for teal dresses which should be pretty.

Only two days until my filling, eek. I am soo soo worried...just trying not to think about it but I stil do. :( Anyways, love you all! ~ Lulu

A Self-Portrait.

2007-04-07T08:33:00.000Z

I love this skirt. It twirls and swirls and it makes me feel like a proper young lady. It's soft and silky and frilly, and I just love it! Anyway, I just liked this one. :)

"Just around the corner in every woman's mind - is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her." ~Wilhela Cushman

I am in the process of clearing up my hard-drive. I don't know how it ever got THIS disorganised. My RAW files take up a lot of space and I only had 2% left of space. Eek! I don't delete the OOF ones or anything so have been doing that. By accident I deleted on of my novels, an unfinsished one that I wrote in the summer. My favourite. :) I managed to recover it but it won't open. I do so hope I get it back. I might have a hard copy somewhere but if not then those beautiful words will be lost forever. Sometimes I despair over modern technology. Need to go burn my pictures to the external hard-drive.

Love, Lulu :)

Happy Good Friday. =)

2007-04-06T19:02:00.000Z

Hope you all have a simply lovely Easter weekend. Don't eat too much chocolate. I have been studying, not too much but a little, and hoping to go to church on Sunday. We don't go that regularly but I just love it when we do. The community spirit is overwhelming and I love imagining that I am visitng God's house, so to speak. :)

Yesterday I watched the film "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants". I loved the books and I love the movie equally - everyone should watch it...it was beautiful. The music and the photography and the outfits...oh, it was just sincerely amazing! I didn't feel it as much in the books but in the film I realised how much like Lena I am. I don't think I have ever related to a character more than that EVER. It felt like finding a friend.

I practised in low light today, you can see those snaps on ILP, he is the sweetest 6-year-old ever. :) Well, I think so. He reminds me of a quotation I absolutely adore:

May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.~Irish Blessing

I wish this for him. Can you think of anything better? I know I can't. :)

ISO 800, 1/125, 1.8 with the 50mm

Does anyone here have the 85mm? I am considering this versus the 30mm, I could do with a telephoto. Anyways, would love to hear your thoughts! =) Thanks for reading.

Pandemonium.

2007-04-04T21:42:00.000Z

Woah, this my third time writing this post! Kept getting a blogger error. :(
Life has been busy. I went to a study skills course on Monday and Tuesday which was a lot of fun and really helpful. Met some nice kids too! Today I had to go to the dentist. My biggest phobia is needles, it stays with me all the time, and so you can just imagine my reaction when I found out my filling needs replacing next week. I figure I'll try to keep it out of mind until then.

Mindy, you'll be pleased to know I found my camera! My mummy put it in the kitchen cabinet for safe-keeping. Phew! It was killing me to not be able to shoot when the light outside was so beautiful. Thankfully I found it around 4 so there was still some nice light left! I shot manual again and it really did make a difference to the quality of my shots. Truly! The first one is SOOC. I'll share settings because my EXIF always gets wiped out when I convert from RAW - anyone know what is up with that? :)

@ 1.8, 1/1000, ISO 100

I also made a tutu out of some leftover tulle that I found lying around our house. Only me (or my sister, in a rare compromising mood, to model it) so the chair had to suffice. Fun though! I really like the colour. =)
@ 2.8, 1/800, ISO 200

I really need to get some portraits of my sister...she has grown so much that she needs all new clothes! 12-year-old growth spurt I guess! We are lucky to be able to have such luxuries, a lot of people don't. I always try to be grateful for that, although I sometimes forget.
@ 1.8, 1/400, ISO 100

Thanks for stopping by,. I really do appreciate it! love Miss Lulu. ;)

Great light!

2007-04-04T13:49:00.000Z

...but no camera! I left it on the kitchen table and now it's gone. I have looked everywhere for the thing and it's just nowhere to be seen! My mum's out so no hope of asking her either. The light outside is perfect and it is driving me CRAZY not being able to shoot!

I have so much to tell you and lots to share but no time to do either, need to look for the camera. Will be back with (good, I hope!) news pretty soon (again, I hope). :)

~ Lulu

[insert creative title] :)

2007-04-01T20:01:00.001Z

Hello everyone! I'm back! Thanks for all your beautiful comments on the last post, it's really nice to have comments and people reading my blog. I know, I know...I say it everytime but it's true! I promise!

This might well be a *long post* (well, I have to make up for yesterday's absence, don't I?!) so if you hate rambles close the window right NOW! LOL. First, I'm glad you all found my post-processing stuff interesting as only fellow photographers would. Stacey, sorry I was mean to your JPEGs but I do love my RAW! To answer questions, I shoot in Adobe RGB as my colour space and my camera parameters are +1 contrast and +2 sharpening. Everything else is at the big zero. :)

Now we have the boring stuff out of the way let's get onto the more interesting (well, hopefully) stuff. I loved being at my grandad's house. My grandmother died 18 months ago, she had Alzheimer's, and my grandfather is one of the strongest people I know. He cared for her right until the end even though she had no idea who he was anymore and he's still smiling today. In fact, he laughs at everything! I love my grandad.

It was nice being able to spend 'quality time' with my sister too. She's the complete opposite to me...pretty cheeky, very loud, boisterous, funny and very sporty. We're best friends all the same. Well, most of the time anyway! We had Easter egg hunts in our grandfather's garden and we played cards and hide and seek and it was just fun. He lives in the heart of the countryside and we don't often stay the night so it was nice to this once. just one snap I loved...my sister was co-operative for photos, as long as her face wasn't in it! LOL! Defeats the object really but of course I didn't turn down the chance. :) B&W or colour?

My grandfather has an equally mischevious dog, a Westie...a nice dog who doesn't try to kill you and your cat. I love little Tilly Mint...such a sweetheart! We had ice-cream today and she gave me these massive impossible-to-refuse puppy dog eyes until I gave her some. She sure knows how to get her way, that one, but seriously you just can't say no to her! My mum and I took her for loads of walks since my grandad lives literally in a filed by the beach. I didn't get many beach pictures sadly because it was so windy and I was told to be careful because the sand can get in yours lens focusing mechanism and make it faulty so I was kinda wary about that! Did get a couple of keepers from our early morning walks though. :) It's lambing season too so there were beautiful baby lambs in all the fields, some of them only hours old. One came up and nuzzled into my legs and my heart just stood still for a moment, it was so beautiful and fluffy and young.

See, aren't the lambs just gorgeous? *insert massive red heart*! We also went to this beautifuly dinky little shop by the beach where my mum bought some cute birthday presents for her friends and some fun Easter treats. It was run by these two Danish ladies who were totally cool and talked to use for hours! They even gave me this special sweetie thingymajig they had left over from Christmastime and as soon as I saw it, I just thought how perfect it would be in a picture. I couldn't bear to eat any because it was so pretty so I left it with my grandad! Isn't it just sooo cute? :)

I told you so! Anyway, my mum wants me to teach her photography. I said I would, in the summer, and it'll be nice to actually have some photos of me. I cannot wait until the long glorious summer after my exams when I'll have nothing to do but laze around in the sun and take pictures and read long novels. *sigh* Pure bliss. Here's one my mum took of me today though, excuse the film-starrish look going on....LOL I look a bit haughty I guess but I promise I'm not at all! LOL. Isn't my mum a pretty good photog? This was practically sooc for her minus sharpening!

And's that's it! Wow, what a big post! I swear I have never posted that many images in one go. Hope I didn't bore you tooooooo much. :) Thanks for reading. Love Miss Lulu.

Rainy Days.

2007-03-30T15:40:00.000Z

Today it rained steadily all day. When I was little I always thought of rain as a special gift from Heaven, one sent by God to clean up the world. If it only it were so. If only rain could wash away all injustices, all evils and all wrongs. It can't. But you know what it can do? Rain makes the good stronger. It makes the beauty glow brighter. That's why I like rain. Once the clouds have passed and the pavements dried, everything seems a little fresher, crisper...smiles seem wider, the sun shines brighter and the grass looks greener. Here's to rain. ;) You gotta love it.

I might not be able to post tomorrow. I might but in case I don't, here's the warning. Probably joined by shouts of delight from readers everywhere! LOL, just kidding. I loooove that people enjoy visiting here and like what I write and photograph. Without you I wouldn't be able to keep going! I swear. Special thanks to Ellen, Amy 3 Peas, Robyn, Mindy, Amy C and Stacey who respond to every post I make. Thanks for not letting me go commentless! Anyway, tonight we're going to my grandfather's in the countryside and we're going to the beach tomorrow *yay!* and seeing my 1-year-old cousin and stuff. Should be fun. School's over now for 2 weeks, happy but sad but sad but happy.....I have a lot of schoolwork to do for my GCSEs (exams) but it should be a nice break too. I'll miss English lessons and German most.

**Press the little red cross at the top of the page just about NOW (!) if you're a insanely great photographer who gets amazing SOOC shots (straight out of the camera), if you're not interested in post-processing or if you are a Photoshop whiz who has her method all figured out.**

I've been asked about my post-processing. So...

...every shot varies but I do have basic method I follow with most shots.

1) I shoot in RAW. Not RAW+ jpeg or anything, just RAW. To be truthful, I've never even tried JPEG and have no desire to. I love RAW - they shouldn't put JPEG on cameras in my opinion!

2) I process my RAW shots using RawShooter Essentials. It's free and you'll find it available for download via Google.

3) I generally put the saturation at +50 or above and do the same with Shadow Contrast and Detail Extraction.

4) I then open up the 8-bit Tiffs in Elements, it works in Photoshop too though, and use Levels and Filter>Sharpen to finish off.

That's it! Easy, simple and quick but it produces pretty good results. I hope that helps! See you soon, looooove Lulu. =)

PS : All the photos here were taken in the rain, at 1.8, shutters from 1/160-1/1250 and ISO 200-400. :)

A scary afternoon!

2007-03-28T19:19:00.000Z

This was a *dangerous* photograph to take. Nearly all my random shots in the week of my everyday life and things are taken in our garden, at the bottom, where the orchard is by the blackberry bush and the allotment and the thousands of purple hyacinths carpeting the orchard floor. It's just beautiful down there. Like a haven. I feel so lucky to have my little oasis of calm down there where I can read or sit or eat cake (think : yesterday!) or play around with the camera. I had laid a blanket down on the grass and was lying flat on my front taking pictures with one of our cats, Middie, by my side. We have new neighbours at the back of our garden and they had visitors who had a HUGE Rottweiler. HUGE. This dog was rampaging through their garden, literally tearing through the trees and the grape vines, and it heard me and my cat somehow...nope I wasn't talking to myself either! I am a huge fan of animals in general but this dog was seriously crazed. He was growling *very* ferociously at us, trying to cimb over the fence and I can't explain it well really...but he had this real menacing look in his eyes. I was terrified! He was growling and snarling and I just ran, thinking my kitten would follow me as she always does. But she was just paralysed with fear. My sister was inside and I was screaming and shouting "Quick Eleanor! Middie's going to be mangled by that dog! Quick!" I love my cats so much and I was hysterical by this point that this dog was going to kill her. So inside I run, in a crazy frenzy of panic and tears, open the kitchen draw and pull out a pair of salad servers! LOL! Like that'll help. I ran back into the garden to look for Middie and she is still about 3m from the dog who is growling at her really viciously.... He tried to jump over the fence but fell back and I ran (looking like a complete psychotic with salad servers in my hand) and scooped up the cat and back to our house. Just in time. The dog managed to jump over the fence and was tearing through our garden...eating everything in sight. Thank goodness I got to her in time! I must be truly blessed is all I can say. Eventually the owners came round and apologised and said he was meant to wear a muzzle all the time...and, woah, it was just very frightening. So this was the shot I took just before that nasty canine appeared! @ 1.8, 1/340, ISO 100. :)

So I didn't get to take any more shots because I was worried that the evil dog would come tearing back into our orchard so...I stayed inside! Well, I sure hope those visitors go home soon so I can have my little quiet spot back again. =) See you tomorrow...Amy, I promise to answer your question about colour workflow then!

~ Love, hearts and kisses....Lulu

I have comments....

2007-03-27T19:37:00.000Z

Excuse me for my rather pathetic observation...it's just that it's simply lovely to know tga people are really reading my blog and enjoying it. :)

I took quite a few photographs today, it's great that evenings are so light now, but I don't have much to share from today. They all came out different than I had expected and I am sure you are all bored to death of grape hyacinths .... we must have a million and three in our garden! I did snap a few keepers - just some of my sister's red cake for her best friend, there was some leftover so I got to eat it in our orchard with all the bluebells and the daffodils and hyacinths. A Proper Picnic. For some reason she decided (along with her crazy friend Rachel) to stain the actual cake, yes not the icing, red with food colouring so it tasted good but looked like they'd murdered someone over it!!!!!! I'm not surprised that there were leftovers! LOL.

So, my cake : sitting pretty @ 2.5, 1/800 and ISO 200. =) It's kind of a rubbish photograph but such a blog post would not be complete without a visit from today's red cake.

And my motto for life. Love it. Love life. Isn't that what it's all about in the end? Have a good time. Let your kids jump on their beds, host tea parties in the heart of summer for Piglet and Pooh, dance to your heart's content and sing to anyone who can hear even if you can't carry a tune. Because if you don't, you'll just wish you had. Love is the basis of it all. I was thinking today and it's just like Mama Younger says in 'A Raisin in the Sun'....
"There's always something left to love. If you ain't learnt that you ain't learned nothing."

I missed a day!

2007-03-26T17:33:00.000Z

Sorry! I'm sure you didn't miss me. :) I was really busy yesterday - I went swimming with my beautiful mummy, I studied for a German test, did a photography mentoring assignment and went out too! My sister even let me take photos of her for once. Wow, what a day!

-- A disclaimer...if you couldn't care less about photography and cameras ignore the following! =)
I have had a few e-mails and comments lately asking about my equipment and lenses that I use. So I thought I'd post here!

1) I shoot with a Canon 300D, the D-Rebel. The original. It's light, sweet and noisy at high ISOs but I love, love, love it! The new version is the 400D or the XTi which I'm sure is great too. I also have a Canon EOS 650 (film) with a Sigma 24-70 lens that I use from time to time with B/W film.

2) I have four lenses but I mainly shoot with one and use one other occasionally. I use the 50mm 1.8 80% of the time and the rest of the time the 18-55mm 3.5-5.6. The one thing I hate most is variable apertures but I stick it out when I need the wide angle. I'm hoping to upgrade it to a 2.8 version soon by Sigma/Tamron. :) The other two lenses are old zooms that I use on the film cam.

Yesterday I *finally* got around to doing my mentoring assignment from a sweet, kind and amazing photographer who offered to be my mentor a while back. These are some of the shots I took - we had to interpret our favourite poem in pictures and process them in funky ways to go with the poem. I did "She Dwellt Among the Untrodden Ways" by William Wordsworth. Great guy. :P Here's just a few I took! Thanks to my mentor for being so FAB ~ cannot wait for the next assignment.

....

And my photograph for today was just a fun idea I had. :) It was a really really beautiful day - sunny and warm so when I got home from school it was still light enough to shoot indoors.

For those of you that don't know, I LOVE to read. I love the escapism of books and the way I can completely immerse and submerge myself into another place, another time, even another world! I write too...I want to be a novelist as well as a photographer and a mother and a teacher (but not all at the same time hopefully)! Anyway, I used to say (when asked) that I liked so many books that I couldn't possibly be expected to choose my favourites.

Now that I am older (and maybe a little wiser) I realise that there are some books that stay with me and which I continue to think of and re-read. I hope the list will continue to grow, but for the moment the books are:

To Kill A Mockingbird --Harper Lee

A Summer to Die --Lois Lowry

The Secret Life of Bees --Sue Monk Kidd

A Little Princess --Frances Hodgeson Burnett

The Diary of Anne Frank --Anne Frank

Of course, I have other books I love but these books will always stay with me. I can only hope that one day another girl will be thinking of her cherished books and that my novel will be on there. I was inspired to write books by the authors of my favourite books and maybe the girl who treasures a book of mine will be inspired to write books. It should be nice, to be part of a constantly shifting circle...and to inspire those you have never met, except through words on a page. My mother, unknown to me, sent a bit of my novel to a publisher...about the struggle of two sisters during the Civil Rights era...and they liked it! They want to talk with me! I might be a writer sooner than I think!!

Anyway....sorry for my massively long hugely colossal gigantic post --I'm just excited about the whole book thing and I guess it makes up for not posting yesterday. :P Thanks so much for reading and a HUGE congratulations to you (yes, you!) if you got to the end of this waffly long post! I don't even know if anything will come of it or if I want to wait or even have it published, if they even like it that much. But anyway... :)

Love Lulu :)

Meet "T".

2007-03-24T13:48:00.000Z

Today my 6-year-old, bubbly and full of life cousin came round. They don't live too far away and I got to look after him whilst my aunt went to the optician's. :) Man, I love this kid. Last time I saw him, about a month ago, he HATED the camera. Despised it with a capital D! Can you say transformation? He was the perfect model and he saw my camera on the table and actually *asked* me to take some...to give to his girlfriend at school. Times are changing - since when did 6-year-olds have significant others?!

Anyway, he's the cousin who lives nearest to me and he is so sweet and so lovely....he wants to make a "money detector...so that it can find money buried in the ground and give it to all the people with NO money!" You couldn't find a sweeter little guy. So here's to "T"...my beautiful cousin. =)

Texture - the fad of the season.

2007-03-22T17:52:00.000Z

Good Evening! First I must thank everyone who sent get well wishes to me via this blog - they worked an absolute charm and I feel much better! I am also truly sorry that I didn't get a chance to post yesterday in between glasses of honey and lemon, spoonfuls of echinaea (is that how you spell it? anyway, my mum obssesses over it!) and sleep. I can quite confidently - touch wood - say that I am going back to school tomorrow! Yay! I hate missing school; I always feel like I am missing the biggest party of the year or something. :)

Today I got up my nerve, bar an overstatement, and tried MANUAL. Yep, ladies and gents...good ol' manual! I used to shoot manual all the time with my film camera, as conveniently it was the only mode it possessed, and I did too with my D-SLR in December. But then I got a case of laziness and was pure idle. Aperture priority let me concentrate on composition and DOF and it was all I ever ever ever used! So now I'm a manual user. =) LOL, I feel like I've been through rehad having to part with Av but I'm just about okay! :D

Now, enough rambling...well, a little more! Sor-ry! I also had to jump in on the texture craze that's flitting around like fireflies. It's soooo cool. You should all try it! I found my textures via http://www.textureking.com/ (thanks Jeanette!) So I hereby present my first ever textured photograph *and* one of my first photos in manual on my D-slr. I'm a convert for life! And for those of you reading who like to know the settings, like me (!), this was shot @ ISO 400, f/2.8 and 1/160. *sigh* i do so love my camera..it's perfect for me...the noise at high ISOs is plentiful and the shutter is loud and meaty...almost old-school! LOL (it's a Canon 300D). Anyway, enough of my chatter...I'm sure you were bored long ago. See you, love Miss Lulu! =)

Sick~

2007-03-20T21:29:00.000Z

Sick. Sick. And more sick.

I feel terrible. I didn't go to school today - everytime I ate it came back up, and I had the worst stomachache in the history of our race! I feel a little better now but nowhere near right as rain. I hope I feel better for tomorrow; I have an ICT test and a History after-school session. I hope all of you are well. Being ill sucks. Completely.

I didn't take any photos today....yep, that's how ill I am/was....not picking up the camera is unheard of! =) Here's an old snap I missed somehow: my 1-year-old cousin Miss L! She's a sincere chocolate box baby. =) See you all soon!

I know this one was @ f/2.0, ISO 800 and .... about 1/125.

The Apple Phase...

2007-03-19T20:52:00.000Z

Has returned. I am infamous for my apple pictures. But today I realised with shock and horror and utter dismay that the apples haven't been under the lens since December! Aah! Our orchard is bare as can be but the fruit bowl sufficed. It was perfect timing because I snapped about 10 shots, this being my favourite, went inside and it promptly began to snow! Yes, snow! In March! In England! Unheard of! It didn't settle, of course, but it was funny to see...snow in March! LOL!

So here's Mister Apple at f/3.2, ISO 200 and 1/320...or something like that! Thanks for visiting my blog, blog, blog! Love Miss L. =)

Sorry it's so small; unfortunately I cannot post images larger than 420 pixels wide on my blog because it makes the sidebar go loopy. But if you are really desperate, you can see it larger here! :)

Exhausted!

2007-03-18T21:45:00.000Z

I am sooooo tired at the moment, what is up with me?

Today we went into a park in central London and I photographed the blossom and the war memorial. Just got them to share. =) Also want to add that you should all visit Miss Kimberly Bee's blog over at In A Nutshell as she is so sweet and is an inspiring photog! So if you get a chance pop over there. ;)

And I really really need to start revising for my exams. Ick. I love school and everything but there's nothing I hate more than revision (except for maybe lenses with variable apertures!) ...these are national examinations in 10 subjects that are really important as the grades will help you to get in/or be rejected from university! Eek! So encourage me to work, okay?! =)

~ Lulu

It's really late now...

2007-03-17T23:21:00.000Z

...so I will just pop in quickly now. Today I went to a friend's birthday party at a restaurant (Happy 16th 'S') but forgot to take the camera (duh! but the light was pretty awful anyways) and so I took some shots when I got home....after a bout of crying. Mainly because my closest friend at school, 'M', has been lying to a lot of people and excluding me from things on numerous occasions. My real best friend lives in Suffolk and I've known her since she was born but 'M' is a friend all the same. Recently she seems to have changed a lot: I guess I don't fit in with her new life. Maybe you don't think she's a friend worth having but she used to be so nice that I wish she would go back to the old 'M'. I have my mother though, my best friend of all. Happy Mother's Day in advance. :) I loooove you, Mummy.

Exhausted!

2007-03-16T23:23:00.000Z

I had an exhausting day today - but still managed to take a few pictures here and there! I had an English essay test on 'Macbeth today. =) I loooove English! I think it went pretty well...! Sorry for the rubbishy photos, trying to capture things that I want to remember when I am all grown up and wrinkly. ;-)

I shot lots at ISO 1600...harassed my sister whilst she was eating cous-cous (anyone else think that stuff smells like sweaty armpits? ick!) and she put up a fight as usual!

Found a 32 MB card which fits precisely one RAW file on my 6.3 megapixel cam (sigh, the good old days) and made lots of shakers for the Brownie dance to "Shake" by Odyssey. Got home from school, made coffee and cakes for the piano tuner...cycled to the post office, cycled back...washed my hair, rushed to Brownies, danced and hugged and played Duck Duck Goose! Shot my sister's cute stripy socks which matched her PJs...and here I am! Just about awake and alive! Hope you got through all of that...with the en jambement thingy going on. Love y'all! Sorry for the trashy post today...gotta sleep!

And my favourite shot of the crazily hectic chaotic pandemonic (is that a word?) day... =)

Love Miss Lulu ;-)

Bubbles.

2007-03-15T21:49:00.000Z

I love bubbles. They have such a magical quality. =) I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who have visited my blog, and continue to visit (I hope)!!!!!! I have had 465 visits in a single week! Without you, I would have no-one to encourage me, nobody to share with and nobody to keep me motivated. So you are fab! Yes, you! Right there! Love y'all!

~ Love, L

I think it's spring!

2007-03-14T21:33:00.000Z

Which is both good and bad. I LOVE spring. I love every season : winter for Christmas and snow, autumn for golden leaves and harvest, summer for holidays and sun and spring for tulips and lent lilies and hope. =) I do have exams this spring though which kinda sucks if you ask me!

I must say I love 18mm! I only have my trashy old kit lens, yep, that one...that one tucked away in the back of your closet, but it's pretty fun. I am hoping to purchase a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 sometime soon so if you have any good/bad/mediocre reviews please do share! Thanks to Miss Kris Leigh for helping me so much with that! This photo, which I LOVE (and is of me, now that's a combination you don't hear often) was at 18mm.

And this is how I am feeling today...happy, happy, happy! Well, if you had such a yummy chocolate lollipop, so would you! AND it was SOOC! That's no post-processing for y'all non-photography obssessed chicks and something much yearned for. So everything's peachy keen! Have a nice evening!

It is a sad day~

2007-03-12T18:11:00.000Z

~when all you have to share is a picture of your blog itself. A sad, sad day. LOL! That's not technically true because I do have one more but I got home at 6pm tonight and the light was almost gone - so I had to shoot at ISO 800 outside, @ 1.8 and 1/50 (dangerously almost fatally camera shaky)! But I got one out of the 12 shots I took. So I'll share the two. =)

This was the camera I truly learnt on...yes, the 1989 one and only Canon EOS 650 with the Sigma 24-70 3.5-5.6 lens. =) What fun! I love film, I truly do. When I shoot film, especially B/W, it's almost like going home. It's like going home and knowing exactly what you'll find, opening the wardrobe and knowing without a doubt that your pink towelling gown will be hanging up on the right hand side, like telling your sister good news and knowing beforehand that she will jump and sing 'Joy To The World' three times fast. Digital is a whole new world for me. I mean, I was never that good as a film photographer and I'm not a real special digital photographer but I'm still 'me'. It doesn't matter if I shoot film or digital or colour or B/W...my style still shines through. Digital is like opening the wardrobe and, instead of the pink robe smelling of Grandma's lavender scent, finding a new world...like Narnia! So that is my ode to the EOS 650...love you Mister! =)

Enjoying all your marvellous x50 blogs! Love Miss L. ;-)

Going back to my roots.

2007-03-11T14:41:00.000Z

Just the two to share today. =) I was inspired by the oh-so-lovely Brenda whose work I absolutely *adore* to try and get some filmy B/W but failed miserably in that aspect. Too far out of my niche, I guess! Instead I settles back into my comfort zone...it would be nice to challenge my creativity though!

Went to little Lotte's birthday party yesterday but didn't get too many photos. I have a few keepers for the family album, at least. My sister let me take three photos today but in her choice of location and the lighting was TERRIBLE so not sharing them, nuh-uh! My mum got kinda angry when I kept asking her but I am going crazy - I suck at portraits thanks to my sister! I really need to find a muse. Got one going spare?

Anywho, I have got to go finish off my Latin stuff. See you! ~ Lulu

Work Together.

2007-03-10T10:25:00.000Z

Today, at school, only 14 people out of 100 in my year attended. 50 were on a field trip for some extra-curricular nonsense that they do and the rest stayed home to study. Boring! The teachers had put a lotta effort into making it a fun day for the people not going on the trip so I felt sorry that not many people showed up. I did. And I am mighty glad!

First we had to do a presentation, ours was on Climate Change. It scares me that some time in the near future our world might not be here, or it might just be an empty shell because we have destroyed ourselves. We won too, and ate lots of chocolate! Yum!

Then we watched "An Inconvenient Truth" - you know, Al Gore's movie? Wow, is all I can say. It was one of the greatest films I have ever seen. Poignant, yet happy at times, sad...shocking. It makes me want to change the world. We do our best at our house - we recycle, we take public transport, we turn off lights and don't run the tap when we brush our teeth unless we need to! But we could certainly do more. What really hit home for me was when Gore said that we had to work together, to unite not as countries but as a PLANET....we did it for Civil Rights, against faschism, against communism...why not against global warming? So I'd love it if you'd take a moment to watch that movie, or go to www.climatecrisis.net and assess your lifestyle. Think of it as the first step towards a better world. Like Miss Maudie in To Kill A Mockingbird says: "It's just a baby-step, but it's a step."

Lucky Shoes~

2007-03-08T20:32:00.000Z

These are my lucky shoes. They go everywhere with me. The soles are worn down and muddy, they are old and etiolated, but I love them. I am emotionally attached to them. Where these shoes goes, I go. Where I go, these shoes go. Do you have a pair of shoes like that? These are faithful shoes. They don't give up on you when you have walked 3.2 miles in them, they don't mind if you jump in puddles and they do their best to save your feet from getting wet, they like to be worn down to the ground...to be loved. And loved these shoes certainly are.

Hey everyone. =)

2007-03-07T20:12:00.000Z

Just got back from my piano lesson. I love to play piano, such a fab form of expression! =)

Anyways today is my only girl cousin's 1st birthday! Happy Birthday little Lottie! I remember a year ago today, waking up and my mum sitting by the bedside saying "Wake up! Wake up! Quickly! Quickly!" I jumped out of bed and she quickly told me of Lottie's birth (which was a little treacherous to say the least). It was a girl! After all those months of anticipation by my sister and me, all those months of "Please let it be a girl! Oh, please!"...the moment had finally arrived. We were delighted to finally have a little girl in the family to swoon over, to dress in pink dresses and to call 'sweetheart' and 'darling'. So Charlotte Elodie was born.

The year has gone by so fast! She is crawling and giggling and smiling, almost walking, and she is the happiest little one to ever walk the earth. Lottie and her parents live 100 miles away but we see them often and I love it when we do. I hope she'll having an older cousin to look up to when she is not so young. I am 15 years her elder because my mother's brother is 13 years younger than her. Oh, and at the weekend, we are going to her birthday party so I should have lots of little one-year-olds to practise on! Yay!

So, happy birthday sweet sweet Charlotte.

Walk Barefoot.

2007-03-06T20:11:00.000Z

Walk barefoot. It's fun. In mud, in dewy grass, on sand. It feels so fresh and natural. I had a great day today. Great. When I woke up I just knew in my heart of hearts that it would be brilliant. Be happy too. I consider myself to be an exceptionally happy person. But when I am sad my sadness could cover oceans and mountain ranges. Thankfully I am not sad often. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world today. I am truly blessed. Nothing particularly special happened. I just realised how wonderful my life is, how I have such a great family and friendly people to talk to and great teachers and a good education and I live in such luxury compared to others. It's all by the flick of a coin and it could be taken away. So appreciate what you have whilst you can. May God bless you all.

~ Lulu

Sweeties!

2007-03-04T18:22:00.000Z

Or candies, if you are American. =) I thought this one was fun.

1/80, f/4.0, ISO 200 ~ I know it was dangerous to handhold this one but it worked fine! Window light on my bed! LOL!

~ Lulu

I just got back...

2007-03-04T13:23:00.000Z

...from church and it was lovely. All about Fairtrade and supporting businesses that don't exploit workers. The little ones did a lovely play of The Feeding of the 5,000...I wished I'd brought my camera. Anyways, I will be back later with pictures but I will share one from last night just using Tungsten lighting @ 1.8, 1/100 and ISO 400.

It's pouring right now, has been for about 5 days non-stop minus yesterday so haven't had much time to get out and take some pictures. My sister let me take the above of her, I promised her face wouldn't be in it...but I did get a few when she wasn't looking! I am going through a B/W phase at the moment which is fun - I'm normally ALL colour ALL the time! This is her fave book.

I have been feeling completely blah about my work the past couple of days, it seems like all the work I have done has unravellled and I am back to where I started! Rubbish as ever. Please give advice on how to get your mojo back...if anyone needs it, I do! Thanks for everything!

~ Lulu

Post Script: How do you like the music? I did have Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry on there, my favourite song of all time, but changed it to Little Bitty Pretty One by Thurston Harris. One of my favourite songs again....reminds me of the movie Matilda. Don't you just love that film, and book? =) Anyways, do you like it? And if not, you can click the little green button and it'll turn off. But anyone who doesn't like Thurston Harris should NOT be visiting my blog LOL! My musical tastes do not coincide whatsoever with most my age. =) Like many other things I like but I am who I am and I love that!!!!!!

It's Saturday!

2007-03-03T14:26:00.000Z

No more school for the weekend. I'm kinda sad but at least I have more time...time to knit, time to smile, to slow down, to read, to do homework, to read your blogs, to take a long bath, to write my book, to finish sewing my dress...time for whatever Louise wants. =) I love 'me' time. I love school so much, more than you could even imagine, but sometimes it's such a chaotic pandemonium that it's nice to have days off to spend time doing what you love.

Recently on blogs of fellow 365ers I have heard photographers saying that Photo of the Day is getting tedious. I just wanted to say DON'T give up! I love all your images and reading your thoughts and stories and would miss you all if you quit! So keep snapping that shutter. =)

I went to help at Brownies last night, like I do every week. I love them, they are such sweet kids. I couldn't find the keys to the church hall anywhere and I became more and more frustrated not being able to find them. I figured 'Brown Owl' would bring a set along so off I went to the church, in the pouring rain, carrying the Brownie box and stereo. By this time Brownies was 10 minutes late starting. All the girls (ages 7-10, Brownies is the younger version of Girl Scouts) and their parents were waiting outside the hall. I had to break the news that there might not be Brownies tonight. We waited for Brown Owl though, hoping she'd brought the keys with her. We played Stuck in the Mud in the pouring rain, we laughed, we talked, they told me about their week at school, they danced in the rain, we sung, we read stories and eventually Brown Owl turned up without the keys.

"Ohh!" little Abby said, "I was so looking forward to Brownies this week." Similar cries of disappointment began to surface around the group of children and even their mothers! I guess they were excited about having the night off! I wanted it to go ahead, I love helping with the girls and they love me like a sister.

"Alright then," said Brown Owl, "I'll go and get the keys from home."

It was dark, it was pouring with rain and it was cold - so we all sheltered under our umbrellas and sang campfire songs... "This little light of mine", "My Ship Sailed to China" and "I Once Knew a Boy named Joe" ... it was beautiful. Standing outside the church in the yard, 15 little girls and me, as well as their parents, singing whilst the Heavens continued to pour rain down on us. There's something about people singing that always makes me smile.

After an eternity, Brown Owl turned up. Brownies was almost over! But we marched into the hall and dried ourselves off. The parents went home and we mixed up some orange squash and handed out custard creams. They practised their dance for the gang show, we played Duck, Duck, Goose and we sang again.

"I'm glad there's Brownie Guides tonight, " Rhi said to me. "I love you." And she gave me a huge hug. Just wanted to share that little analogy. =)

Today I have a self-portrait to share. I didn't take it today but last week sometime. I liked it. It epitomises me and what I am like. My hair blowing in the wind, smiling and looking happy. That's me. I took a ton of other photos today but none of them I like as much as this one. I kind of feel that my photography needs to take a new direction, aside from flowers and soft pictures, so watch this space! See you soon! ~ Lulu

Just another post.

2007-03-02T21:26:00.000Z

My parent's evening went great. =) Amazing. I loved it so. The teachers were all lovely. Even Physics. And I have to tell you, I am the worst at Physics in the world. My English teacher was the nicest. I love her, she's such a great teacher! I love English too.

Blossom is blooming here. It feels like spring is coming. A time for new birth and hope and love. I have to choose my subjects for next year by Monday. It's a big decision! I think I will choose Literature, German, Religious Studies...and something else. I'm not sure. See you all tomorrow. Thanks for reading! And sorry if my blog is terribly tedious! I'm kinda slumping right now, too many flowers and not enough people! I guess it's the pollen. ;=) So no photos to share. I did take some but none anybody would care to look at!

~ Lulu

Toy Cars~

2007-03-01T17:16:00.000Z

LOL The owner of this little car wouldn't let me snap a single photograph of her but she let me borrow her car for the shoot! =) I LOOOVE shooting @ 2.8...produces marvellous circular bokeh with my 50mm. Hopefully will be getting a new lens soon, maybe the Sigma 30mm 1.4! Yay! Anyone have any reviews?

I have to go to school for 'Parent's Evening', am really worried - although they'll all just say I'm great but too quiet. I know it off by heart. Wish me luck! See you all tomorrow. TFL! ~ love Lulu ;) Oh, and Happy Saint David's Day!!!!!!

Quotations~

2007-02-28T17:26:00.000Z

Yes, Mindy, the quotations are back. =)

"…If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? There's only one type of folks...folks." ~ Jem Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird)

Yep, my favourite novel of ALL time, along with A Summer to Die. Anyone else love that book? I read constantly. When I'm not taking photographs, I'm reading or knitting...or maybe even both!!!! We had a suprise assessment today in English Literature; had to write an essay on why To Kill A Mockingbird is still such a respected book. I wrote that it's because its message of equality for all and judging people on the content of their character transcends time and place. It's simply a universal truth. Racism is one thing I get reallly up in arms about. I don't understand how you can possibly judge one person on the grounds of their ethnicity since race is about appearance and not about character. Everyone is so different and that is what makes the world turn, but it doesn't mean some people are better than others. Of course, some people do bad things but I was always told that there's a little good in everybody - even if you have to look extra hard to find it. =)

Anyways, enough about the seriousa stuff! Is anyone else busy as banana jam at the moment? I seem to have NO time whatsoever anymore! It's kind of nice to be so busy but it's kinda chaotic too. I wake up, shower, eat, go to school, knit, eat, have afternoon lessons, come home from school, take pictures, eat, go to piano/Girl Scouts/do homework...go to bed! I just had a moment when I got home to snatch a few photographs at around 5pm so light was kind of iffy but I got two keepers, outta 4! =) Thanks for reading now! Love Miss Lulu ♥

Post Script : Both were almost SOOC (straight out of camera for non-photography obssessed chicks) which I was so pleased about. =) But excuse the rubbish compositions please!

Hello!

2007-02-27T21:19:00.000Z

Not much time for a long post tonight (jump for joy! you are spared my ramblings!) since my old childminder Zandra is down from Wales and we're having a great time playing Snakes and Ladders and Ludo. =) I had a moment to snap a couple, just of my knitting. I LOVE to knit! I'm not that good and only really make scarves and hats but it's fun and something to do at school when everyone else is chatting about MySpace! This one is for my best friend Katie, whom I've known since she was born, and she lives really far away...but I love her so much, so if you're reading Katie, thanks for being a great friend! And here's a sneak preview of the birthday present! At 1.8, 1/100 and ISO 400!

And whilst I'm here I must thank you ALL for all your encouragement and support. It's so lovely to get home and see all your great comments, advice and stories you have to share. =) So, thank you. Till tomorrow, L x

Coloured Pencils. =)

2007-02-26T17:35:00.000Z

Hello! Just got back from school and the light was actually pretty good for once! Normally daylight is fading by the time I get home but today it was just RIGHT. Of course, I pleaded with my sister, offered her humbugs or cupcakes or even 50p but she wasn't having any of it! "The light is right!" I kept saying, but non-photographers never understand, do they?! Found a bottle of coloured wooden pencils, drew myself a picture and decided to be 'creative'! Oops, there goes my exclamation marks again! So, this is how my little shoot turned out. Mostly @ 2.8, ISO 100/200 and varying shutter speeds. Have been shooting a lot in Av mode lately, I think I need to get back into the swing of manual. I added grain to the black and whites, can't resist a grainy B/W! =) So that's my little story! I don't know about in America or other countries but here most schools, including mine, end at 4-00 pm so there's not much time for photography afterwards. We start at 8-00...that's a whole 8 hours in school! What time do you/your kids start and finish school? Gotta go do homework for Chemistry now, yuck! See yooou! =)

Ooops, B/W not showing up. Will try to fix it later. Gotta go now!

Ta-da! Not much but I like it. =)

Bored of flowers?

2007-02-25T18:07:00.000Z

Not much else to photograph around here. My whole family is sick, with the exception of me, so have not been doing much except for carrying the newspapers and honey&lemon cups up and down the stairs! I'm kind of cheating today because I took this at the same time as the previous image was taken but we go back to school tomorrow from February half-term and have been doing lots of last minute homework and getting ready for that so haven't really picked up the camera today. I did take a few of Cleo, our cat, this morning but they weren't very good at all so no showing them!

This one is just of some snowdrops I picked in our garden, and I liked the natural vignette although the focus isn't great. Canon 300D and 50mm @ 1.8, 1/400, ISO 100. =)

I managed to sneak in a little scrapbooking too which I haven't done for simply AGES. Seems that photography and writing and school leaves no time for anything else. I vowed to sit down and do some though, because I do love it so. Anyone else like scrapbooking here? =) Took a couple of SNAPS whilst I was on my way, just for fun. All @ 2.0, 1/125 and ISO 400.

Had to smudge out the address on that, sorry! Better safe than sorry, right? Can't believe my darling little cousin is almost one! How time flies! Cannot imagine how it must be for all the mothers out there. ;) Not much of a LO but I try! Thanks for reading! Love Miss L =)

In the spirit of spring. :)

2007-02-24T15:15:00.000Z

I think I have found my 50mm's sweet spot, f/2.8. It never fails to produce pretty bokeh and creamy DOF for me. Thanks Mister Fifty! =) It seems like spring has finally arrived. There are tulips and snowdrops of a great magnitude of colours springing up here, there and everywhere. The garden is beginning to look like a rainbow - I cannot wait until the trees start to grow leaves again. When I was little, when it was springtime, I always used to say"The trees have bought some new clothes." Children say funny things, don't they? =)
See you later and thank you all for your comments. I love reading them, and am off to check out your blogs if I haven't already! Love Miss L

New day, new blog.

2007-02-23T16:16:00.000Z

Louise.

Ambitious. Benevolent. Confused (sometimes)! Daisy-picker. Eleanor's sister. Free. Graceful. Happy. Innocent. Joyous. Keen. Lulu. Mother-to-be, in the far future. Naive. Obdurate. Pacifist. Q?. Stubborn. Thumbelina. United Kingdom resident. Valient. Wishy-washy. X?. Young. Zany!

That's me by alphabet. Now we've got that out of the way, I'd like to welcome you to my new blog. Tulips Grow Anywhere. I thought that would be a fitting name. I'm a very hopeful girl and tulips are a sign of hope and the future, and my dreams start anywhere so...as you can see, I have a tendency to ramble. The reason I moved from here was because the posts went crazy with a capital C when I tried to change my header so I thought a change would be fun! I just got back from Berlin yesterday and had an absolutely awesome birthday trip (thank you to all who wished me a happy birthday, it certainly was) and maybe there was something in the water there?

Anyways, basically, I'm still a project 365er (a photo a day for 2007) and am having great fun but have a new house as of today. Welcome to my 'crib'! I guess that's what I am meant to say! =) For those of you who don't know me; I'm Lulu, age 16, love photography and have a tendency to use exclamation marks way too much!!!! So I'll see you around, for now I'll leave you with a shot from my absolutely exquisite Berlin break! Love Miss Lulu =)