A Beautiful Mess Challenge Five: Find Flattering Window Light

As a (very!) amateur photographer, I wouldn't normally position my photos to directly focus around a window so I found this part of the book interesting and, although it was a little hard, the subject was explained excellently by Elsie and Emma.

One of my oldest friends Lucy, has got a gorgeous window in her country kitchen so after our morning exercise session I got her to pose in front of the window for me. The book says to look for natural light when photographing indoors and get the subject to face the window or stand adjacent to it. We played around but found standing adjacent was better without the morning sun blinding poor Lucy!

I found positioning this shot pretty tough. In order to follow the rule as stated in the book 'the more light on the subject the better', Lucy's whole face would have had to be facing the window and it wouldn't have given a natural shot. I'm looking forward to more practice with this challenge! Although the light isn't on Lucy's beautiful face and eyes, it catches her golden locks which I really like and also makes her skin look illuminated with lovely colouring.

Thanks for modelling Lucy!

I'll be taking a shadow portrait for challenge six!

Jane x

View previous posts...

Introduction to the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book 

Challenge One: Photograph Your Pet

Challenge Two: Capture Unique Personal Details

Challenge Three: Get the Best Cell Phone (or Point and Shoot Camera) Photos
Challenge Four: Know How to Use Overcast Light vs. Direct Sun

A Beautiful Mess Photo Challenge Four: Know How to Use Overcast Light vs. Direct Sun

I was looking forward to this challenge as, to be honest, I have never really considered the light when taking photos that much before. I normally just snap away which is why I'm finding the book so valuable!

The book gives some great examples of pairs of photos taken at the same time in direct sunlight and the other in shade and the difference is amazing and I found the same when comparing my pictures.

The weather was perfect so I asked Katie nicely if she'd model for me testing both direct sunlight and shade. In the bright sun the colours of Katie's clothes completely changed making them become distorted with light bouncing off them. The picture in the shade turned out so much better and the lack of blinding sun made it much more comfortable for Katie! I like the way her hair caught the wind whilst I was making Katie laugh giving a lovely, natural smile.

 Tomorrow's challenge is 'Find Flattering Window Light'...

Jane x

View previous posts...

Introduction to the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book 

Challenge One: Photograph Your Pet

Challenge Two: Capture Unique Personal Details

Challenge Three: Get the Best Cell Phone (or Point and Shoot Camera) Photos

Jamaica Me Crazy - A Travel Review

I've just returned from Jamaica and what better way to remember my time out there than write a blog post to go into our ever-mounting travel section! With its chilled-out vibe, happy people and clear blue waters, Jamaica is textbook Caribbean.

Having been lucky enough to go to Australia in March we wanted a 'bomb-out' summer holiday where we literally lay on a sun bed and relaxed – Jamaica is certainly the perfect place to do that! We decided to book with Thomson Holidays for ease and chose the Grand Palladium Resort and Spa in a lesser-known part of the island, Lucea. Lucea is a small unspoilt town on the island's northwest coast away from the usual tourist spots of Negril and Montego Bay.

After the nine hour flight (with Thomson long-haul not feeling that much different to short-haul!), we were luckily upgraded to an ocean view room as we had two special occasions to celebrate during our two-week stay. The ocean view made all the difference with a private balcony and views stretching out over the Caribbean Sea. Lucea was quite a way from the island's main attractions, for example climbing the Dunn's River Waterfalls was on our list of things to do but we didn't fancy the six-hour round-trip! We wanted a quiet holiday though and Lucea met our needs as well as having lots of facilities in the resort such as a spa, watersports, tennis and four pools to keep us entertained.

One really memorable thing was just how friendly and happy the Jamaican people in our resort were. We would walk to breakfast with the sounds of the gardeners singing their very own reggae tunes and people would stop to say hello or offer us a freshly fallen coconut. The most common phrase was 'no problem mon' and it did seem like everyone was on beach time... maybe it was the 'special tobacco' we could smell occasionally or the rum punch which was on tap - we'll never know!

We were slightly concerned about the weather when booking our holiday for the end of August into September but we actually looked forward to the daily 2pm rain showers giving us the chance to play a game of tennis or relax in the indoor spa and have a much-needed break from the sun. The sun was so powerful, it definitely seemed hotter there than in any other country I've visited so P20 and lots of it was needed for my skin. I saw many people burn despite them loading up on sunscreen. Another product which helped my tan to develop was Cowshed's Spearmint Exfoliating Sea Salt Scrub - I used it twice a week so stop peeling and to nourish and protect my skin. Gorgeous!

Jamaica was just how I'd pictured it... luscious green plants everywhere dotted with the most colourful flowers I've ever seen alongside a backdrop of the ocean as clear as a swimming pool. You appreciate the daily rain as it clearly keeps the island vibrant and full of life.

I've not travelled all-inclusive before because, as I've said in previous posts, I really enjoy getting to know a country and the culture of the place. Let's just say my first all-inclusive experience (the food and organised entertainment in particular!) was memorable, it's not for me but I'm happy I got to travel to the stunning island of Jamaica all the same!

Highlights

• A daily non-alcoholic ice blended Piña Colada drink by the pool to kickstart my day!
• Gaining total relaxation with days slowly drifting into nights and the inability to work out what day it was!

 Must-dos

• Devour a plate of Jerk Chicken on the beach with a side of Scotch Bonnet spicy sauce... or if you're a veggie like me try the traditional dish of Gumbo
• Visit Montego Bay - I could see the twinkling lights of this vibrant place from the balcony and really wish I'd spent some time there

Peace mon, Jane x

A Beautiful Mess Photo Challenge Three: Get the Best Cell Phone (or Point and Shoot Camera) Photos

For Challenge Three, I took into account the key tips from the book when taking this photo of my fiancé Mark's wellies whilst on a walk with our dog Beau...

• Capture as much light as you can
• Get close
• Experiment with apps

I don't carry my camera during 'routine' activities such as walking Beau (maybe I'll start!) so this challenge prompted me to use my iPhone to record lovely moments. Following the tips I picked a time when the sun was shining onto Mark's wellies, got up nice and close (in the stream!) and used Instagram to edit the photo afterwards as mentioned in the book.

So far I'm enjoying the challenges... tomorrow's is 'Know How to Use Overcast Light vs. Direct Sun' and I need to ask someone nicely if they'll model for me (Katie?!)

Jane x

View previous posts...

My introduction to the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book

Challenge One: Photograph Your Pet

Challenge Two: Capture Unique Personal Details

Twitter Lists and How to Use Them

I was compelled to write a post about Twitter, one of my favourite social networks, and its feature 'lists' after talking to many tweeters and discovering they don't utilise this simple feature at all! The 140-character micro-blogging site updated their list feature back in May so it's interesting to see that people still aren't fully using them.

What are Twitter Lists?

According to Twitter 'a list is a curated group of Twitter users.' Lists enable you to categorise your followers into lists that you create so you can easily see tweets from specific groups, meaning less scrolling through thousands of tweets on your feed!

For example, if you jump onto Twitter in the morning and want to catch up on the news rather than reading what your friends are having for breakfast, simply flick to your 'news' list! Organising friends from topical tweeters is a basic (but useful!) way to use Twitter lists.

You can also follow other people's Twitter lists which is great for building relationships online and it makes it easier to search tweets around topics you love on the platform.

How to Use Lists

Lists are easy to create... all you need to do is go onto your profile and click 'Lists' on the left-hand side to view, manage and create new lists. For a run-through from Twitter see their official instructions here.

There are two types of list; public and private. Just remember that if you make a list public (meaning other people can follow that list too), the users you add receives a notification that they have been placed on your list. This may make people view your profile and follow you back so, again, it's great for networking.

I Love a Good List!

I use lists as it makes my time spent on Twitter much more simple, quick and organised (and I love being organised!). I have around 15 lists organised into different subject areas I'm passionate about (social media, wellbeing, running and celebrities are my most frequented lists!). My lists mean whatever mood I'm in, I don't need to scroll through my newsfeed to find some great information whether it be for relaxing, inspiring me or finding some news for work.

TwitterCounter is a site which tracks the statistics of Twitter users and lists and has an interesting '100 most popular Twitter lists' feature which is refreshed daily so it's a good idea to take a look at that when you're starting out using lists.

Initially, get involved in lists by following a few and then creating your own. Twitter can be overwhelming at times - if you follow more than 100 people, your newsfeed can easily reach thousands of tweets a day! With all that information, it does become difficult to read the tweets that really matter to you... with Twitter's most under-used feature, it's simple!

If you'd like to get added to one of my lists (and why wouldn't you!?), follow me @janiexx

Jane x 

A Beautiful Mess Photo Challenge Two: Capture Unique Personal Details

I'm working through my challenges as they appear in the book and 'Capture Unique Personal Details' is under the 'Capture Your Favourite People' section so although I would have photographed me 'scrapbooking', I decided to think about what the people around me enjoy.

The book says that personal details are the things that remind you the most of each person which got me thinking about my dad's first love... cycling! But, I couldn't forget about his love of reading and writing which he has passed onto me too.

Although this picture is a little 'staged' as my dad's cycling stuff and books are scattered around the place, all the items in the picture mean a lot to him... cards from friends, the Tour de France, the very first book he wrote on education and two bike statues that I spotted and bought for him.

I need to think about lighting a little more as the light reflection is not quite right but I can do that in tomorrow's challenge - Get the Best Cell Phone Photos!

View my introduction to the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book and Challenge One: Photograph Your Pet here

Jane x

A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book & Challenge One

I admire the bloggers Elsie and Emma who are behind the blog, A Beautiful Mess and Katie surprised me with their new Photo Idea Book for my birthday hot off the press from the States (it's not available in the UK yet) and I love it!

Within the 200 plus pages are 95 inspiring ideas for photographing your friends, your world and yourself. They recommend you pick your favourite challenges from the book and get on with them so that's what I'm doing! I have decided not to use Instagram to edit my photos although I usually do (see my profile here) unless recommended to do so within the book. On our blog, over the coming weeks, I'll post the results... I am no David Bailey but I'm looking forward to improving as I go along (hopefully!).

A Beautiful Mess Photo Challenge One: Photograph Your Pet

My first challenge 'photograph your pet' is one I knew I'd enjoy despite it being hard to find a time when my Golden Labrador Beau is calm! I waited until the evening although the book does say natural light is best, it wasn't possible for me. I tried to capture the true personality of Beau as the book recommends so when I saw him sneak onto my bed for a little sleep, which he naughtily does a lot, I grabbed my iPhone 5 for some photos! A key tip from the book is to take lots of photos and that was very useful. Here's my final photo for challenge one...

I love the white light in the room and also the colour of the throw with his colouring. I adore his nose and paws so tried to focus on capturing them.

Tomorrow's challenge is 'Capture Unique Personal Details'