Maggie

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So weddings are something which I have always vowed that I would never do. I suppose in the beginning it was the fear that you might ruin someones big day by not loading the film in the camera correctly, or the camera breaking, or the shop accidentally loosing your film (yes I’m a worrier!). Maybe more recently it’s been down to the fear of working for a bridezilla! So basically for one reason or another I have steered well clear of them..

I do appreciate good wedding photography though! I even spent good money hiring photographers for my own wedding, and I’m really glad I did so. The pictures came out amazingly well, and it’s money well spent. There are some amazing wedding photographers out there! However I guess the subject matter never really excited me very much, and always seemed a little cliche to me! Not to mention how cut throat and competitive a market it is.

However inevitably I have been to many friends weddings, and ended up taking the odd shot here and there. At least if they’re not paying the pressure is off and I can relax and play with ideas. Above you can see a selection of a few photographs from recent weddings I have attended. I like these shots as they are almost anti-wedding shots. Giving a narrative of a bride rebelling or running away from something which she doesn’t want. We might picture a controlling family forcing her into a marriage she doesn’t really want to conform to. Or running off to find her real lover which her parents disapprove of.

Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I were to do a wedding, I’d really like to play on these ideas more, and not go with the cliche romantic shots that we know, and some of us love! 😉

Yesterday it was announced that I had won, along with 19 other entrants, the Life Framer – Edition II ‘Open Call’ competition, for a photograph I took some years back in Havana, Cuba.

I didn’t really expect to win this, so it honestly came as quite a shock. Life Framer is a great website and community for photography, and is a great source of inspiration for me. I decided to enter this photograph as I’ve always loved it and liked the idea of a wider global audience being able to see it.

To view more of my Cuba pictures and general travel pictures, please have a look at the Travel photography section of my website.

To view more of the winners along with some feedback on the Life Framer website you can click here!

Photographer Aidan O’Neill is currently in Swaziland for his second visit to raise awareness of HIV. Currently one in every four adults are living with HIV or Aids in Swaziland. Working along side the charity Artaid World they hope to reduce the transmission of HIV through education and awareness, and medical funding.

Swaziland is a small landlocked country in Southern Africa. Each day 700 children are infected with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. In most cases they contract the disease through their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding. Without any treatment almost half of these children will die by the age of 2 years old.

The first cases of HIV and Aids were detected in Swaziland in 1986, and since then the disease has spread rapidly. Swaziland is now no.1 in the world for the disease, and currently just over 26% of the population
are infected.

In Aidan’s own words “No child deserves to be born with HIV”. In order to make his trip a success he still needs greatly needed funds. You can donate or find out more information by clicking here, or using the link below:

https://www.gofundme.com/swazilandmothers

Yes I’m behind the times, but when it comes to mobile phones, I always seem to be one step behind the rest. That is until about 4 years later when someone hands me one they don’t want anymore, as they just upgraded. I guess that I never believe they are that worthwhile when they first come out, and maybe I also hold out hope that I’ll get one cheaper or for free in the future when the new new new one comes out!

Well this is what  happened with the iPhone 4s about 6 months ago. Before this I had never had a good camera on any phone, and would rarely take pictures on my phone. However since receiving my iPhone 4s, I have not looked back, and I use it almost every day!

In combination with an nice little app called Snapseed which pretty much works like a simplified version of Photoshop, I can process my pictures in a similar way to what I would normally do. Some sample shots are below, but if you want to keep up with the latest photo’s from my phone please follow me on Instagram by clicking here! I use it like a visual diary for all things I find interesting and quirky!

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