'yay' by karahaupt

yay, a photo by karahaupt on Flickr.

I seriously seem to spend my life tidying up. Just as I think I am on top of it all the house just gets messy all over again. Sometimes I wish I could take everything out of the house and start again from scratch with brand new furniture which included fantastic storage. I'd also like to find places for things like in this photo. Books and cameras are two of my favourite things so how lovely would it be to have a cute display like this?

'Werra' by HaN2T

Werra, a photo by HaN2T on Flickr.

I must apologise to my little blog for neglecting it this past month. Unfortunately, I've just not had the time to spend on it. Well I say unfortunately but it's not exactly been terrible using the time looking after and getting to know my new baby boy. I do miss blogging though so now it's June I am going to make sure I post more. I hope you'll still be visiting.

Here is a lovely image to start the month with. Also here in the UK we're about to have a super long Bank Holiday weekend so another reason to celebrate with a pretty photo. And a camera and flowers, what's not to love!

'Been using my polaroid' by Me

Been using my polaroid, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

As predicted we had a lovely lazy day at home today. Also as I predicted the little one was super excited about the snow and couldn't wait to get out there to play. I didn't actually take many photos today as quite frankly we were too busy throwing snowballs and despite my protests, being pregnant didn't stop hubby and daughter throwing lots of them at me too!

I feel I should share one photo I took from today though so here it is. This picture is proof that I do use my new polaroid camera even though I've not shared any of the photos on here yet. Hopefully I'll have something I really want to show you soon.

'My new toy' by Me

My new toy, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I've been having lots of fun this week playing with my new camera. I've been after a decent instant camera for a while and for me it really had to be Polaroid. As well as actually using it to take photos I thought it would be nice to use it as a subject for a photo. I took a few against a wall indoors but they weren't particularly impressive. Then this afternoon I noticed beautiful sunlight shining through my bedroom window and I could see the perfect picture in my head. This is the result and I think it actually came out better than I imagined. It needed no processing afterwards as all the conditions were just perfect. The only thing I did do was make it black and white as it was pretty much black and white anyway. This just made it that little bit more striking. Hope you like it!

'love' by rhirhian

love, originally uploaded by rhirhian.

I'm thinking about trying something new photographically and am currently toying with the idea of getting an instant Polaroid camera. I just like the idea of getting a print instantly and I like that retro feel you get from a polaroid. And the pressure of basically having only one chance to get it right could be an interesting challenge too. I'm now so used to digital cameras and being able to snap away until I think I've got something half decent. I also like the idea of being about to display the photos in intresting ways like in the photo above. I'd definitely like to try hanging some up with pegs like this. I really love the polaroid shots in this picture too - especially the first one of the new york cabs.

So.... can anyone advise me? I know nothing about Polaroid and instant cameras. Is it a worthy investment? What type should I go for? Is the film still readily available? Help!

'Mellow yellow' by Andrew Areoff

Mellow yellow, originally uploaded by Andrew Areoff.

I love my mobile phone. It does all the phone and and internet type stuff I need it to do and it looks rather smart too. I've never really fancied an iPhone.... execept for the camera. The more I see pictures taken on one the more I want one. I love all the effects and ways of photo sharing. This is a fantastic example of why I love iPhone photography. The effect, how ever it's done, is really cool. And I love the angle and the colours. Now as I have no intention of actually getting an iPhone I am wondering whether there are any cool iPhone like cameras out there.

'My marvelous minolta.' by Sarah{Jane}

My marvelous minolta., originally uploaded by Sarah{Jane}.

When I saw this gorgeous photo I was instantly inspired. It makes me want to go outside and take wintery photos. The light in this makes me think it was a cold but beautiful day. But I mainly was inspired by the combination of gloves and camera. You see I bought a pair of fingerless gloves a few weeks ago simply because they were cute and cheap! However, I didn't really know when I'd wear them. I always get cold fingers why would I want them exposed? Then this photo made me realise that fingerless gloves are for taking photos in. Why, oh why, didn't I realise this sooner? I'd always been taking my gloves off or trying to fiddle around with the camera with my fingers all covered up. Right, I just need to go and find the gloves now! I wonder where I put them.

'Sylvania Magicubes' by Rody Hohberg

Sylvania Magicubes, originally uploaded by Rody Hohberg.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you about my first camera. I think I must have been my 10th birthday when I got my disc camera. If you don't know what I'm talking about have a look here. My first photos included my family, my toys and various school trips. All are rather blurry and grainy although I suspect that might have as much to do with the quality fo the camera as my photographic skills. The camera took a film that had just 15 exposures on it. When you compare it to the thousands of pictures I take now I'm not sure how I coped. And what was even more annoying was the flash. There wasn't a flash attached to the camera, oh no that would have been far too simple, you had to buy flash cubes which were attached to top of camera. Once you took a photo using a flash then that flash was dead therefore one flash cube meant just four photos. When taking a photo you had to decide whether you really needed it to be lit up or not. You can tell by some of my very dark photos that there were many times I had either run out of flash cubes or decided not to use one.

This photo brings back so many memories. These are the same flash cubes I used to use on my little disc camera. I wonder why this photographer had some lying around that he could photograph. The photo is great. I love the simplicity. I wouldn't have thought there was much you could do with flash cubes to make them look interesting but I really like how they've been arranged.

So tell me, what was your first camera?

'il peso della valigia' by JoX1989

il peso della valigia, originally uploaded by JoX1989.

Since I posted my photo of windows in Paris a couple of days ago I've been thinking about travelling and photography a lot. Thinking about all the different places in the world I've been and wondering what those trips would be like if I took them now with my photographer head on. My husband and I used to travel abroad quite a lot but I've not used my passport since my daughter was born. Hopefully we'll all jet off somewhere soon and give my little girl her first foreign holiday.

Anyway, I saw this photo and thought it would illustrate this post perfectly. To me it looks like someone has just arrived in their hotel thrown their luggage on the bed and is getting ready to explore the town! I love the colours as well. Gives the who photo a rather vintage feel.

'An afternoon at the beach hut' by lissyloola

An afternoon at the beach hut, originally uploaded by lissyloola.

Beach huts never fail to make me smile. I love the colours of course but I also love what they represent. They are just small spaces that are exclusively used for chilling out in front of the sea. That is just the most wonderful thing! I want one!!!

I love this photo because it really captures what I've been trying to say above. It's so laid back and relaxed and I especially like the fact that the woman has a camera sitting on the chair - just in case!! I never like to have a camera too far away from me either. You just never know when something will need photographing and when sitting on the beach that could happen quite a lot.

'A perfect combination' by Me

A perfect combination, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

I bought some flowers today. I have decided that I am going to buy flowers for my home every week. They brighten up the house so much and it means I'll always have something pretty to photograph. They don't even have to be expensive. The bunch I got today was rather small and sad looking. In fact the shop assistant wasn't going to sell them to me as they were passed their 'display until' date! In the end the manager sold them to me for 50p. So glad I got them as this is one of the photos I took. There is another photo I really like but can't decide which one I prefer. The other one is here - what do you think?