Oh my...

 {All images taken by Andrew Millar and used with his permission, 

to see the individual photos on Flickr, click on an image}

Sometimes I stumble upon photos on Flickr that truly take my breath away... and these photos by Andrew Millar taken with the newer Impossible Project films and a SX-70 have done just that.

The colours, tones, light and subject matter in these are just stunning and I always have a weakness for photos of horses and silhouettes. But it's the top right photo that's my favourite and it alone makes me want to try even harder to populate my photos and to capture the lovely little moments of interaction between people. 

To see more of Andrew's photos, check out his Flickr photostream (I highly recommend it) or his Facebook page - you won't be disappointed.

'Why do you shoot film?' blog series...

Yesterday Shokoofeh posted about a blog series that she was taking part in... and as soon as I saw it, I honestly couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it before.

Astrid from Hei Astrid has the most amazing collection of over 60 photographers taking part in her blog series
'Why do you shoot film?'

With each photographer giving their reasons with a supporting photo and I am completely smitten.

Here are a few of my favourite photos and quotes from the series so far. I still haven't looked through them all yet...

{Click on the individual photos to go to the flickr page or blog of each photographer}

I can relate to every single photographer and I love how film affects everyone differently!

Wouldn't these make the most amazing book?

See more of Astrid's series here.

A roll a week!

Do you ever see something that is such an amazing idea and

wish you had thought of it yourself?!

The lovely Amy from No. 15, who took the most amazing photos for the photo swap has started a blog featuring one roll of film a week
how fantastic is that?!

(and how had I not seen this sooner, shes already at week 6!)

Check out A Roll a Week - I can't wait to see more of her photos!

Um... wow!!!

I can't get over how beautiful Becca's photos are that she sent to Melissa as part of the photoswap!

and Carly's photos that she sent to Paulina are so perfect as well,

I love the tone and I can't get enough of them!

For more check out the flickr group - there are 160 images in there now (woo!)

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the swap to be so sucessful and inspiring, so all I can say is thank you so much!

p.s. seriously you guys - I need to make a book or something, not just one post - these photos are amazing!!!

Wish I may...

I love Susannah's blog Ink on my Fingers and when I saw this beautiful wishlist I knew I had to make one too...

{Holga photo taken by Me at Wells beach}

Here are a few of my wishes on 09-09-09 -"a day for wishing."

I wish for mine, my family and my Boyfriend's happiness. I wish to travel the world. I wish to continously love. I wish to be unafraid of change. I wish to find the perfect job for me - even if it is not what I expect or think it will be. I wish to have a vintage camera and the mini diana camera. I wish I had more self control when it comes to chocolate. I wish that I will have a garden sooner rather than later. I wish for a home near the beach. I wish for macaroons in Paris. I wish for jeans that never rip at the thighs. I wish I was brave enough to commit to one thing that I love doing completely and go with it, where ever it may take me...

One Day...

[via WeHeartIt]

I saw this lovely post on That Unreliable Girl and felt inspired. I do love to make lists!

One Day...

... I will have the cutest puppy in the world

... and I will take lots of pictures of it

... I will have a garden to grow vegetables and fruit in

... I will be brave enough to wear skirts everytime the weather is nice

(which admittedly is rare in England...)

... I will find a job that truly makes me happy

... I will live near the beach

But today...

... I just want to look at lots of amazing pictures* and look forward to all the fun things that we are going to be doing in the next few months!

*Such an amazing spotlight of photographers series!

More photos of Birmingham...

I really like Birmingham - it has a certain charm. There are lots of lovely areas, like the Bullring and around the museum but it was the more run down area of Digbeth that really captured me. We took a wrong turn on Saturday and found ourselves wandering away from the main road around the mostly run down and abandoned industrial buildings.

I watched a programme on TV about a photographer a few weeks ago* and this area reminded me of his work and his attitude. He said (this is from memory, sorry if it's not completely right)

"I was told once to take pictures of the beautiful things around me... and I said, there are no beautiful things around me... and the person responded, well take pictures of the ugly things then. So I did."

I love how taking a picture of something can turn something considered ugly into something really quite beautiful!

*UPDATE: The photographer was William Eggleston, I couldn't find exactly what he said - but I did find this quote - I think its something I might aim to do!

"'I only ever take one picture of one thing. Literally. Never two. So then that picture is taken and then the next one is waiting somewhere else."

Caught in the rain...

This morning I got caught in the rain without an umbrella... and to make it worse my bus was late and I got wet feet - theres nothing worse than cold, soggy feet.

Rather than feel too sorry for myself I decided to cheer myself up by looking at some pretty pictures on Flickr - I wish I had had my Holga with me now... oh well :)

1. paris in the the rain, 2. Millennium Bridge, London 2004. Rain., 3. --> the beauty of the holga, 4. Artist in the Rain, 5. Rainy HOLGA #2, 6. Holga B/W, 7. Rain Check, 8. rain, 9. hawaii rain, 10. After it rained., 11. Rainy HOLGA #3, 12. rainy day

p.s. Isn't it great how blogging can turn a negative into a plus? Also I think its quite fitting all the photos were in black and white...

Toy Camera Love...

1. graffiti at glasto, 2. Untitled, 3. butterfly, 4. whiteknights lake, 5. tree, 6. chairs

My Holga is in England! Unfortunately its still at the Post Office as it can't fit through my letterbox (no surprise really) so I have to wait until Saturday for it to be redelivered... I'm not sure I cant wait that long, eep!

So... to distract me until the weekend I found these gorgeous photos on flickr taken by plasticniki with a Vivitar Ultra wide and slim 35mm camera.

I think I can see a new obsession with toy 35mm film cameras forming! I love!

10 things to do before 2010...

I saw this by Jessica at The Pink Needle and thought it was a great idea... oh I do love a good list :)

1. Go to the cinema and see Up! Everyone is talking about how great it is and its not out over here yet.... boo!
2. Visit Wales (I've never been before, I'm very excited)
3. Get a holga camera (again very excited)
4. Buy boyfriend an amazing birthday present - his birthday was in April, oops.
5. Do another Pay it Forward thing (or maybe a swap) its so much fun!!
6. Get some yellow tights - I keep going on about them and I still haven't found a pair
7. Learn how to use a sewing machine (and perhaps even buy one first) I want to try this...
8. Read the books that are piled on my bookcase which I haven't read yet
9. Bake my own chocolate French Macarons, yum
10. Make something in a slow cooker - but what to make..?

I think the rest of the year is going to be great, yeay!

Back from mini hol and inspired!

I'll be honest - I've missed you and thought about you all weekend - so much so that I am blogging on my boyfriends computer on my holiday and he knows! (I hid my blog from him for a bit - I was worried he would laugh at me...)

"Have you ever seen someone wear something and it looks so utterly fabulous on them that
you simply must try it for yourself?" Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere

So I have totally fallen in love with Rockstar Diaries and I will unashamedly admit that
I heart her red lipstick and following Emily's post/dedication about red lipstick
I decided I had to try it!

First I went to Mac hoping that they would have a red version of the Petting Pink Lip Conditioner that one of my best friends brought me for christmas (I love her!). Unfortunately they only had Gentle Coral which was a bit orangey for my liking.

A bit scared of a full lipstick I popped to a Benefit counter in search of Benetint - a product that I have tried before and did love - especially as it can be used as a blusher too - cute! Unfortunately this was well over my budget - I limited £10 and it was £22.50.

Finally I went to B remembering that they had really gorgeous lip cremes and glosses. I was very very tempted by the B Cause Lip Creme - yet it was still a bit dark and intimidating. Then the lady in the spot showed me the jackpot! A lip stain similar to Benetint, yet Vegan and only £12 - bargain! How cute is Mistress's Lipstain and its totally worth the £2 over my budget just for the cute pot it comes in... yeay!