Nature is Beautiful.

Nature is absolutely beautiful. The Spring weather continues to amaze us and with a small breeze in the air with the lovely sunny weather, it’s safe to say that this weather is beautiful and that nature is also beautiful.

I used the Camera+ app to photograph the Rose Bush again, and then I made some small edits to this photograph to give the rose-bush more of a friendly approach so that it rings true to the lovely and traditional Spring weather.

Do you love the Spring weather? I’d love to know. Please feel free to comment below. I would love to hear what you think of this wonderful weather :-).

Alex Smithson

CROYDON / FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 2017

Last Friday, considering we have had such lovely sunny weather lately, I ceased the opportunity to photograph Croydon from different perspectives that I felt stood out the most, and I used the traditional Camera app that comes pre-installed with all versions of iOS.

The weather has been absolutely peaceful lately, and it’s good to see that the weather is finally looking up and it is most certainly shaping up to make the two-week holiday as relaxing and as peaceful as ever!

Below are the photographs I have produced, including two of the same photos that have notable edits.

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Which photography hotspots interest you the most? Please let me know. I would love to hear which photography hotspots interest you the most.

Alex Smithson

Insecurities: How Do They Define Us As People?

“We are beautiful, no matter what they say. Words won’t bring us down.” – Christina Aguilera – Track: Beautiful

Insecurities are what make us the people we are. So what if we were born imperfect. So what if we were born different. So what if we were born imperfect. We should realise that we are all beautiful no matter what anyone says or thinks about us.

Insecurities define us all as the people we are. It’s perfectly acceptable and perfectly normal to be different, because we are all beautiful. We are all different. So what if anyone judges you, they’re insecure themselves but you should never feel the same way as they do. They just don’t realise how insecure they are themselves.

We were born with a purpose, and that was to never change a single thing about ourselves. We were born to never let anyone’s words bring us down. We were born to never let judgement define us as people. But most of all, we were born to never judge others for who they are.

We were born to be ourselves and to never let anyone make us insecure no matter what they would say or do, including what they may have already said and did.

I will conclude by saying this. Never let anyone’s words bring you down. Never let anyone make you feel insecure and never let anyone make you feel that you’re something that you are not when they’re insecure themselves. Always realise you are beautiful in every single way, and never change who you are or what you look like to suit others. Be yourself and never change for anyone, that’s all that matters.

Alex Smithson

It’s a Beautiful Day.

Lovely Summer weather today.

Here is the downloadable version of the photo. Please feel free to download and use as your Laptop / PC screensaver, and also please feel free to use this photo as a mobile wallpaper or as a wallpaper for a gaming console.

Original Version

Edited Version (as seen in featured image).

Have you all got this lovely Summer weather where you are? Please feel free to submit feedback.

Alex Smithson

Photo Moment: Wednesday 20th April 2016 – The Bold, Bright & Beautiful Weather of Croydon

As I had the opportunity to take some photographs for my Final Major Project, I headed to the 96 George Street Building opposite Croydon College to snap this photo from the viewpoint space that was free for use.

Below is the photograph that I took on Wednesday 20th April 2016, including the details of the photograph, such as the exposure, white balance, including the F Number etc.

The Bold, Bright & Beautiful Weather of Croydon

Photo Details:

Dimensions: 5184 x 3456
Device Make: Canon
Device Model: Canon EOS 1200D
Colour Space: RGB / sRGB
Focal Length: 18 mm
Red Eye: No
F Number: 5.6
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority
Exposure Bias: 0-Step
Exposure Time: 1/500
Bit Depth: 24
Resolution Unit: 2
ISO Speed: ISO-100
Flash Mode: No Flash, Compulsory
Metering Mode: Pattern
White Balance: Manual
EXIF Version: 0230
Date of Photograph Taken: Wednesday 20th April 2016
Time of Photograph Produced: 12:51 PM

Below is the same photograph in its full Black & White Glory:

The Bold, Bright & Beautiful Weather of Croydon (Black & White)

Overall, I feel pleased with the final result I got from this photograph, and I’m hoping I can produce some more photos like this over the coming weeks.

If you enjoyed this Photo Moment article, please feel free to submit feedback. All feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Related articles

• A Bright & Peaceful Spring!

A Bright & Beautiful Good Friday!

As today is Good Friday, I thought it would be a great idea to take this photo of the lovely weather.

Good Friday Weather

It’s amazing how the relaxing Spring Weather is back, which has been something we have all wanted for a while. It just feels so refreshing that we get that kind of weather where it’s just right and where it’s just spot-on.

Today has been quite a lovely day, and I really hope this good weather continues.

I wanted to keep this little photo article short as I wanted to relax a little bit just for a change, considering all of the hard work I’ve been producing for my film and photography course most recently.

What have you been getting up to this Good Friday? I’d love to know what all of you have been doing today in this lovely weather .

Also, just wanted to say:

HAPPY EASTER ☺!!!

Alex Smithson

Recommended app that I used to take this photograph: Camera+

A Bright, Beautiful & Joyful Day in the Borough of Croydon.

As we had relatively mild but refreshing Spring weather in Croydon over the course of yesterday, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity during my lunch break to get a large number of photos whilst I had the free time available.

Luckily, because there was not a spot of bad weather at all, I did find taking these photographs a lot better than how I would normally take them when there’s bad weather, but I did take some dangerous risks in taking photos while standing on the pavement between the bus routes and the tram lines, as I was making sure to take the photos while there was no form of transport coming from either direction. Don’t worry, I was being extremely cautious of my surroundings, so I did make sure to keep an eye out for my own safety.

Original

Edited Version

I was lucky I had plenty of free time on my hands during my lunch break, as I wanted to get some more photos in of Croydon, but this time focusing on the parts of Croydon that I haven’t had a chance to photograph properly before.

These photographs which I took with the Camera+ app (Recommended) is just an insight of the kind of photography skills I am currently learning to put to good use considering I’m studying on the UAL (University of the Arts London) Level 3 Diploma Film & Photography Course at Croydon College.

In the first two weeks back at college, I’ve already completed the filming of my final stop-frame animation film (using two sock puppets and some building blocks), as I’ve shot 100 photos for my film, and yesterday, I was using the Ultra Key (Chroma Key) in Adobe Premiere at Croydon College to get rid of the green screen in all of the photos I took, as I would be using one of the Natural History Museum photos I took as a backdrop for my film, given that my film is based around depression, as the concept of my film focuses on a teacher who is on the edge after receiving the sack from his job, though the character I’ve made, who is the teacher that is depressed, bumps into someone who helps him to turn his life around and to get him back on his feet.

I’m hoping, if it’s possible over next week, to get the film finished, and then possibly publish it in full on YouTube, so that I can embed the video in another article. The video has been a lot of hard work, but hopefully I’ll be able to finish it, and then publish it.

But back to the subject of things, I thought yesterday was a lovely day, considering that it was relatively mild, but nice and sunny as well, and I hope to get out more during this year by going places to get some more photos, which I can hopefully publish on here.

If you enjoyed viewing the photos I took and added to this article, please feel free to feedback your thoughts on this article, including the photos I took. Your feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Croydon in Broad Daylight

During the course of yesterday, and just before my 367 bus arrived today, I took some photos of Croydon again, but this time in broad daylight, and because I took these photos in broad daylight, this was the perfect opportunity for me to get these photos in before I headed home from college.

I was really pleased with one of the photos I took though, because I was able to get the photo of the area of Croydon that I’ve been wanting to get for quite a while now, and because there were no trams or buses going past, I was able to get the photo exactly how I wanted it to look.

I’ve taken these photos as I wanted to show the beauty of Croydon, as well as to how quiet it can be at times when there is not as much traffic on the road.

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Again, I took these photos with the Camera+ app, which I strongly recommend you all get if you’re someone who likes to get a good photo, whether it would be something photography-based or not, and believe me, you won’t be disappointed if you switch to Camera+, it is that good to use, and you can adjust and change certain elements of how you want to take a photo before you take it, which is something that the traditional standard Camera app doesn’t have.

Please feel free to feedback what you thought of the photos I took in and around Croydon yesterday and today in the comments below. Your feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

A Look Back on Last Year’s London 2012 Paralympic Games

Going to the London 2012 Paralympic Games last year was one of the best, treasurable moments, I loved the opportunity of going, and every minute and second of the Paralympic Games were truly valued. I absolutely loved the experience of going into the Olympic Stadium and seeing the paralympians play for myself.

I was shocked by how big it was inside the Olympic Stadium, it was MASSIVE!!! Everywhere around the Olympic Stadium I viewed made my view of the stadium feel panoramic, and for the day to be nice and sunny, the weather was perfect, and the whole day was absolutely beautiful.

I loved taking an opportunity of a lifetime, and this is a day I will always treasure for the rest of my life.

These were the photos I took at the London 2012 Paralympic Games on 6th September 2012, 3 days before the Paralympic Games drew to a close. I also merged these 2 photos together to create the panorama below:

This panorama contains 2 photos in 1, merged together and forms a full, clear view of what the inside of the Olympic Stadium really looks like. I noticed after merging these 2 photos that the woman who was going to sit down turned into a ghost figure, which to begin with was kind of creepy, but then I got used to it.

Thank you for reading this blog post. If you went to the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, then I guarantee you this blog post will be a massive treasure to you for the rest of your life…again, thanks for reading!!!

-Alex Smithson

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• 16 Inspiring Photos From The London Paralympics (buzzfeed.com)

The Beautiful Sunset of Whitstable Beach, Kent.

My auntie took these photos of the beautiful sunset 3 years back, but just by looking at these photos the sunset is absolutely beautiful, no matter what the angle. The reflection of the sunset shines down on the sea and gives off a sparkle, bouncing the reflection of the sunset off the sea.

The tide in most of the photos have gone out perfectly, forming a near-silhouetted landscape, leaving behind it trails of dirt, seaweed and rocks. The sunset up close hides itself behind the clouds, lighting up the cloudy sky.

The sunset in the centre of the photo makes the whole concept of the photo beautiful, as it is in full focus, perfectly in centre, and also shines down on the ground, directing a ray of sunlight onto the sea. This photo was perfect, as the sunset captured land at its darkest, and also darkened what looked like a building underneath it.

In the background on a few of the photos, you can see the boats are left from where the owners of the boats have left them after a days use. The sunset in these photos are out of this world, as the sunset close-up darkens almost the whole sky around it, as you can see one part of the sunset up close is a bright red-pink colour and that the other part of the sunset is a bold, vivid and bright yellow sun.

Overall, I thought the outcome of these photos that my auntie took were fantastic, the photography is beautiful, and I wanted to share these sunset photos to the world.

Tomorrow, I will upload a video of the sunset photos to YouTube, and I’ll also make the video available to watch from this blog via a new blog post.

Thank you for reading this post. I really appreciated the time you took to read about the beautiful sunset of Whitstable Beach, Kent.

Alex Smithson (asterisk15)