Should We Change at the Expense of Others?

From a personal perspective, changing ourselves at the expense of others means we are putting ourselves in a position where we are made to change ourselves in order to be socially acceptable to everyone else.

I personally refuse to change myself at the expense of others because I am happy with who I am, what I look like, including how I present myself to other people.

So what, I don’t give a damn if some people don’t accept me just for being myself, at the end of the day, I refuse to let anyone change me so that I can appear acceptable to them.

It’s a messed up world, there’s no other way of describing this world, but at the end of the day, if no one can accept you for who you are, what you look like, including how you present yourself to others, and if they expect you to change yourself at their expense, forget them and just be yourself and never change for anyone.

Never change yourself.

If you feel what I have said here is powerful and eye-opening, please let me know. I would love to know if I inspired you as I want to inspire you all and for you to be yourselves and to never change yourselves at all at the expense of others.

Alex Smithson

The Concept of Expression: Saviyon Thomas & Shaquille Roachford

To kick off my own photography series, titled: “The Concept of Expression”, I have photographed two close friends of mine as I am intending to explore the concept of expression, and how a facial expression can alter or change the mood of a photograph. In this case, the two close friends I have photographed for my own photography series are Saviyon Thomas & Shaquille Roachford.

Just like when I did my Final Major Project when I was at Croydon College, when my Final Major Project was based solely on Facial Expressionism, the photography series: “The Concept of Expression” completely focuses on my own photography work post-college and post-education, and this photography series intends to explore facial expressionism in more detail, as I want to make sure I can cut to what really matters in any facial expression, whether it’s natural or not, and that’s the emotion of that specific facial expression.

After I photographed the beautifully exquisite Amy Winehouse mural which was produced by Bareface in accordance with the RISE Gallery, I decided to photograph both Saviyon Thomas & Shaquille Roachford, and by getting them to do some facial expressions, this helped me to lay the foundations of the photography work I wanted to produce. Some of the expressions that Saviyon & Shaquille made were completely natural and off-guard, though they weren’t aware that I photographed them completely off-guard until I showed them the photographs I took of both of them near the mural, and away from the mural.

Below are the facial expressions that I photographed of Saviyon Thomas.

1 – It’s Good to Be Yourself

2 – Naturally Unaware But Interested

3 – Caught in a Happy Moment

4 – Caught Well & Truly Off Guard

5 – Smile & Be Confident

6 – Always Be Confident

7 – Concentrate Like the World is Your Oyster

8 – Eh, Why Do I Bother?

9 – Caught Off Guard Whilst Excited

10 – Being Professional

11 – It’s All About Being You

Below are the black and white versions of some of the photographs I took of Saviyon, with different captions that I felt worked really well with the selected photos.

The Beauty of Black & White.

Appreciate Black & White.

Appreciate Black & White & Dare to Be Different.

Life is what you truly make it. Just be free and express yourself and always be true to who you are.

Life isn’t just in the details, you have to explore and maintain a full focus in order to understand the true concept of reality. Precision.

Below are the facial expressions that I photographed of Shaquille Roachford.

1 – Just Be Yourself

2 – A Sense of Curiosity or Anger

3 – Is Everything Okay?

4 – Never Change Who You Are

5 – Are You for Real?

6 – Ooh! Time to Get Serious!

Below is a black and white version of one of the photographs I took of Shaquille, with a caption that I felt had a powerful connection with Mental Health.

If your friend is feeling down, it’s always good to be in their corner. Ask them how they are. They’ll thank you for being their friend in need.

Overall, with the photographs I have produced that feature my close friends, Saviyon Thomas & Shaquille Roachford, I am absolutely glad to have finally got the chance to use my own Nikon D3300 DSLR after some time of not being able to use it due to using the Canon DSLR’s at Croydon College.

The photos I changed to black and white, which are present on this website’s Instagram account, received quite a lot of good responses, which stunned me as I have now noticed my photography work is slowly but surely getting noticed, which is what I worked so hard for.

These photographs will be in my E-Folio, so please make sure to visit my E-Folio as I will be updating it more and more over the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more, as I will be photographing a certain someone again very soon who I photographed for my Final Major Project when I was at Croydon College, so I can guarantee you won’t want to miss the next person I am photographing very soon.

Please feel free to submit your response on the photographs I have produced featuring Saviyon Thomas & Shaquille Roachford. I am open to criticism as this will most certainly help me to outline the necessary areas for improvement.

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

Welcome to an All-New Look for Mother Nature! Karuna is Here!

Welcome to the all-new look for Mother Nature! Karuna is here. Motif is gone!

It’s been a long time coming, but I have finally done away with the Motif theme altogether for the Karuna WordPress theme, which is a professional theme that caught my eye.

Having the Motif theme has served me very well over the past two years, given that I have been able to keep a productive look for Mother Nature, but this time, I felt it was right to give this website a much-needed facelift.

As you can now see, the theme is officially live and Motif is gone. I absolutely love the new Karuna theme, and considering the fact WordPress only released this theme for free just a few days ago means that this finally gave me the chance to make Mother Nature breathe a new lease of life, pumped with all-new energy that will make this website more professional and better than ever.

As well as the theme change, I have also made some changes to the menus, and I have also changed the look of the bottom of the page, which means you will still continue to see the Akismet Spam Prevention Widget, including the Social Widget. I have made changes to the arrangements of the menus as I wanted to tidy up the website so that things are easier to get around, which means you’ll now see the Home Menu as the third menu out of the six, considering that the other menus have been placed in Directories and Famous Icons as drop-down menus. The Famous Icons Menu is now the first of the six menus, as I wanted to make sure that some of the menu buttons, even if they slightly go off of the page, are easy to access.

The Famous Icons Menu is now the first of the six menus, as I wanted to make sure that some of the menu buttons, even if they slightly go off of the page, are easier to access.

For the first time, I can now make changes to the header image of this website, and the first header image I have used for this website is the black and white version of one of the colour photos I took and used as the main photo for the article: “The Natural Roots of June“.

Also for the first time, any article you click on will now take centre stage, because when you click on the name of the chosen article, the featured image will fit to the size of your Laptop/PC screen’s resolution, with the article information being placed firmly below the feature image.

I love the Karuna theme, as it’s professional and is also an opportunistic theme for any keen photographers like myself who aim to have a career in photography. The Karuna theme is also the perfect theme for making sure your voice gets heard loud and clear.

If you love the all-new look of Mother Nature now the Karuna theme has gone live on this website, please feel free to let me know by submitting feedback below. All feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Unique.

It is who we are. Being unique and taking control of how we choose to present ourselves to others matters. Being ourselves towards others matter because being yourself is what makes you unique.

The world can see you entirely from a different perspective, which is okay. There is no shame in thinking that, but in the hindsight of things, we shouldn’t need to change the way we want people to see us when they expect us to be seen that way.

We should all be unique to ourselves and never change how we look to suit others. We should all be the way we were supposed to be, and that is, to be ourselves and to never change anything about ourselves, not even for a split second.

Paint a portrait as if it was a picture you were painting of your life. That picture is you. Believing in yourself, being yourself and being unique to yourself is what produces that picture you will have painted. Being yourself is what really matters but being yourself is what makes you unique.

If you feel that this has inspired you in many ways more than one, then please feel free to submit feedback below. Your feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Who’s Excited for the Summer Break?

I’m excited for the Summer Break, given that the long holiday break is not far behind, and although the time has been flying like clockwork, considering that we are already in April, I do feel a sense of relief that Summer is on the horizon. Although I may not be partial to the spells of hot weather, I do love the thought of lovely Summer days where it’s nice and sunny and where it is also absolutely peaceful.

I mainly enjoy the Summer break because of the fact there’s a huge amount of free time available, and it’s useful for me as I love writing articles, so with how productive I’ve been this month, I want to make sure to be as productive like I have in the past few days again in July and also through August.

It’s hard to think how Summer is fast approaching and we are all in Spring. It only felt like yesterday all of us were having to wrap up warm because of the chilly spells of freezing cold weather over the course of the Autumn and Winter seasons, but for this time of year to be Spring, going on Summer, it feels like it can be impossible to keep up with the seasons of change.

Still, at the end of the day, what matters is that we have the right kind of weather and that we all enjoy ourselves whilst all the good weather lasts.

Are you excited for the Summer Break that is coming not far from now? If you’re excited that the Summer Break is just around the corner, then please feel free to submit feedback. All feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Quote of the Day #2

“Only we can redefine how we choose to see the world if we can redefine ourselves for the better.” – Alex Smithson

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+

Do We Live in an Equal & Diverse Society?

Equality & Diversity are just two of the main key factors that make up all the societies in this world. Whether it would be to do with a person’s religious background, sexuality or even how someone chooses to look and appear, both key factors should be taken into consideration no matter what society any of us come from.

Well unfortunately when it comes to reality, both of these key factors share a form of lacklustre in the real world today, as a wide array of societies don’t always accept people just for who they want to be in this world, and our world unfortunately, I’m sorry to say, is not exactly equal and diverse like we hoped it to be.

I’ve always believed that if you fail to accept someone just for who they are, who they choose to be, as well as who they love, including what they look like, it makes you a bad person because it will make you feel better about yourself, when actually it doesn’t, it just shows the world how much of a bad person you really are.

I always believe that we should all be equal and diverse towards one another, because in the real world, parts of the world lack either one or both, because there’s sometimes a lack of equality, where people are treated inequally just because of who they are and how differently they choose to live their own lives.

It’s pretty sad that inequality exists in this world, and the same goes for the lack of diversity in this world as well, because with a lack of equality and diversity in this world, how will we be able to treat one another with respect?

Equality & Diversity are the two key prime examples that make up the large population of people in this world. There’s over 7 billion of us in this world, and only about 3.5 billion of us are in this kind of real world madness. That’s just how I see things from my perspective, and you don’t have to agree if you don’t want to, because that’s how I see my perspective on equality and diversity in this world.

If there was more equality and diversity in this world, then the whole world, and I mean the whole world, as in every single person on this Earth, then all of us would come together, not just to unite, not just to love, but to treat and respect one another for what it’s worth.

I always keep these two key life factors close to my heart, because I’d rather be equal and diverse towards everyone and treat everyone with respect and accept everyone rather than be the complete opposite.

At the end of the day, the more equal and diverse all societies are, the better this world becomes, and the more equal and diverse everyone in the world becomes, the better the place that this world becomes.

If there was more equality and diversity in this world, the whole world would be a much better place than it is now.

Only we can make that change, and it’s time to make a change, to make a difference, but most importantly, to be equal and diverse towards each other, because only we can make the world a better place by starting now.

If you felt inspired by this article, then please feel free to feedback your thoughts. Your feedback is absolutely appreciated and I hope this sends inspiration your way.

Alex Smithson

Procrastination: How Does Holding Back Affect Your Chances of Living?

In life, we can procrastinate over even some of the smallest or biggest things, as we sometimes tend to hold things back that will, over time, leave us in a near-sticky situation that we may or may not be able to get ourselves out of. For instance, you get given a piece of work that you’ve been asked to complete within a specific time scale, and by not doing that specific piece of work, whether it would be exam-based or not, it can cause you to procrastinate and can then throw you into a panic, because you may have left something to chance which you will or may have left to the last minute.

In the last few years, I did, about 50% of the time procrastinate over pieces of homework that I was given to do, especially when it came to certain pieces of work that I would be required to do whilst in my lessons, and I will not deny this, but I did often leave my work to the last minute, which threw me into a panic, and would often stress me out, but because I procrastinated over the work I did, which threw me into a state of panic and stress, I did also notice that it had put a noticeable drain on my energy.

However, all that was set to change, because after it came to my final year of school, I didn’t want to put myself in the position where I would hold back on the work I would do, so I had made sure to kick it where it really hurts and I had managed to use all of the energy to study extra hard, and to make sure that I could get to where I wanted to be, and two years down the line, I passed my UAL Level 2 Diploma Art & Design Course with a Merit at Croydon College, and with the UAL Level 3 Diploma Film & Photography Course that I’m currently on, I’ve passed most of the units in the first year of this two-year course, and I’m on track to get either a Merit or Distinction by the end of the first year of this two-year course, because I’ve kept all up-to-date on my work and not fallen behind once.

My life experiences over the course of my first year at Croydon College really taught me a lot, but last year gave me the much-needed kick up the backside that I really needed, and since September, I’ve been on top of everything, with more free time available on my hands as a result. Not procrastinating anymore has actually helped me, because I’ve been able to use all of the available free time to write articles, play games and even watch programmes on the TV, something of which I didn’t get to do much of over the course of last year.

At the end of the day, I’ve learned something vital and important about life, and that is to never procrastinate and never hold anything back, as I know that holding back will affect my chances of living, but I have also learned the most important, yet crucial detail of life, and that is to stay as active as possible and to use the free time I have to really do something that will keep me occupied.

I always like to keep myself occupied now at everything I do, as I hate the thought of not doing anything, because being occupied keeps me active, and also prevents me from procrastinating over even the smallest thing.

At the end of the day, staying occupied at anything keeps you in the loop, but most of all, it can help to stop you from holding back over what could be affecting your chances of living.

Below is a quote I made:

“If you don’t procrastinate over the smallest thing and you keep yourself occupied at anything you do, then you will find your life gets better the more you stay active and in the loop. Always believe in yourself and realise that the less you procrastinate, and the more you work hard at what you do, the better you become. Realise your potential, and start working hard now, because it will all pay off in the end, but most of all, be yourself.” – Alex Smithson

In conclusion, I always believe if you don’t hold back what affects your chances of living, and the more you work hard and the better you become, the quicker you’ll realise how better your life becomes.

I’ll leave you with 5 questions:

1. Have you ever procrastinated at certain times of your life?
2. Have you ever held things back that have affected your chances of living?
3. How did you overcome it?
4. What made you change?
5. Most of all, how do you feel now you’ve made that all important change?

Please feel free to feedback your answers below in the comments.

Your feedback is much appreciated :-).

Alex Smithson

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