Tag: Happy

The Concept of Expression: Samuel Cato

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2018, Alex Smithson, DSLR, Headshot Photographs, Headshots, March, Mental Health Awareness, Mother Nature, NIKKOR, Nikon, Nikon D3300, Photography, Photography Series: The Concept of Expression, Samuel Cato, The Concept of Expression

Following the first photography article I did after the beginning of 2018, which featured my close friend, Wesley Baker (CDN), I have now photographed my close friend who I’ve known since secondary school, Samuel Cato.

Despite the odd spot of rain, mild warmth and a hint of sunny weather, I was able to travel to Sydenham to photograph Sam for this photography series, and I was able to get him to express himself freely as I believe in the idea of being able to express yourself free from judgment, but where he could express himself without conforming to society’s needs, beliefs and expectations, and that getting him to express himself will always be about being equal and diverse without any forms of judgment.

Below are all of the photographs I took yesterday of my close friend, Samuel Cato.

Casual
Oh Yeah!
You Got It!
The Future is Looking Bright!
Who’s That?
Yeah Man!
Focus on Reality & Not the Expectations!
Always Be Yourself. Never Conform to Society’s Expectations.
That Looks Interesting!
You’ve Got It!
Composed & Content.
What The? Are You Serious?
Observe Life & The Details.
Stop! You’re Going to Make Me Laugh!
Happy!
Feeling Down.
Where There’s Desire, There’s a Flame!
Think Positive!
Content.
Depressed.
Oh Hello!
Thinking of the Next Step.
Life Isn’t Easy at the Moment.
Casual Relaxation.
Chilled.
Concentration.
Precision.
Damn!
Be Relentless!
Just Act Casually.
Unhappy.
What is Life?
Think of Life Like a Cigarette.
You’re Making Me Laugh!
Feeling Upset.

I am so pleased with the end result given that the days are getting brighter and are staying brighter for longer, as the lighting conditions improved and it was nice and sunny after a small spot of rain, but I am really blown away by the end result of these photographs. Of course, I acknowledge the photos may look grainy, but that’s because I wanted to try and capture the essence of the early Spring weather before Spring really kicks in once the Winter season ends.

If there are any improvements you feel I could make, please tell me in the comments, as your feedback will help me improve my photography skills in the future.

Also, if you enjoyed this photo-set, please share this article around with anyone you know.

Alex Smithson

DSLR Used: Nikon D3300

Lens Used: NIKKOR 18 – 55 mm Lens

Date of Photo-Set Produced: Tuesday 6th March 2018

Welcome to January!

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2018, Alex Smithson, Croydon, Croydon College, January, Life, Life Experiences, Mother Nature

Welcome to 2018! Happy New Year Everyone!

Now that 2017 has finally closed its doors, 2018 opens with a bright, busy and fresh year ahead.

Things will be changing now. As I will be working a lot more, please expect to notice I will be publishing now and then over the course of this year, as I will be focusing a lot more now on my full-time job instead of publishing articles as often as I used to. I’ll still be publishing articles now and then and I will be making sure to produce more photography work this year whilst I work in my job, but I shall be prioritising my job a lot more over writing and publishing articles.

Mother Nature continues to be equal and diverse, and to make a change, Mother Nature goes green as of today as this website is going to be more about photography, as photography, to me, is an initiative of creativity, not just naturistic, but is about being able to explore the core aspects of what photography is all about, as well as the beauty of photographs and how each photograph doesn’t just tell a story, but explores the story of that photograph a lot more in-depth, whether it’s about nature, or whether it’s about close-up photography or anything else that involves landscape and portrait photography. To put it quite simply, in other words, photography isn’t just an initiative of creativity, but is about a freedom of expression in what you can see in a photograph that no-one else may be able to see the first time.

2018 sure is going to be an exciting year full of new challenges and projects but I will be making sure to continue working on my photography series, The Concept of Expression, over the course of this year, so today is where the hard work will now really begin!

Happy New Year Everyone and Welcome to 2018!

Alex Smithson

Should We Change at the Expense of Others?

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2017, Alex Smithson, August, Mother Nature

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

Headshot #4 / Facial Expressionism / Final Major Project / Oli Regan

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2017, Alex Smithson, April, College, Croydon, Croydon College, E-FOLIO, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), Mother Nature, Oli Regan, Photography, UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma Film & Photography, WordFoto

Following on from the research I have done so far on the photographers, Fazal Sheikh, Irving Penn and Thomas Ruff, the third subject I am honoured to have photographed for my Final Major Project is the famous actor and Mental Health Awareness Campaigner, Oli Regan.

For these headshot photographs, I experimented with a black backdrop so that the facial expressions I asked Oli to make would give the emotion from the facial expressions he made more emphasis and more depth.

After I photographed Oli with the black backdrop, I then opted to try out a red backdrop, so that I could capture some of the facial expressions again, but this time, I wanted to try and photograph Oli like as if I photographed him for a magazine cover photoshoot.

Canon EOS 1200D / Black Backdrop

Normal (1)
Normal (2)
Thinking (3)
Unhappy (4)
Surprised (5)
Concentrated (6)
Angry (7)
Angry (8)
Excited (9)
Interested (10)
Confused (11)
Furious (12)
Disgusted (13)

Canon EOS 1200D / Red Backdrop

Normal (Test Run with Tungsten Light)
Normal (1)
Normal (2)
Normal (3)
Normal (4)
Normal (5)
Normal (6)
Thinking / Interested (7)
Unhappy (8)
Surprised (9)
Concentrated (10)
Angry (11)
Excited (12)
Confused (13)
Furious (14)
Happy (15)

WordFoto Edits (Black Backdrop)

Normal (1)
Normal (2)
Thinking (3)
Unhappy (4)
Surprised (5)
Concentrated (6)
Angry (7)
Angry (8)
Excited (9)
Interested (10)
Confused (11)
Furious (12)
Disgusted (13)

WordFoto Edits (Red Backdrop)

Normal (Test Run with Tungsten Light)
Normal (1)
Normal (2)
Normal (3)
Normal (4)
Normal (5)
Normal (6)
Thinking / Interested (7)
Unhappy (8)
Surprised (9)
Concentrated (10)
Angry (11)
Excited (12)
Confused (13)
Furious (14)
Happy (15)

Black & White Edits (Black & Red Backdrops)

Normal (1)
Normal (2)
Thinking (3)
Unhappy (4)
Surprised (5)
Concentrated (6)
Angry (7)
Angry (8)
Excited (9)
Interested (10)
Confused (11)
Furious (12)
Disgusted (13)
Normal (Test Run with Tungsten Light) [14]
Normal (15)
Normal (16)
Normal (17)
Normal (18)
Normal (19)
Normal (20)
Thinking / Interested (21)
Unhappy (22)
Surprised (23)
Concentrated (24)
Angry (25)
Excited (26)
Confused (27)
Furious (28)
Happy (29)

Overall, I am so pleased with the end result that has come out of these photographs I have produced and experimenting with a red backdrop has actually helped me to produce better photographs alongside the black backdrop, but it is an absolute pleasure to have worked with Oli Regan and I am absolutely honoured to have photographed him. Oli Regan is such a lovely and down-to-earth guy and you would be absolutely honoured to work with him.

These photographs I have produced will help me to develop my photography skills further and will most certainly inform the creative work, research and headshot photographs I have already produced.

The Headshot #4 photographs I have taken of my close friend, Oli Regan, including the edited versions of these photographs that I produced in WordFoto and GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) can be found in my E-Folio.

I would most certainly love to get your feedback on these photographs and please let me know what improvements I can make for when I produce more Facial Expressionism headshot photographs for next time. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Alex Smithson

CROYDON / FRIDAY 31ST MARCH 2017

by Alex Smithson, posted in Alex Smithson, Croydon, Life, Life Experiences, Mother Nature, Photo Collection, Photograph, Photographic Collection, Photographic Collections, Photography

Today, as part of the photographic collection of Croydon I produced last week and published yesterday, I continued to develop my photography skills further with the pre-installed Camera app, and as today was such a wonderful, lovely, peaceful and happy day, I couldn’t resist producing an up-to-date collection of photographs of Croydon. For this photographic collection of Croydon, I wanted to make sure that the beauty and essence of Croydon were captured in these photographs, considering that on a sunny and beautiful day like today, Croydon is vibrant, colourful, bold and bursting with life.

Shown below are the most current photographs of Croydon that I produced today.

What a better way to end March! For once, the weather has been lovely for a change and right at the end of the month too. It’s safe to say I was not at all disappointed with the way this photographic collection turned out and I am so happy with the final end result I have managed to achieve from this photographic collection.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this photographic collection I have produced of Croydon. All feedback is much appreciated.

Alex Smithson

Mother Nature Marks its 3rd Anniversary!

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2016, Alex Smithson, Anniversary, Celebration, College, Croydon, Croydon College, Diversity, June, WordPress

3 years ago today, Mother Nature started up as Photography – Nature: To bring the vibrancy back into your life. What started as a nature blog has turned into a website, as I have expanded my interests beyond nature into technology, college-related studies, music, games and also topics, some of which focus on certain things that have gone on throughout the course of everyday life.

I still find it hard to believe that it has been three years down the line since I started Mother Nature, because three years ago, I was nearing the end of Year 10, going onto Year 11 and three years later, Mother Nature marks its third anniversary and I’ve almost wrapped up my second year of college already. Now that is surprisingly scary, considering how far I’ve come within that time.

Obviously putting your heart, mind and soul into setting up a blog, turning it into a website and expanding your horizons is a big ask, but for me, that’s exactly the point. It’s taken me three years to put my heart into making this website become what it is today and I feel absolutely fortunate to have worked so hard on making this website a reality.

In the three years since Mother Nature started, I’ve talked about nature, including publishing tribute articles to remember those who sadly passed away over the past 3 years, including writing music and technology reviews, most recently a technology review of which I did on the Apple Watch. I feel I have come a very long way since then, and not only that, but I’ve just managed to finish all my coursework for the Final Major Project two weeks early, which is a bonus, as I can continue revising ahead of tomorrow’s Paper 1 exam, including finishing up revision ahead of the GCSE English Paper 2 exam on Friday.

Overall, I feel absolutely proud with how far I’ve come since I started Mother Nature and I hope that Mother Nature is around for many years to come.

So all I can say is:

Happy 3rd Birthday Mother Nature!

Alex Smithson

Related articles

For the First Time in this World. Do You. Be Happy.

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2016, April, Life, Life Experiences, Mother Nature

Always be yourself, and be happy in this world.

It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of you, and it doesn’t matter if you’re different to everyone else, just be you and only you, and also be happy, that’s what really matters the most.

Stay true to yourself, and realise that you are better than you think.

There’s more to your life than you think, and it’s also about doing what you love the most. If you love a hobby that much, keep doing that hobby, and if there’s something that makes you smile, keep smiling.

What matters the most is that you keep doing you, but most of all, that you keep being happy.

Always keep positive and always keep strong because your life is what matters.

So for the first time in this world, just do you and be happy.

But most of all, be yourself and just stay true to who you are, and you will find that your life gets better as the time flies by.

Do You. Be Happy. Be Yourself.

Alex Smithson

A Tranquil, Peaceful & Happy Day Out in Merton.

by Alex Smithson, posted in 2016, Life, Life Experiences, March, Mother Nature, Nikon D3300, Photography

As I headed down to Charlie’s Rock Shop in Merton earlier today, I did notice that the landscape around me was full of tranquility, as everywhere around me was quiet, which was a change considering how busy it can be sometimes, but the landscape around me was peaceful and also refreshing. Despite the fact that the weather couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be sunny or to be pouring down with rain, I decided to get a set of photographs in that I took whilst I was there and while I was on my way back home.

Below are some of the photos I was able to annotate, including some of the photographs I also took on my way home. Below also are some of the same photos but in black and white, as I felt these photos would stand out more if I changed them to black and white.

Colour

Black & White

Overall, I did enjoy today, and despite the fact that it was really quiet this time in Merton, I enjoyed my day and I hope to revisit Merton soon.

If you enjoyed this photo article, please feel free to submit feedback. Your feedback is absolutely appreciated.

Alex Smithson