England

Sometimes you're met with the unexpected like the time my sister sent me a text saying she was pregnant! I was overjoyed and it took me back to the time when she had sent a similar text saying she was engaged! Fast forward to a few days back and we now have a sixth member in our family - Ethan Joseph Harris! Wwwwwwhhhhhhaaaaattttttt?!?!?!

Anyway, I'm now on my way to visit my sister, brother and my nephew - all the way in the UK. I mean, come on! How exciting is that! Seriously! I can't wait.

I'm typing this as I wait near the boarding gate for the flight to London. There was this little gag we used to play as kids - whenever we had a bag and someone asked us where we were headed we'd say, "London." Now I get to actually say it for real - it's unreal!

All I can say is God has been incredibly gracious to us...new member of the family and all. It's...it's...I don't even know what to say so, I'll just leave it at that.

I know I haven't uploaded anything in months but I've got so much to share and hopefully I'll be able to do that starting today. I need to keep this together. Pray for me! Things aren't perfect but I know I have a God who cares and looks after me and that is more than I could have ever asked or hoped for.

Until next time! Toodles!

A Million Miles

Have you ever got to a point where you look back and realise that you've come a long way? You made it thus far through all the weird twists and have survived life's curve-balls and while you should be filled with a sense of accomplishment, it feels like something's amiss.

You look ahead and all you can see is see is...well, very little, if anything at all. The future holds so much that is unknown and that can be incredibly scary. You realise that you're on your own path and you have no idea where it leads and yet you've got to keep walking.

Now, don't get me wrong - the very fact that you're standing where you are proves that you've come a long way but that also means you've got a long way to go yet. The fog of uncertainty can be intimidating but you know you've got to feel your way through. Progress, at times, may be slow but that's the only way forward. It's might never be easy but you need to carry on.

A lot of what's been going on recently has left me thinking along those lines and while I would be lying if I said the future doesn't scare me at times, it would be remiss of me not to mention what actually gives me hope. At the expense of sounding preachy and cheesy it really is God who give me hope. When I look back I realise that I would not have made it where I am today without His help and that can be incredibly comforting because while the future can be ambiguous, I know He's still going to be there leading, guiding and comforting me whether I ask for it or not and that is all that should really matter. What gives me solace right now as I reminisce about the past and wonder about what the road ahead may lead is that assurance that He's right here beside me.

A friend once asked me why I write what I do and why I relate it to the pictures I post. I don't have a definitive answer but it's probably because each picture holds some sort of meaning for me. Each picture isn't just about beauty or documentation - it's also about emotions. It's about how it makes me feel and how I want anyone who views it to connect with it in their own unique way.

This picture to me is about a whole lot more than what I've written but I hope someone else can get something out of it too.

"I'm still not done; I'm only half way there
I'm a million miles away from where I'm from
But there's still another million miles to come"
- Trouble by Avicii

This was shot on the OnePlus 2 and edited in Snapseed.

Happy Halloween!!!

Hey folks! I know I've been MIA lately but I do plan to get back to sharing regularly.

Happy Halloween! :)

Just something I threw together at the very last minute.

It's also Diwali time here so it's pretty noisy outside...poor Dixie.

Everglow

That's a beautiful word, isn't it?
It's stuck with me ever since I head the song. Sure, it isn't officially a word but it alludes to something so beautiful that it probably should be.

Having to make some major decisions that could shape your future really forces you to put things into perspective. Right now the future seems so uncertain. There are times you almost feel trapped, like you're in a cave longing and looking for the light so that you can crawl out to freedom.

To me, this is one of my favourite pictures because of the meaning and sentiment behind it. It might not be the most technically sound but it's one that I love and will probably have on my wall at some point as a reminder.

We stumbled upon this cave during a hike up a hill and we couldn't help but stop here for pictures. I knew exactly what kind of a photograph I wanted when we entered (is this the process of visualisation that Ansel Adams spoke of?). I tried to express the mental picture I had and explain it to my friend and then asked her to look up at the open ceiling as if she were longing for something. I assumed she would go with a rather sad or serious expression but she went with a faint hint of a smile and as I was working on the picture that really stood out because it really brought out the emotion I was trying to convey.

Looking above for guidance, hope and reassurance might seem silly but that's something I've tried to do because without God's help and His guidance I would truly be lost. There are moments when I fail to see it or even refuse to because I'm arrogant but that light, that glow is always present. All I have to do it look for it and follow the everglow.

Ominous

I'm guessing (rather, hoping) you saw the sneak peak I posted to my Instagram yesterday.

Last year I decided to do a Halloween themed picture for Halloween. It wasn't meant to be very serious and was meant to have a touch of humour as well.

This year for Halloween I decided to do the opposite. I decided to do something seriously creepy and use techniques I haven't used before. It had it's challenges but I really learnt a lot creating this image so I'm quite happy.

I showed it a couple of my photographer friends and they seemed to like it too so I guess that's a good sign.

Halloween isn't celebrated here but this is something I've wanted to work on for a while now and what better time to upload a creepy/scary picture than the 31st of October, eh?

Summertime, It's Our Vacation

Exams are finally over! After over a month of practical and theory exams and countless sleepless nights it's finally over. Still have a long way to go before I finish my degree but these are steps towards that.

Now for the fun part - the summer vacations. WOOOHOOO!

I'm looking forward to these vacations. I have a few photoshoots to do as well as a music video and a couple other videos and if there's time I'll work on a short film as well. This is going to be a really busy summer. But good because it's what I like doing and a much needed break from that college and those books.

Today's is a rather weird self portrait. This perfectly encapsulates the feeling you get when your exams are over and you've spent sleepless nights preparing for those exams. All you want to do is crash. Dump you uniform, your books, everything and just sleep!

Ironically I couldn't sleep because of the work that has to be done but I'm looking forward to a good night's rest hahaha

If you haven't finished your exams I wish you the very best for those! Do well and enjoy your holidays :)

Angel Arise

Last month we had a light painting competition. My friend and I really wanted to win and thought we had won when the event in-charge as well as the other participants said they absolutely loved our work. Unfortunately we came second - we later found out that they make their own students win which is ridiculous!

Anyway on a more positive not today is my friend's birthday. She is the one in the picture. So that's a good thing :D
Happy Birthday buddy! May God bless you and hope you have a great year ahead! :)

The Lookout

Today started off in an interesting way. Just as I was getting ready to leave for classes I got a phone call saying that out results for the previous semester were out. That made me really nervous. Unfortunately the university server was down and that just added to the tension. I got to class and everyone was sombre and quiet. We were all anxious.

Anyway, God has been really merciful and graceful again (as He always is) and enabled me to get through with fairly good grades.

Now for today's picture. As with most self-portraits this has a very personal message. I have a little over a year to finish the course I'm currently studying and then I'll have to look for something else. I still don't know what that's going to be or how God is going to lead me into the future but I have to always be on the lookout for His guidance and help.

This is a composite (obviously) of two pictures. The base image of the flower and flora is light painted. If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a BTS (Behind The Scenes) photograph of this that I shared recently.

In The Mirror

Sometimes you just have to take a picture of yourself but why make it just another selfie in the mirror when you can be creative.

Sure it takes a little more time and effort but it's fun even if it's an amazing photograph. It's quirky and a way of self-expression.

With all the Halloween images that the internet was bombarded with recently I thought I'd do something a little silly.

Take Me Away

Some of my friends convinced me to share this online. I didn't want to do it because it is a little embarrassing but what's the worst that could happen? I will get made fun of. It's not like that hasn't happened before. Anyway, here goes.

I saw this empty-ish room and knew I had to do a levitation style photograph here. Unfortunately I feel sick and so couldn't get it exactly how I wanted but this isn't half bad either.

Surrounded By Light

So this is the second last day of the year. I honestly can't believe that an entire year has gone by so fast!

I would like to share one of my favourite light painting images. I've had this idea for quite a while but finally got round to creating it this year.

It was quite a challenge to balance the cards so I ended up using masking tape (not sure what it's actually called). I think I'll put up a tutorial on how to do this sometime next year.

Uncertain

The idea for this was something that just came to me suddenly when one of my friends took this die that was lying around and flicked it in such a way that it kept rotating on one end like a top.

Getting it to do that while taking a picture at the same time is quite the task and it took me a while before I got a picture that I was satisfied with.

I know this isn't going to go viral and most people won't even like it but this is something that I had to work for a long time to get right and I quite like it.