Category Archives: Photography

Cosplay Heroes – The Fans

My daughter just returned from her first Comic Con: Cardiff Film and Comic Convention at the Motorpoint Arena. She had an amazing time, and one day she’ll take me with her!

It was the culmination of great desire and months of hard, hard work creating her own costume…to go to a Comic Con and not cosplay? No way!

She finally decided on Thranduil from The Hobbit and got down to it. She needed much, including a sword, crown, elf ears, long blond wig and an elven coat. I saw it in many states of array and watched the whole costume come together. I was wide-eyed at the range of her talent, talent she already had and new ones! The silver coat was miraculously hand sewn from scratch, and is gorgeous!

The money, time and dedication that goes into a cosplay costume is legendary, and a lot…then she got to wear it, and she looked stunning!

Bekah - Thranduil by Antti Karppinen Photography, Alias Creative Nov 2014

Bekah – Thranduil by Antti Karppinen Photography, Alias Creative. Cardiff Film and Comic Con – Nov 2014

She got to take photos with Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor and Radagast The Brown and also sat upon the Iron Throne! She was stopped, too many times to count, by other fans wanting to take pics with her, and she loved the time to meet so many like-minded cosplayers! The costumes were first rate…and this is where the most amazing guy turned up.

Antti Karppinen, a young Finnish photographer, was there with a small set up and took photos of the fans. Seriously, this young man’s talent is fantastic, but his ethos was even better…he wanted to take pictures of the fans because he realised what the Comic Con was all about – without the fans the celebrities wouldn’t be celebrities – and he wanted to give something back.

Please read his story here, you won’t regret it and take a look at the other stunning photos he took! Assasin’s Creed, The Beast, Constantine,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Super Girl, Spiderman, Loki and more…they all rock! Follow him on Facebook too.

His photo was probably the culminating moment of Comic Con, a permanent photographic record of a costume that took hours and hours of blood, sweat and tears, and lots of determination and love! And a photo of my daughter that I can treasure…Now take me next time!

Creative Feature: Alyson Fennell Photography

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Photography is a passion of mine, especially nature and flowers, so this week’s Creative Feature brings you nature in close-up form!

Dandelion Diamonds – Alyson Fennell

Alyson Fennell is an amazing photographer and her close-up pictures of flowers have totally captivated me over the last year or two. My own flower pictures are mobile phone snapped, fun and generally instagrammed, but Alyson’s are magical! Take a look at her Royal Crescent photograph and you’ll see where the magic resides, and you’ll understand why the Royal Crescent Hotel snapped up the pictures for their Christmas cards. Be entranced by Alyson Fennell.

Alyson Fennell – Photographer

Alyson Fennell – Photographer

What inspires you?

I’m inspired primarily by Mother Nature, the greatest artist of all! What amazes me is that I can find beauty anywhere from the wild slopes of Dartmoor, to a humble window box in a city centre. Flowers and leaves always beckon, no matter the environment or season.

Agapanthus – Alyson Fennell

You frequent some beautiful gardens, do you plan your photography or is it spontaneous?

I find that if I plan too rigidly, and if I try too hard, the magic sometimes disappears. Indeed, some of my best shots have been spontaneous ones. The key is to be sensitive to those moments, when I feel the flowers are calling out to me,

Tree Reflection – Alyson Fennell

Do you have favourite colours, flowers or techniques? Do you prefer close-up flowers or landscapes?

I gravitate towards flowers, without question. They are such ethereal beings. That said, in my search for some of the more elusive ones, a stunning landscape will appear and I can’t help but swing into action with my camera!

The Royal Crescent – Alyson Fennell

The exquisite ‘The Royal Crescent’ and ‘Dandelion Diamonds’ are two of my favourite works of yours. What do you consider your best work to date – do you have a favourite piece?

My favourite pieces tend to change quite often, but the red tulip series is always in my top 10. I am also very pleased with the clematis image on the homepage of my website, among others.

Pink Clematis – Alyson Fennell

I love the diversity in your pictures from triptychs to landscapes to mirror images and even the occasional famous face. What are your future plans with your photography?

I hope my work will touch people around the World, whether it be in galleries, in advertisements, in hotels or at art fairs. One of my goals is to be able to travel far and wide with my photography – especially to the Valley Of Flowers in the Himalayas.

Peachy Autumn Leaves – Alyson Fennell

Lastly, if you could commission anything for yourself, money no object, what would it be?

You did say money would be no object!! I’d commission an architect to design a beautiful home for me in the South West. I lived in Totnes for some time, and it is such an inspiring part of our lovely island.

Foodie Bugle First Print Edition – Alyson Fennell

A lovely insight to your inspiration and process, thank you Alyson! You can find Alyson and her exquisite photography at her website www.alysonfennellphotography.com. You can like her page on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @AlyFennPhoto.

Yellow Rose – Alyson Fennell

Alyson’s Bio:

Hi, my name is Alyson Fennell and I’m a Fine Art Photographer based in Bath. I began my career as a hair and make-up artist in London, working alongside some of the most celebrated international photographers. Having gained invaluable knowledge and experience in this environment, I have returned to my original passion for photography, combining a love of nature with fine art.

I have recently exhibited my work at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath.

To stock my greetings cards or prints, email alyson@alysonfennellphotography.com

Royal Crescent Cards – Alyson Fennell

* Please do not use or copy any of these photographs without permission from Alyson Fennell.

Twenty-one Things I Love About Bekah…

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Twenty-One Things I Love About You…

To my daughter, Bekah, on your Twenty-first Birthday!

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Bekah…Twenty-one Today!

That very first nudge in my tummy that preceded the kicks and thrusts demonstrates the strong-willed daughter I carry now and will carry forever in my heart.
One…
Our deep loving little pixie who carries her teddy everywhere by the bobble on his hat!
Two…
Your eloquence. At three you were singing ‘Blaa Blaa Black Sheep’, but your speech has and always will be eloquent and beautiful.
Three…
Our little BeckyCat, full of mischief and eccentricities…
Four…
Already at five you have quirks – can’t have a clock ticking in your bedroom, and you’re very precise and grown up!
Five…
A true little bookworm, you read brilliantly, you read lots and you read every night before you go to sleep.
Six…
You know exactly what you want and you move confidently full steam ahead to get it!
Seven…
You are an intelligent choice spirit, destined to be here now, to learn and grow and blossom.
Eight…
You explode when you get angry, but that eruption is over fast! You’re bright, clever, beautiful and talented; don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise!
Nine…
You have a strong sense of justice, the world often does not, but you inherently know right from wrong and fight for it.
Ten…
Your creative spirit grows stronger all the time, developing a love of art and words.
Eleven…
You are an amazing example!
Twelve…
You are our Empyrean Pixie, full of fire and confidence, you can rule the world!
Thirteen…
You have the spirit of a pioneer. If you’d been born to a different life you’d have crossed the plains fighting for your beliefs – be a pioneer today!
Fourteen…
You have the gift of Integrity, your honesty and sense of right and wrong will always place you on the right road…
Fifteen…
A rebellious devil lives on your shoulder – be a rebel, but in all the right ways! Fight for what’s right, rebel against the world, and blast your way forward!
Sixteen…
Your art is truly wonderful; a great talent that will carve you a path in life – always use it and improve it! Have fun with it!
Seventeen…
I love your strength to overcome. The obstacles you find in your way always make you stronger.
Eighteen…
You are growing into your beauty and can recognise it yourself, never lose that!
Nineteen…
You know your worth, a daughter of grace and spirit, our daughter…
Twenty…
The world is at your feet…it’s yours…
Twenty-one…

*Note: All photographs within this post are copyright to Rebekah or Lisa and are not to be reproduced or copied in any way.

My Creative Process – The Grand Blog Tour

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Thanks go to Nettie Thomson for nominating me for this Blog Tour…I got asked when it was named My Writing Process, but I was too busy to take part, so this second chance is much appreciated! Go take a look at Nettie’s answers here, then see what I’m doing…

Writing © Lisa Shambrook

What are you working on?

Right now I’m editing ‘Beneath the Old Oak’ and I’m very appreciative of beta readers! Sometimes you can be too close to your story and your writing and only someone else can catch the little things – or maybe the big things…

‘Beneath the Old Oak’ is the sequel to my debut novel ‘Beneath the Rainbow’ and continues seven years later following Meg, Freya’s best friend. Meg is now fourteen and her life is in turmoil. This story is close to my heart. They say write what you know – many of both Meg’s and her mother’s problems are things I’ve fought and done myself. Depression and anxiety affect entire families, not just the sufferers, and it’s a subject I’ve enjoyed tackling. Those who know my writing will appreciate a tough subject, but dealt with in an uplifting way.

The tentative blurb for ‘Beneath the Old Oak’ is:

‘Meg’s mother is anxious, depressed and neglectful. Meg thinks her mum is broken and wonders if she’ll be next, or is she already broken too? Meg wants to escape, but her mum beats her to it. Solace is found in a huge, old oak tree and Meg begins to learn to grow…’

Prior to resuming my editing, I’ve been writing flash fiction and enjoying submitting to contests and anthologies: Audiomachine’s Phenomena: Epic Heroes Event, The Anthology Club’s Pirate Anthology, Dirty Goggles 2014 and J.A.Mes Press Rebirth Anthology to name a few, along with traditional flash challenges like Blues Buster and Five Sentence Fiction.

World Book Day © Lisa Shambrook

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I write eclectic flash fiction and enjoy experimenting with genres!

‘Beneath the Rainbow’ is placed in contemporary fiction, but it’s been enjoyed by everyone from 9 to 99 years old. ‘Beneath the Old Oak’ will hit the market as YA contemporary fiction.

How does my work differ? My writing definitely has its own voice, vibrant, lyrical and emotional. I work with the senses, description and colour, and my imagery stands out. If you really want to ‘feel’ what you read, try mine…

Why do you write/create what you do?

I write because it’s an urge I cannot deny. I’d go mad if I couldn’t lay down my thoughts on paper! I’m a creative soul, I need an outlet and it takes whatever forms my inspiration demand, from art to short stories, scrapbooking to photography, and craft to novels…

How does your writing/creative process work?

My heart is in control of my process, and I often have to rein it in, or nothing would get done!

I keep my inspirations jotted down, but generally only work on one big project at a time. Right now I will finish and release ‘Beneath the Old Oak’, and then work on the final book ‘Beneath the Distant Star’ which waits in its first draft form.

After that…who knows? I have a lovely children’s dragon adventure trilogy, and an epic dragon fantasy in the works…

I’m a planner. NaNoWriMo taught me discipline and that I need to plan! I pretty much work out a novel with a chapter-by-chapter plan, which will then spawn scenes and then writing. I also keep scrupulous notebooks of information eg: chronology, dates and times of sunsets/rises, flowers in season, character info, eye colour…it’s so easy to switch eye colour half way through a book, or a car model…been there!

My heart will determine my next work…

Flowers_Fairywings_Wood_Anemone_Last_Krystallos

What I love about this Blog Tour is all creatives are catered for…and you need to look out for the following on the 26^th when they take the baton for this tour:

Amanda Makepeace: www.amandamakepeace.com Her art is not to be missed!

Ruth Long: www.ruth-long.com Her words just blow me away!

Bekah Shambrook: www.bekahcat.wordpress.com If you want scary zombie make up, she’s your girl!

You can also check out my website: www.lisashambrook.com

And find ‘Beneath the Rainbow’ on Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Playing with Pictures

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Photoshop…sugar-coated deception or sweet creative reality?

mist early morning river mist sun glow grey bright

I’ve been playing with photographs for many years. I got my first Kodak Instamatic camera when I was twelve, and used up my first whole roll of film taking photos of our local neighbourhood cats and squirrels in the local park! I’ve never had an expensive camera. I went from a standard 35mm to ‘borrowing’ my daughter’s Fugi Finepix S5700.

I love that mobile phones now come with a camera which was a defining moment in my life as was discovering Photoshop!

It’s been said that using Photoshop is cheating, but I prefer to believe it enhances and helps, rather than cheats! If you’re lucky you can take a stunning shot and there it is…but more often than not, my efforts need a bit of tweaking and editing.

I took this shot early on a cold November morning, and the resulting photograph was a little more saturated, but a slight tweak with Photoshop levels took it right back to the image my eyes had seen that morning.

Photoshop can capture the image you originally saw. It can create art and it can be fun!

I recently saw several examples of amazingly well edited photography which looked stunning…

These beautiful photographs taken by a Russian mother Elena Shumilova of her children and animals amid Winter magic… and here’s a link to her stunning work on Flickr…

And wonderfully surreal photographs by a father, Dave Engledow, the World’s Best of his day-to-day life with his baby daughter…

And amazing photo manipulator Erik Johansson, check out his mind boggling work here, here and on his website.

You can find more of my photography at Lisa Shambrook The Last Krystallos on Flickr…

And if you’d like to see more fun and fabulous photography, take a look at the photos on The Shutterworks Photoblog… we welcome you to our photo fun!