Getting my creative juices flowing!

So last week I got the magnificent program that is Adobe Lightroom 4. We had a slight disagreement on Sunday night but managed to work out our differences and are now besties ^_^.
In last weeks post I promised I would get a little artistic so here is what I came up with.
Any and all constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated it's the only way to learn ^_^.
I would just like to put it out there that I used some of Lightroom's presets, although by doing that I feel as though I'm cheating, but that being said I ended up adjusting a lot of the settings any way so in a way I guess that cancels it out.

This last photo isn't very creative nor was it planned. I had been trying to get a picture of him all night and I decided to play with the monochrome settings on my camera. He was being particularly difficult so I got right  in his face and managed to get what I think is the best picture of him ever taken.

But let it be known he was trying to hit the camera away at this very moment!


I am going to start doing a post once a week so keep your eyes out ^_^.
I am also thinking of selling some of my shots on Etsy in print form as well as on canvas starting from about $10. I will do a post next week with some of my print ideas, I would love some feed back, most of the photos I have posted today will be available but let me know what you would like to see me offer I am always open to suggestion. I will also do requests ^_^.

In other news my photos will soon be appearing on the website as well as the app for the Gold Coast Country Club which is unbelievably exciting! I'm not getting paid for it but I get to drive a golf cart around all day so that's all I need.

Any way I hope you enjoyed seeing my creative side I will get better I promise and thanks so much for reading/viewing  ^_^.
xxx

A New Look, a Big Thank You and a Pop Culture Convention

Alright so you may have noticed my blog page is looking a little different some might say its looking a little snazzier ^_^. That is entirely due to the magnificent Miss Samantha Jane and I can not thank her enough, she is so incredibly talented and did a fantastic job I could not be happier.  Be sure to check her out her button is just there on the side ^_^. Also a massive thank you needs to go to my bestest friend in the whole world Miss Sarah Cree for the drawing she did of me for my birthday which now sits proudly atop my blog as well as on the wall above my PC. Thank you ladies you are both creative geniuses and are definitely going to go places! ^_^

Now on to the event of the year (well in my calender any way) SUPANOVA Brisbane 2012!!!!

Despite the rain on the first day it was fantastic!!! The caliber of cosplayers was outstanding! As to be expected due to the amazing John DiMaggio being there, there were quite a few Finn and Jake's (Adventure Time) and even Lumpy Space princess made an appearance. What was surprising though, despite the presence of not only John DiMaggio but Billy West, was the lack of Futurama cosplayers. Through out the entire two days I only saw two Leela's, one of whom was fantastic though I some how managed to not get a picture of her lol. If anyone found more Futurama cosplayers I want to see pictures ^_^.

What was truly awesome though was the growing Star Trek presence. Almost every stall had something Star Trek related to sell which had Bradley practically peeing his pants with excitement. There was also the best Borg cosplayer I have ever seen! 

As always the 501st battalion was there (Stormtroopers) looking as awesome as ever. There was also a Lego Millennium Falcon that makes mine look like a cheap toy. 

Other cosplayers that deserve mention, were an unbelievable Pyramid Head, more Slendermen than I could shake a torch at and probably my favorite cosplayer in Supanova history A.W.E.S.O.M-O.

Despite what some people might think Supanova isn't just about dressing up and looking at "toys" (although that is one of the best parts). They manage to get bigger and better stars every year. They started off on a pretty high note at with Will Wheaton, Oliver and James Phelps (The Weasley twins), Summer Glau and Morena Baccarin at the Gold Coast Supanova in April. 

Brisbane though saw Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) which is almost as good as having Daniel Radcliff but not quite ^_^, James Masters (Spike from Buffy), teen heart throb Luke Perry, Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette, True Blood) Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), as I mentioned before the amazing talent that is John DiMaggio and Billy West and returning for a second time this year the amazing Morena Baccarin with whom I am madly in love with and got her to sign my copy of Firefly. She also turned out to be probably one of the coolest and down to earth people I have ever met and the highlight of my Supanova experience ^_^.  

Due to time table clashes I only managed to get to three Q&A's, Morena Baccarin, Cassandra Peterson and  John DiMaggio and Billy West, but all three were fantastic! 

So all in all it was a pretty fantastic year for Supanova. I will just say though I prefer it on the Gold Coast, the  Convention Center is the perfect location for this kind of thing, yeah the main floor is a bit smaller but having it there means we get that fantastic rooms for Q&A's in which every one is able to see the person speaking. It is also situated in the middle of Broadbeach so there is no shortage of good cheap food.

So ends another year of Supanova though it's only 5 months until the next one so we don't have to wait too long ^_^.

Keep an eye out for my next post, I'm going to go on a little artistic adventure so I shall have some awesome photos to share.

Be sure to check out all my other Supanova photos on my facebook, I will have my Penny Lane Photography facebook page up and running very soon. I also just joined the world of twitter so you can follow me at pennylane1961. 

I want to just add one last thank you to Apple maps for getting Bradley and I lost in the rain for 45 minutes looking for our hotel when it was essentially just across the road from where we left the train station so thank you Apple maps.

As always have fun and I will now leave you with my favorite photos from Supanova 2012, enjoy!

 

 

Fairies, Pagans, Knights and Procrastination.

I have come to realize just how easily distracted I am.
Immediately prior to my last post I got straight into it. For the first time in a long time I was actually absorbing information from what I was reading and not just staring at meaningless words. I got all caught up with my assessments and got really good marks for all of them. I also got down to 83kg.

The last 2ish weeks on the other hand have been really fun but crazy counterproductive ^_^.
I went on a bit of an eat junk food and go out and do things binge. So therefore my studies have been somewhat lacking and I have gained 1kg. I mean it could be worse, I guess I have to just pick my self up and keep going.

This past weekend though was probably my biggest highlight. My very first ex boyfriend Neville drove all the way up from Tamworth for a spontaneous visit. The plan was to hang in Brisbane so I could get a few shots of the gardens and city and to show him around. We were walking though the gardens taking photos when we came across a group of people dressed as fairies and I immediately recognized them as being the Coven of the Wildwood, admiring them but not wanting to intrude we continued on our way. One thing you should know about Neville is that he is very impulsive and when we left him alone to go the the bathroom we returned to find that he had joined their circle.
So one thing lead to another and we ended up being part of their fairy parade and Beltaine ritual. It was fantastic and I got some amazing shots! I managed to fill my SD card. I am definitely going to organize to do some more shoots with them they are some of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with.

The following night we accompanied my good friend Mitchell to training. What training you might ask?. Well Mitchell is part of a medieval reenactment group called The Knights Order of Lion Rampant. He was an archer but has now leveled up to swordsman. It was probably one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I'm pretty sure Bradley will be joining them in the not to distant future to which I have no objections. I will be there to document them the next time they train in full armor and hopefully I wont leave my tripod at home this time. If anyone reading this is interested in knowing more let me know and I will hook you up with the right people ^_^. They fight in a few tournaments but the biggest one is probably The Abbey Medieval Festival. I went this year for the first time and it was fantastic!!! I highly recommend checking it out.

This weekend I will be at Supanova pop culture festival, so keep your eyes peeled for my Supanova blog post and photos.

I will now leave you with links to the Abbey and Supanova websites and my favorite photos from the weekend. ^_^
Peace.

http://abbeytournament.com/
http://www.supanova.com.au/