Don't use the 'S' word!

Didn't realise it had been so long since I've last said hello. I'm trying so many new things and learning loads of new stuff so I've been very busy and it's hard to choose what to write about next! Some of you may have seen the two photos I put on Facebook about the portrait shoot I went to, organised by my local photographic society so I'll tell you a little about that. 

I actually found out about the society thanks to my partners dad who also has a keen interest in photography. The society runs every Thursday night and at a bargain of £40 for the entire year I had to give it a go. So far I've been to two nights and then an extra portrait night and I'm loving it. I had to obviously drag Lyndon along the first time otherwise nerves would have got the better of me but I needn't have worried. Around 50 people attended made up of a variety of long time attendees and first timers like myself. 

Each week the evenings vary from having extremely experienced photographers share their images and knowledge, to competition nights and more, but so far for me, the portrait night has been the best by far. 
I've never even met a model before let alone being given the opportunity to shoot one, so I had no idea what was in store for me, and what would be involved, but I really, really enjoyed it! The guys in charge set up the black back drop, a few lights and talked us through the positioning of the lights and model, as well as explaining how the wireless flash trigger worked. This was a little trigger that sat on top of our cameras, that basically triggered the large external flash when we took a photo. The guy in charge took a few snaps and then away we went! 
I wasn't sure what to say to the model or what to ask her to do, so I think I ended up saying a lot of random things that I don't really remember but hey it's all good interaction. At one point I remember shouting "SMILE!" and being told "Oh no you used the S word!!" I quickly recomposed myself and shouted "BE SERIOUS!" 
I honestly found it a lot of fun. and learnt a lot as well! Fun AND educational! Anyway, I hope you like the photos I've chosen to put on here. I'm trying out a trial version of Lightroom which is very popular with wedding photographers, so that's why they all look different as I wanted to play around with the different effects. Comments on your favourites (or least favourites!) would be much appreciated! thanks xxx

The first outfit 

 

       

 

I think this one above might be my favourite

                          

 

thanks for looking!

Footprints

Thoughts on this one? Not too sure myself. Can anyone guess what I've changed? (not pointing out the obvious monochrome!)

A week away in the Sun

Lyndon (my partner) and I booked our holiday to Kos back in January so we've been waiting a long time for it, but I hadn't bought my Nikon DSLR back then. Since my purchase back in June, I've been keen to capture new and different things, so our holiday to Kos (as well as intending on being a relaxing one) felt like a great opportunity to capture some images I can't necessarily in the UK. These last few weeks prior to going, have had me really excited about what I might see. The holiday didn't start so relaxing when I realised I'd forgotten all my bikinis, and bruised the bridge of my nose after swimming into a step on the first day.. But after that we had a fantastic time; trying the local Gyros and kleftiko, getting lost wandering through the streets of Kos Town, and we also managed a day trip to Turkey. You can actually see it from Kos as it's only 11miles away! When we found out one of the Seven Wonders of the World was in Bodrum, I had to go get some snaps. I guess that means I'll have to go see the others now! I'm not usually your stereotypical tourist who loves all the cultural sites and views but I also had to get some of the amazing sunset from our balcony, alongside a few of the harbour and more. 

Scroll down to have a look :) Any comments for tips and advice on the pictures I've taken would be great. 

Heres the sunset from our apartment 

 Not quite sure what this building was, but I liked it

 These grasshoppers were huge! 

 The Turkish flag

 Lazy Bones

 Some of the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

Our hotel pool at night

Hello!

Hello there. My name is Alice Newton, and I'm here to tell you about why my photography is going to take the world by storm!
Ok, perhaps not.

I've started this blog, to document and record my journey from, I guess "nothing" in the photography world, to.. well I don't know what the ending is yet.

See I've read lots of photography blogs and they are all fantastic to see how well people are doing now they are a professional, or perhaps now they are so involved with their hobby that is photography, maybe they can't remember how they got there.
So, I figured I would start a blog now, while I'm still learning, in the hope that maybe others might be interested in what kind of things there are that help someone along their photographic journey.

I hope you enjoy reading :)