My Best Photo's of 2012

I have decided to look back at last year and choose my best ten* pictures of 2012. On each photo I have wrote why I chose them and why I took them.

1. Moon

One day last summer when I was back home, I used my dad's new telescope to test it out and get a chance to look at the moon. When we finally got the moon into the viewfinder I decided to try and capture it with my camera phone. I didn't expect much as I didn't think my phone would focus but after a couple of tries this was the result. I could have changed the composition of the moon but after much hassle finding it I didn't want to move the telescope. I am very pleased with this photo as my hopes weren't high.

2. Painting of a Flower

On a sunny May day I met up with my Dad and decided to go to some local gardens. After a while the heat got to me so I was just pointing my camera and shooting blind. It didn't help with the sun blinding my camera screen so I couldn't see what I was taking until I was home. When I came across this photo it struck me on how much the flower head looks like a painting. I am also pleased on how the pink flower contrasts the dark background giving the photo more depth.

 3. Wax Iris 

This was taken on the same day as the above photo. I choose this photo as you can see the waxiness of the petals on the iris head. I also loved the yellow and dark purple colours as I would have never put them together in any of my design work but after seeing this flower I started to experiment more with colours.

4. Metallic Mallard

I choose this picture purely as I like how the Mallard duck head looks as if it was metallic showing lovely green colours. I took this photo on the same day as photos 2 and 3. However I took this at the start when there was some shade so I could see what I was taking. I tried to align the head more to the left however as it kept moving it seemed that it was always centre.

5. St Michael's Sunset

This photo was taken on one of my favourite evenings of last year. I stayed with my Dad and Grandparents at the start of October for a week in Cornwall, I decided to go on a walk by myself to the beach when the sun was setting. I can literally say it blew my mind and I got some clarity. I wish I could go back to that evening when I was sitting on the wall watching the sea go in and out, the wind surfers reflecting the last sun rays of the day and the sun slowly disappearing behind the headland. This photo instantly brings back the memories of that night. I love the darkness of the mount and the sun hitting the harbour with the gradient blue sky behind.

6. Jersey Cow

This photo was taken on the first day of my holiday in Cornwall. After staying up 27 hours I was quite tired and got bored as my Dad kept making me wait whilst he took photos. During one of these times I was waiting, I decided to try my macro setting on my camera. I like this photo as it is natural and as the cow was sitting down it gave me time to set up the shot.

7. Sea King

Again this photo was captured on the first day of my holiday in Cornwall. I was purely testing out my cameras zoom and didn't expect to capture such as clear shot of a Sea King. I love the stillness of the helicopter as it really does capture a minute in time. I am pleased that the sky was blue that day as it makes the red stand out better than if it was a grey day.

8. Shapes

This photo was taken when I was on a bus tour around Barcelona. I chose this photo as it was simple yet eye catching due to the different shape in the image. I also like the sphere balancing on the edge of this building.

9. 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'

I saw this when I was visiting a cornish mine on a bleak grey day. Not only was the position of the quote perfect (on a wall that was half demolished) but it got me thinking wether it was true or not. I came to the conclusion that it was partly true. Sometimes when you love something so much it can overshadow your instincts and make little things 10x more worse than they really are.

10. Behind Enemy Lines

I took this photo on the last day of my holiday in Cornwall. This photo was taken at RNAS Culdrose in the afternoon where I got to see a lot of flying action. I like this photo as the colours are bleak just like a war zone and the barbed wire in the foreground to show the harshness. Seeing as I was in competition with my dad for the best photo of the helicopter I think I won hands done as this photo has emotion of a war.

11. Casa Soldiers 

This photo was taken when I went to Barcelona with my Gran last year. I chose this photo as it is one of the best memories of last year. I enjoyed it so much that I keep thinking back to it and I am tempted to book another weekend break away with my Gran this year. I love these soldiers head sculptures by Gaudi as I felt that they look abstract but you can still tell what they are meant to be. As well the view from Casa Mila overlooking Barcelona was amazing. 

*have added an extra photo that was featured in a previous blog about my time in Barcelona.

48 Hours in Barcelona part 3

42-48 Hours

Back Street

After another peaceful night sleep gran and I decided to go on the other bus route which took us to the to the west side of Barcelona. We choose to spend our last morning in Barcelona going around the back streets of the city followed by having lunch back at Attic with the afternoon set for the sightseeing tour.

Balconies

As the restaurant doesn't open until 1pm we had four hours to explore the centre of the city. After we followed one of the back streets we found ourselves outside the cathedral. On a whim we went inside and found not only was it nice to be shaded from the sun but the interior was breath taking with displays made out of gold.

Cathedral

 Seeing as it was free entry we decided to go up in the lift to the roof for a couple of euros. When we got out of the lift you could see Barcelona around you with great photo opportunities to take close ups of the spirals.

Spiral

After the cathedral we went to a little cafe to have an ice cold drink. When we were refreshed we set off some other streets that would lead us back to the Rambla in time of our lunch.

Street Sign

After lunch we headed back up the Rambla to Catalunya square were we caught the orange bus route. The tour soon took us to the harbour again however this time we were heading west where we got to see the Columbus Monument which was erected in 1888 for the world exhibition. 

Cable Cart- Port Veil

 Near the monument was one of the many sculptures on this route. This sculpture was metal arches in different positions which was said to look like waves. Another sculpture along this route that has stuck in my mind was by the Olympic stadium which was suppose to look like a olympian bending forward to collect his medal.

Waves

After the harbour we started to climb the mountain of Montjuïc. Here we got to see all of Barcelona though this time from a different perspective. When we were climbing the mountain we passed the first set of cable carts that went from the mountain to Port Veil.

Cable Cart

Down the road there is another lot of cable carts that took you to the top of the mountain. Me and gran decided to go up there to see the views. However when we got to the top we choose to come right back down again as we didn't have much time left.

View of Barcelona

Whilst waiting for the bus there was a little cafe that was shaded from the trees though you could see parts of Barcelona through the branches.

Through the trees

When we got back on the bus we agreed that, that would be our last stop. Whilst still in mountains the tour took us outside the Olympic Arena where you could see the torch for the Barcelona 1992 games were held. After this we saw the magic fountains of montjuïc, old bull ring now turned shopping centre and the Barcelona football ground. Soon after the ground we headed to Avinguda Diagonal to take us back to Catalunya square.

When we were back in the square we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and then headed to the airport.

Apartments

After all that we were both very tired though next time I hope to stay for week even though the 48 hours felt like a long time. I would also like to learn some local language so I didn't feel too much of a tourist. I know it is corny but I fell in love and hope to be back very soon.

48 Hours in Barcelona Part 2

18-32 Hours

Hotel Arts

After being woken up by the sun entering our room, Gran and I went to get a two day pass with the Barcelona City Tour seeing as we wanted to cover most of Barcelona in our day and half left. With the tickets we got a map and a pair of headphones each which we got to keep. After looking at the map we could see that east/green route had more to offer in a day. This bus route takes 2 hours and 15 mins however if you manage to get off the bus at certain stops you can easily make the journey last 5 hours. The bus starts and ends at Catalunya square. Gran and I were lucky as we were the first people on the bus meaning we got a pick of seats on the upper deck. This route starts by taking you along the four beaches of Barcelona. If we had more time I would have defiantly had gone on the beach with an hour for sunbathing. After viewing the beaches from the road we then saw some of the buildings that we had seen yesterday with the tour giving us information about them. The two buildings that have stuck in my mind was the Hotel Arts and Barcelona Biomedical Research Park which looked like a curved building however when you got to the middle you could see that part of it was hollowed out. Near these two buildings are two sculptures one that represents a fish that is made out of stone, steel and glass which was created by Frank O. Gehry in 1992 for the Olympics. The other sculpture is a building that has a stone ball balancing on the edge with a glass pyramid behind it.

Geometry

After we left the seafront and started to head more inland by using Avinguda Diagonal which a road that goes from the west to centre to the east of barcelona. It is one of Barcelona biggest roads that cuts the city into two. On this road there is lots of shops from high street to designer. There is also a tram service that covers most of the street. Along Avinguda Diagonal is the Torre Agbar which is 38 story skyscraper which is cigar shaped with it being lit up at night by 4,500 LED lights.

Torre Agbar

After a short journey we were at the Sagrada Familia, which is a church that is still being built and is predicted to take 30 years to finish. Work started in 1882 and was designed by Antoni Gaudi who has other buildings in the city. His style stands out from other buildings with it being said he was inspired from ordinary objects such as fruit which you can see on the outside of the Sagrada. Although I wanted to go in and see what it was like on the inside, the queue was too long with it taking up to 2 hours before we got through the doors. We felt we wanted to see the rest of the city with the time remaining.

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

When we got back on the bus we choose to get off at stop 13 which was Park Guell which was another work by Gaudi. This park is a photographers paradise with the different types of stone used throughout, a mosaic dragon and seats, it has a lot to offer. At the top you can see a panoramic view of Barcelona.

Park Guell

The next place of interest was Casa Mila or La Pedrera as it is commonly known was also created by Gaudi. This is the most famous house that he created. The balconies on the outside of the building we said to be inspired by seaweed and the sculptures on the roof to look like helmeted soldiers. In Casa Mila you got to go on the roof were you could see Barcelona all around you as well as this you got to see his work in miniature in the attic of the building and an apartment that was built for Roser Segimon and Pere Mila.

Helmeted Solider- Casa Mila

Seaweed Balconies- Casa Mila

When the tour finished we decided to go on the Rambla again but this time visit the Mercat De Sant Josep which sold fresh meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, smoothies, nut, spices and much more. Everything the market sold looked so appealing that you wanted to buy everything that they had to offer. It has been said that not only do housewives shop there but the city's top chefs do too.

Mercat De Sant Josep

For dinner both Gran and I agreed that we didn't want to eat on the Rambla after a disappointing meal the day before. However after walking down one side of the Rambla we both saw a restaurant called the Attic which you had the choose to eat indoors or on the terrace overlooking the Rambla. After looking at the menu we both decided to give it a try. It was one of the best restaurants I ever been to with tasteful meals and creative deserts such as red fruit foam. When we finished the meal we went back to our hotel via the metro to go on the Terrace Bar again as this would be our last night up there.

Attic

48 Hours in Barcelona Part 1

A fortnight ago I was lucky enough to be treated for my birthday to a 48 hour stay in Barcelona. Since I was 14 I have wanted to go to Barcelona partially because there was a trip to the city if I choose GCSE geography, which turned out was canceled for my year meaning I never got to go. So this was my first time visiting Barcelona with 4 years of expectations I was kind of worried it wouldn't live up to them. As well as this everyone I met had said that they fell in love with the city. It turned out that I needn't have worried cause it took me less than 24 hours to fall in love with Barcelona, I don't know when it happened but I knew that this wasn't going to be my only visit to the city. Thanks to Barcelona I am now not only inspired but motivated in my work with both design and photography.

Due to Gran and I only have 48 hours to cover such a large space of area we deiced that we needed to see it all, this meant travelling on most transports availble. Not only did we see most of the tourist attractions we also had time to walk down some quite backstreets.

Here is what we experienced in our time.

1-8 Hours

Our flight was in the morning, meaning when we landed in Barcelona we had a afternoon to start and explore the city.

View from Barcelona Airport

Though first thing on our list to do was check in to our hotel. I must admit I did checkout the hotel before I went as I was very curious where we were staying. After I looked online I thought I might have made a mistake but to my surprise I did look at the right hotel. Now with most things in life when you see something in the pictures it isn't always as good as it looks. Though this hotel managed deliver what it looked like online. After we checked in we managed to go on the metro which was near the hotel we were staying Villa Emila.

Metro stops

 There where only three stops from Rocafort to Catalunya and took less that 10 minutes. For anyone who has used the London Underground more than once the metro is quite easy to work out. Not only are the metro stations very clean but the trains have air con which is very refreshing after a day of sightseeing.

When we arrived at Catalunya square we headed straight for the Rambla which is 1 km long street with different stalls either side. These stalls seemed to be arranged in catoriogies with sourvienior, flowers, artist, food and much more. As well as guys trying to sell gizmos such as squeaky voice changers, not going to lie I was tempted to buy one but I thought I would probably choke on it. In my tourist book it said that the Rambla was a hotspot for pickpockets but there was police patrolling the street keeping it safe from thief's.

Columbus Monument

 At the other end of the Rambla stands a monument of Columbus which was erected in 1888, beyond that is Port Vell. After exploring the Rambla, Nan and I were feeling that we could do with a rest so we went on a hour and a half boat trip where we got to see the beaches and buildings from afar. On this trip they didn't tell you what the buildings were they just let you marvel the city from the sea. That trip was very refreshing seeing as we both weren't use to the heat!

View of the city from sea

After the boat trip we had dinner on the Rambla which was much over priced and not to our liking however after we went for a drink on the terrace bar of our hotel where we manage to unwind from the day. The bar's atmosphere was relaxing with the faint noise of the bustling city below and the soothing music from the speakers it made it a lovely last couple of hours of the day.

Terrace Bar