Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

Hey Guys, 

Image found of google

I wanted to write this post because I am astounded at how quickly 2015 has gone, and also how amazing it has been with all my accomplishments. 

One of my biggest achievement by far this year was when I stopped seeing a counsellor. I was told I had anxiety and panic attacks late 2014 and I started to see a counsellor ever week, because of that I started to get better, and earlier this year I was able to get better and ultimately stop counselling and cope on my own. I still have my struggles with it but I wouldn't be me if i didn't. 

On the 20th of May, I passed my driving test, which was an amazing feeling. 

I went on the most amazing trip of my life time to New York (blog post about that linked) 

I turned 18 and Finally I got into my dream university! 

It hasn't all been Rainbows and Unicorns I have my fair share of heartbreaks and failed relationships, but you know what I wouldn't change anything because it has all made me who I am. 

I wouldn't be where I am right now without my friends and the relationships I have formed along the way, and that includes you, my readers, because without you I wouldn't have reached 1,000 views on my little space of the internet. It is truely incredible. 

2015 has been a great year, but I cannot wait to see what 2016 has in store for me, I am going to put my all into my university course I am going to be happy and have a new outlook on life and spend as much of my time as I can with the wonderful friends I have made at uni and my old friends too. 

Starting in the next week I am going to get out and start training because later this year I plan to run the Race For life again, trying to raise even more money! 

Thank you for reading and making my year so special! 

Love, 

B xxxx

Thank You for 1000 Views!!!

Hey Guys, 

Hope you are all well and are prepared/ excited for the christmas festivities to begin! 

It still feels rather surreal that I am writing this post, because i can't quite believe we have done it. 

We have reached 1,000 views on this blog. 

Image found on google

When I started this little space on the internet back in 2013 I never dreamed it would get this far. For me it started as a kind of diary thing where i would just share what i was getting up to and really I started it because I just thought it would be fun to do! I wasn't very regular with my uploads (Heck I'm still not!) but thats because life always has a habit of getting in the way (At least I'm getting out of the house though hey ;). 

Since starting my Lifes Little Update  back up with a semi-regular upload it has turned into a place where I can write about things I am passionate about, things that have been on my mind for a while and also still as a place where I can write about what I have been getting up to!

I guess all that is left to say is a huge thank you to everyone that has been reading my blog, the people who have supported me from the beginning. Thank you to those who have returned post after post to keep reading! And to those who have just stumbled upon my ramblings about life. Welcome. I hope you stay and continue to follow my journey through life. 

I am only 18, I have the rest of my life ahead of me, and I hope you will join me on my journey into the unknown. 

I will see all you lovely people on Sunday, with a regularly scheduled post, have an amazing christmas! 

Love, 

B x

P.s. If you have a blog, share it with me in the comments below, I would love to find out more about you :) 

Photography With Raiona Hope

Hey Guys,
How are you? I hope you are well :)

So, recently my lovely friend Raiona, commissioned me as a photographer to take some photos of her face for her blog. 

If you don't know who Raiona Hope is, then where have you been?  She is a very talented blogger and writer and one of my best friends, I have linked her blog many times :) (I have done so again).   I have other motives for linking her blog too, because this is a joint post. We are both writing posts about our day on location and including our favourite images from the shoot, so once you finish reading this one you should head over and have a look because I know she will not disappoint! 

We decided to meet up in cambridge because its half way between where we live and the easiest to get to. Just like anything Rai and I do, we ended up laughing! Thankfully she had an idea of the kinds of images she wanted and locations she wanted to use.  So my job was instantly made easier. 

Although I am a photography student the equipment I use is very limited! I only had my camera to hand which for the sake of easy I used in auto mode (I can already see all the photographers out there shaking their heads and giving me disapproving looks) However I am very much still a novice and getting to grips with my camera! 

Our objective was simple to have fun and capture Miss Raiona Thornton at her best, care free and herself. I think we managed to achieve this and without further ado, here are my favourite images from this shoot :)

My main piece of advice for anyone starting out in photography is to read your instruction booklet it will tell you how to get the best out of your camera, and also take any opportunity you can to get out and take pictures!  Oh and always use a tripod if you can :)

Comment Below:

What kind of camera do you use? I use a Nikon D7100 

and What kind of photography do you like? 

Thank you for reading :) 

Love,

Becca xx

http://www.raionahope.uk/photographs-by-rebecca-edwards/

What I Have Been Up to So Far...

Hey Guys, 

So I have a confession to make. I have been a very bad blogger. Its no secret that I am terrible at managing my time, I was doing so well this summer to get posts out for you guys to read, and since joining University that has gone down hill. Because of this I owe you an apology, I will try to plan ahead and write more posts in advance so that I have content to post each week!

Since September I have been working Long hours at work, being named "chief weekender" by my manager ( I think this is just because I have been there so long!) On November 21st 2015 I had been at WH Smiths for 2 years, that is a long time for any weekend staff because usually they leave after about a year and a half to go to university, I am very fortunate to be able to keep my job and go to university were I am.

 In University news I had my first deadline on the 13th of November, This was taking up the majority of my time, which is also why this blog had to take a kind of back seat. 

Doing a Degree in photography is different and so much more difficult than A Level, you have to put a lot of time and effort into it otherwise you just won't get the grades. You have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to "get the shot". 

More recently, one of my friends, Raiona (blog linked) asked me to take some pictures for her to use on said blog. If you haven't checked her out you should, she is an amazing, talented writer who shares thoughts, opinions, advice and even the odd recipe! Rai's blog is well worth the read and i can guarantee if you like the things I write about, you will LOVE her! (That might be my very biased opinion but you should judge for yourself), It was about time I shared her content with all you lovely people. I will share the images I took in another post when I have edited and shared them with her. 

You can follow my journey through my degree on my photography blog (linked)

I know this is a short post, but hey its only been a couple of months! 

Love, 

Becca xx
  

Is It Ok?

Hey Guys, 

So, this is going to be a serious post. 

For some reason, People, mainly men think its ok to show "affection" to strangers they don't know.
In the past it has happened to me where I have been honked at or whistled at or even had people say stuff to me that they probably wouldn't say to a man.
Personally I find it very demeaning, and intimidating, it makes me feel uncomfortable in my own skin, which is something that I have never experienced, and never want to experience again.
It makes me question "what makes them think it's ok?". Because doing that to a woman on the street who they don't know, is wrong.

I did research into this 'honking at women' debate and found an article from The Guardian newspaper that says "the men who ask you what the big deal is about street harassment, say they'd love it if it happened to them, or suggest you just "take it as a compliment". It's not a simple, one-moment experience. It's a horribly drawn-out affair. The process of scanning the street as you walk; the constant alert tension; the moment of revelation and the sinking feeling as you realise what is going to happen." gives an insight into how women some women feel when they are subjected to sexual harassment on the street over and over again.

From my research into sexual harassment on the street I found another blog called Literally Darling (linked), written by a woman who goes into lengthy detail accounting various instances of sexual harassment that happen to her and her friend and how it makes her feel but I will let you read for yourself. 

On a website called consented.ca that I stumbled upon in my searching around the internet I found this statement that I believe to be very true "The idea that women should be flattered by this behavior is offensive because it is not up to society to decide what an individual, let alone an entire gender, should find flattering. Sure, some women might find this flattering, but yelling at a woman across the street or from inside a car doesn’t allow space for her to accept or reject the attention. In other words, there is no consent."  proving that it just isn't right that such things like this happen. 

Real flattery is a behavior that is humanizing and requires actual communication with a person, not a random sexual comment thrown at a person by a stranger.

My message to the guys that do this, is please don't. You don't know what that woman has been through, you don't know her history, she could have had a really bad home life, or have low self esteem issues. Its a form of harassment and it is not ok.

So again I ask,
What makes you think it's ok?

Thank You for Reading!
Love,
Becca xx

University Part 2

Hey guys! 

So, after I posted university part 1 I fully intended to post a part 2 a week later. 

However I got swept up with university life and found it hard to keep on with my blog and getting my assignments done! 

What can I say, 7 Weeks later  and my fears and anxieties are gone. With commuting to Norwich I found it quite hard having got be up at 6:00 every morning just to be in for lectures starting at 9:00 it was physically draining especially with my recent increase in hours at work. i was getting to the point where something was going to have to give. 

I can say now that after the first week i was only having to be in for 9:00 twice a week which made it so much more bearable! and being in work for 7:30 on a Saturday became easier and easier, it is really all about adapting your sleep patterns and your body getting accustomed to the early starts ( it helped that I do drink a lot of coffee!!!!)

I have made so many new friends, that my mum calls "my own kind" which i find quite funny, I am really enjoying my course and I am learning a lot! 

However when we go into workshops we get given a number and told to go stand with the other people that have that number, this is quite a downside when you get split up from the friends you've made an effort to make! 

Despite this it hasn't put me off going into uni, the lecturers and really good and passionate about the subject but they are also willing to help if you need it. I was really struggling at first, I didn't know how to use my camera in manual mode and I also didn't have a clue about the lighting equipment, this was only because the equipment at my old school was very minimal and we barely got to use it. I was like a fish out of water. It was good to make friends that were in the same position as me. 

By far, the best part about my University if our Friday morning lectures, yes it is an early morning one, however each week is a different guest lecturer, some are students that have graduated in previous years and others and fully fledged photographers that have had a long career! It makes me excited to continue with the course and get somewhere. 

The people on my course are all so lovely, we all get along with everyone which makes it so much easier when we get split up into groups. Like today for example, none of my friends were in my workshop because of other things going on and we got split into groups for our lighting workshop (Disclaimer: I had worked with the people in my group before) and the rest of my group helped to put the equipment up ( something I'm still getting my head around) and we just had fun with what we were doing, I haven't laughed that much in  a long while. 

For anyone that is worried about starting university in September ( I know its less that a year away but still!) I would say don't be, it is one of the best experiences you could have, everyone else is in the same position as you, and there is always help available if you need it. I have always been quite a shy reserved person but I found just going up to people on your course and saying "Hi" is one of the best things you can do! 

And just remember, Be you, there is no one else better. 

Love, 

Becca xx

P.s. If you want to read my photography blog i have put together for my course the link is:

rebeccaedwardsphotography.blogspot.co.uk

University Part 1

Hey Guys, 

There are so many stigmas attached to University. We all have expectations of what University is like built up through movies and TV shows.

There are also so many emotions that go along with starting at University. Personally I'm feeling scared and Anxious. It's a new step in my life, from past experiences new situations and I don't get on well together. Despite this I am excited. I'm going to a city that I love, Doing a course that I want to do. A course in the subject I love. Progressing further into my future doing something that is ultimately what I want to do. I'm going to a new place with new people that don't know my history, they don't know who I was two years ago to who I am now.

Right now I am the best version of me that I have been for a long while. I am in control of my anxieties, I am in control of me.

The thing I am most looking forward to is being able to express who I am without rules and regulations. I can discover who I am as a person, I can come out of my shell and be more of an extrovert rather than an introvert. Yet I feel this is easier said than done.
Everyone is in the same boat we are expected to be on edge and a shadow of ourselves.

University is a new and exciting experience and I can't wait to get stuck into the thick of it!


love,
Becca



Disclaimer : this post is posted 2 weeks after starting university! sorry for the delay xxx

Once In A Lifetime

Hello :)

So, today I thought I would write about something that was a HUGE! achievement for me...

2 nights ago [Sunday 6th September] I was invited, last minute, to go see The Foo Fighters at the Milton Keynes Bowl.

So of course I said yes not wanting to pass up such an opportunity by the time we got there my anxieties had started to build, over thinking every little detail, which i soon forgot because we were some of the first 2,000 people there meaning we got purple wrist bands allowing us access to the 'inner pit' which is a cornered off area next to the stage. Now if you think about it, The National bowl at milton keynes hold 65,000 people and it was a sold out concert, to be in that 2,000 is incredible! 

photo credit: google images

Just as the immense size of the crowd dawned on me, and my anxiety started to build a band called 'Royal Blood' came on and suddenly all that worrying and anxiety left. and i was able to enjoy the spectacular going on in front of me. 

Royal Blood was shortly followed by Iggy Pop! he definitely left me questioning what on earth I had just watched, He certainly puts on quite a show for a 68 year old! And some of the things he was doing made me think 'Why am I still watching this?'

When The Foo Fighters finally came on they put on an epic performance!  Every single person there was fully engrossed in what was happening on the stage, they were going crazy... Mosh Pits were breaking out left right and centre... one happened right in front of me about four times and I can honestly say it is the most terrifying and exciting thing to experience. Fully Grown body flying at you from all directions... even though I was on the side lines. 

By the time the Foo Fighters ended i was ready to sit down, we had been standing in place like sardines for about 8 hours, but it was well worth it! 

I can honestly say i am proud of myself! Proud that I was able to go and not have a panic attack... that is something that I would have never been able to do 2 years ago. Before I got help. 

I suppose this just goes to show that things can get better! 

Love, 

Becca 

Who Am I?

Hey Guys!

So, recently for my Summer photography project my task was too take three photos that best described me as a photographer.

For a long time I struggled to decide of what kind of photographer I am. I asked a fair few people what they thought I should do to express who I am.
I had several suggestions of "you should just show what you like to take pictures of" or "just try and show your personality through the pictures you take!"

Then it hit me. Out of no where i realised what kind of things i wanted to capture. I had found who I was as a photographer.
 I was inspired. Mostly by my recent trip to New York... Manhattan is such a vast area, it is easy to get lost in a way that just isn't possible where I'm from. I live in a small community where you can't walk down the road for five minutes without some lovely old person saying "good morning" or "hello!", where as in New York it is so easy to become invisible, to fade into the shadows you are just another tourist in the big city another person to ignore on their very busy schedule, they never stop to see if the sky is blue or to appreciate the immense architecture and culture that amazing city has to offer.

So, baring this in mind. In answer to the question "who am I as a photographer?"

I'd say I'm the kind of photographer that wants to capture the beauty of life in everything. To remind people to stop. Look up from their phone. And stare at the world around them.
I want to capture the beauty of this World we live in.

It is so easy to get lost in the virtual world of the internet we forget to appreciate the things around us. The "Beauty" or "allure" of the outside world. I should know, I end up spending a lot of time on my phone. It feels like it is superglued to my hand 90% of the time while the other 10% is spent sleeping!

So I ask you this one simple question...
Who are you? What makes you who you are?

Keep those smiles on your faces!
Love,
Becca

Exam Results... EEEK!

Hey Guys!

I'm so sorry I have missed three upload days. I found that I didn't really know what to write about. However out of nowhere I have found that inspiration. 

So, for many of us in the UK the last two weeks have really been hell. Last week for me was A Level results day, where we get given results from a standardised test which are designed to test your memory rather than how good you are at the subject. I took combined English, Media and Photography. All subjects that I love however, It comes down to the fact you need to write a certain way or edit photos in one singular way... Our whole lives we are taught to be true to ourselves and express who we are. If this was truly the case, why are we made to do something one set way? That I just don't understand!

photo credit to google images

Now don't take what I just said the wrong way, I did quite well in my A Levels... All things considered. In my mind as well I don't think i would have got that far without the amazing support network my college had to offer or the immense support my family gave to. 

To get into my first choice university I needed to get three Bs. This is what the university has said I should achieve to be able to get when I was predicted two Bs and a C... I did not get this when results came out.

We are told that results are everything that they shape our future. Letters on a page tell you what you can and can't do, when in reality we make our own future, we define who we are as a person. This is something that a bit of paper can't do. I once knew someone that didn't take her GCSEs to prove a point. She wanted to prove to everyone that you don't need qualifications to get a job and you can still do well for yourself regardless.

This just proves that it isn't the end of the world if you don't get the "right" grades. There are always options available to you no matter what happens.

At the end of the day I was lucky despite not getting the conditional 3 B's, because I was still accepted into my first choice University.

As teenagers in todays world we are lucky to be able to go further than our parents may have had the opportunity to.
We get out of the world, what we put into it. If you work hard for what you want then you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

Just remember to breath!

Love,
Becca

New York!!

Hey Guys!
Wow so i guess you wait a life time for a post, and two come along in one week, what a surprise. Now I was going to wait till Friday to write this but I just got too excited and couldn't wait!!!
So, here goes nothing....

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to go to New York City. Manhattan, The City that never sleeps. Call it what you will, I can only say, it is truly a once in a life time trip, and an amazing experience for a 17 year old to be able to experience.
My Passion for photography and capturing the simple moments made me walk around this great city wide eyed and amazed, the culture, the people and the architecture, was almost all to much to be able to capture within my tiny in comparison Nikon DSLR!

Back in 2001, something monumental to history happened, this was the falling of the Twin Towers (also known as 9/11), I was only 4 years old and can barely remember it happening, but it will go down as one of the greatest tragedies of our generation.When I was in New York I visited the memorial to the victims of this tragedy where nearly 3,000 names circle the twin pools, set within the footprints of the original towers. being there humanised the entire catastrophe. You can learn about it as much as anyone else in history classes or in documentaries but being there and visiting the tribute centre brought home the reality of what happened and it had me in tears. Right up until now I have kept this photo (seen below) to myself because it just didn't feel right to share it with anyone. When someone has placed a white rose in a name it is to commemorate that persons birthday, This is a truly touching sight to see.

While I was in NYC I tried to do as much as possible, in order to do this, my family and I did a hop-on-hop-off  bus tour, sadly our tour guides seemed to be a bit hit and miss, sometimes we would get really good ones other times we would get terrible ones. Despite this we experienced as much of New York as possible, so much so by our last day there we could barely move our legs were so sore from walking nearly the length of the island.
Such experiences include eating Ray's pizza, now you will probably never believe me, but one slice was the size of my face (I'm not sharing images because I'm afraid they are just too embarrassing).

When you go to New York one of the recommended things to do is to go up The Empire State Building at night, while this was certainly an experience with spectacular views, I wouldn't recommend it because it is an over crowded building with no organisation, that has not banned selfie sticks! The view from The Top of the Rock is a much better experience because it is less crowded and you get a view that includes The Empire State Building. That being said, below is one of my favourite images I captured at night from the top of such a magnificent building.

 If you go to New York I recommend more than anything that you go into Central Park and just sit for a while, watch the world pass by while you do this. because its the only place you will get piece and quite away from the sounds of sirens and Taxis honking their horns. You could even visit such monuments as Strawberry Fields, The Hans Christian- Anderson Statue and The Alice in Wonderland Statue. These pieces are great arts of work and well worth the walk to visit them.

There is so much more I could write about however I cannot do it as  much justice as actually experiencing it in person, I experienced so much while I was there and yet there is still so much I have left to experience, I will leave you now with some more images I captured while I was               

    

Feel free to leave your own experiences of New York in the comments I would love to read them! :)

Thank you so much for reading this post!

Lots of Love,

Rebecca 

Disclaimer: All photos used in this post were taken by me, I have not sourced them from anywhere else on the internet.

Women's Rights

Hey Guys!

So it has been a while but life got in the way, started working full time and had a holiday and I found I didn't really have time to sit down and write (As Usual!!!!) but hey ho time for another blog post!

Recently I read an article in the guardian Titled: "Harper Lee: the 'great lie' she didn't write Mockingbird rears its head again". Now To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourite books and one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, highlighting civil rights in the United States for what it truly was. 

Harper Lee has been discredited a number of times because it was thought she had help writing the novel, just because she is a woman. You don't see men getting the same treatment do you? No and that is because as tradition goes, Men hold a higher standing in society to Women. This has to change, just recently in the news, they have reported a ban on discrimination against women in the work place, with many having a poor working environment or not being paid as much as they should, The law now states that a woman with children will get a better quality work environment and be treated as fairly as anyone else! I see this as a win for women's rights in the UK. 

The only problem with that is, it shouldn't have taken this long to gain these rights for women. Why should we be forced to suffer, just because we are the ones to give up our last names when we marry and bare children for the men of this world, We go through the pain, not men, and our generation have finally seen a change that women's rights activists set in motion 143 years ago, IT'S ABOUT TIME RIGHT! This is not a patriarchal society any more, I am proud to say I am a woman of the 21st Century and we are making a change for the better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_the_United_Kingdom

 Th article I read the other day called in to question another great author of the 20th Century, Truman Capote, known for such works as Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood. because he was a childhood friend of Lee it was called in to question whether he helped Harper Lee write To Kill a Mockingbird however when compared to others in Capote's work there was found to be no similarities, instead it is a well known fact that it was in fact Lee who helped Capote write In Cold Blood. She was there when he conducted the interviews and Capote combined both hers and his own notes to form a spectacular true account of the Clutter Murders. 

I think I have shared enough feminist views to last a life time! 

Thank you for reading! 

Love,

Rebecca 

article: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/20/harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird-authorship-women-writers 

My Hectic Life

Hey Guys,

So, I have been quite hectic recently, what with the last day of school for study leave and other things going on, So I haven't been able to sit and write a post in the last 21 days. 

Here is a little update on what has been going on and what is going to be happening in the next few weeks. 

So most recently I have been seeing someone, his name is Adam and we get on really well. he makes me incredibly happy and i cant wait to see where things go with him or even if things will progress any further. I have also been keeping in touch with friends and family in Canada, but it makes me said that I cant be there with them, I can only be a face on a computer screen seeing each others bedrooms and not the beautiful country that surrounds them. 

Back to this country though what has been going on....

Last Friday (15th May) was the last day of sixth form (which would be the last 2 years of high school for american readers). It was a sad day, because a lot of the friends I've made in the last two years I might never see again, but that's a sad fact of life, you lose some friend but you also gain some, and you keep in touch with the special ones like this one...

So this week has also been a hectic one... I met up with a friend on Monday and got some revision done... probably the only bit of revision I've done all week #procrastination. I have found I am an expert at procrastination and its  good thing my exams aren't until June otherwise I would be screwed!!!

and finally we get to Wednesday the best day of all, I passed my driving test first time, which is very rare for my family, I have been told that I am the third in the family line to have done that, and i am so excited that i have finally done something better than my brother! 

That is about all for now though so I will catch up very soon!

Love, 

Becca xx

A Day In ST Neots

Hey Guys , 

Me again! Wow two blog posts within a week!?! This is a new record for me!

So I'm currently in a four hour free at college, and thought it would be the perfect time to write a post.

Wednesday morning I got up so early (unusual for a Wednesday!) and got the train to Cambridge where I met my friend to give her, her birthday presents :) we then got the bus to ST Neots! You may think that there isn't a lot there but to us it has some great memories of the summer and it is kind of our little place to go just the two of us, we used to go to a café there but that had shut down some time between last summer and now! 

We did our favourite thing, which is going to the charity shops and looking for bargains ( I head straight for the books!) I was good this time and only bought one!!! 

After we found that our café had shut down we came Across this little alley way and found this little tea room called "Poppy's tea room" it was so cute and everything was vintage! From the fur other to the floral tea cups :) it was us to a T! (See pictures below) it was a great little day out (if you could call it a day!) and I can't wait to go back! 

Until next time! 

Love, 

Becca! X

                         

                                 

A Day In Cambridge

Hey Guys,

So I know every time I write a post, I say I'm going to get more active on here and write a lot more posts (the same with my YouTube really) but then life gets in the way as it always does and I found that I didn't have the time to sit in front of my computer and just type like I am now. Enough with the excuses though! this will probably only be a short post because I don't have a lot to say but here goes nothing!

Today I took a trip into Cambridge, armed with my trusty camera and tripod to finally get that photography work I had been putting off done.

The exam word I chose to focus on this year is "solitude" probably one of the hardest ones to do and I found myself losing a lot of motivation for the art and not wanting to be out with my camera. however with a week until the final 15 HOUR! exam, and with a lot of nagging from my parents i went out and actually had a lot of fun!

the concept for this shoot was to capture crowds in long exposure to show movement and also convey a sense of being lost like you weren't actually there, a ghost.how does this link to solitude? well it proves ho alone you can feel sometimes, even in a crowded place. 

the whole morning i was out my mum came with to be my "assistant" for lack of a better word, and we had a lot of fun (she was mainly laughing at me getting annoyed with my camera but that's not the point!) by the end of it we came out with some pretty good shots and had some good quality time together, We even had our photo taken quite obviously by a older man with his SLR camera, quite creepy but hey ho what can we do! 

So without further ado, here is a few photos from today that i think turned out the best!

ENJOY!!!

Love, 

Becca x