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