My Top 16 Moments of 2016

Hi chums!

I hope you are all having a fab New Year's Eve!

2016 has been one of my favourite years but at the same time one of my least favourite years (very mixed emotions here!) but I decided I wanted to look at the glass half full so I have chosen 16 of my favourite days/moments of 2016. 

I couldn't rank them so I decided to just do them chronologically.... so let's get started!

1. The Colosseum - I was so excited to visit the Colosseum in Rome because it is such an iconic landmark and it did not disappoint! Although it doesn't take long to look around it was so impressive and perfect for photography (especially with such amazing weather!)



2. Easter Party - one of my aims for 2016 was to celebrate everything possible and so that definitely included Easter! My family decided to throw a tea party and invite some of our family friends round. We of course did an Easter egg hunt (you can never be too old!) and we had so much fun cooking and decorating for it!


3. Going up the cathedral in Salamanca, Spain - Salamanca is SO beautiful! I would 100% recommend going to visit if you can because all the buildings are so pretty! One of my favourite moments in Salamanca was going up the cathedral where we saw some amazing views and got to see the architecture at the top of the cathedral in more detail.


4. Venice - 'nuff said. Venice is my absolute favourite (other than Disneyland of course!)! Every step you take is another picture perfect scene. I can't recommend going here enough. It's possibly my favourite city in the world because it's so insanely beautiful and also so unique - there isn't a car in sight!


5. 18th and 21st Party - me and my sister are lucky that we are both summer babies which meant that it was perfect for us to team together to have our birthday party together this year. It was honestly one of my favourite days of the year because we got to share it with all of our family and friends!


6. Notting Hill - I sure am a sucker for some coloured houses! I made my first trip to Notting Hill this year on my sister's birthday and we spent some of the afternoon wandering around the streets of Notting Hill (pretending to be Julia Roberts!) and taking a lot of pictures!


7. Touring Buckingham Palace - despite living 30 minutes outside London my family and I have never been inside Buckingham Palace. It has been on our list for the last few years and this year we finally got around to doing it. We had a lot of fun looking around the rooms, the only sad thing was that you weren't allowed to take any pictures :(


8. Summer day in London - my sister and I went to London in early August and just had the most chilled day ever. We started off in Belgravia at Peggy Porschen's and the whole day was just a dream (and baking hot as well!)


9. Day trip to Brighton - for the last few years my sister and I have always spent a day in Brighton in the summer holidays and this year we decided to drive there and make it a road trip which was super fun! We also went to see the coloured beach huts which we hadn't been to before and let's just say the Insta opportunities were poppin'!


10. Sunset boat trip in Key West - possibly the most favourite thing I've done this year was to go on a boat trip in Key West where we watched the famous sunset and it did not disappoint! I've never seen anything like it and I couldn't put my camera down the whole time!


11. Beauty and the Beast - this is something slightly random, but I love this show so much! This show is in Disney's Hollywood Studios and it's so fun to go and see and sing along to all the songs!


12. Disney's Halloween decorations - we went to Florida later than we usually do this year which meant that all the Halloween decorations were up! We have never seen these before and it was so pretty! Autumn/Fall is my favourite season because I love all the colours and Disney did not let me down!


13. Fountains Abbey - this was a super fun day trip up in the north of England! We spent the day wandering around the abbey and the grounds and taking a million and one photos!


14. Pumpkin patch - as I said already, I looove Autumn and Halloween is a major part of that! This year I went to a pumpkin patch for the first time and I really enjoyed it - especially the cute tiny pumpkins which they called munchkins!


15. Autumn walk - my sister and I are extremely obsessed with the trees changing colour in Autumn, so one Sunday morning we got up early and made our way to the park in Leeds to go on a walk and take lots of photos. I love doing really simple things like this - it's so fun and makes my day!


16. The Fashion Awards in London - this event is really fun to go to! We arrived early and saw some of the celebs arrive on the red carpet (including Naomi Campbell!!) and then we had a really nice evening watching the show!


So those are my favourite moments of 2016! I would love to hear yours so please leave a comment down below!

I hope you have the best time tonight and....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love

Emma
xxx

5 Things I'm Grateful for from 2016

Hi chums!

Before I begin to look forward to the New Year I always like to reflect about the year that has just passed.


I know I'm not the first to say that this year has not been one of the best! But I still think there is so much to be thankful for, so if you're reading this then please join me (in the comments or just in your head) in thinking of your top 5 things you're thankful for this year.

1. Family - I'm really lucky so have a super tight family and we all get along really well. I appreciate having them a lot, but I feel like this year I have realised it a lot more since I started at uni in September!

2. Travel - I cannot believe how lucky I am to get to travel! Just this year I have been to Italy twice (Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Venice), I've been to Spain (Madrid) to do au pairing and I've also been to Florida with my family. This has been an insane year for travel and I've loved every moment of it!


3. School - I literally loved school. I can't really explain why I did when so many others don't but I loved pretty much everything about it (apart from the work lol). I went to a smallish school and I loved my friends, my teachers and the school itself. I was so sad to leave and it's only made me appreciate it more since I've left. I am so grateful that I enjoyed school which is why it was such an obvious one of my top 5 this year!

4. Sign Language - I have been learning British Sign Language for just over 3 years now and it's something which I am really passionate about. It's not the cheapest hobby to have but I am so happy and grateful that I got to study this amazing language with such a great teacher and other fab students! I would encourage everyone to give Sign Language a go because it is such a worthwhile skill and you get to meet some amazing people!

5. People - since going to university I have found that I feel quite lonely. I don't drink and have never stepped into a nightclub in my life. This is a personal choice which some people don't seem to understand and that's ok, but it has made me feel quite lonely. I am not saying this because I want to be pitied, it's just made me realise how much I love people. I feel so lucky that there are so many amazing people in my life and I am so grateful!


I hope that you have all had the most amazing year and I wish you all the best for the year to come!

Bring on 2017! 

Love

Emma
xxx 

Christmas at the Ritz

Hi chums!

Happy Christmas Eve!!

I can't believe it's almost Christmas already and I am so excited! I thought I would just share a few pics of when I went to London the other day for my mum's birthday.


As well as making a few other stops, we went to the Ritz hotel to see the Christmas tree - and what a tree! It was insanely tall and decorated so beautifully.



I would definitely have this tree in my dream house!



So all that's left to do now is to wish you a very happy Christmas!

I hope you have a great day and that Santa brings you everything you asked for!

Love

Emma
xxx

Instant Photography: 5 Tips for Avoiding Mistakes

Hi chums!

I got my Polaroid camera in July earlier this year. Although I haven't had my camera for long, I have already learnt a lot (by making a few mistakes myself!) so I wanted to share them with you because Polaroid film is expensive so you don't want to make a mistake if you can help it!

I have narrowed them down into 5 tips, so I hope they are helpful!

1. Consider the lighting

Lighting is key to a Polaroid picture.

I took a photo of an afternoon tea party I had in the summer. We had it indoors because it wasn't nice enough weather to be outside. I didn't turn on the light for the photo and so it came out looking quite dark.

Likewise, it can be difficult taking one outside. I have often found that when the sky is blue and the sun is shining it seems like the best time to take a Polaroid. However, after taking a few like this I have realises that maybe it's not the best idea. For example, remember when you took you're school photo when you were younger? Some may not want reminding of this, but the point is that the photographers usually use fake lighting. They either have a light with a kind of umbrella-looking contraption, or they have some square boxes on a stand. Either way the light isn't directly shining onto your face. It's the same with a Polaroid. When it's cloudy the sunlight isn't as strong and so the light doesn't reflect as strongly into your camera, making your picture less white and the object more defined.

Here's an example:


So it completely depends on your location but I would put lighting as one of the biggest things to think about before your take your Polaroid.

2. Remember to put the setting on

This may seem super obvious, but when you're waiting in a busy place and you're trying to take a picture without people in, or if you're concentrating on lining up the shot, it is easy to forget to twist the lense to the right setting.

On my Polaroid camera there are 5 settings: indoors, cloudy, sunny, really sunny and Hi-key.

Sadly, for one photo I was trying to take, I completely forgot about changing the setting to sunny, so I took a photo outdoors on the indoors setting. The result was a white picture which barely defined the outside of the building I was trying to take a picture of! You can see how it turned out below.


3. Don't try to over-complicate a picture

This tip is best understood by an example, so here we go:

I went to Disneyland this summer (yay!) and I decided I wanted to take a Polaroid of Cinderella's Castle but I thought it would be cool if I got the statue of Walt Disney holding hands with Mickey Mouse in front of it. It ended up not going so well because the photo captured Walt and Mickey, but the castle was quite hard to see.

Another example is the following:


This was at Buckingham Palace. I thought that it would be cool to take a picture of the back of the palace, but to frame it with two bushes. Instead of looking really artsy and cool, sadly the camera couldn't cope with the lighting very well. It would have been better to just take a picture of the palace on its own (isn't hindsight the worst?!)

The best Polaroid photos that I have taken have been of the more simple things. I wouldn't advise having too much depth in your photos - focus on one thing and your picture will turn out fab!

4. Don't open your camera to check if any film is left!

My Polaroid camera, like disposable cameras, shows how many pictures are left. I am also usually quite good at counting down how many I have left, but one day the number screen showed the letter 'S' instead of a number. I thought I had one photo left, but I wasn't sure so I thought I would open it up and have a look. It turned out that I did have one left, but when I tried taking a photo with it, it came out white.

Polaroid film is very sensitive and can't be exposed to light, which is why the packets of film come in a black box which you place in the back of your camera. After you put the box in, you press the button to take a photo and instead of getting a Polaroid, a thin black bit of plastic comes out. That is the front of the box which was protecting the film from the light. After this point you can't open the back to check for film or you will end up wasting any you have left.

This point may be obvious to some people, but as a complete beginner of instant photography I had no idea and I was so angry at myself for wasting a picture!

5. If you make a mistake, forgive and forget!

So far I have taken 4 Polaroid pictures that have gone wrong and after each I have felt really annoyed with myself and it has made me feel a bit down for a bit, but you (and I) have to learn not to be too sad about a shot going wrong - unfortunately it is the nature of instant photography!


When you do make a mistake, try to think on the bright side! Look at all the Polaroids which have gone really well and which you are proud of!

That's the end of my 5 tips, so I hope if you're a newcomer to instant photography and Polaroid cameras that I hope that this helps (even just a tiny bit)!

Thank you for reading and happy instant photographing!

Love

Emma
xxx





The British Fashion Awards 2016

Hi chums!

On Monday I was fortunate enough to go to the British Fashion Awards in London!


This year it moved to the Royal Albert Hall which was super fun because I had never been there before!



We went to watch some of the celebs walk the red carpet before going inside ourselves. It was absolutely freezing but everyone looked 100 dollars!


Some of the celebs that were there included top models like Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid and Joan Smalls, and also some amazing fashion designers like Tommy Hilfiger and Tom Ford. It was so inspiring to be in the same room as so many amazing people!



Naomi Campbell was also there and we got to see her as she arrived - perfect timing!



It was such a fun night and I had a lot of fun!

Love

Emma
xxx
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