life through my lense...

There is nothing more satisfying to me than holding my Nikon in my hands and hearing the familiar click of the shutter. Forgetting the light bulb and the wheel, I think the camera is the best invention yet. It's incredible to see a moment in time and be able to capture it entirely at the click of a button, and for this reason, photographs have been the central pin point of memories and reflections.

It's people I like to capture the most; they're so full of life...I just love to take pictures of them!

In case you're wondering what the look of exclamation on these people's faces is a result of, I believe it is now the time to tell you that my dad is a magician. Yes, he is. And a very good one at that. Google him! His name is Adrian Ward MMC (Adrian Ward Magic), AND he's a member of the magic circle. How many people get to say that about their dad?!  Anyway, he's hired me to take pictures of him performing to wedding guests, so that while the bride and groom are having their pictures taken, they can have a little memento of their guests being entertained. The photograph at the top is one of my personal favourites - everyone in the picture is involved and their facial expressions are fantastic!

This is another personal favourite! This beautiful bride had just been pleasantly surprised by my father's sleight of hand; I was supposed to include him a little more in the shot...but she looked so amazingly joyful in that one moment that I thought she deserved to be centre stage. :)
 

 

 ...and this is my sister Lily. Believe it or not, she's a classic tomboy; as tomboyish as they come! She's always loved climbing trees, riding BMX bikes, doing tricks on her scooter, learning to ride a unicycle (yes, really!) or making ANY kind of music. It takes several attempts to get her to stop singing the same song over and over, and even once you've achieved that she's constantly tapping and fidgeting. We call her Bridget the Fidget. She also has a record number of instruments that  she plays: violin, guitar (acoustic and electric), piano, drums and ukulele. So yes, I think this photo sums her up perfectly!

 

This wonderful little cat is Alfie - he belongs to my lovely aunt and cousin, and I was asked to photograph him and his ridiculously cute brother Oscar. Despite a huge amount of wriggling, running around the house and praying that they'd hold still, we got some beautiful pictures that are now proudly displayed on the wall in Auntie Mel's craft room!

 

 

 Now THIS beautiful creature is one of my closest friends Hannah. She's been my subject (/victim) three times now, and every time I take a picture of her I cannot get over how flawlessly, naturally beautiful she is. Every day I spent too much time trying to blacken my auburn eyelashes, yet she can wear practically no makeup at all and still look like a Victoria's Secret Model.
My my my, she looks like some kind of forest queen...despite numerous modest yet wholly untrue comments about the way she looks, my camera always seems to disagree!

 

 Beautiful person. :)

Okay, I know these aren't living things, but could these be the tastiest, most scrumptious morsels in the world? Yes, yes they could be. I love baking with my daddy, and it's incredibly useful, with him having been a baker. That day and the photographs were so wonderfully spontaneous; in the middle of sifting flour, an idea sprang to mind, and the in the next moment I was clicking away, loving every moment of it. I felt like a cookbook photographer. :)

...and the finished product! From the Peyton and Byrne cookbook, these bites of heaven have me determined never to buy a packaged marshmallow teacake ever again!

Yay for cameras! :)
xxxxxxxxxx

http://www.adrianwardmagic.co.uk/






 

Hello all! Well, where to begin...I've never really been any good at starting things off; essays, speeches, letters, I guess I'm a little bit awkward. But you will soon find that once I'm in the swing of things I could quite easy write until the cows come home. Which is, technically why I set up the Peaseblossom Diaries.
   I got the name from the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare. Queen Titania's right hand fairy was called Peaseblossom, and considering we did the production of it at school last March, I found it somewhat appropriate.
    About me - I turned sixteen just over a month ago, and I'm in love with absolutely anything vintage or romantic, and my best friend is my camera! Weddings also come into the picture of my favourite things, and I could spend hours curled up, reading book after book. I live in the small-and-fairly-rural town of Ampthill in Bedfordshire, and I live with my parents, my twelve year old sister, a dog, a cat, two rabbits and five fish. Standard. I play the piano, guitar and ukulele (not to be confused with a banjo..) and I've surprised myself at how many songs I can play that are currently in the charts. In answer to the question that is inevitably in your head; no, I cannot play Gangnam style.
   I'm a proud Christian, and I've been going to church for as long as I can remember, but I really came to know God's love at a festival in Shepton Mallett called Soul Survivor. My faith has always been my rock and provided me more strength than anyone or anything else could, particularly over the course of my transfer to a different school.
  I've been really lucky when it comes to school; after a rough four years at middle school, I moved to a small independant school in a nearby town. And I love it. I've never been happier, so here's the biggest ever shout out to my wonderful parents for making my last years in school the best years of my youth. Sorry, I'm not normally one to get sentimental...unless it's a book. Or a film. Or Downton Abbey.
   So yes, this is the place in which I will be writing about this, that and the other - books, films, music, people, photography, fashion, school; it'll all be here. I'm not entirely sure how many people would be interested in the life of a fairly eccentric teenager, but I like to think of myself as being different to other people my age. For one thing, I don't watch The Only Way Is Essex, and you couldn't make me. I'm not a party animal either (that's not to say all teenagers are...but if I'm invited to a house party, there emerges an inner conflict within me, and I am suddenly met by a longing to curl up in my Sloppy Joes with a cup of tea and an episode of Call The Midwife). Enjoy everyone, and I'd love to hear from you :) xxxxxxxx