For quite some time now I have been meaning develop my photography skills as a core feature of the site. Unfortunately like everything else on my to-do list this aim constantly found itself being pushed further and further back on my agenda. A few weeks ago however I was approached by the guys at Debt Free Direct and asked to take part in a little project that they were running entitled #ImProving2o14.
The idea behind the project takes inspiration from the tradition of New Year’s resolutions but with a twist. Knowing that few people actually ever stick to these annual pledges the aim of #ImProving2014 is to choose a skill or goal and improve it throughout the course of 2014. Finally, I had an excuse to propel Photography right to the top of my to-do list.
The last time I held a ‘proper’ camera was quite a few moon’s ago at uni and to be honest, my memory of the functions has somewhat faded since. With this in mind, my first task was to find a camera that was relatively easy to use but that would meet my demands as my skills grow over the year. I settled on the Canon EOS 100d model which is touted as the worlds smallest DSLR camera, I thought this perfectly fitted the bill for my needs.
Time to put my skills to the test. I decided to take part in the London Street/Graffiti Art tour last Saturday afternoon which I saw advertised on yplan. The walking tour of Shoreditch in London’s East End departs from Shoreditch train station and takes a wander through the streets centred primarily around Brick Lane. I thought this would provide lots of interesting locations and scenes for me to shoot.
Works of street art by famous artists like Shepard Fairey, Stik, Space Invader and of course Banksy were all included in the very thorough 2.5 tours. Some of the art was beautiful and really gives the drab and sometimes seedy-looking lanes and streets a great injection of character. Just as I was getting into the swing of my photography, in typical British style the heavens opened and my relaxed gander came to a sudden halt. My top tip, if you plan to give this a bash is please do remember your umbrella to avoid getting soaked like me!
As far as my photography went, I had fun playing around with the camera’s settings and capturing some of the eye-catching artworks on the day. As 2014 signs of progress I will look forward to working on my skills and showing them off on here as part of the #ImProving2014 campaign so keep your eyes peeled for more of the same.
