May Roundup & 365

The month of May has come to an end, and thanks to Brighton Fringe Festival, it's been my busiest month so far this year!

Along with those events, I managed to get out on quite a few walks, and also make use of the smartphone clip-on lens kit I was given for my birthday at the end of April. The kit comprises of macro, wide-angle and fish-eye lenses, and I started the month by taking a fish-eye picture of a snail!

Curves (121/365)

Once again, I ended up taking many photos of 'nature things' for my 365 Project this month:

Beees? (130/365)	Posy (131/365)	Bald Patch (150/365
Tufty Bunny (122/365)	Petals (132/365)	A Good Nose (128/365)
Mouths (133/365)	Shellter (149/365)	Heads (134/365)

Fluffy Belly (144/365)

Though I keep intending to look for something other than nature to photograph, it still ends up being my go-to topic, whether it's due to a serendipitous discovery of a snail sheltering beneath a flower (and a bad pun I can't resist), a macro of a moth's fluffy body, or a snap of some freesias bought from the local greengrocer!

Being in the countryside, there is nature everywhere, which I suppose explains why I photograph it so much (it's not just laziness I swear).

I guess city-dwellers doing 365 Project might find themselves photographing urban life and landscapes--after all, it's right there on their doorstep.

Of course, May was filled with Things To See and Do, and the first of those things was a performance of The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Box Tale Soup. I went to this with a friend, discovered a nice cafe beforehand (Nova on London Road!) and fully enjoyed the play. See the linked post for a full write-up!

On the subject of pictures, this month's 365 Project photos also included some 'portraits'...

Deflated (126/365)

Amusement (148/365)

Brainfog (127/365)

Okay, so calling these portraits is stretching it a bit, but they're all faces of sorts?
Brainfog is another image in my project, State of Mind, which I wrote about in April. I'd hoped to add to the project more than I did this month; it's simply been too warm and humid to really focus. That, and I nearly suffocated myself with the feather boa I used in the image above. Remember everyone, health and safety is key, even in creative endeavours!

Votes for Women! (124/365)

The least exciting event this month was the local council elections. Politics can bring out the worst in people and the topic never ceases to irritate me, but I still go and vote.
Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which gave women over 30 the right to vote! Next year, there will apparently be a statue erected in London's Parliament Square of Millicent Fawcett, who played a key role in campaigning for votes for women.

Following on from the girl power theme, around mid-month a friend and I went to see Moulettes, a female-fronted progressive/folk/neo-classical band, at Fringe Festival's Spiegeltent, which I wrote about here.
They played a good set, and have some awesome songs about strange and unusual things.

Out of Frame (123/365)

Ingredients for a Pie (129/365)

I attempted a couple of 'strange and unusual' images for 365 Project this month.

With Out of Frame, I tried using a slower shutter speed and swinging the camera as I took the picture, to achieve a blurred, distorted and dreamlike effect.

As for Ingredients for a Pie, I created a multiple exposure image within the camera, using a rabbit figure and some fake fruit. My DSLR doesn't have a 'multiple exposure' setting, but it has 'image overlay', which works in the same way and combines two RAW formatted images with a similar result. I did this after finding a really useful YouTube video on multiple exposure (and subsequently, finally understanding how it works!)

As if strange and unusual were a bit of a theme for the month, another Thing to See was the Cathie Pilkington exhibition, The Life Rooms, which was held at University of Brighton's gallery as part of Brighton Festival.
I included lots of photos when I wrote about it so if the weird, drippy sculpture above appeals to you, do go and have a look!

A more unusual Thing to Do this month was a silent disco walking tour, hosted by Guru Dudu (the guy in the blue and yellow spandex. Obviously). This was another event I went to with a friend - it's definitely the kind of event you'd go to with friends! - and it was utterly hilarious. Well worth the money.

Lines and Stripes (146/365)

Between Doing Things, walking, and thinking about photography, not to mention the ridiculous rate at which the temperature rose this month, I had some days where all I wanted to do was lounge around and stare at the ceiling.
I did have days where all I did was lounge around and stare at the ceiling!
Which worked my my favour, as I spotted the patterns made by the blinds, and thought it would make a good picture :)

Taking Names (142/365)	Blue Frog (145/365)	Cracked (143/365)
Pores (147/365)	Shooting Star (151/365)	No Ideas (125/365)

Whilst I photographed a lot of nature this month, I also looked for details--a brightly-coloured piece of trash, a damaged wall, a fallen log full of holes. Things that can be passed by without a second thought, but catch the attentive eye.
Plus a tiny lightbulb, because I didn't know where else to put it in this post ;)


Though I did a lot of things with friends this month, I also went out with family members! My sister and I went and learnt to throw a pot at Painting Pottery Cafe in Brighton (another Fringe event!), and my dad and I went on a long walk in the countryside, where I took a ton of photos (the holey log is one of them) and saw many sheep, alpacas, and bullocks.

As if all of that Doing wasn't enough for one month, the last Fringe event I went to in May was George Egg: Anarchist Cook Part Two 'Second Helpings'. This was a comedy performance wherein the aforementioned George Egg cooks using unconventional means. It was hilarious, and when I couldn't get the grill to work the other day, I almost considered using one of his methods. Almost.

Lost in a Book (135/365)	Explosive (136/365)	Alcove (137/365)
Crime Scene (138/365)	Trapped Lights (139/365)	Spray Paint and Purple Hearts (140/365)

Curves and Edges (141/365)

Whilst looking for photography ideas, I happened upon a page called 101 Best Photography Projects You Can Start Right Now. Some of them didn't appeal to me (or seem much of a photography project) but a few of them stood out.
I ended up spending a week doing a ROYGBIV/Rainbow project, looking for a different colour each day for 7 days. Monday was red, Tuesday was orange, and so on.
At first this seemed like a really easy challenge, but it really isn't! I'd decided not to photograph any nature for it (it would be too easy to photograph flowers for each colour!) and some colours - orange, yellow, green and indigo - were much harder to find than others!

I'm not sure what I'll photograph for June's 365 Project yet, which isn't good considering it's already June!

After how busy May was, the call of a few quiet days is very strong...but I'm out again tonight, at another Fringe event, which I'll blog about soon...