31 Photos

Hello!

I've always loved photography and how photos are framed and cropped and edited.

I think it's such an interesting medium to convey certain emotions/feelings/vibes/absolutely everything and I'm fascinated and constantly inspired by professional photographers and non-photographers alike.

Everyone is an artist with a camera.

And it's so interesting seeing the art people choose to show to the world, I'm endlessly inspired & motivated & uplifted by it all.

With all of that in mind, I decided that for the month of August I was going to take 1 new photo every day. I have a Nikon D3200 that I wanted to get better at using so I said to myself why not, and off I went with my camera.

Not only did I want to take 31 photos, I wanted to edit them too (and by 'edit' I don't mean Photoshop, I just mean like flipping the photos upside down or putting words on top of it and stuff like that).

Also, I was kinda sick of putting myself in the 'food' box like constantly saying that I'm a 'food blogger' and stuff. I don't want to blab on but I feel that labels are really damaging like they really confine you, like in my head I was telling myself that I could only blog about food or else people would think that I'm weird or they wouldn't be interested. But then I was like nah. Life's too short to stick to one 'thing'.

So I'm not calling myself a photographer, but I definitely take photos.

And I really wanted to explore my creativity and see what I could come up with and see what kind of photos I'd have at the end!

So yeah, these are the results...

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01/08/2018 - Day 1 of the New-Photo-Every-Day challenge. Needless to say I didn't have a clue what to take a photo of so I took a photo of myself. Obvs.

02/08/2018 - CDs in my room and some aul monkeys having a laugh.

03/08/2018 - Ailbhe and Niall in Currabinny Woods. I love going to the woods, maybe it's because my surname is Woods, I don't know. There's something so refreshing and re-energizing about being fully immersed in nature.

04/08/2018 - The sky.

05/08/2018 - Cork Pride. It was my first time going to the Pride parade. I got brunch (the most amazing Soma X Banana Melon Kitchen vegan brunch of course) and then watched the parade and took some photos. Then I got coffee in The Bookshelf. All by myself. I know that sounds so simple but growing up with a twin I always had someone by my side! It's only now that I'm becoming more comfortable in my own company. It was a very special day for me. I'll never forget it.

06/08/2018 - I made a smoothie and my table was clear so I was like "This'll be a good photo." I can't remember exactly, but the smoothie was like banana/frozen mango/spinach/almond milk/peanut butter.

07/08/2018 - Ailbhe was doing her hair and I had the camera with me and I got this shot. I like the way the light is coming in from the blinds.

08/08/2018 - It started on this day and the tradition of drinking 2 cups of warm beverages has continued! I don't why, I just love the comfort a warm mug offers. In the orange mug I had a cup of Pukka chai tea (I think it was vanilla, I'm not sure) and in the blue mug I had warm water with fresh ginger and lemon.

09/09/2018 - Bernice, my bike. She's still looking for a good home to go to! And I'm still on the hunt for a bike for college.I just love bikes. They're class.

10/08/2018 - That night I was home alone so I had to set the camera to self-timer on the kitchen counter to get this photo. I cooked myself a nice dinner, had good tunes playing, and didn't distract myself with my phone when I was eating. It's so important to mind yourself and do what makes you feel good and happy and alive and human.

11/08/2018 - Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I actually forgot to take a picture during the day and it was around 11pm when I remembered! I also love candles like far too much. When I have my own house/apartment/whatever there are literally going to be candles all over the gaff. I can't wait.

12/08/2018 - This was taken in the car park of The Workshop, near the airport. I stepped in dog poo when I got out of the car. It was raining. But it was a good day. My family are mad.

13/08/2018 - I forgot to take a proper picture. But I guess that's life.

14/08/2018 - This song really has been the soundtrack to my August. I actually can't put into words how much I love it. Zak Abel is an absolute gem. I love him.

15/08/2018 - FAMILY.IS.EVERYTHING. Whoever your family is (moms, dads, brothers, sisters, friends, pets) let them know how much you love them.

16/08/2018 - The trees and the sky.

17/08/2018 - So.much.love for these people. (Also, in case you're wondering, really burnt falafel are still delicious, especially with pasta, baby potatoes, and caramelised onions.)

18/08/2018 - I don't know where this box came from and how it got to where it was, but I was fascinated with it. The fact that it was so out of place made it fit into its surroundings even more.

19/08/2018 - I've decided that I need to live by the sea for at least a year in my life.

20/08/2018 - Where I chill out. On the couch with a bowl of porridge at 9pm watching food-related YouTube videos. I know, I'm so cool like...

21/08/2018 - I don't know how to describe this. It kinda just came out of my brain. I like it.

22/08/2018 - The 2 books I was reading that day: "Headed East" by Jack Harries & Fraser Rigg and the Ireland Independent Coffee Guide No2. In addition to bikes and candles, I also love books. Like a lot.

23/08/2018 - Ailbhe. She's always so good at smiling in pictures. I always blink or make a stupid face. She's cool.

24/08/2018 - "despite knowing
they won't be here for long
they still choose to live
their brightest lives"
- sunflowers by Rupi Kaur

25/08/2018 - I had so many emotions in one day. This picture of the ceiling makes sense to me, but I'd never be able to explain it to anyone else. My brain is weird.

26/08/2018 - Always. Making. Energy. Balls.
But I love it.

27/08/2018 - The Happy Pear, Clondalkin. I'm always inspired how they make healthy food so delicious and accessible. What you choose to eat really does impact you in so many ways. You can either let it hold you back. Or you can let it fuel you and support you, both physically and mentally.

28/08/2018 - I bought this (nearly-put-together) bench in Ikea but it was too big for my room. Ah well.

29/08/2018 - (Behind the scenes of a smoothie bowl)
There's always a combination of good music playing, oats, bananas, peanut butter, and frozen fruit.
If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life it'd probably be a smoothie bowl. They're just class.

30/08/2018 - I love Bean Brownie so much. Like so so much. Their new place in Ballinlough is seriously divine. And the whole Bean Brownie team is just so sound. All this talk about Bean Brownie has made me want a tahini cookie all of a sudden. Oh my god get one of their slices of biscuit cake and have it with a glass of almond milk. Absolute. Heaven.

31/08/2018 - I felt delirious after I took this photo. I did it. 31 photos.
I know it wasn't the same as climbing a mountain, but I think there's something so cool about setting your mind to something and then going out and doing it.
I made a sweet potato and butter bean stew and I had that with some brown rice and some leftover falafels (from Aldi).

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Taking a new picture every day has reminded me that photography is such a beautiful art form, but I feel as though a lot of people take it for granted. Time, work, thought, and effort all go into taking a good photo and a lot of people don't realise that.

I think a lot of us take photography for granted because we all have cameras on our phones so we take pictures of literally everything (food, coffee, the sky, friends, the beach, etc), so the effect of photography goes over our heads. But if we all took less photos and paid more attention to the things worth capturing then I think we'd appreciate the art form a lot more.

Okay I know that sounds so pretentious, but I do feel that because we're living in a 'take-a-photo-of-everything' world, it's so easy to get caught up in bad quality photos that don't hold much meaning and that we forget about the next day.

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I'm so interested and passionate about photography thanks to the following amazingly brilliantly talented humans. Some of them are photographers and some of them just take photos. But they're all absolutely class.

(Click on their name to go to their Instagram page.)

Suzanna Melinn (Banana Melon Kitchen)