Themes of 2014 - Pumpkins, Harvest

For October's challenge we were given the subject of pumpkins and harvest.  I decided to go out into the forest and see what might be ready to be harvested - I didn't find the crab apples I was expecting to, but I did come back with a bag full of sweet chestnuts - delicious!
  

Themes of 2014 - Tea Coffee and Comfort

Having taken the summer months off from the challenge I decided to join in with September's theme of Tea Coffee & Comfort.  I found the brown sugar crystals in my local supermarket a long time ago but I knew I'd find a photo opportunity for them eventually!

Themes of 2014 - Flowers

The theme for May's challenge was Flowers.

I decided to capture my garden in a jar - it went along with my desire to try new ways of photographing images (new to me anyway), and of moving out of my comfort zone. 

Photographing through glass was a challenge, with reflection problems and many other little problems that I hadn't foreseen - after many 'fails' I finally had a handful of photos that I felt depicted what I wanted to capture.

Themes of 2014 - camera and memories

The subject for April's challenge was camera and memories.

I decided to try and create a faded, ethereal set of photos to represent this - a lot of my textile art work has been based around memories and I love the idea of haziness, how two people can have such differing memories of the same event, and how little details can be so elusive.

As well as the old Kodak Brownie I used a treasured 1960's postcard of Worthing from my childhood holidays and a photograph of my father's Morris Oxford car from the same era.

Themes of 2014 - shoes and movement

For March the theme we were given was shoes and movement.  It was the perfect opportunity to photograph the old pair of worn out ballet shoes I had picked up in a junk shop, for no reason other than I loved the look of them!

Themes of 2014 - fruit and wellbeing

I've really been enjoying February's theme of fruit for the Themes of 2014 challenge.  

These towers of fruit were my final choice for the challenge, but I've included some of my other ideas below them - you can see how enthusiastic I've been!

Themes of 2014

January - the first month of our new challenge and the subject given was 'phones and communication'.  How tempting not to join in this month - but that's not really the point is it, giving up when the prompt isn't exactly what I would want!  So I had a go and I'm very glad I did - I found myself working outside my comfort zone - no pretty vintage, no sepia tinted textures and no subdued light.  I wanted a clean, crisp image with a no-nonsense feel to it, plus a hint of 'office' and a desire to mask as much of my very unfashionable phone as I could!