Eoh

After watching a back to back marathon of the Lord Of the Rings, I started doodling the picture below, thinking of real time war horses...As I drew it, the title was obvious to me 'Eoh' - The language the riders of Rohan use, Elvish for 'War Horse'.
  But as I drew words also started filling my mind, so I flipped to the back of my sketchbook, and scribbled it down on the cover. With a few tweaks I share it here with you...

Eoh

They're all around, crowding in,
No room to move, to breathe -
My hooves prance,
Dancing through a sea of mud,
Running red with kins blood.
They slash my chest, with cruel cuts
And bruise my haunches, with heavy hands.
Clinging to the reins about my throat.
Yanking, Pulling,
Desperately Clawing.
Swords shine as bright,
As the glistening sweat upon my coat.
The battle never ends, never dies.
Ongoing Cries.
And countless numbers falling -
Falling.

Between The Sheets

The weather today is torrential! The rain is hammering against the windows, knocking out our satellite, and creating very pretty water patterns on our windows. I am sat indoors, wrapped in my fluffy throw, by the roaring fire, with a cup of sweet tea. I love the rain, but I do wish the weather had held up for today, so I could have gone adventuring...
 Whilst I have numerous shoots in the planning phases, I sadly have nothing new to share with you all just yet. So here are some more golden oldies...these were taken as I was just getting into photography, with the first model I ever worked with, who I still work with to this day.

Model; Jadene Van Dyk
Necklace; Curilogy Online

Rainbow Wool

It's been quite some time since I posted about knitting, so I just wanted to put your minds at ease and let you know that I am still going strong. I have a few pieces I need to shoot still, and a tutorial I'm finishing writing on a knitted clutch bag.
 I am currently knitting a basic rainbow, hippy scarf, and then a bag to match it.

Jewellery Shots

These are some really old photos I took for CuriologyOnline Jewellery. The model is the beautiful Kate Downes, and she's modelling an ethically sourced Cat Skull and Snake Vertebrae. Both pieces are now owned by me, and I love them both.
This was my first ever shoot made with the intention of trying to sell a product. I think they came out really well and showcased the jewellery. I think it helps that we both thought the pieces were so beautiful, and it was easy to tap into that.

A Message from some far off land... - A Poem

"Rest

Lie Down

Feel the soft grainy sand beneath you. 

Feel the suns soothing heat coat your skin.

Feel the tender caress of a lovers touch, 

Against your bare, tanning flesh.

Listen to the hypnotic rhythm,

Of the lapping ocean waves. 

Listen to the song of the screeching gull.

Listen to the steady beating of the earth.

Listen to his breathing,

Listen to yours.

Listen to the pulsing of your hearts...

Just listen."

 Majorca, 2013

Majorca, 2013 - Photo taken by my partner.

Fight!

I am a huge animal lover, and believe in no animal testing in any form. I used to be a part of Lush Cosmetics, and this was great, as I could spread a message, and had a job I loved. Through this work, I was given the t-shirt that features in the images below. When I left Lush I was gutted, and I really missed talking to like-minded people, but also educating. I realised I could do this through my photos. This is where the below set came from. Simply entitled 'Fight', I wanted a glorious combination of nature and a man made setting. I think I found this at Tintern Mill. A lovely little village-esque place, with a beautiful nostalgic feel...surrounded by valleys and hillside walks.

Everything clicked here. I really felt that magick spark, I love to experience at photoshoots. There was hardly no noise except for the rushing river below this wonderful archaic steel bridge. It was fantasticly peaceful, and we were only interrupted by a few dog walkers ;)

Model; Jadene Van Dyk. Wig; Geisha Wigs. T-Shirt; Lush Cosmetics.

Flowers.

Maybe I'm feeling reminiscent of Spring, because I feel the need to post some of my flower photos.

The Bookshop - Writing

So...sitting with a large mug of lapsang souchong, listening to the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Chelsea Wolfe...and a pen and paper in hand. I started to see an idea forming in my mind; the perfect bookshop. So I recommend that whilst reading this, you light some incense, and put on a song from the album 'Beauty is Pain' - this will really help get you guys into my head. I would love to own a shop like this;

- As you push open the heavy, wooden door, a bell tinkles unseen above your head. The air inside stills suddenly as the door swings shut. The heady fragrance of mingled incense assults the nostrils, as the thin wispy trails of circling smoke, dance through the still, motionless air. 
Slowly your eyes will adjust to the dim candlelit room. Tiny flickering flames lapping patiently at nothing. Hung by the door on an antique hat stand, is a coat. A coat that might once have been described as plum. The coat was always there, just hanging - though nobody ever put it on when they left, or hung it up when they arrived. The coat that got left behind. Forgotten by a woman who lost herself in a sea of books, and then lost track of the time. 
 All you can see from the door is books; shelf upon shelf, stack upon stack, pile upon pile. There was no order or discipline here. And there-in lay the joy. You could not search for authors last name by an alphabetical code, nor could you select a specific genre to browse, it would be very unlikely even, to find the accompnying books to a series in one single pile. Removed from your comfort zone, you are left free, floating by candlelight into the unknown. 
 If you dared venture into the labyrinth - dodging and weeving between perilously perched stacks - you would find your minatour, not in it's heart, but in the back left corner. A corner smothered in oversized mismatched cushions, and draped in exotic fabric of all colours and textures. A small record player stood to the side. From it emitted the haunting vocals - songs of love and nature, foreign worlds and witchcraft. You are free to lay yourself down in a nest of pillows and read, or simply take in the atmosphere and the music. If you did choose to lay down, you could look up into a small pool of fairy lights, feathers hung for hundreds of tiny dreamcatchers...and if you looked close enough beneath the drapery, you could just make 
out words inscribed in the ceiling. A mix of sharpie quotes from famous books, some even etched straight in with a  pen knife. Beside you is a very low to the ground desk. It is here that the minatour resides, having trapped herself in this maze of other worlds. Atop the dark red desk, stands a magnificent, ancient cash register. Ornate golf patterns are carved around the little glass window, where little pieces of card pop up to inform you of your total cost. 
 And if you decided that indeed you wanted to purchase a book; an unknown novel, or a work of non-fiction you didn't even know you were interested in, then these items will first be tightly wrapped in a brown paper bag. Next, some vintage inspired wrapping paper, brocade and blue tits most weeks. Lastly, the whole package will be tied up with a stretch of tea-stained lace, and a buisness card will be tucked under the bow.

Books.

Books are very important to me, and they inspire a lot of my photography work. I love getting lost in a good book, with a pot of tea and a warm fire. Almost nothing beats that.

I've decided in honour of this love, as a dedication to books - all year, I'm going to be doing a project on my favourite books, and putting them in my photographs. I don't just mean photos of the books of-course, I'm going to try and get creative with this project further on in the year.

Here is my first photo for this project;

Model; Jadene Van  Dyk

Book; Neil Gaiman; The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Neil Gaiman is one of my favourite authors, and this book is the latest one I read by him...I adored it! It was so atmospheric! And that is what I tried to play on a little in this photo. When the protragonist is visiting his 'witch-like' neighbours, there is this feeling of contentness, warmth and joy. This is how I feel when reading, so I tried to convey that here. 

'Books were safer than other people anyway.'

- Neil Gaiman

Candle Making.

I've made candles in many complicated ways in the past, with some great results. This is by far the quickest method to make your own ritual candles on a budget. (If you're on a really tight budget with limited time, you can buy pre-made kits off the internet for around £6 - I prefer to locally source my beeswax sheets and I buy my candle wick and wick holders off of etsy.)

Dyed beeswax sheets are available in lots of different colours, so you'll be able to find what you need for you spell-working, or find a colour that matches your room theme. If you buy the sheets individually, when you cut them - you need to make one side wider, to get the wrapping effect. (In the above picture you can see the length at the bottom of the beeswax is longer than the top. This can take a bit of trial and error to find which size works for you.)

Place the wick close to the wide edge of the beeswax. And just start rolling! Keep the bottom of your candle level, so roll with the shape of the wax.

 They come out really cute! I don't know for definite I have not completely burned one yet, but I'd estimate they'll burn for anywhere between 2-3 hours. Remember to make the base nice and flat, otherwise they won't stand on your surfaces.

These also make great gifts, or quick additions to a craft fair stall. The above candles are ones I've already sold and are packaged up to head off to their new home.

TIP; You can lightly coat the inside of the beeswax with essential oils to create wonderful fragrances as they burn. If you're making these for gifts, I would try and associate the colours with the oil, for example; My lilac candles are sweet lavender scented, the red is rose oil, etc.

Travelling in Time.

Sometimes ir's nice to take a trip through history. Model Sophie Harris and I, did just this, when we headed to a medieval fair in Caldicot Castle. Sophie donned a wonderful steampunk outfit, and for a few hours we got lost in castle passageways, sword fights, and falconry birds. It was magnificent.
 We were there for a photoshoot, of-course! And I can say with certainty, that both of us were 100% in the zone. This was the first time we'd ever worked together, and something clicked into place. The rainy day clouds disappeared, and the sun shone through the slitted windows just for us.

Something I thoroughly enjoyed about working in castle grounds, was playing with the light shafts, and shadows. I think the shot below, is a wonderful example of where this worked wonderfully.

See?

Anger - Poem

Photography is hard work and time consuming, sometimes in the thrill or emotion of a moment, I find words that come to you, can be a wonderful release. So here for you is a free structure poem I wrote a few weeks ago, on scraps of paper in work;

Anger, Choking Anger.

Words burning in my throat, 

Pleading to break free - 

Wanting to be set loose,

Alongside swelling tears, and an erupting heart.

A heart which is hammering in my chest,

Battering my ribcage, 

Creating reverberating screams,

That will echo though my mind for endless hours.

The pulsating pulse of injustice, fuels this anger to my veins.

     -------

There

-Calm

Contain yourself!

Never let out the bile that burns in your throat.

Hold your tears, child.

I'm not what I'd call a confident writer...it's not something I do on a regular basis. I have two book ideas I've been working on for years, just for myself...but I feel poetry is more easily shared with the world. It's still for me, but maybe some of you can take something from it aswell.

The White Rabbit.

A major influence for my photography are books. Things I'm reading can really effect my though process and ideas for a shoot. For example; I am currently reading George RR Martin and Tolkien, this has my mind swirling with elves and hobbit holes, dragons and wonderful landscapes. The below photos have some pretty obvious connections to 'Alice In Wonderland' - a wonderful story, that I've studied time and time again. Once more Jadene Van Dyk models for me, wearing 'Lady Alluras Latex' including a bunny tail and rabbit ears. Very white rabbit-esque. About a twenty minute walk from where I live is a fascinating abandoned mansion. It's very run down, beat up and overgrown, but its stunning. I've used it for a few shoots. And I thought all the growth here would work nicely for this shoot - and with complete honesty I was struggling to find somewhere else.

The stables, have and always will be, my favourite area of the mansion, and you can see them in the picture directly above. There is so much history and beauty there. The location really tells a story, I feel privellaged whenever I shoot there. And I'll hopefully be shooting again there soon, because there is still a whole building I have yet to break into - uh, I mean, explore.

Model; Jadene Van Dyk. Latex; Lady Alluras Latex. Wig; Geisha Wigs

My first knitting project.

A while back, probably around November last year, I picked up a pair of bamboo knitting needles for the first time and I fell in love. The below scarf is the first thing I ever knitted.

It is a mega-large, super soft, chunky wool knit scarf. The colours are so beautiful - I pretty much wore this scarf for all of December, it's so warm! For every knitting project I've made/I'll make, I want to do a set with the products. I think this is a great way to mix two of my passions. I used Jadene Van Dyk in a mori style shoot, entitles 'Elen of the Way'; a title based on an antlered pagan goddess. This was the first time I'd ever shot anything like this style, and I must say I loved it. I loved the simplicity and tranquillity. Here are some of my personal favourites from that set;

I want to share these shoots of my knitting here, but also want to share some progress images with you all, step-by-step images of my hard work. So from now on when I knit, I'll be taking photos along the way to share with any followers I might have.

Self - Portraits

Thousands of years ago, cats used to be worshipped as gods...they've never forgotten this.

This morning I woke up with all the inspiring images I'd been browsing last night rolling around in my head - and also with a cat under my cheek. One of the main things I was looking at last night, was the work of Casstranaut and Kindra Nikole. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kindra-Nikole-Photography/495800123770510?fref=ts One of Kindras main photographic subjects is herself. And she creates truly gorgeous images. Self-Portraits are a great way to utilise your skills and time. Finding models, has been something I've been struggling with a lot recently. My old friends, who were kind enough to put up with my mad ideas, have moved away...and I am left, searching high and low, for lots of pretty ladies. But looking through 'Kindras' work and feeling totally inspired, I've been contemplating, atleast a few of the ideas for shoots in my head, could be done as Self-portraits. I'm not a confident person, but I think like every photographer, I have dabbled in self portraiture before.

It's hard to look critcally at yourself in terms of a photograph...But I feel that to get passed this little block I'm having, I might need to get back infront of the camera. I've only ever taken solo shots of myself, never a full set...so I think I'm going to take singular images, but with bigger concepts.

There are some limitations with self-portraits, but I find that the shooting itself is very theraputic. It is wonderful to drive to a location, with your favourite album blaring from the stereo, leave your car parked somewhere, and traipse through nature, arms full of clothes, tripods, ladders, etc. Being alone with nothing but your camera, and the world around you.

Location, Location, Location!

Model; Jadene Van Dyk

Something I learnt in 2013, which seems really obvious, is that Location is everything! I took some of my best shots last year, simply by scouting out some gorgeous places for shooting.

 I am definitely not at my best in the studio...being out in nature, looking at a magical setting is just so inspiring to me. I find my photos need editing less, and I can get some really lovely, natural light effects...something you just can't replicate.

 The above photo is taken a short way away from my home town. It's a great big quarry that overlooks the River Wye. This was one of my first major sets of 2013, and it taught me ALOT. Me and my model and co-conspirator, Jadene traipsed up gravel paths, climbed fences, and balanced over many, many rocks. It was close to dusk - the lighting was perfect, and I instantly knew that, despite having to shoot the corset for it's maker, 'Exquisitely Rotten', I had to get some silhouette shots.

 These are still some of my favourite images I've ever taken...They were barley touched in photoshop - the atmosphere and style I got was just so, so picturesque! The whole shoot was very serene and quiet. I think we were totally taken in with the scenery, and just got down to buisness.

Rejoining the online community

I've decided that now, in the new year, it's a good time to start afresh with a brand spanking, shiny blog. I want a place to share my photography projects, my craft projects, maybe some of my writing, and just my general thoughts on things. Blogger is a good space to post 'behind the scenes' content, and photography experiences...I will try and use some video format here aswell. Whilst there are negatives and positives to the internet - being able to share creative outlets and ideas with people from all over the globe is definatley a positive! I hope you'll follow me here, if you like what I post. I plan to keep this blog updated quite frequently, so there should be a good stream of new content. Unless otherwise stated all images posted here belong to Razorlust (Jade Addis) Photography.

Modelled by; Sarah Cannaby