Tumblr

I am moving to Tumblr, http://afbingphotography.tumblr.com/ due to the fact I am uploading too many pictures to google and I am not paying for extra storage space haha!
See you there!

To the Park

Some pictures from Morriston Park, Swansea. Amy walked most of the way around and loved going on the swings and seeing the ducks in the pond. So much so that she cried when we left. Luckily from all the running around she fell straight asleep when we got home :D

 Me (above) and my partner (below) with Amy :)

AFBing Photography

I have decided to set up my own photography website and I am now currently selling digital downloads of my photographs to the general public. Hopefully this will lead to some freelance work so I can expand from landscape to other photography area's such as event, portraiture and maybe even weddings one day in the future! I hope I can count on support from everyone. My family have supported me greatly and given me the confidence I need to succeed. Hopefully all goes well.

You can find my prints at AFBingPhotography and you can also Email Me if you need a photographer. If you have a need I will try my best to fulfill it :)

Remember, Remember the 5th of November .... Which was 2 days ago

Thankfully on the 5th of November it didn't rain so I managed to take my camera out to Sparks in the Dark, Swansea's annual fireworks event. It was a great night and I found my new favourite local band "Where's Wally". They sung a few covers which were probably the best I had heard in a long time and this is a huge thing for me to admit because I usually hate covers. Originals are always the best because they are just that, original, written and sung the way they should be but on that night, the 5th of November 2012 I didn't care! 

I was luckily to get a few snaps of the band, which has lead to my first sale :) although I am intending to sell prints and am setting up my own online store as I type .... well my fiance is, isn't he a doll :D  I am so excited about this. Does this mean my photographs are good enough to pay for them? We'll see! I am hopeful though.

Also at Sparks in the Dark were Welsh superstars from Britains Got Talent Nu Skool and Only Boys Allowed. Both of which I also enjoyed watching and snapping. I believe this years Sparks in the Dark was a lot better than last year in terms of acts. Fire works are pretty much the same where ever you go.

One criticism I do have of this event, which is no one's fault is that the queues to get food were huge, so seeing these 15foot long queues I knew I didn't have the patience to be waiting around and then I got distracted by this fire juggler. I once again started snapping and someone's child was standing in front of me twirling a flashing thing in front of my camera! This little girls mother could not be more apologetic but being a mother myself I kept telling her it's okay with a smile on my face and got on with it.
 

Finally we got to the fireworks which lasted for about half an hour. I would say you got plenty of bang for your buck because as the proud owner of a student ID it only cost me £4.50 to get in and I got to see all these awesome acts and fireworks. An evening of entertainment that was great, and I wasn't very cold either as I was smart enough to take gloves and a scarf. How clever.

I hope everyone else enjoyed bonfire night as much as I did and got to see some lovely displays or made your own and had a safe night :)

Kidwelly Castle

Last Saturday was a sunny day so, leaving Amy with my mother me and my the fiance decided to take a trip to Kidwelly Castle, located just outside Llanelli. It cost £3.50 each to get in, which is a bargain in my opinion. It was a lovely day so photographs had to be taken, we explored every room and it was nice to not have a child to push around or one that is now running wild everywhere we go. We have invested in a Harness Buddy to keep her from running too far but she's a strong little lady and drags me along where she wants to go! 

This is the magnificent door that leads into one of Wales most intact castles which is maintained by Cadw. Although Kidwelly Castle is in Wales it is a Norman castle which the Welsh tried to and successfully invaded  several times in the twelfth century.

An interesting fact about Kidwelly Castle is that it was used to film Monty Python and the Holy Grail!! This castle is the very first one you see after the opening credits.

While photographing the castle there were many crows flying about and my partner told me that there were even a few falcons but I am no bird expert so I am not one hundred percent sure. Seeing these birds swooping and landing around the castle I tried my hardest to capture one but when I pointed my camera towards the heavens there was no movement at all and then after climbing a castle wall - using the stairs of course, I am no rebel or rock climber - I caught this one as he leaped from a tower.

Outside the castle is a river and a path that lead back around to the town. The river had swans and ducks and I wish I had some bread to coax them closer to photograph and I wish Amy was there because she loves ducks. None the less I was glad I didn't have to stop her from trying to jump in the river! All together it was a lovely day out for me and my man and even though it was sunny it was rather chilly so I'm happy I took my gloves and scarf.

This final photograph wasn't taken at Kidwelly Castle but it was taken 5 minutes down the road at Glan yr Afon. I love the house hidden in the tree's and surrounded by countryside.

Getting Blaen y Maes on the map!

I was a bit at a loose end earlier and found myself Googling Blaen y Maes, the area I live in. There are barely any images of this area on Google so I thought, as its sunny I'll go out and fill this niche :) being a the model citizen that I am, getting this run down area on the map and shown in a bit of a better light than it's seen in. I didn't manage to get as many pictures as I liked but here are a few. 

While walking I saw this flower everywhere, it's quite beautiful to picture but I have no idea what it's called, if any reader could tell me what it is I would deeply appreciate it :)

 This isn't a common sight around Blaen y Maes, someone actually walking a dog.  Fair enough this man probably doesn't own this dog and it's just another stray that can easily be found around this area but it made for a good photograph (or so I believe). Luckily the stray continued to follow the boy and didn't start following me, which has happened to me before haha, it followed me for about 2 miles as well! Dedication.

These are some stairs off Woodford Road, I have no idea what street they lead on to, maybe I'll go for another walk if it's sunny again this year before winter hits and we never see the light again.

Last but not least this is one of the two lovely First buses whose route include Blaen y Maes. This is the beautiful automobile that gives me a lift to and from town when no better option is available, this amazing bus that is usually full to the brim and I have the luck to sit next to the booziest smelling person ever. Can you sense the sarcasm.
I know I was trying to highlight how nice Blaen y Maes actually is and I finish on a bum note but every mother that gets on a bus full deserves a rant. Overall there are some lovely aspects to Blaen y Maes but the buses are not one of them! I can't wait to take some extra photographs and fill the void in Google with something other than the houses or cookers that come up when you type "Blaen y Maes" into that search bar.

Penllergare Valley Woods

A few weeks ago I discovered Penllergare Valley Woods with a little help from my younger sister. Living in Swansea for over 7 years now I never had a clue that this area existed, especially not as close to Blaen y Maes as it is! Because Penllergare Valley Woods is somewhere quite beautiful and to be honest Blaen y Maes is a bit of a dump! Here's a link to Penllergare Valley Woods own blog.

This is an Himalayan Balsam , which I found out a few hours after taking this photograph is a weed! Who'd have thought this lovely flower that looks like its dribbling a dew drop is a weed! Well I never! Despite finding this weed, I also found out that Penllergare Valley Woods has a large variety of Rhododendrons, which unfortunately were not in bloom at the time of my visit.

I enjoyed my walk around Penllergare Valley Woods but it is not suitable for prams so I walked alone, without my child and partner. A great few hours of peace and quiet out of the house ME time! I would recommend taking walking boots around this area though because it is a little muddy and a great hike. It's also great for walking dogs and taking photographs, as I have shown ... Big headedness!

This is a man I caught fishing at the lake, there were also a few ducks around but when I went to photograph them they swam away from me and into the reeds. I hope the man enjoyed fishing as much as I enjoyed trying to take a sneaky photograph of him haha. There are two lakes in Penllergare Valley Woods but I only made it to this one because by the time I reached this waterfall (pictured below) I had been walking/taking photographs for over two hours! Luckily on the walk back home I didn't take any photographs and it only took about half an hour. Saying this there was plenty more that I left undiscovered and hopefully there will be some snow this year to allow for some more amazing shots.

I would recommend this walk for anyone with a camera, a fishing rod or a dog. And hopefully you would have as much fun and get lost in the time you spend there like I did.