Tag: travel

Categories
lifestyle

MY LIST:30 things I want to achieve before turning 30

Every birthday I reflect on what I have achieved in the past year and every birthday it almost feels like a dark cloud coming over and you suddenly realise…shit, I am getting old. Now it’s not all doom and gloom getting old, there are some perks and one of them is that you finally figure your shit out. Usually, life can throw “distractions” in the way and one of them for me was my 7-year relationship. Now I am not going to say it was negative because it wasn’t and my ex-partner is a fantastic person but I will say it was a distraction for me. That’s what happens in relationships you get so caught up with the other person that you kind of ignore what you “really” want in life. Soon as I came out of that relationship it was terrifying, I was comforted for so long that I felt alien to the situation. I’m on my own now, I have no one to answer to and it’s just me myself and I, so what if  I “wasted” 7 years of my life? Those 7 years taught me what I want out of a relationship and what I don’t want out of a relationship but 7 years is precious time so what am I going to do?

I am going to do what the f*** I want to do for once.

So I decided to put together a list of things I want to achieve before turning 30, I am 28 now so I have two years to achieve them. “Never dwell on the past” they say, that’s impossible because we spend most of lifes dwelling on the past but what we can do is change the present and the future. By learning from our past and getting up off our arses and doing the things we have always wanted to do. So, here are 30 things I want to achieve before turning 30 and some that I have already achieved in the past year.

  • Move out– This is something that I could do now but I want to actually own my place, So i’m currently saving saving SAVING!
  • Start a blog
  • Start up my photographgy business
  • Write and film a short film/advert
  • Caring more for my body e.g. Tackle the yeast intolerence diet.
  • Pass driving test- driving has taken a back seat for a while because I have always had a phobia of driving (long story to explain why!) but now I am pretty confident on the road but I’m pretty sucky at manoeuvres because im such a short arse, I can hardly see anything! Next year is my year to pass!
  • Travel to New Zealand– may need to get over my phobia first of snakes.
  • Learn to cook a BAD ASS ROAST DINNER
  • Go to an elephant orphanage
  • Visit Area 51– ULTIMATE BUCKET LIST DREAM RIGHT THERE
  • Attempt the vegan diet or cut down on meat.
  • Overcome my fear- absolutely petrified of snakes but I want to overcome this!
  • Host a buffet party
  • Go to HARRY POTTER WORLD
  • Give back- Charity
  • Travel America
  • Get back into running
  • Do the sutton Coldfield fun run
  • Change career
  • further my blogging career
  • further my photography career
  • Focus more on videography and create more video content for my photography business
  • Buy a car
  • Visit Amsterdam 
  • Go on a digital detox weekend away
  • Create my own photography book of Birmingham
  • Learn to put on a good buff like the famous Marisa Langston buffet
  • Jump more often
  • Build something- a piece of furniture maybe?
  • BE MYSELF- build that confidence and believe 

AMY ELIZA

Categories
lifestyle

HELLO PUMPKIN.

Grab your ugly jumpers and get your “basic bitch” pumpkin latte at the ready because AUTUMN IS FINALLY HERE.

It seems I wait all year for autumn, not fussed about spring, summer is only good when there is a pool and it’s appropriate to strip in public places and winter just seems to bugga the whole world up with in indecisiveness. Autumn will always remain my favourite and for many reasons…

  1. LAYERS, I can layer to my heart’s content.  
  2. Everything looks so much prettier in autumn; the orange/red tones make photographs look so vibrant and beautiful and it’s my favourite time to go out with the camera.
  3. Is it just me or do the movies on the TV seem to get a little bit better around this time of year?
  4. ITS BUFFET SEASON FOR THE LANGSTON FAMILY: start of October is when my mom puts on her famous Langston Buff spread for the family, it’s a prestigious event and Members only are invited…you can register your interest via contact page.
  5. HALLOWEEN. Pumpkins, Cinnamon on everything and horror films running non-stop.

However, with all the positives does come some negatives and sometimes Autumn can suck for these reasons:

  1. The house becomes an open house for neglected/injured homeless spiders seeking a meal and a place to stay for the rest of the YEAR!
  2. It’s darker, it’s colder and the struggle to get up in the morning is real.
  3. Everyone is bloody infected around this time of year. Every October I get ill without fail, I get the flu jab, I take vitamins, I wear earmuffs and still, I get ill.
  4. The BASTARD leaves, when autumn comes every year, I suddenly develop a phobia of slipping on leaves. You expect it with ice in winter but you don’t expect to slip on these crafty buggas. Nowadays a leaf is more likely to put you in hospital than a bug.
  5. When you realise there is literally two months to Christmas, and you haven’t saved a penny…

October is my favourite month, not just because of Halloween but because it’s my BIRTHDAY MONTH. I will be 28 this year and can you believe I still get asked for my ID when I go out? The other day I got ID’d in Poundland for a bloody fork..*Sigh* it was pretty embarrassing as I was buying sanitary towels as well, I assumed that was what I was getting ID’d for (it was way too early in the morning) so I proceeded to flutter the pads in the air at the store assistant in which she replied “Do you need a different size”

..Christ sake.

Anyway! I usually make sure I have a lot going on in October and I have already started to plan in which I will do a few blog posts about.

Here are a few things that I will be doing in my birthday month and places I’ll be visiting!

Tattu Birmingham

Weekend break to London

Pumpkin picking- Honestly, what kind of person buys pumpkins from Asda and Tescos? Get into the halloween spirit people!

Halloween events– Severn Valley ghost train/Birmingham fancy dress halloween night.

Spa day at the Belfry Hotel & Resort

Autumn Photoshoots

I will also be checking out more Birmingham independent coffee shops/restaurants. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Pretty busy month as you can see, really looking forward to going back to London, London in autumn is absolutely stunning. So I hope you all enjoy “The cuddle season” In-between all I have got on this month I shall be scoffing cinnamon buns and cuddling with myself or my mother…If she lets me.

AMY ELIZA

Categories
photography

AMY ELIZA PHOTOGRAPHY

So, I thought I would introduce you all to my photography business Amy Eliza Photography. I set my business up about a year ago now and I want to give you all a bit of an insight into my journey so far and why I chose to be a photographer.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST START GETTING INTO PHOTOGRAPHY?

I remember around the age of 13, I came across my mom’s video camera and I although the quality was not perfect (dad kept having his thumb over the lens) I thought it was so lovely to watch back, I couldn’t remember singing “Tale as old as time” on the toilet when I was 4 years old but thankfully my mom had footage of it to remind me that I was a funny little thing back then and still am now. From then I became interested in film/photography, I asked for a Canon cyber shot camera then attended college studying Media Production in which I also studied photography, however I hardly attended ( 9am class, I had to get two buses and I just couldn’t be arsed sometimes!) I did attend the one day, we were all sent out to Birmingham City Centre to take photos of the public, I came back developed my pictures and proceeded with the rest of the day. It was thanks to my photography teacher who gave me the wakeup call that I needed and to get my arse into gear, when she saw my photos she decided to give me a bollocking for not attending but then the conversation ended with ” Your photos reminded me of Sally Mann’s work, they are bloody good, what the hell are you doing?” Say no more, I got my arse into gear and started getting out there with my camera.

WHATS THE BEST THING ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?

Being able to freeze time, look back at moments, and to share with others.

WHATS ARE THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF PHOTOGRAPHY YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE SO FAR?

Highs- I would say the support, Birmingham is a great community to live in as a creative you are supported from every angle in this great city.

Lows– I am a perfectionist, so it does get a bit stressful in the editing process, if I feel it’s not working, I will take myself way, cool off and watch a movie, it usually does the trick and sparks some creativity! Cost of equipment is a pain however its really all about the person behind the camera, you don’t just press the button and take the picture, you make the picture

HOW DID AMY ELIZA PHOTOGRAPHY COME ABOUT?

At the time I was pretty unhappy, and going out with my camera taking photos brought a lot of joy to me, Although I was “in a relationship” I found myself alone a lot of the time, it was only when my relationship at the time was starting to go downhill I decided to organise and set up Amy Eliza Photography. It was new, it was exciting, it was a long time coming and It was a great cover up to keep my mind of the break up. I started advertising free photoshoots for kids & family’s, even though I was offering my services for free, I had it in my mind I wasn’t going to get a lot of response but bloody hell, I was so wrong. My phone kept pinging, email after email and I felt the excitement and the confidence building inside of me. From then the reviews came flooding in, the more photos I posted the more recognition and the more bookings I was getting. It’s a shame because that was a time in my life where I finally felt I was going somewhere in life but then behind the scenes I knew I was going to lose someone I had in my life for nearly 7 years so it’s was a bittersweet time for me.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED SO FAR?

  1. BE YOU! plain and simple really.
  2. Passion is essential in this game, the more passion I have for photography, the more I learn, the more I create, and gives me strength to make the impossible, possible.
  3. Networking, networking is essential in photography, communicating with local photographers, businesses and other creatives has really helped my business take off. The more you network, the more you are investing in your business and creating more opportunities for your business.
  4. The more you post, the more people will know your business! Never apologise for shoving it in people’s faces, the world needs to know you are serious and they need to know your name.
  5. It’s not all about the camera. You could have the best camera in the world and still produce rubbish photographs. I have a lot of people asking what equipment do I use? The most valuable equipment I have is my eyes and my creative mind.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR AMY ELIZA PHOTOGRAPHY?

There is still so much to be done with my business. I am currently specialising in Portrait/lifestyle and event photography, I would like to explore a bit more! I would love to combine blogging and photography; travel photography would be an absolute dream, but I really want to focus on taking on photography full time and to influence others to follow their dreams. Too many people worry what other people think these days and shoot down their dreams because of them, haters are your confirmation that you are doing something right.

If you like to know more about my photography, then please ask away! I will be sharing more from my photography business- behind the scenes footage, tutorials and more!

AMY ELIZA