WHAT IS HAPPINESS?

IS IT A SMILE?

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It may be for some people, but for other people it is a front to hide what is really going on in their head.

Happiness is something which no-one really knows, it is a constant question of what is happiness and where do we find it. Everyone has their own interpretation of what happiness is, it may be different aspects of your life, job, relationship, hobbies, how you spend your down time and how you treat other people. Happiness is different for everyone for some it comes easy and others it is something they need to search within themselves to find, for some it has been taken away by others and now they need to regain that happiness.

Bullying is an example of how you take away someones happiness, when you choose to make fun of someone you not only takeaway there happiness, you take away the happiness of some people around them like their parents and wider family. Having a child who has been bullied is not easy I’m sure, I wouldn’t know myself because I have no kids but I can imagine having your child wake up everyday worried and scared about going to school is not nice.

Its not only Young people who get bullied its adults too, but that’s not really acknowledged these days all the focus is on young people, which is ok but we need to remember that just because your older doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Everyone deserves to have happiness in their lives, Don’t take it away from anyone.

Some people may look as if they are strong and happy but they are trying to support a lot of different things at the same time trying to deal with their own problems.

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Never just assume someone is ok, The next time you go to say something bad about someone or too someone, they could already be in a very unstable place and it could just take that one comment or insult to tip them over the edge. Never judge a book by its cover!

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Always be kind and help people when you can, never talk down to people or believe you are better than them, we all come from different backgrounds and all have a story to tell. so listen to the stories then you might think twice about passing judgement.

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The most important person in our lives who needs to have happiness is ourselves. It may sound selfish but if we are not happy with ourselves then how are we able to spread it to other people. The only person stopping us from having a Great – Day, Month, Year or Life is YOU! Change your attitude and you will be happy.

Surround yourself with people, possessions or places in which make you happy! Why sit back and let life pass you by, live life 100 mph, do what makes you happy. Don’t be scared to try new things, don’t be scared to meet new people, be open to new experiences and embrace change don’t be afraid to let go of people and things which don’t bring you happiness. It will only do one thing which is help you grow and find out who you truly are.

Appreciate the simple things in life, also appreciate the people you have in your life, take time to listen to them and hear their stories! It’s kinda like a Vietnamese Biscuit a lot of twists and turns but will leave you feeling sweet at the end. Its the little things in life which we appreciate but we don’t acknowledge because we take them for granted. Next time you find yourself sad about something take a step back and look at your life and make a list of what you have, include in your list possessions and people.

Then just take a moment to let your list sink in and look at what truly makes you happy!!

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Personally I find it best when I am sad or need to clear my head a walk with nature is the best thing because the beauty you can come across goes unnoticed everyday. A walk through the forest, in a garden it doesn’t matter anywhere outside get the fresh air through your lungs and just appreciate the outdoors.

This has been my blog on happiness, I hope you enjoyed.

Thanks for reading

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Thankyou.

Why are we always looking at what we don’t have?

We as a society need to stop looking for what we don’t have and start looking at what we do have in our lives.

Is social media to blame?

Maybe Social Media is to blame for Mental Health maybe its not, who knows yes it may contribute somewhat but its not all bad, there is a lot of good that comes out of online interaction.

When I was growing up there wasn’t much going on in terms of social media, (listen to me I sound like I’m a pensioner) anyway I was more concerned with going out playing with my friends and doing stupid shit, like lighting fires and taping Zimmer frames to skateboards and throwing my mates off Kirbs on it. (Terrible idea by the way do not try this at home).

I am 27 years old now by the way. As time went on I got more and more immersed in the social media world, so much so I would say I was addicted to it and on my phone probably 80% of the day.

The more I seen all the public figures i not so much looked up to but somewhat influenced by the more I wanted to be successful and wanted all the possessions they had, eg. high end clothing, nice watches, and the latest gadgets. I had grown to not know the value of money, I would be out working all day then go and spend it like I had loads of it when clearly I hadn’t. I had all the latest gadgets and nice clothing, shopping in expensive shops, I was living way above my means and I think It was because this was all I was seeing and so I thought well if they can do it so can i.

I have always been a driven person, I always wanted success and still do but I see it in a different way now that I am older, I don’t spend my money on stupid shit although some people may disagree.

The meaning of success has changed for me, success for me now is living comfortably having a family and being in a job which I love going into everyday. Yes money certainly helps but it certainly does not bring a lifetime of happiness.

We need to start and appreciate what we have in our lives already, My mum has a canvas on the wall in our house and it says “If you love what you have, then you have everything you need”. I walk past it numerous times everyday but it has had a lot of influence in the way i think now, which confirms my point back about seeing people online all the time having the best of possessions which seeing it all the time had me thinking I needed all this crap too.

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Social Platforms can be a very lonely place.

You almost feel as if you’re a tiny twig amongst a forest full of tall fully grown trees.

Instagram and Facebook are massive platforms and can sometimes be looked at like a game with a lot of contenders, always sprucing things up to make them look perfect and their lives so flashy. All the best clothes and latest accessories to go with it. We are living in a materialistic world where if you are not up to date with the latest trends you are almost looked down upon. Yes that’s all well and good having these things, its a nice luxury to have them but they only keep you happy for a short period of time. FILTERS ARE OUR HAPPY PLACE!!

While we are too busy chasing likes and follows and approval of what we are posting, we are missing out on what really matters which is our reality and not what is fake because we can hide behind a screen and make everything look and sound ok when really its not.

We need to focus on the aspects of our lives which are, Friends, Family, and most importantly ourselves and our well being. instead of looking down at your phone look up and forward because that is the direction you want to go in life “FORWARD”! the more you look down the and follow other people and trends the more opportunities you will miss.

Its like driving you need to look ahead to be able to see where you are going otherwise you will eventually crash, like media platforms If you take all influence from others and try to fit in you will eventually crash because you are not being who you truly are and following the path in which makes you happy.

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YOU WILL NOT REACH YOUR DREAM WHEN YOU LET OTHER PEOPLE DRIVE.

It sounds as if I am bashing Social Media but I actually do like it, it has had a lot of good influence on me I just urge you to be careful because it has its dark sides. This is just my personal experience.

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For a lot of people 2020 was a terrible year.

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The above image I think is perfect in describing this year, A lot of peoples worlds came crashing down. Business owners were put under a lot of financial pressure and mental pressure as they were told they had to close up their businesses for a long period of time.

People were losing their jobs and left not knowing where they were getting the funds to get keep up payments on loans, mortgages and other bills which the average person has to pay. The government released a scheme called the furlough scheme which allowed businesses to close but the government would pay 80% of the staff wages which was great news for the employees of all the businesses which had to close.

A few weeks down the line certain Businesses were allowed to open e.g. Cafes, Restaurants and Takeaways were allowed to open for takeaway only.

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A few months of being open again we thought we were seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

At this point a lot of people were becoming very depressed and Mental Health was being mentioned a lot because people were not aloud to meet with their friends to chat, people were getting very lonely, yes we could still call, Videocall and text but there is something to be said about meeting someone face to face and having a chat to get things off your chest. Because we were not aloud to do this peoples heads were in a dark and uncertain place.

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A lot of Unemployment still about but finally now the businesses can now reopen, but they have to have the proper PPE and guidelines in place before they open their doors to the public. RULES AND REGULATIONS MUST BE FOLLOWED or else fines will be handed out to businesses.

Open for a few weeks then back to square one for businesses when they had just spent thousands of pounds making their workplaces safe for everyone. Imagine spending all that money to close down and then to hear that the government are only going to be paying 60% of staff wages and now the businesses have to find money from somewhere to pay the other 20%.

NOW Mental Health was really becoming an issue. Suicide rates were through the roof, people still not aloud to meet with any friends or family, children who had parents in care homes were not aloud to go see their parents they had to speak to them through a sheet of glass or through the window as to not spread the virus.

WHAT WERE PEOPLE GOING TO DO??

Things are still uncertain at the minute as Christmas has just passed and luckily enough we were able to meet with a few people on Christmas Day which was great for a lot of people. Now that that is over we are now in a 6 WEEK LOCKDOWN.

WE HAVE NOW HIT 2021!

Mental Health has now hit an all time high. We need something to take our minds off this depressing subject it its scaring the life out of people, it is all you hear about on the news.

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Not to reflect on last year but we need to take control of our mental health, we need to stamp down on it and rise above the depressing things which are surrounding us nowadays.

Get out and find a Hobby or a hidden talent which you have always wanted to do but never got the time to do due to a busy life before all this came in to play. We just need some motivation and inspiration to get up and DO. May it be learning a musical instrument, Singing, Painting whatever it may be, even take up exercise. Walking and Running gets you out of the house and will give you a chance to clear your head.

We are not out of this yet but there is light at the end of the Tunnel Trust Me!!

Keep Smiling, The grass is always greener on the other side.

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A friend had suggested that we go to Antrim for a walk along the six mile water path one day with our cameras to see what we could get, Nature Wise.

So we turned up at the car park, got all of our gear packed and ready in our bags. We headed up the path, filled with colourful trees and nice scenes all around us yet none of these really caught our attention, we took some pictures of course but none really stood out.

The weather was beautiful, the sun was so bright but not great for pictures because there was no interest in the sky to add atmosphere to the picture, just bright blue. So as we walked on round there was a lovely river flowing parallel to the path. We thought why not try and get a nice long exposure with the harsh current flowing away from us as a nice foreground then it will lead the eye through the image up the trees which were arched over the river.

As we walked on we heard this loud flowing of water, so of course we headed straight towards it and there it was a very little but beautiful waterfall if you could even call it a waterfall.

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Filled with lots of colour and detail. I really like this image because it very simplistic.

It was getting later in the afternoon so we decided to head back to the car, walking back we passed these very uniform looking trees but that wasn’t what captured our attention it was the way the light was hitting the leaves and protruding through the gaps. I don’t have the image anymore but there was almost like a yellow\green hue on the left hand side of the leaves that made it look like the trees were almost leaning forward.

We arrived back at the car, I was putting my gear in the back, I closed the door and looked up and seen this leaf sitting on the roof, now keep in mind my car is black but the way the light was hitting the roof made it look white and created a perfect reflection. I could not pass up this opportunity to get such a simple picture but of the whole days shooting this was my favourite picture and still is one of my favourite pictures to this day.

Thanks for reading, Hope you enjoyed.

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Thanks Again.

R.I.P George Floyd.

On the 25th of May 2020 George Floyd (46) was arrested after using counterfeit money in a store. The police were using unnecessary force when arresting George.

He unfortunately passed away when the police officer used his knee to restrain George on the ground which was placed on his neck, after George repeatedly pleaded that he Couldn’t breathe the police did not listen to his cries.

As soon as the story hit the news it blew up on all social media platforms reaching all over the world. There were protests in numerous places and some of the protests even leading to riots and looting of shops all over the cities.

What happened to George was terrible and thankfully the police officer who killed George was sent down for what he did.

There have been a lot of cases where black people have been discriminated against for their colour which is an absolute disgrace.

There were a lot of protests for the Black Lives Matter movement receiving support from the white community also.

I don’t necessarily agree with the looting and riots in which happened because I think it is just giving the police force more reason to arrest the black community and the white community . I think that if the looting at riots did not happen then it would have proved the police force wrong that we can be peaceful and don’t just go out to cause trouble.

We are all equal in this world and we don’t Eva eco fight or discriminate against each other just get along it will be much easier.

Reasoning Behind The Photos

We wanted to cover this story with a couple of Photos to try and portray the feelings of the black community.

We wrote the words that were spoken by George when he was pleading that he couldn’t breathe.

“I Can’t Breathe”

Also added some Quotes and phrases that were picked up within this story.

Thanks For Reading

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Why Set more money on Fire?

After the last post about burning money in the middle of a National Pandemic, I received some messages and comments about burning money and it caused some controversy because its something that everyone relies on at the moment.

So we decided to burn more money, but not Paper notes we burnt Pound Coins instead.

The reason we did this is because I personally think fire makes everything look more Epic, Portrays a better message and Stands out better.

How did we actually burn the items?

Well burning the items is harder than you would think, First of all its not just as easy as lighting the item on fire, we needed something Flammable.

Isn’t Google a wonderful thing.

So we looked up Flammable liquids and found that Nail Polish Remover is Extremely Flammable. We bought 4 bottles, “Did we need 4 bottles?” “NO” But we bought them anyway.

After burning the Coins we were looking for what else we could burn, We had a banana, a Go Pro, some marshmallows and a glass of Wine. Of course what are we going to do? Yes that’s right, light them on fire.

We did and this was the results.

I really like the Go Pro shot, I think it would be a good Product photo it looks like its indestructible

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Why did we Burn Money??

Trying to Think outside and Stand outside the box in photography is harder than you think…

So we had the idea to do something that people would notice which was to burn money, we used £20 notes because we didn’t want to look like total idiots.

Not knowing the law very well and not knowing whether it was illegal to burn money or not we thought we would take the risk. Remember Stand out from the Crowd.

What was the message behind Burning Money?

At the minute we are in a National Pandemic and everyone is very unsure about their future and their countries future, They don’t know if the economy will recover, if they will be kept on in work or be made redundant very very unsure times for everyone.

Before we entered into this Pandemic I don’t think anyone really took any notice of what was actually important in life. People were very driven by Money, Public Image and whether they were up to date with the latest Fashion Trends and ignored the things which didn’t actually require having stacks of cash and showing it off to people.

There was a lot of pressure on people nowadays especially young people to keep up with everything they are seeing online. They look up to people on Instagram and YouTube, Which isn’t real. Its all Fake, it’s stripping away natural growth and forcing them to think that everything is perfect. By seeing this all the time they will start to think that they need to be like these people to be happy. FALSE!!

Although there has been a lot of Tragedy for people, Im hoping we will come out the other side a bit more positive about life and start seeing that we can’t judge people if they aren’t wearing expensive clothes or they don’t have a lot of money. Thats not what life is about it is about helping one another along and if They need to Talk, We Listen.

So the message is,

Yes Money is great but its not what is important in Life.

Thanks for Reading

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I decided to try and get a bit more creative with my photos, so i challenged myself to photograph water but make it intresting by pairing it with something.

I had this random idea to create a waterfall effect but didn’t know how to go about so I walked around the garden and found an old piece of plastic pipe which was perfect because it meant I could pour the water down and it would pick up whatever I had placed inside and there I would have the waterfall effect.

I placed some flowers inside to add a bit of colour, I will not get into how many shots it took to get these pictures because its kind of embarrassing with the help of my dad who wasn’t best pleased because I had half the frigging garden flood with the amount of water. whoops.

It was the same for the water drop pictures, I used the same pipe for these resting on a seat. I didn’t have any help with these ones though so trying to time the pouring of the water and shoot was really quite difficult but I got there in the end.

Hope you Enjoy

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So I decided to try some black and white self portraits.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage to take my own picture and get the correct lighting then change the settings, well I had an idea but I knew it was going to take quite a while. So I waited till it was late at night and everyone was in bed because I wanted it completely dark and no excess light coming from outside.

I set up some small lights on the dining room table first and I knew I had these cool looking Chrystal glasses in the cupboard which would give off some abstract patterns by shining a light through the bottom of them.

I tried some reflection photos in the mirror and got one I was happy with by lighting a candle then putting the lid on and waiting for it to fill with smoke, then time it well with the camera and take the top off the candle releasing the smoke when the picture took.

I then decided to test my posing by taking some standard portraits shots, as you can tell posing is not my strong point but I think the shadows on my face worked out great.

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Is it just me or when im out sitting waiting on birds they never turn up but when I get fed up and go inside they all turn up!!

No im not talking about Women haha.

My DA has a bird feeder up in the back garden and we do get a few different species of birds, the problem is that they are mainly small Robin Red Breasts which are quick wee buggers and hard to catch so I have to pay attention which is not something I am very good at.

With the weather being great the past couple of weeks its been a pleasure to sit outside with my book and I did manage to get a few good images of the wee gits. One day I did actually have to hide in the tree beside the bird feeder to catch these images.

Hope you Enjoy the images.

Thanks for Reading.

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