Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!
I know it may seem irrelevant to say so as it's already near the end of January but I've just recently got settled into my new place after moving at Christmas, and I must admit that it was pretty stressful at the time but at least I'm finally ready to get started with everything again.
Since I've entered the world of Instagram and have seen what everyone else has been getting upto it's made me very inspired and encouraged to get back into photography, lots of ideas have been floating around my head for a while so it's time to finally put them into action. Not before long I was dusting the cobwebs off my blessed camera and was strolling around my local area for inspiration, and funnily enough I realised I'd never taken photos of this cute little 16th century castle that I happen to bypass most days of the week.

Of course I've still been inspired by mid 90's and early 00's films, one of the latest on my list has been The Little Vampire ever since I watched it for the first time over the holidays, it's such an incredibly adorable film! Anyway, you're probably wondering what the significance is with my photos but the movie was predominately filmed in Scotland and the castle that I photographed reminded me of many scenes in the movie, although I'm sure there are no vampires living in this one!
The photo above was actually a quick snap that I caught when I was about to walk away, I just loved the look of the black iron gates infront of the small wooden door, I don't know what it is but every time I take a photo of gates, they always seem to add a certain creepy value to the building, although it maybe doesn't help that I turned this shot black and white, haha!

Anyway, I'm going to leave it at that for the time being, but I'll let you all know that I recently went on another jaunt and photographed the beautiful Broughty Ferry seaside in the gorgeous low winter sunshine. It was absolutely stunning and peaceful, almost like a holiday away from home! I'll try and get those photos edited as quick as possible, they're a bit different from the usual castles and creepy buildings that I tend to take photographs of, haha, so I'm looking forward to getting them online!
Nicola. x

New Year...New Look!

Happy New Year everyone!
As you may have noticed I have finally got around to giving my blog (and all my social networking sites) a much needed makeover! There's a new banner image, background and lots of other little bits and pieces that I have been working on the past few days. I think it's really coming together now, normally when I'm working on photos I only get the chance to update one or two things and it's never the full works, so I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it.
The tiny screenshot below is what my Tumblr page looks like now, if you want to check it out the link is, http://nicolasharkeyphotography.tumblr.com, all of the links to my social sites are actually on the right side of my blog if anyone wants to check out the others.

Some people may have already noticed but I also changed the header image on my Twitter page and it's actually a picture of my photo passes! Looking back at all of them really makes me sentimental, which probably sounds pretty sad but it's true, there are so many good memories tagged with those passes, it's good to look back at them every now and again. Ah anyway, I think I should stop rambling here before I go completely off topic as usual.
There's going to be another post very soon, I'm actually finalising the finishing touches on some of the shots as I type this...so as always stay tuned.
Nicola. x

Happy Boxing Day!

Hey everyone, Happy Boxing Day!
I normally don't tend to write blog posts right after Christmas, but I just couldn't stop myself from working today. If you didn't already know (...I have mentioned it a few times on Twitter, haha) I received a new Manfrotto Tripod as part of my Christmas presents yesterday. It's completely amazing and definitely worth the extra bit of money! It's a piece of equipment that I have been wanting to add to my kit for a long time now but never fully felt the justify of the purchase.
I was really over the moon so to speak...yeah fairly bad little pun there I know, but amazingly enough I noticed there was an *almost* full moon last night, which is a great opportunity to test out the tripod. Of course I didn't exactly have the appropriate lenses for the occasion, however the one I decided to use did the job and I'm surprised it worked!
Anyway before I go off on an excited tangent, I hope you are all enjoying the festive season and the sales today. I myself managed to pick up a new pair of Dr. Martens for a very cheap price, and a navy velvet skirt that I have been longing after for a while now! So to be honest, it's a plus all around.
Also, there's still many more photos to be uploaded from recent adventures, so as always stay tuned...
Nicola. x

The Kooks Review on Is This Music Magazine.

Incase you didn't notice in my last blog post (which was a while ago, sorry) I wrote a live review for The Kooks show at the Barrowland in Glasgow last month, for Is This Music Magazine. It features a few of my photographs along with my thoughts about the gig. Go check it out.
The link to the review is http://www.isthismusic.com/the-kooks, or you can check it out below.
Thanks,
Nicola. x