Tag Archives: photography

Photographer TY Bello Returns To Music, Drops New Single

Posted on by
2

After a brief hiatus, Singer and Photographer Toyin Sokefun-Bello, better known as TY Bello, is making a return back to music. She’s released a new single titled Land Of Promise (It is well). A comforting song with a sound that resonates across humanity itself. In her own words, she writes.

“I finished writing this song on my travel to the destroyed parts of Northern Nigeria. I saw first hand what it means to lose hope and how powerful and necessary hope is in moving forward. This song put hope on my lips and I hope it fires up the same in the heart of everyone that listens”. Listen to the song below…

 

Post-Snow Photoshoot

Posted on by
3

Hey guys!

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for not having a post over the last few weeks. I took a break from photography in December because I had exams in January. I finally finished exams last week so I was eager to get my camera out and take a few pictures.

I usually do not have enough time to take pictures, as I am still in school and when I’m not in school, I am in the library. But luckily I found a way to fit photography in. I finish school early on Fridays so I decided to take my camera to school every Friday.

Last Friday I did a shoot with my friend, Chisara. It was supposed to be a snow shoot, but the snow had almost disappeared when I was ready to shoot 🙁 I’m not sure if it will snow again, but if it does I will be running out with my camera immediately.

I had a great time taking these pictures with Chisara and I’m quite happy with the way they turned out.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

WordPress changed their photo settings so I am still trying to understand it.

I have posted today’s pictures on my website instead. Check them out here!

For The Fashion Lovers.

Posted on by
1

Hello!

Today’s post is specially dedicated to the fashion lovers and also those who have taken an interest in fashion recently.

One of my friends is very interested in fashion and is starting up a fashion blog, so she asked me to take pictures for her until she gets her own camera.

Seeing as I’m still in school and I have exams coming up, I decided to take pictures for her every Friday because I figured it would be a nice way to end a stressful school week.

I don’t have much to say in the post because I’m not exactly interested in fashion and this is clear in the way I dress (I don’t dress up at all and when I do, I’m always wearing black)

I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

I will be posting some more pictures for the fashion lovers next week so stay tuned!

Out with the old, in with the new.

Posted on by
1

Hey guys!

I finally finished editing pictures from my last photoshoot. I know it took a while, but I got there in the end. I figured some of you might be a bit used to seeing Comfort’s face, but don’t worry, I’ve got something different for you next week.

I had a great time editing these pictures and it brought back good memories. It also made me think of the future. I’ve been thinking of various photoshoot ideas. I noticed I have some sort of “natural hair” theme going on, so I’ve decided to do a photoshoot about different shades of black. I’m hoping to do this during the summer because it’s the only time the sun comes out in London.

I am excited about what the future holds for me regarding my photography. Not just because of my photoshoot ideas, but because people have been asking me for my business card (which I’m going to make as soon as possible). I have a friend who comes from a large family and they tend to throw big parties, so she has asked me to take pictures for them. I’ve also been asked to do a family photoshoot and I’ve agreed to take pictures of some custom made handbags for my friend’s mum.

Things are looking up for me right now, but unfortunately I have exams coming up, so this is a real test of my time-management skills. Right now, I’m just looking forward to finishing school and having the whole summer to work on my photography.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures below and keep looking out for better things to come!

I think pictures look more beautiful when the models laugh.

 

Negatives.

Posted on by
2

I’ve always liked dark colours and it even shows in my choice of clothing, and more importantly, my photography. I prefer to have my street photos in black and white or sepia because I feel that they appear much stronger that way. However, when it comes to portraits I usually have most of them in colour, but that didn’t happen this week.

None of the pictures in this post are in colour and I’m not entirely sure why I made that decision when I was editing the pictures. I initially had some of them in colour, but I’ve been a bit down this week and that is reflected in my editing.

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with this story, so enjoy the photos below!

Simplicity

Posted on by
1

Today’s post is a bit like last week’s post, which you can check out here if you missed it. I took them all with the same theme in mind. I wanted the models to look natural and serene, and this is evident in their clothes and their poses. I editied a few more pictures from the photoshoot and you can view them below.

Comfort and Chisara

PS: I apologise for not having as many pictures in this post. I have been very busy with school work, as I have exams coming up in January. I haven’t had time for myself, which also means I haven’t had time to edit pictures. Hopefully I can find some time this week to edit a lot more pictures to share with you all.

Chisara.

Posted on by
4

Hello everyone!

Today’s post is dedicated to my very beautiful Nigerian and German friend, Chisara.

I did a photoshoot with her and a few others on Friday and I am extremely pleased with the results. I think these pictures are some of my best. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’ve been practicing a lot or whether the weather worked in my favour, as it was sunny on that day, which is something we don’t see very often in London.

I hope you love the pictures as much as I do.

 

I have a few more pictures from the photoshoot that I haven’t edited yet, as I have been very busy with school work. But I’ll edit them during the week and you can check for them on my Facebook page or my website.

Did You Know Photography Could Be Edible?

Posted on by
3

Do you ever have those moments when you can’t stop thinking about food? Well, I experience that everyday of my life, but this time is different. I literally cannot stop thinking about food and I don’t know why 🙁

In order to satisfy my cravings, I went a-fishing for some lovely, mouth-watering photos I have taken. If you follow my postings, you’d remember that I was talking about getting into food photography.

I found some of my ‘introduction to photography’ pictures, which, by the way, made my mouth water. So I thought, “only fair you guys got hungry, too.”

Enjoy!

Shortbread

Red velvet cupcake

Red velvet cupcake mix

Red velvet cupcake mix

London 2012 Cupcakes

Fish and Chips

Jerk Chicken Burger

Jerk Chips

Marble cake covered in white chocolate cigarillos, topped with strawberries and raspberries.

Christmas Dinner

Donuts

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Christmas

Cookies

Cookies with cherries on top.

Chocolate Chip Bagels

Bagels topped with oats.

Camden and I, Reunited

Posted on by
9

Hi everyone, I’m not sure if you remember the post I made when I first visited Camden. Well, I remember that day, especially because I got pretty awesome compliments. A lot of people seemed to love those pictures and I was glad because it was my first time in Camden and I initially didn’t feel as if I had done my best.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always with my camera or I’m somewhere reading something about photography. I’ve been reading a book about street photography, as I wish to specialise in this area of photography. I got some useful tips and I couldn’t wait to try out them out, so I visited Camden again in the hope that I would end up with better results.

I used a 70-300mm lens for most of the pictures and I absolutely loved it. I started street photography with my 50mm lens and I personally think it’s important to start with a prime lens, as you learn so much more about composition and framing because you can decide what things are necessary in the shot and you can also eliminate unnecessary things. It teaches you to get close to your subject in order to get a great shot. I think I’m at the stage where I understand composition and framing fairly well and I hope to invest in a zoom lens in the near future.

I absolutely enjoyed visiting Camden again. I might go there regularly, as there’s always something going on and they have awesome Chinese food. I think the pictures I got this time are quite interesting and I hope you think so too. Enjoy!

My history-obsessed sister thinks he looks like Hitler, without the moustache.

What an amazing job, right?

I absolutely adore her. She came up to me later and asked if she could take a picture. Then she said “Don’t worry, I’m not going to run away with your camera.” I agreed and I asked her if I could get a picture of her as well and she ran away laughing.
If only she knew I already got a shot of her.

He noticed me with my camera and I guess he wanted to show off his skills.

I’ve always wanted to get a picture like this. Using a 70-300mm lens made it possible.

He was flirting with every girl around. When I walked past he winked and said, “Wagwan baby girl?” I laughed and asked him for a picture. I think he really enjoyed posing.

I’ll end this post with pictures of my friend, Comfort. She was born and raised in Kenya and she will be representing her homeland next month in the competition, Miss Nubian UK. She is absolutely beautiful and her smile is amazing. She has a great face and I hope to do a photoshoot with her soon.

 

Culinary Art

Posted on by
1

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love food. I even have a nickname because of my love for food, but I won’t tell you guys what it is. It’s rather embarrassing; but far be it from me to stop loving food because of it.

Growing up, I’ve always been surrounded by food because my mum runs a culinary company right from our house in Lagos, Nigeria. The bakery forms part of the house, and she loves cooking. She loves cooking so much; I think the cooking genes were dominant enough to present themselves in some of her children.

Yes, you guessed right. I’m not the best cook in the world. Heck, I rarely throw it down in the kitchen, but I’m glad to let you know that it did not affect my ability to capture food through my lens. I’ve always been of the opinion that the best way to enjoy photography is to try something you’ve never done before – get out of your comfort zone! I used to hate going out, but then I realised how much beauty you can find in the world if you just look in the right places, in the right state of mind. So, now, I try my best to get out of the house at least twice a week with my camera hanging from my neck. Anyway, I digress.

Food photography never quite struck me as something I would invest a significant amount of time in, but the more my mum cooked and asked me to capture her food, the more I enjoyed it. So we had a barbeque in my house last week and my mum went all out with the cooking. But guess what? So did I, with my photographing, ha!

I thoroughly enjoyed taking these pictures and editing them, so it is my pleasure to present them to you, hoping you enjoy looking at them, and enjoy just how beautiful the art of culinary can be. But, more importantly, I hope this inspires an appreciation of GOOD food in you.

 

I’ll end this post with a picture of my sister, Lola. I know this post is about food, but she’s quite yummy, so it’s all well and good.

She’s beautiful, isn’t she? I want to be like her when I grow up.

The First Pound

Posted on by
2

I once read a quote that went thus, “The quickest way to make money out of photography is to sell your camera.” Seems like good advice, doesn’t it? I would advice against that, though.

When everyone starts photography, I doubt they’re in it for the money. They usually start by doing lots of free jobs in order to get some experience, that is, to improve their portfolio. But, bear in mind that I am speaking from experience. I did have my fair share of free jobs, but one day I thought to myself, “you’re quite good at this and people do love your pictures”. It took a while and I did a lot of reading on event photography (which is the most common way photographers make their money), so I decided to go for it.

If there is one piece of advice I am in a position to give, it is that every photographer must have patience because jobs don’t come very easy, especially if you’re just starting.

I would also encourage you to have the confidence to go out there and ask people if they need a photographer for their event. Then, maybe after a while, you won’t need to go out there and ask, because you have already built a brand and people just come rushing. My dream is to build a brand, but with everything in life, we always have to start small.

Luckily for me, I was able to get two jobs in two weeks. The first was a birthday party for kids, and the second was for the African/Caribbean Society (ACS) committee at London School of Economics.
The one thing that came as a shock to me was the amount of time I spent editing the pictures. I know most people look at photographers and think, “Oh, everyone’s doing photography now,” or “What’s so hard about that?” I spent three days editing pictures from the birthday party alone; now imagine how long some photographers spend editing wedding pictures. Please, respect your photographer. It’s not an easy job. It IS NOT an easy job.

I was extremely pleased about both jobs, and I still am because I learnt so much and I also discovered ways in which I could improve next time. You learn something everyday with photography, and there is always room for improvement.

You can view some pictures from the birthday party and the university in the slideshow above.

Maria

He sat across me on the train and I thought he looked quite interesting and full of unconventional wisdom.

Lady on the train. I thought her hairstyle was amazing.