HolgaMaria

Start of the snow

2012-02-12T13:00:00.001Z

Birthday Card

2012-01-17T01:17:00.003Z

Gardening related birthday card design

Resume

2012-01-09T14:51:00.001Z

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:19:00.001Z

Let's celebrate it with a drawing of the Eiffel Tower, why not?

Sarcastic Robin wants to say something

2011-12-15T02:42:00.003Z

Sarcastic Robin says 'Merry Christmas, yeah'

Post from an iPhone?

2011-12-09T16:33:00.001Z

Let's see if this works without a hitch, writing from my new phone, finally have Internet on the go which is something I've wanted for ages and it's extremely useful. Just found the blogger app and using it for the first time. Please excuse any spelling mistakes!

Human Intervention Devoid of Human Life

2011-12-06T23:39:00.001Z

These four images ended up being the final four two meter wide prints for my end of year project for my college course, it's taken a little time but finally I've got them up on here.

Human Intervention Devoid of Human Life

This project looked primarily at how public places, which are usually populated and busy during the daylight hours can change when the night falls. Essentially their use is stripped of them once everybody goes home at the end of the day. Car parks are a primary example of this, most of the time they are full of cars and people going about their day to day business, but at the night time they are left empty, the mood changes, and they become empty space quite often right under our noses in towns and cities. I wanted to document exactly how eerie these spaces can become at night, they become slightly scary, you aren't meant to be there really. The warped perspective highlights these feelings, making the tarmac and bricks wrap up around the viewer hopefully creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. Best viewed big.

Nearly One Line Faces

2011-12-02T20:35:00.001Z

Peugeot Graphics

2011-11-23T12:29:00.001Z

2011-11-23T12:22:00.001Z

2011-10-02T19:02:00.000+01:00

Shot with Pentax K-r, 18-55mm lens, 30 second long exposure

More Urbex Night Photography

2011-09-27T19:01:00.000+01:00

Shot with Pentax K-r, 18-55mm lens, 25 second long exposure

2011-09-20T18:59:00.000+01:00

Shot with Pentax K-r, 18-55mm lens, long exposure

Peugeot 205

2011-09-15T01:07:00.000+01:00

Shot with Lomo Fisheye 2 film camera, 35mm Kodak film

New Toy

2011-09-14T14:48:00.003+01:00

Got my new computer set up sorted, bought a new 20 inch

widescreen TFT monitor running as my dual screen, and a

new wireless mouse so I take my design more seriously

without having the hardware restraints like before!

Bournemouth Beach

2011-09-10T11:04:00.000+01:00

Shot with Lomo Fisheye 2 film camera, 35mm Kodak film

Bournemouth beach during the summer, Trevor from America

played us some tunes. Feels like forever ago

Night Photography

2011-09-05T19:52:00.003+01:00

Shot with Pentax K-r, 18-55mm lens. Testing out its' performance at night

About the forth visit to here, hopefully we'll be able to visit a few more times before she goes.

Testing out a new tripod, I say new it was from a car boot sale and was dirt cheap. It does the job

bang tidy when all of the legs decide to stay on

I'll be back soon!

2011-05-15T10:59:00.003+01:00

There's been a few issues with the website and my own internet connection lately, so I'm sorry I haven't been able to post - I've got a lot to go up, some reviews too so keep an eye out

Anti-Smoking Campaign

2011-02-15T10:27:00.005Z

A brilliant advertising campaign by Smokefree Southwest England, to make roll up

smokers aware of the dangers

Three examples of really nice design, for use in a clever, witty manner on the website

http://www.wise-upandquit.co.uk/

I'm a smoker myself, these caught my eye, but I'm afraid no amount

of good design is going to make me quit!

Down in an old ROC Post

2011-01-31T12:01:00.003Z

Shot with Lomo Fisheye 2, using Afga ISO200, 2002 expired film

We spent an evening down in an old ROC post, pretty cool place to be when the weather outside isn't very nice. Great to see it hasn't been trashed by anyone yet, one of the better condition ones of the country, you can do a lot worse

On top of another building

2011-01-28T11:56:00.005Z

Shot with Lomo Fisheye 2, using Afga ISO200, 2002 expired film

Image selected from a small series of photographs which involve being on the tops of buildings. Hopefully there will be more to come soon, we have a couple of interesting sites to check out

Headlights in the Rain

2011-01-26T11:54:00.006Z

Shot with Holga 135BC, using Afga ISO200, 2002 expired film

Holga 135BC Trees

2011-01-22T01:54:00.003Z

Shot with Holga 135BC with Afga ISO200 film expired 2002

Self Portrait

2011-01-16T01:13:00.002Z

Shot with Canon IXUS 100IS, with a single simple light source, images completely untouched apart from adjusting the opacity in Photoshop to create desired effect

Self Portrait x3

Can't get enough of this technique, simple yet effective Photoshop layers

This camera is continuing to surprise me with the quality of shots it produces, definitely not bad for the £120 I paid for it a little more than 6 months ago. Compact enough to fit in your pocket, it's near enough the size of a credit card and not very thick at the same time, and can handle being dropped. I should know, I have done it.

Cheeky band practice

2011-01-11T18:43:00.001Z

We thought we'd have a cheeky band practice while the rest of the band are back down from uni for the xmas holidays, thought we'd record a video of a little improv, well I say little it actually lasted near enough ten minutes, furthering our 'post rock' direction. Hey you might like it, might not, either way we had fun! I'd say most of the video is just me and Dave pissing around for the most part!

Merry Xmas Everybody!

2010-12-23T16:54:00.001Z

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From Holgamaria

The ash tray's had it

2010-12-06T12:06:00.001Z

It looks like the cold weather last week got to the ash tray in our back garden, that's the problem when it is made out of glass! Water got in and froze up. So now we're left with a quickly defrosting fag log, a festive Yule log of tar, nicotine and dog ends in a plastic bucket on the grass. We were so close to filling it to the top!

Pinhole Trees

2010-11-06T14:06:00.000Z

On a really windy morning, I ventured outside with my trusty pinhole dslr and a tripod and started to look up and photograph the trees in my back garden. Beautiful results, I love the way the branches are blurred in each photograph, the wind having a direct effect on my thirty second exposure of the sky. Entirely nature's doing, all I did was point a camera.

Pinhole Portrait

2010-11-06T13:40:00.000Z

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daisyjellybean/sets/72157594484970534/

Typeindie

2010-11-06T10:53:00.000Z

TYPEINDIE.

Check out this new blog run by a good friend of mine,

it's a blog dedicated to bringing you new bands, new music,

mixed in with artwork and typography.

Go on, take a look!

First Pinhole Experiments

2010-11-05T13:35:00.000Z

I finally got round to converting one of my cameras into a classic pinhole camera! I've been wanting to do it for months now, but have never had the confidence to go ahead and experiment with film straight off with no pinhole experience, I figure it will be too expensive to get rolls and rolls of really bad photos developed at my not so local development lab thirty five miles away. They are worth the drive and I always make sure to drop in for a roll to be developed whenever I pop back home for a day. I have asked around and apparently there is absolutely no labs in this town who are actually any good. So I think I will continue to pay a premium and do it the hard way.

Since I really don't have the cash to afford my own (decent) DSLR, I have been in the habit of occasionally borrowing my uncle's Nikon D60, and if you ever read this uncy, thank you very much it's much appreciated! This camera has helped me attain a distinction for my art foundation course last year, it's become so useful in every bit of photography I have done. Wandering Blenheim Palace at night, skulking through old abandoned military air bases, and taking some amazing shots which aren't possible with my cameras. And I promise, one day I will buy my own!

But let's get down to business. I made a really simple, cheap, pinhole 'lens' for the nikon. I guess you can call it a lens even though it has no plastic or glass lens. It's just a hole in a body cap I bought for about £3 from ebay, and it arrived next day which I was super pleased with. I simply drilled a 4mm hole through the centre of the specially bought body cap, and sanded down the surface to make sure it was as flat as possible. Then, the trick is to get some aluminium foil, and some form of needle, and just lightly press down to make the smallest of holes in the thin metal of the foil. The hole was so small I couldn't actually see it with my naked eye. Flip the body cap over, then use black electrical tape to secure it into position over the bigger 4mm hole. Next whack the modified body cap on the camera and start shooting! Obviously a tripod and lengthy exposures are needed.

This is what it looks like, a beautiful bit of home DIY:

Now it was time to start experimenting with my new pinhole camera, the beauty of digital cameras means I can see my results straight away, rather than waiting for the roll of film to be developed. This is exactly why I started by converting a DSLR, because you can see the results straight away and during the process, learn about the specifics and delicate maths involved with taking photos this way. Below is the very first photograph I took, and yes, it isn't very good! The hole wasn't right, so I made a new one from a fresh piece of foil, and taped that on and carried on shooting.

You can see here I am starting to achieve some warmer colours and a characteristically soft focus feel you get from pinhole cameras

A few more tweaks with exposure lengths, yes I was doing it all by guesswork. Well, educated guesswork, because where's the fun in getting in bang on the first time?

So I shoved the camera on a tripod, and started taking 30 second exposures of the workspace in my room. I stuck at 30 seconds exposures for a time, since that's as long as the nikon will leave the shutter open. Of course, with the Bulb setting you can expose for as long as you like, but since I didn't have a remote shutter release at the time, and my hand isn't steady enough to hold the shutter down for 5 minutes without shaking and causing huge blur, I decided against the Bulb setting and stuck with just 30 seconds exposure times.

Notice the extremely soft focus feel and the colours which are beginning to emerge from the images, and the beautiful yellow glow from artificial light in the room. These images are starting to come together, and I am starting to understand how the pinhole system works. These are a great start to what I'm sure is going to be a long obsession with pinhole photography.

I miss having an always on reliable internet connection

2010-10-29T12:28:00.000+01:00

I miss having an always on reliable internet connection, that's something I don't get at this house! Whenever I get the rare infrequent chance to spend some time on the internet here, it's always plagued with loss of connection and poor wifi coverage. Really quite annoying! I just wanted to drop by and post a couple of photographs up to tide you over, there's some illustration coming soon which I really want to put up here so keep your eyes open for that.

A little gem I found when I stopped off for a cigarette on a journey back to my home town. Didn't know it was there, I literally just stumbled across it after I had parked my car up. It's a nature reserve, and this is the view from the bench looking out across the water. I think I'll be stopping here more often!

Isn't this the world's coolest ash tray? Right now it's 3/4 full and is full up to the top with water which has turned a deep brown. I can't wait for the proper cold weather to set in so it freezes and explodes!

2010-10-10T14:32:00.000+01:00

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you. I just haven't been able to use the internet for a good month now! Once I'm back online, expect more lovely interesting posts, I've got some work I need to put up on here. But for now, startled plug is startled

2010-09-28T18:53:00.000+01:00

clumsyart

2010-09-25T15:43:00.000+01:00

J.Zorn

2010-09-20T10:38:00.000+01:00

A logo you might all recognise, and some prices you won't.

Prices in GBP 17th August. Up or down in the future? Place your bets

Bonnet Slide!

2010-09-16T18:29:00.000+01:00

"The Dukes of Leighton Buzzard"

I got chased by coppers for these photos

2010-09-13T13:56:00.000+01:00

Captured using a plastic toy film camera, Le Clic. Using Kodak Max 400ISO exp 2010

These photographs try to capture small fragments of where I visited that day. The environment captured used to be part of an RAF base in England, Gloucestershire. Today the buildings retain their old exterior and are used partially as a business park, although some remnants remain, and it's these small reminders I hoped to capture, with the beautiful faded colour caused by the build quality of the camera. Lately I have been consciously trying harder to look into the sky more often especially since the weather has been so unpredictable it means the skies are very active and the clouds look beautiful and are constantly changing.

Hilarious moment when we realised the security on the premises had got the police involved. A cross country run followed, and we soon got rounded up and questioned. 6 smokers running full pelt for 5 minutes. I nearly fucking fainted.

"What are you lads doing up here then, STEALING by any chance?"

"Stealing what? fruit from a fruit and fucking nut company?"

MK1 Golf

2010-09-12T18:11:00.000+01:00

Why not buy a Fiat Punto? It's far more reliable than good old German engineering. End sarcasm.

MK1 Golf

Peugeot 405 Illustration

2010-09-02T18:08:00.002+01:00

You can't go wrong with a Peugeot 405. Well, maybe you can.

Crude Drawings

2010-08-31T14:50:00.000+01:00

That's the biggest building in the world, that

Fuck off, I can piss higher than that

2010-08-29T17:46:00.001+01:00

Crude Drawings

2010-08-27T14:49:00.000+01:00

No you shitty dinosaur, you are not a tramp, you can't make use of the soup kitchen

Crude Drawings

2010-08-25T14:37:00.000+01:00

Did you know that Goldfish grow to suit their surroundings?

Robot Camera

2010-08-20T17:21:00.002+01:00

Recently got a roll of film developed which I shot with the Robot camera, dirt cheap, and it shows.

Using 2006 expired Afga 200 film

Fathers for Justice wreaking havoc in the Witney town centre, somehow I don't think Cameron is going to listen too intently to what they have to say. They did ambush his office in the town centre though, gained access to the rooftop, shoved up a banner, sat there briefly. Nothing wild and crazy enough to make the wild and crazy local news though

My favourite place in the world, well, one of them

Absolute star of a lad, busking with his guitar, boshing out solo's to unsuspecting victims walking through the vicinity. Balls for doing it lad, keep it up you were pretty good!

What I'm Listening to: Metric - Satellite Mind

How on earth?

2010-08-13T10:56:00.004+01:00

Listening to: Ministry - Let's Go (ITS SHIIIIIT!)

New Car

2010-08-05T18:18:00.002+01:00

I know this isn't exactly entirely art related, but I got a new car and I really need to just shove it up on here for keepsake really, oh and yeah sure, to show off the new ride!

Ghetto Scans

2010-08-02T09:15:00.002+01:00

Here's an interesting way of presenting your negatives. And no, you don't even have to scan them in! Just hold them to the light and photograph them. Shove them in Photoshop and invert the colours. Simple stuff really. You can get some interesting results just by holding the negative in front of different scenery, like trees. Easy enough for me since there's a huge one right outside my bedroom window

What I'm Listening to: Everywhere I go - Lissie

Lomo Fisheye 2 Film Scans

2010-08-01T10:59:00.005+01:00

I actually love this camera. it looks cool, and it takes awesome photos. This is the very first roll I have put through my Lomo Fisheye 2, and I am very happy with the results. I love it! Although it makes me think - is it actually possible to take a bad photo with a Fisheye lens?

Above, some lovely shots from Oxford last week

Below, a couple of cool shots - highlights from the film roll

What I'm Listening to: Brand New - Jaws Theme Swimming

2010-07-31T17:06:00.003+01:00

What I'm Listening to: Led Zeppelin - Tangerine

A few more Holga Scans

2010-07-30T12:06:00.007+01:00

As you can probably tell, I love photographing fires. The only downside is that all of the photos tend to come out more or less the same. But here's a few from one lovely night by a fire not so long ago. I actually had hair back then! Now it's all gone.

If you look closely enough you will probably be able to see the smear marks on my scanner against the black background of the photos. Yeah, my fault, I forgot to wipe it down as I was scanning.

All of these were taken using my Holga 135BC with the Bulb setting, exposure times varied, the longer the better!

What I'm Listening to: Mark Ronson & The Business International - Bang Bang Bang

Cardboard tubes and lasers

2010-07-28T12:03:00.002+01:00

As you can see I don't really get up to many productive actions after I have a long hard day at work. Blowing smoke through tubes as about as interesting as it gets.

What I'm Listening to: Brothers - Hot Chip

Holga Scans

2010-07-25T19:59:00.001+01:00

Here's a couple of scanned photos from the second roll of film I put through the Holga, not very good yes? I know... I was still, and I still am, working out how to get the best results. But then again, who wan't the best results anyway? Does sharp focus and good composition always beat saturated colours and soft focusing?

Melissa Wongy, Chloe and Duncan on one of our last days of college. I'm actually really missing it. I had a thought earlier, Frownington, I don't have you on Facebook, or your number. It was nice knowing you.

An under exposed picture of Lewis, one of our technicians, who worked really hard to put the show together. Cheers man!

What I'm Listening to: When I'm Alone - Lissie

Holga 135BC

2010-07-23T13:43:00.001+01:00

It's about time I started to scan in some of the developed photos from my Holga, so you guys can see what I've been up to recently, mostly messing around!

These are some highlights of the very first roll of film I ran through my Holga, this was the day I had received it through the post, I got it straight out of the box, rushed down to Boots to buy some film, then I shot an entire roll in about 5 minutes, around my home, some of my car, as you can see. I was already trying out the multiple exposure side of things. Some good results I think!

Robot Camera

2010-07-22T12:45:00.002+01:00

It's finally arrived! My cute little Robot camera from Hong Kong. Literally just a hunk of plastic, it's even more plastic than my Holga, and that's saying something! But the interesting thing with this little gem is that it's got three lenses, making it some kind of Action Sampler camera.

Cute isn't it? I'm just running my first film through it, so I'm in the testing stages so far. I'm using some Afga 200ISO film, I bought it as a complete bargain. Expiry date? 2005. Number of Exposures? 36. How much did it cost me? 20p. Car Boot sale! They are such a brilliant place for picking up little gems. I cleared his whole collection of expired film away for just £2, that's 360 shots of expired beauty for pennies. I'm certainly not complaining. I do reckon thought he thought I was a bit weird when I said I'd buy the lot.

"Are you a Photographer?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that just yet"

Lets talk a little bit more about this camera then shall we?

The build quality, as you may expect from a toy camera, is dire. Not very good, but it may give a few interesting light leaks from time to time, I'm not sure - I'll find that out once I process the first roll of film. It's focus free, with a fixed shutter speed of 1/100 seconds, with nice little lenses fixed at f/8 28mm. And when it comes to price, it can't be beaten. For some reason, this little babba only cost me £8 for the item, and for it to be shipped in from Hong Kong. You can't go wrong if it's that cheap! It came within a week as well which was pretty satisfying, I thought I wouldn't see it until mid-August.

I'll keep you posted on my results with this little toy, but until then, here's a sneak preview of how the images look once they have been developed.

More Info and to buy one of these as a complete bargain: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lomo-Robot-Style-35mm-3-lens-Action-Toy-Film-Camera-B-Y-/370409325042?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Photography_Film_Cameras_ET&hash=item563e1dc1f2#ht_4998wt_911

What I'm Listening to: Milburn - Roll Out The Barrel

Lomo Fisheye 2

2010-07-18T14:32:00.005+01:00

Yup, I've done it again, I've bought another crappy plastic camera. It's an obsession, since I've finished my college course and getting the grade I did, I've kept saying 'fuck it, i'll treat myself'. I keep treating myself, and this is the last one, I promise. I promise myself. But we all know that isn't going to stick for very long.

But here we have it, the Lomography Fisheye 2. A little more refined than the Fisheye 1, it's got an integrated flash, a hot shoe for the really cool fisheye viewfinder which comes with it. The plastic body with the brushed metal surround looks great, looks robust, even if it isn't, it's still a nice touch. Looks wise, this is a great, appealing camera. It looks the part, but does it perform as well as it's aesthetics?

I have yet to find out, I'm halfway through my first roll of 35mm film with this little baby, I'm extremely excited to find out the results. I've been messing around with the little Multiple Exposure switch on the back, which is nifty. You press it and it disengages the advance roller for the film. So you can snap another shot on the same frame. I can't work out if it is totally needed, since the Holga 135 doesn't have it, I don't think that would benefit from having one. Probably just a feature they added because they could. Make it appear a little bit more up-market maybe? Either way, the £33 I paid for it, second hand from Ebay, you can't really complain.

Oh but you can complain. Let's talk build quality. Obviously yes, it's a plastic camera, hence it has crappy plastic insides. The outside as I've already said is structurally complete and a pleasure to hold and it looks the piece. But on the inside it appears it is a different story. The plastic cog which advances the film, I couldn't work out if it was me and my film loading skills, or whether there actually was a problem. It didn't seem to settle nicely on the film. So advancing the film means it slips from time to time. We shall have to see what they came out like in the first batch of photographs. The shutter button is a little relaxed, too. You do have to press it down, maybe wiggle it a little bit, to make sure it actually goes off. Not perfect if you are under pressure to get the snap of the moment. You can't exactly tell the person who just threw a bucket of water of your drunk friend to go back and do it again because the shutter didn't work. I'm not sure the drunk friend would be too happy about that. Unless they were really drunk, then you have no problems here son.

All in all, I am impressed with the camera, I'm excited to see how the first batch of developed images come out as. My new friend down at the Kodak shop will probably think I'm being a total wasteman with my time though.

More info: http://microsites.lomography.com/fisheye/

What I am Listening To: Calling Card (Live) - Rory Gallagher

Replacement Camera

2010-07-16T14:30:00.003+01:00

Thankfully, I've got a new replacement canon for the faulty one I was blessed with the first time around, I usually hate returning items, it's usually because for whatever reason I am saying they're broken even when they aren't. But this time I was being genuine. And I just hope this one holds out.

MkII

There's one thing I am impressed with the most about this camera, the battery life. It takes a now standard rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, found in pretty much all point and shoot cameras. See, the last time I bought ant kind of digital camera for myself, it was back in the day when they gave you the option of either buying a really expensive single use pack of two AA batteries which pretty much lasted 100 shots. Or you could go for the more sensible option of buying a £20 pair of Sony Rechargeables, which yeah, still only lasted 50 shots before they got worn out and had to have a lie down. This Canon, I only charged it the once, when I first got the camera at the start of the month. Now, it's halfway through the month, I've used the camera relentlessly, testing out - you have to don't you? And the battery indicator has only gone down one little bar. Pretty impressive! Or maybe I find it so impressive because I have been so out of touch with technology for the past three or four years.

Buy your own here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Digital-IXUS-100-Camera/dp/B001T9NH3S

What I'm Listening To: Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful? - Paloma Faith

I'm like a virgin losing a child

2010-07-15T18:47:00.002+01:00

One of them moods, one of them days. I'm fucking bored, I think that's the problem. I would love to go out and about with my camera tonight, while it's still light, and fool around. But fucking no, my new Canon digital all balls decent point and shoot decided to suddenly stop reading any SD card I shove in the thing, so that's a trip down to the shop tomorrow with receipt in hand, I want a replacement, if they don't have any in stock I'm getting the cash back and blowing it on another hunk of plastic. Talking of hunks of plastic, I've accumulated like 7 cameras in the past couple of weeks. I'm proud of the collection, it's a lovely mis-match of pieces of crap from years gone by. Latest addition is the Lomo Fisheye 2 I picked up for £33 from Ebay. Running the first roll of film through it today, some old expired Kodak 400 ISO from 2006 I picked up cheapish also from Ebay. Fisheye. I don't think it's possible to take a crap photo when you have a fisheye lens. Everything looks sick.

Anyway, back to being grumpy

Fuck off

I Bought Myself a Typewriter

2010-07-13T21:26:00.004+01:00

More Info, and a great review: http://www.strikethru.net/2007/10/typewriter-review-olympia-traveller-de.html

Finished, all done, with the best possible outcome

2010-07-07T13:16:00.001+01:00

It's been a busy few weeks, my art foundation course has come to an end, I have pictures to show you from the private view, which went down absolutely brilliantly. I found out my result last Thursday - I came out with a Distinction. It's put me in the best situation imaginable, which is a bit of an achievement really.

It's worth three A Levels, 360 UCAS Points I believe, add them to the A Levels I already have, and I have way too many to comprehend. It's all going to help me out once I decide which uni I want to go to. I've set myself up good, and I know I'm definitely on to something.

Was I expecting this grade? No way! I had mentally prepared myself for a Merit - which in itself is a big enough achievement. It took me a few seconds to read the letter, I had to scan over it three times to make sure it said what it thought it said. Pretty pleased it a bit of an under statement. I'm fucking made up about it.

To celebrate, I thought I would treat myself to a new camera (I know, ANOTHER one to add to the collection..). A Canon Ixus 100 IS. Small, compact, fits in your pocket, take it anywhere, robust, surprisingly good quality. Pretty damn perfect little package, Chloe already has one, I followed suit and bought my own. Hey, I earned it.

I've been messing around with my Holga, shot a few rolls on it now, starting to understand its little quirks and anomalies, having a bit of fun with it really - I'll scan a few photos in and shove them on here in a separate post, some of them are worth a look. But the amount of under exposed dark dull images which have been developed are SUCH a waste of money. I've been buying expired film, partly because it's cheap, partly because they may give an unintended result - like saturated colours, dull colours, odd marks. I don't know, I haven't actually used any yet. I got 10 rolls and a free film camera with the purchase, a couple of the rolls I technically got for free since the guy who posted them must have slipped them in by accident. I'm not complaining! I've also struck gold, in a petrol station near where I live, behind the counter is about 30 rolls of Kodak colour film, 36 exposure, and due to an error on their behalf, they're giving it away at just over a quid per roll. I plan to go down and clear their stock, just buy it all up. I could even sell it on ebay to get some money back...now there's an interesting idea.

I've been thinking a lot lately, I've been sitting back and taking time to think about stuff. Philosophical stuff. I'm feeling quite knowledgeable lately.

I've also been thinking about the projects I want to do over the next three years. I've got about 6 self directed projects I am treating as separate Final Major Projects. I'm going to try and get some of my work exhibited, it would be lovely, an experience, and an achievement, I don't know when where or how yet, but I would love to be in a gallery in a year's time. These projects, I will sit myself down and write up proper briefs on each of them, print them out, use them for reference. Shove a copy of them on here so you can find out what I'm doing with my time. But basically I'm going to have a very busy couple of years. My plan is to get into one of the top uni courses in one of the top uni's, with my plan I should be able to achieve this. But for now my life is on a well deserved educational pause, I'm moving out, enjoying the company, sitting back, relaxing, working obviously, and relentlessly boshing out the artwork. I see it as a well deserved break to education, I want to live life a little bit before I go back into it all again. I will grow up hopefully. And when I do finally decide to go to university, I'll be slightly more mature, with a better work ethic, and I go into uni, boom boom boom, come out with the best marks I can get. I want to go all the way, I'm tired of my half arsed approach to achieving things. I want to aim high so I am going to. I've just put together this little 5 year plan to help me do just that.

Yes

2010-06-18T20:48:00.001+01:00

Mountains of stress, Private View, rolls of film, and plenty of money. Loving it. But not loving the end of the course. Can't wait to meet the new foundation students on wednesday. But first I need to get all my work handed in on monday.. that's the hard part.

I've shot a few rolls on the Holga so far, getting them developed tomorrow and I'm going to shove a few stunners on here as soon as I can. Plenty of shots from the private view which was an amazingly good night. Feeling a little worse for wear today but that can only be expected eh?

What I'm Listening to: Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Polaroid Camera

2010-06-16T14:30:00.017+01:00

I thought I'd future proof myself a little bit and buy myself a Polaroid camera just incase I happen to run into some cheap film on the off chance. Fuck paying £40 for 10 shots! I visited my local sunday car boot sale in my home town, and I happened to find 10 shots of Polaroid film for just a quid. Thats one hundred pennies. Roughly translated as an absolute good buy. Of course, it was expired Polaroid film from 2008, which is totally sweet. I told the guy after I had bought it what it actually was.

Me: "You do know that this stuff is worth like 30 or 40 quid on ebay?"

Him: "Oh really? No I never knew that (looking surprised)"

Me: "Yeah man, because they've stopped making it (slight pause because of the hay fever and the warm air). I just bought it for a quid, sorry about that (smile on my face)"

Him: "Oh that's fine, I used to have a load of it, because I used to use it for my job, but I got rid of it all now"

I walked away thinking "Shit me, he could have made an easy couple of hundred if only he had done 5 minutes of research before selling off his films for the oh so cheap price of £1"

More Info: http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Polaroid_One_Step_Flash

Come Dine With(out) Me

2010-06-13T16:49:00.001+01:00

Just been watching Come Dine With Me, the never ending series on Channel 4 which happens to appear to be on every day of the week, and something interesting occurred for once. The host cut her finger, and had to leave to go to the hospital, leaving her guests at her house, eating her food. They all said they felt weird doing it. Got me thinking, it's kind of a taboo to be in someone else's house while the owner isn't in, unless you know them really well or they're family. It isn't a done thing, the host always plays a part in your visit. And for the host to suddenly not be there any more turns it on it's head. The guests are sat there feeling awkward, and probably a little nervous to go poking around the house looking for the host, or an answer. I'd love it, I'd feel all these emotions, then on top of that love the situation I was in. It would be brilliant one day to do it, film a series of the guests reactions, and time how long it takes for someone to do something about it and get up from the table.

HOLGA 135BC

2010-06-11T14:24:00.002+01:00

Finally, to for fill the spirit of this blog, I've bought myself an inexpensive Holga for an absolute bargain off a guy in Manchester, £30.00 inc postage. Yes please. It saves all the hassle of importing from Hong Kong and wondering if I will ever see the damn thing after paying out of my arse for postage. I went for the safer option and went the second hand route. The only downside is that the one I bought was black. I wanted a sweet yellow one! Oh well, after I get paid next Friday I'll buy myself another one. Each Holga has a different character giving different results. Which is fine by me.

The Holga 135BC takes 35mm film for easy processing at my local Kodak shop, and the BC means it has a little insert with cut off edges behind the lens inside the camera, giving a vignette effect to the photographs. The normal 135 holga doesn't have this. Just a little fact for ya.

I'm thinking of buying a cheap multi coloured flash for it so mess around with, that's after I get the hang of using it. Which will literally take about 5 minutes because it's such an easy camera to use - after all it's a toy camera from hong kong, nothing professional. Just has a massive following of over enthusiastic adults in this country. It's amazing what sort of effect a plastic camera with a plastic lens has on people in this country who are used to the pristine dslr photographs you can achieve with the smallest amount of technical know how

I just can't wait for it to come through the post!

More info: http://www.lomography.com/magazine/cameras/2008/10/16/the-holga-135bc-a-boy-finds-his-camera

What I'm Listening to: Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love

Taking photos of your feet is always the thing to do

2010-06-10T14:55:00.005+01:00

What I'm Listening to: Awake My Soul - Mumford and Sons

Blenheim Palace

2010-06-07T14:49:00.002+01:00

Not so long ago a few mates and I went on a night time walk around Blenheim Palace, one of Britain's most prestigious grounds in the country, and it just so happens to be right on my doorstep. We walked for what felt was MILES. But it all paid off when I got one single shot which made it all worthwhile

On the way back it was pretty funny really, looking back. There was only three of us at this point, it was pitch black, no torch or anything. And I think it's the most scared I've been in time. We kind of let our imaginations run wild and literally scared this shit out of each other. Spooked ourselves. We pretty much bolted back to the car. Fun though.

What I'm Listening to: White Blank Page - Mumford and Sons

REFLECTIONS

2010-06-04T11:49:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I found a pretty fly website, well illustration blog really, but it's got plenty of photography on it too. It's extremely good, clean cut, easy layout, swish colours, fast loading. Perfect really. It's called Freaksonline.co.uk. You've probably all heard of it, but I haven't for some reason and only just stumbled across it.

One photographer who is doing something quite snazzy is Joseph Reisinger. In one of his series he is photographing reflections of shop windows, capturing the inside of the shop, sometimes people strategically places, and then capturing the reflections from the glass showing the wide world behind him in the streets. Some really interesting photographs from this work, definitely worth a look at the following link:

http://www.freaksonline.co.uk/home/2010/4/30/joseph-reisinger-photography.html

Of course, I had to have a go myself, not quite as glam but I was in my garden photographing the reflections of a couple of windows. It was a beautiful sunny day so I thought why not. And yeah, I'm pretty pleased with how it all works out. So pleased that I want to base some kind of project on this in my travels of my intended gap year(s).

Take a look:

What I'm Listening To: Slipknot - Sulphur

Fire Painting

2010-05-31T15:47:00.003+01:00

Thankfully, the FMP is drawing to a close! But this is the last week I get to work on my project, I will be so glad once it's all over and I can sit back and relax for a time. I'm really sorry about not posting here for a good couple of weeks, I've just literally been college working, real working, and sleeping. No time for fun at all..well that's a lie, the past few weeks have been rather good. One of my closest friends gave birth only two weeks ago, and I can tell you now he is a cute little babbby, and I'm really excited for her and the baby's future, it will be brilliant for you both.

Today is a Bank Holiday, I'm giving myself a break from everything, and have found some time to sit back and finally check my blogspot blogs. Last night instead of going out on the town on the razz, I ended up going for a really cool fire with some old friends I don't get to see all too often. I took my camera down and messed about with some light painting (with burning hot logs). Take a look.

Woah

2010-05-06T19:58:00.001+01:00

Alrighty then, let me tell you just where I have been this past week, I've been slaving away for my FMP! I haven't had time for leisure, hence why I haven't updated this in a few days - I've literally just been working working working, and I still have mountains of work to go. But I'll let you know how it's coming along by giving you this address:

http://jamesparryfmp.blogspot.com

Exposure Fun

2010-04-28T20:00:00.001+01:00

Just a little bit of fun I had out the other night, I happened to have my camera because we tried to do a bit of urbex, but we got put off by a huge bull standing between us and the place we wanted to get to. It wasn't so thrilling, and I probably would have slipped and caught my balls on the electric fence. it would have ended in tears.

This next photograph was absolutely hilarious to take. It was basically a huge metal iron gate to a truck park, for some reason it was being used on this particular evening. We pulled up really close in the car, looked at the sign which someone has hilariously changed to 'Beware of the Bag' which I found brilliant, then suddenly we hear clattering and the gate opens just a crack and this proper old hillbilly trucker guy pokes his head round the corner. I'm sat there with camera to my face, my mate just SHOVES it into reverse and we were gone before he had chance to say anything. oooh that was so good

Initial shots for FMP idea

2010-04-26T21:08:00.001+01:00

These were literally last minute shots for my sudden change in direction of my FMP. I was originally going to do all about organ donation, organ transplants, very deep and broad subject, but I couldn't picture an outcome, and I ran dry for ideas, so i decided to take it in a totally new direction and go down the road of photography. 'Human Intervention Devoid of Human Life'. I'm sure you've already read that elsewhere on this site, since I swear I've mentioned it a million times, but anyway here's the location shots.

I AM NOT A TERRORIST

2010-04-26T20:06:00.001+01:00

I've had a really busy few days, I've been frantically writing words for my college course, luckily, all the words have been written, everything handed in, and I can firmly say I am exhausted. My late night last night didn't help matters either..BUT, all in the name of art! I got another set of initial photographs for my final major project. And that leads me onto the point of this post, I experienced a tiny little bit of security guard trouble whilst photographing the main place I want to photograph in Witney, the new multi-story car park. It's perfect! In the style of Rut Blees Luxemburg:

Very good album, listen to it

But yeah, I was told to move along and sent off site because I was taking photographs of this car park at about midnight. I wasn't in there after hours, I wasn't climbing up the walls to get better angles, I was simply taking a couple of photos for this project..but no. It got me thinking,

I am not happy with Britain and it's CCTV cameras, it's a CCTV nation.

Most frustrating thing? I can't do anything about it! Photographers are frowned upon, it's seen as a probe into someone's private life. Who give's a shit?! If you aren't doing anything wrong you shouldn't feel the need to hide it. I know, I know, my argument is not properly structured right now; I'm still tired, and I haven't figured out the absolute correct words for it, but when I do I'll make sure I'll let you know. It just makes me angry, enough to kick up a fuss. So now I have the dilemma, do I take the immature teenage route and say 'FUCK YOU GOVERNMENT' and go back and take these photos despite them telling me no, or do I take the more mature approach and fight with words which requires more thinking?

On the topic, look at this site I found: NOT-A-CRIME.COM. That's where the title of this post comes from.

I'M A PHOTOGRAPHER, NOT A TERRORIST

http://www.not-a-crime.com/

It tackles this debate, and they are trying to set a date for a rally of photographers, holding picket signs saying just this.

Mad Hatter

2010-04-22T10:44:00.002+01:00

Okay, so these are a little late, but the main thing is I got them done in time. Wait no, actually, the main thing is that they aren't too bad looking - pretty pleased with how they came out, granted the "photoshoot" was a bit makeshift, but I managed to get three decent ones which I've used in my Photobook for le college

Get ya teef round these

Perfume

2010-04-20T23:25:00.002+01:00

I am writing this in the midst of a mad flurry to get a load of work mounted up in time for my assessment tomorrow morning..yet again I have left it too late and I'm paying for it by forcing myself to have a VERY late night! Oh well, at least it means I HAVE to do the work, I'm not sleeping until I'm satisfied with the mountain of work I will be creating tonight!

Here's some shots from a Photography project I missed, and so had to do today, it's for a Perfume advertising campaign, my good friend Ken modelled for me, hopefully he didn't feel like too much of a dick prancing around Blenheim Palace for me. Good man though, got some good shots - take a look

There's a few more but I'm going to refrain from uploading them, they're HUGE files and I simply don't have the time tonight!

Mark Cummins

2010-04-19T15:27:00.001+01:00

Here we go, this is a guy I was talking about the other day, he took the photo of bournemouth at night, a lovely photograph, and since I posted that, I took a deeper look into his Flickr account and I found loads of things which really interested me, and you'll probably like to see them too.

His 'Scribble' series is just amazing, proper illustrations done on the move, some of them pretty abstract and weird, he definitely has his own style and it's shining through in the Scribble series. I'll put up a couple of links for you to click to, since it's a Flickr account you can't nick the images. I was going to do that just to make it easier but noooo flickr you're a pain in the arse

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/4327975845/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/4327974961/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/4328707474/

But definitely take a look at the rest of his photo's, or his 'photostream' as gay flickr calls it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/

You know the worst thing about this? He'll probably never know he's been recognised elsewhere totally out of someone's freewill..unless someone tells him

Lift Surfing

2010-04-18T14:43:00.001+01:00

This is a pretty cool urban past time, Lift Surfing. Travelling on top of a lift while it's moving. Looks like proper good fun, all you need is a couple of special tools and you can be on top of the beast within minutes, then spend all night in your own little exclusive area which the public never see

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=47180

Photos from 28dayslater:

I'd love to give it a go

WHAT IS IT?

2010-04-17T18:01:00.001+01:00

For an Illustration project we had to make a children's book, now that can either be a huge task or something very easy, it depends what kind of day you're having. Now I was unfortunate, I had missed two Thursdays of a three week project, so I literally had a day to catch up..but I did it!

Take a look, I've converted it and uploaded it to Issuu, a webzine website I'm going to be using for my online publications of Mini Moog mini zine (first issue on it's way!!)

http://issuu.com/minimoog/docs/whatisit

Try and guess what it may be...

rabbiir

2010-04-15T22:48:00.001+01:00

Just by chance this guy added one of my photographs to his favourites on deviantart, I noticed it, clicked to his gallery and I was pleasantly surprised by what i found. It's actually pretty funny stuff! Comics, some slightly 'out there', a couple made for a comic called 'The Aftermath' who's tag line states 'that's how it is from now on' which deals with the fear of terrorism after the 9/11 bombings. Some people may be offended, if you are one of those people - please navigate yourself away from my blog, I don't have time for you. These are really quite funny, i love them!

There are a few things which I'm not a fan of, like the drawings of the cars with big wheels. it's a craze I've never gotten into, so i tend to shy away from any image like that. But on the whole, the illustrations are really well drawn out, he's got talent and has definitely found his own technique. His ideas are really modern, to the point and topical, dealing with social issues of what feels like America yet he's from Canada, but me being a simple English folk will say they're pretty much the same anyway so it doesn't matter which one he's from

Links links links, here you go, take a look at them both, and spend some time on his deviantart account - he deserves the recognition.

http://rabbii.deviantart.com/

http://rabbiir.blogspot.com/

aaaah

2010-04-15T18:06:00.003+01:00

My dream of owning a nice DSLR is slowly drifting away, and it's all to do with money! I don't get paid for another 3 weeks, and I reckon that one single pay packet will give me more than enough to buy a Canon..I don't know though. Today I've just had to shell out just above £100 to get my car serviced and I'm running low on funds in general. Do I even want a Canon? Nikon? I wouldn't buy anything else, it's just that I've grown up with canons and nikons and I know what's what with them, I trust them. At this rate all I'm going to be able to afford is a lonely disposable

Ebru

2010-04-15T11:08:00.001+01:00

Paul my lecturer has given me food for thought, I'm slowly exploring the manipulation of images to create dark and different moods. Now, in Photoshop, this is never that hard, just sometimes time consuming if you have to trace around the side of a spiky building. But it can be done, and usually the results look good. I literally knocked up a quick one in under 5 minutes, just to give a sense of what I'm trying to get at here.

I'm calling this next image 'A nanosecond after the nuclear bomb'

It would be the last thing your eyes would ever see

It would be literally split seconds before you would be vaporised and burnt alive

It's the kind of image we will never get to see first hand

Hopefully you can see where I'm coming from

Flickr link

2010-04-14T12:00:00.001+01:00

Hey there, just set up my Flickr account, can't work out whether it's going to be useful or not, but I figure I should probably have one since everyone else does. There's only a few photos on it, mainly Urbex, I'm going to be slowly adding to it as I make more trips, literally just shoving the majority of photos on there, then selecting a few from the collection and running with them for my project. It's so easy to get a little trigger happy with the camera on a trip, you come back home with a couple of hundred photos..most of them crap..then you have to sift through the shit and try and find some good ones. You're really in the shit when you realise you don't have any decent ones and you have to go back and start over. llow!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30209579@N03/

RAF Upper Heyford

2010-04-12T19:23:00.002+01:00

Last week, a little group of us went to RAF Upper Heyford just for a poke around, we were there for hours, and after finding out the Hospital was a no-go, we got caught by security and asked to leave. We had a very good run though!

28DaysLater

2010-04-12T17:31:00.001+01:00

Google results indicate it's more popular than the film.

It's a sick website dedicated to Urban Exploration, it's a great way of seeing the unheard of sights of the country, and whenever you think you've found a blinder, you find out someone's already done it before.

Check It

White Horse Hill Snaps

2010-04-11T22:45:00.002+01:00

A short while ago, me and a mate were in faringdon (farington), we chose to go white horse hill (I've still never seen it). It was good. It was windy. There were lots of sheep. And a guy flew a kite. Here's the photos.

Old Band Photos

2010-04-11T22:10:00.002+01:00

Just found these photos from a gig we played in our old band years ago, brilliant colour in all the pictures, these are quite low res though because I've never had a copy of the originals.

Urban Sketchers

2010-04-11T12:04:00.002+01:00

Here's a site which is always good to look at, for inspiration, and a general nose around just to see what everyone's been up to. The idea is to draw whilst on the move, draw in urban environments, on buses, on the tube, sitting in the middle of town on a bench watching people go past. I think it's brilliant, some of the work is just amazing, mainly illustration of a high level, and it's a pretty popular site which loads of people know about

I got to know about it from James Hunter's blog, cheers man for the well good link!

http://www.urbansketchers.com/

ROADTREP

2010-04-10T22:14:00.001+01:00

I've just experienced the worse few days of my entire life.

The story goes like this:

Me and a few mates had planned this epic roadtrip to Bournemouth, well St Leonnards near Ringwood which is near Bournemouth. It was going to be amazing, Wednesday till Saturday, loads of drink, celebrating Gary's birthday on the Friday, I'll be driving down as well as Tyrrell, we bought our own tent specially for it. And for me it was the worst couple of days I've lived through..and I nearly didn't make it. Just before the trip I had come down with something, an illness, nothing too severe, I just felt a bit monged out by it, I thought it'll be fine, so i powered through it, and I probably should have just stayed at home. Pretty much 90% of my entire trip was huddled up in my sleeping bag in my car trying to keep warm. EPIC FLU. Running a proper high temperature, i couldn't function, couldn't get up and do anything, didn't enjoy a moment of it. That's a lie, I saw one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, Bournemouth beach at 5am, except I left my camera behind at the campsite and I didn't get any photos. damn! I nearly died man, i should have gone to the hospital up the road, i was that fucked. we all left a day early, i feel really bad for it, i made gary drive back to witney on his birthday! oh how bad. Better luck next time? If there ever is a next time

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/312212281_7ff9137282.jpg

That's a fair idea of what it looks like in the night time. Not taken by me but a budding photographer called Mark Cummins

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimagesmarkcummins/

Just took a quick look and he does have some brilliant photographs of this and other things, I'll take a deeper look and give you an insight to more of his photos, looks like a winner!

Peace.

Deviantart

2010-04-10T21:47:00.001+01:00

Here's a link to my deviantart account, I update it occasionally, and it's usually full of work from my art foundation course, but it has got some photography of mine on it also. Either way it's worth a look if you want to see any more of my work. And of course, a couple of the pieces I'll feature on this blog too because I am proud of them

http://barwy.deviantart.com

Skine Pages

2010-04-09T17:08:00.001+01:00

A laugh

Skine Pages

2010-04-08T17:05:00.001+01:00

Witney

2010-04-08T11:03:00.002+01:00

Not Shitney as some people call it. I like it - it's a brilliant place. Since I'm moving out soon and moving to a different county, I want to remember this beaut of a town

2010-04-07T12:45:00.001+01:00

Just peeking through some of my computer files, found this, a poster for when there were gigs at the platform, brings back good memories, shame we don't do it any more, it used to be fun. Hopefully Lewi will be sorting out something new down there, whatever it is, Witney needs it - the live music scene is terribly lately. Cheers fat lils for helping out the kids and letting anyone get up and play....detect the sarcasm?? But fair enough, you definitely are a business, I just think there needs to be some kind of non profit/small profit organisation here to let the kids get up and play, no matter how good or bad they are. Give them a chance yeah?

Just because I can

2010-04-07T10:57:00.001+01:00

"Daymn that rabbit thing just got squashed"

Urban Exploration

2010-04-06T00:55:00.002+01:00

This is linking in with my FMP idea, 'Human Intervention Devoid of Human Life'. Urban Exploration - the act of poking your nose where it's usually unwanted to reveal the gems in our towns and surrounding areas. All these places were once bustling with life, but now lay abandoned and wrecked, gutted and of no use and usually just an eyesore to the surrounding area. I love it. I'm going to be taking photographs of these places, I have a list of a few places I want to hit, I've yet to get any proper photos yet, I've only got a couple on a point and shoot which don't come out very well. It's really fun though, tonight a group of us went up the Shipton Cement Works which has been left abandoned for about 30 years now, I managed to find some electrical blueprints from the 1930's on the floor, so naturally i nicked them and now they're in the back of my car and probably wont see daylight again for another 30 years. The grain silo in Water Eaton near Kidlington has unfortunately been totally shut off by a company called Protex (dickheads). Can't get in unless you can tear down huge sheets of aluminium with your bare hands. Oh well, that place looked good. Anyway here's some photos:

"I'll shove it up your chuff"

Amsterdam

2010-04-05T22:06:00.002+01:00

While I'm in the mood for uploading photos of travel, here's Amsterdam for ya. I went there with my course back in September, but it really only feels like it was 2 weeks ago. Great way of getting to know everybody for the first time. It was a sick trip, chilled hard

Skine Pages

2010-04-05T17:00:00.001+01:00

Pro Smoking Campaign -

"You might as well"

Today

2010-04-04T17:16:00.001+01:00

Today's been a good day already. It's nearly quarter past five, work starts at half past, doesn't matter if I'm a little bit late, it's not exactly serious - it's a fucking pizza delivery job, costing me a shit load in the long run because of all the thousands of miles its putting on my semi new car. Bullshit. I got up at 12, had the best fry up I've ever cooked, then went to my quiet place in the car, in the car, and drew. It's sunny, I'm fully topped up on nicotine, and tonight I shall be relaxing down the pub with a coke.

Thankyou to the tea people last night, I really need to see if you lot exist on the internet, nice to know we'll be in your newsletter for bringing our own tea bags. Nice people you are, you're doing a wonderful job. Thanks for making me have a late night though.

Skine Pages

2010-04-04T17:00:00.001+01:00

Skine Pages

The medicine bottles were ideas for illustrating the world of medical science, how we are in a catch twenty two situation where we are letting people live longer but we are ultimately paying the cost

Marrakech

2010-04-04T01:30:00.003+01:00

Fairly recently my course went on a trip to Marrakech, Morocco. It was amazing! The company was brilliant and I loved the country. Wouldn't want to live there though, too busy. Would like to go back in a few years time, whenever I have the cash and the free time - could be quite hard given my situation

Car shiiit

2010-04-03T10:53:00.001+01:00

After a little bit of research, I've concluded I'm going to have to wait a while for a 309, the thing about it, is that it's an old car with a big engine, and renowned for being a boy racers car (although a really upmarket one at that). Quotes were sky high. So in a weird twist of irony, I'm going to have to settle and buy a Mk4 Golf GT TDI and go for the 130ps version..a shit hot quick car, I'm planning on doing it properly and going down to AMD Essex and getting it re-mapped for about £400. They do a good job and they're really decent guys I gather. Insurance is manageable, only a hundred quid more than what I'm paying now. 0-60 in about 8 seconds, a pretty hot hatch. Of course I could go all balls and get the 150 horsepower version, but the thing is, I think it uses the same diesel engine as the 130, and remapping the 150 would push the engine to its limits and fuck it up. So i'm playing it safe, yet still getting a shit hot car for a really good price!