I may not be any clearer as to whether I want to move back to London after my recent visit but I did however have a great time and got to explore the Winter Lights Festival in Canary Wharf.
The festival unfortunately finishes this weekend but ran for a little under 2 weeks so I was pleased I was able to catch it during my visit to London. It is a collection of different light installations by numerous artists spread all throughout Canary Wharf.
I'm a bit like a moth to a flame.... or a big kid when it comes to fancy, pretty lights, so this was right up my street.
Speaking of being up my street, it also gave me a chance to practise my street photography.
As I was doing so it dawned on me how I have changed as a photographer. Yes I am capable of taking better photos than I was when I started, however when I look back at older photos I realise I was taking so many more photos - I was like a small child exploring the world and experimenting with this new toy.
I was simply having fun and 'playing' and I was therefore taking a much wider range of photos. Now I only take photos if I think it's truly going to make a fantastic photo or if I do take more photos I get frustrated with myself that they're not truly brilliant photos - rather than just having fun and enjoying my photography.
I think a lot of this is due to Instagram. Since I've started using Instagram I'm always worried about how many 'likes' I'm getting or comparing myself to other photographers who have more followers and get more likes for not necessarily a better photo.
This suddenly all dawned on me as I was photographing this festival as I thought to myself: 'Why am I not enjoying photographing this as much as I should be or would have when I started?'
So after that I began to relax and thought to myself, from now on I'm just going to enjoy the experience and have fun 'playing' - to have fun with my photography. Taking photos for myself rather than worrying about whether or not it will do well on Instagram. Just experimenting and enjoying my photography.
Last night I went to see the new Mary Poppins film with a couple of friends. Perhaps rather fittingly, as the film is about how Adults forget to be kids, forget to have creative imaginations and to have fun, focusing instead on things like paying the bills they lose track of the joys of life and just enjoying themselves.
In life and photography I think it's important to have fun, be like a kid and play!
