Exploring London: Old Spitalfields Market, Kensington Gardens & Kyoto Gardens | Zafira
Hi!
A few blog posts ago, I did a post all about the National Gallery & Tate Britain as a part of my 'Exploring London' series that have been reoccurring over on here for the past 3 years. I spend the majority of my holidays in London as it is the perfect the place to explore and photograph. Throughout the years I find myself falling more and more in love with it. In today's post, I'll be talking all about Old Spitalfields Market, Kensington Gardens & Holland Park. These are three of the most beautiful and amazing places I visited whilst I was in London.
We begin this post with one of the best markets I've ever been to. If you're quite into that whole hipster-y sort of thing then this is defo the place for you. It consists of a massive range of stalls fluctuating from food, clothes and all the way to home ware. It's perfect place for lunch and just somewhere to kill a few hours.
There's a bunch of designer shops around it too so if that's your sort of thing then Old Spitalfields Market is definitely for you!
There's so many cute places to eat.
The next place I visited was Kensington Gardens. This place wasn't really on my list but since a bunch of my younger cousins came with me, I thought it would nice for them to go somewhere where they can just run and play around. I'm so so so glad me and family came here because it is literally the most perfect place to take portraits. I ended up taking so many family pictures which were the cutest but unfortunately I can't show them since I'd like to respect my family's privacy. I ended up getting some photographs of myself and funnily enough some animals? You'll see further down lol.
It was so weird even seeing this Grey Heron. I felt as if I was in the middle of nowhere shooting for Nat Geo.
This is my favourite shot!
I came to Holland Park with intention of visiting Kyoto Gardens which is inside of it. Most of these photographs are taken in Kyoto Gardens which is so beautiful. It's filled with so much culture and is the perfect place to get some concentrated and highly saturated shots since it's filled to the brim with the most vibrant colours. However, the only downside to Kyoto Gardens was that it was so small. From what people had said to me and reading the reviews on Google, I thought it would be quite big. When I got there, I was slightly disappointed by the size but this was out weighed by the beauty of it.
I recommend that if you want to go see Kyoto Gardens then you should definitely spend a couple of hours walking around Holland Park and see everything it has to offer since it is extremely pretty.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention the peacocks. They really add to the 'je ne sais quoi' of the place.
My hair was doing that whole 'Mulan' thing and I was not happy about it when it came to editing.
The rest of the photographs are from around Holland Park.
There's so many pretty flowers around Holland Park. This would also be an amazing place to take some portraits or family pics.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Exploring London: National Gallery & Tate Britain | Zafira
Hi!
So I'm sort of back and settled into somewhat of a routine after what feels like the most eventful summer of my life which means it's time to show some pretty pics I took whilst I was out and about!
If you follow me over on my Instagram or even if you read my previous blog post, you would know I spent quite a lengthy time in London. Although my exploration days were quite limited due to having a lot of family to visit, I still made the most it and got to see nearly everything on my list.
We begin my little adventure over at the National Gallery and it was such a beautiful place to begin. I love art. I always have but unfortunately my skills within the artistic field aren't quite on Monet's level. Anyway, the National Gallery is the perfect place for an art-lover like myself and it's so stunning to walk around and spend hours admiring the paintings on the wall.
I love galleries and museums that have that sort of elegant, Palace of Versailles kind of vibe it's makes me fall in love with place instantly. The Victoria and Albert Museum (also in London) has the best 'Palace of Versailles' kind of interior and it's my all time fave place.
This pink-ish coloured dress reminds me so much of the latest Collina Strada collection.
I've always wanted something like this painted on my ceiling.
This painting stood out to me so much because my family village in Bangladesh looks the spitting image of this. It's so weird, especially because this painting is of somewhere in America in late 1800s.
She just looks like she's living her best in life in some sort of Dolce & Gabbana gown. This is exactly what I want to be doing in about 10 years.
Absolutely beautiful.
This is just outside the National Gallery.
I then headed off the Tate Britain which was just as wonderful as the National Gallery. I was in awe of the place as once again, it had that 'Palace of Versailles' kind of vibe but it also had a strange modern and minimalistic twist. It was weirdly cool. I guess it's quite hard to explain but once you look through my photographs you'll understand. As soon as you walk in you're hit with a bright, white, minimal environment but as you start walking through the place it transforms into an old and elegant place.
The most creepiest painting I've ever seen. I was immediately drawn in by this. Maybe it was the way they had lit the painting but it's so so so nightmarish. I think I had a good look at for about 2 minutes and decided to swiftly move away because I know I'd have some sort of unpleasant nightmare about it.
This is one of favourite paintings ever! I can't remember where I saw this first but I've been in love with it for years. This is 'Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose' by John Singer-Sargent. It's beautiful. I even bought it in tote bag form.
I wish I had enough patience and skill to sit and draw in a museum or gallery.
I think I was in year 7 and we'd have these English lessons every other week or so which were so chill and we'd read poetry and just talk about stuff and I remember so vividly reading the poem behind this painting. This is 'The Lady of Shalott' and the poem is bit miserable but still quite good. I used to try and draw and painting this painting so much when I was younger.
Also some of the frames around these paintings are just as stunning as the paintings themselves.
If you're wondering whether I took these on film or not then the answer is no. Preparing for uni has made my bank account a bit non existent alongside living the city life in London so shooting on film wasn't really something I could do. I took one roll of my usual Fujifilm Superia 200 and used that one 36 shot roll for the entire trip. I'll post those in a few weeks but these are all digital photographs that I've edited to make it look like they were shot on film.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
London on Film | Zafira
Hi!
If you read my previous post, you'd know that I spent a week in London and it was so great. It was nice to have a week away from the chaos and craziness of college life and just take time to spend with my family. I didn't really get to out and explore as the main reason we were there was for wedding shopping but I managed to sneak away for a day and these are the film photographs that I took, enjoy!
I like to organise my photographs into categories when doing these posts but these two don't really fit into any because I took them on a different day.
Like I said earlier, the whole purpose of our family London trip was to shop and shop we did. We bought so much stuff and it was such a long process but most of the shopping is done and I can't wait for the wedding.
I can't remember where I took this but the sunlight is what really caught my eye, it just created such a calm and serene environment in a busy city like London.
The Tate Modern is quite a peculiar place but I love it nonetheless. It's definitely for the more artsy fartsy people but it's still such a cool place to walk around.
The two photographs above were actually taken in a pitch black room. In order to see the work on the walls you had to use flash which is usually not allowed. It was such a beautiful and moving collection of photographs.
Covent Garden is one of those days you'd go when it's sunny and warm. Thankfully, the day I went, the weather was so good even though the Beast from the East 3 had hit a couple of days before.
There's so many pretty flowers in Covent Garden and if the Sun decides to be your friend you can get some super cute shots.
The British Museum is just built in the most beautiful way possible. The outside looks quite historic and old but on the inside, it has the most stunning minimal yet breath taking interior. It's all white and when the sun shines through, it just creates such an amazing atmosphere.
I was running pretty low on film so I didn't get to get as many shots I initially wanted to but I completely adore these Greek sculptures.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Exploring London: Tate Modern, The British Museum & Covent Garden | Zafira
Hey!
It's been quite a while since I've been to London but I was there for the first week of my Easter holidays. The main reason I was there was to shop for my cousin's wedding in the summer which literally took an entire 3 days. Don't even ask it was a very very very long process but just know me and my family will be looking quite cute on her wedding day if I don't say so myself. Anyway, my week was filled with not only shopping but visiting family I hadn't seen for a while which took up the majority of my time there but eventually, I had a day spare and spent it doing what I love most which is wandering the streets and taking photographs. A lot of the photographs will be used in my last ever photography project at college based on the structure and composition of everyday life which is why the majority of my photographs look like I've spent the entire day stalking people.
My little day adventure began at the Tate Modern. I think every hipster/indie/tumblr child has been here but I've always put it off until now. It's cool but weird at the same time. Contemporary art is a strange thing but it's always fun to see what unique things people have created.
From the outside, it doesn't look like a very modern building but inside it's pretty amazing. This particular part drew me in because of the bright coloured text and windows opposite each other. It's a cute corner.
Here's some close ups of what the text says, they're a quite cynical but the quote "Panic drives human herds over cliffs" on the yellow square is my favourite bit.
I don't know what it is but I frickin' love neon lights. I've been contemplating getting a neon flamingo light for my bedroom but they're just waaay too expensive for me at the minute. These two particular pieces are by Bruce Nauman.
I love it when photographs are organised like this.
When I did Fine Art in my first year of college, this famous urinal by Marcel Duhamp was bought up when we were studying what art actually is. It was really cool seeing it in real life.
This was really adorable because they're just staring at an older version of themselves.
For this piece they had several screens and each screen was a different argument for a question that went along the lines of "If you post your art work online does it still belong to you?" It was so fascinating reading the different viewpoints.
It was also really exciting looking at Martin Parr's work as he is one of the photographers who I had used for inspiration for my final photography project at college. I love this sort of stuff.
It's really interesting watching how people react to art. Especially at places like the Tate Modern where the art is so different and unique.
I'd love to give you some context about these last two images but I honestly cannot remember what the story was behind them but they me remind of Neanderthal/monkey-esque creatures.
The next place on my list was the British Museum. I never even knew this existed but I was extremely glad that I went. The building itself is so beautiful inside and out and if I had a lot of time to explore, I could most likely spend an entire lifetime in there.
Look at this beauty.
I have quite an admiration for stuff like the globe and golden details on the clock on the two photographs above. I think they're insanely pretty and I'd fill my entire house with stuff like it if I could.
Whenever I look at a vase like this I always think of the opening scene of Hercules.
When you have your exams 4 weeks and you still haven't revised a single thing.
When you try and act casual when you see your bae.
I actually adore these Greek sculptures, I really wish someone would make one of me.
The boys.
How cute does this father and son look in the sunlight?
I have so many photographs of the British Museum building but they're on my rolls of film that haven't been developed yet (keep your eyes peeled over on my Instagram to see when I post 'London on Film').
The last place I ventured to was Covent Garden which is the perfect place to go on a sunny day. Thankfully, I was blessed with amazing weather when I went last week and I'd definitely be going back there a lot more. It's such a nice place to go with friends and family. It's filled with little market stalls but also a huge variation of shops to fit your every need.
I tripped and almost fell before I took this. I just thought you should know.
There's so many cool acts going on around Covent Garden to keep everyone entertained.
I 100% will be having my lunch here some day.
I'll be posting these photographs plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Christmas Gift Guide 2017 | Zafira
Hi and welcome to my blog!
It's insane how fast this year has gone, it's already November and I can feel the Christmas spirit starting to kick in. The atmosphere around this time of year is so lovely and I spend all year just waiting for it. I don't really celebrate Christmas but me and my family do love to do a game of Secret Santa and I love receiving and giving gifts to my friends. Sometimes I really struggle on what to get to get people, it can be quite hard trying to find the perfect git but don't fret! I'm here to help with my ultimate Christmas Gift Guide!
1. Makeup Gift Sets (for the wannabe beauty gurus in your life)
I don't want to stereotype most women and shove this in there but it genuinely is something that most women will love. When buying sets, try to stick to popular and well known brands with a range of various products.
Here's a few that are looking quite good this year:
Makeup Revolution Makeup Set - This is very nicely priced is quite good for younger teens who like experimenting with makeup. It has everything you'd need for a full face of makeup.
Yves Saint Laurent Lip Gift Set - This would be pretty cute for someone special like a wife or girlfriend. YSL is quite an expensive designer brand but the quality is amazing.
NYX Matte vs Metals Vault - I've seen so so so many of these around and these would be perfect for anyone who loves makeup, you get such a great selection of lip shades.
2. Perfume and Candles (for the people that smell in your life)
Everyone likes to smell nice, it's nice to be somewhere that smells nice too. Here's a range of perfumes and candles that are smelling nice this year:
Glossier You Perfume - This is great for those trendy girls out there that like to keep up with stuff going on in the social media world. Glossier is a pretty minimal brand but I smelt a tester of this and it's so so so good. It's a perfect stocking stuffer or a small gift for someone cute (like me)
Yankee Candles - You could buy a Yankee Candle for anyone really, they have a vast range of scents and everyone loves a good candle.
Snowella Fragrance Gift Set - When I was a lot younger, I loved Zoella and this gift set would be perfect for any teen.
3. Jewelry (for the blingy people in your life)
I know this again is quite a stereotypical gift but these are some great places to get some cool and unique pieces:
Piccolina Jewelry - I found this company because they sell a lot of their pieces at COW in Manchester and I've always thought that they'd make such pretty gifts.They're good for anyone that likes to dress indie or even a bit hippie. I think I might have to get myself a few pieces from here soon...
Accessorize Jewelry - I love the jewelry from Accesorize and it's a really good gift to give anyone. They have a vast range of pieces to chose from so there's bound to be something you can find as a gift. I quite like the Z collection as they have a lot of dainty, everyday pieces.
4. Wallets/Purses (for the people who's wallets and purses are hanging on for dear life)
This is such an easy but great gift idea. Everyone needs a place to put their cards and money and the best place I've found to get a range of different ones is at
. They have a bunch of designer ones too that cost no where near their actual retail price and they'll make a wonderful and practical gift.
5. Bags (for the people that have too much stuff to carry in your life)
I appreciate a handy bag much like many others. I think for the special people in your life it's worth getting something that you know will last a long time.
MAHI Leather have a range of bags to suit whoever you're buying the bag for. They're maid to order with full grain cow leather and are up to 50% cheaper than other high street prices. It'll make the perfect gift as you can get the bag with personalised embroidery and a cotton dust cover to protect the bag. Not only will it make a great gift but $1.50 from every bag is donated to the FRANK Water Charity so you'll be helping to fund clean water in India and Nepal.
TK Maxx have such a wide variety of designer bags at such an affordable price compared to the retail price and is one of the best places to buy a bag as a gift or simply for yourself. I buy bags from here all the time because they have any style you could possibly want and everyone loves a good designer bag at a discount price.
Accessorize are not just amazing at jewelry but they have the prettiest of bags. I really adore their clutch bags as they're perfect for so many occasions and would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys a good night out. They also have a range of travel, day, totes and much more to help you find something that fits the style of the person you want to gift it to!
6. Terrariums (for the plant loving millennials in your life)
I like a good terrarium. I think they're super cute and perfect for anywhere in the house. Whilst browsing for some gifts, I found this super cool
which would be a super cute gift for anyone.
7. Retro Games (for the gaming nerds in your life)
I was browsing around in Urban Outfitters the other day and I came across the most amazing thing ever. It was a little mini Tamagotchi style toy which made me have a little epiphany and realise that little gadgets like that could be such an amazing gift.
Here are some pretty cool ones that make me feel like the 90s kid I never was:
Pixapet - it's basically a Tamagotchi that comes in some cute colours.
8. Neon Lights (for the people that need you to
light up their world like nobody else
)
Ornaments are a quite a nice gift to give but sometimes, you just need something with a little more life. I have always felt like I've needed a neon flamingo light in my room and in my late night window shopping sesh, I found such a good Christmas gift along with a couple of other amazing gifts.
Neon Flamingo (you and I both need this)
Make sure to follow me on social media to stay updated!
September on Film | Zafira
Hi!
I'm back with another post in my film series! I'm quite aware it's mid October, well pretty much past mid at this point but I've been insanely busy at college but I've finally found a little bit of time to show you a couple of snaps I took during the month of September!
All I can remember from September was the stress of being back at college, writing my personal statement and catching up with all my amazing friends. It's weird how fast college has gone, this is my last year and I want to treasure every moment possible.
This is Britt, she smells nice.
I'm currently trying to jazz my room up a bit. It looks quite plain so I stuck pretty much all my film shots up on my walls and it looked quite cute. I think I'll probably end up getting some fairy lights too just to complete that ever so 'Tumblr' look.
This is Cherie and Sanjida. They make college that little bit more bearable.
Here's a snap of Cherie looking cute as per usual.
Lydia and Jazmine having waay too much fun in the art department.
Another cat one. We've become particularly close over the past few days. I often find that when I come home, he/she is waiting for me outside my window.
My mum likes buying fresh flowers every week.
I'm Asian of course my house contains at least one chili plant.
We have a little bit of a jungle theme going on in our living room, it's very nice and relaxing.
Sparkly macaroons are apparently a thing?
Me in the only shirt I seem to own. I don't even look like myself in this it's strange.
I took this on the way home from college. I spend too much of my life sat on a bus.
Since I had experimented a lot this month, a lot of my shots were pretty much under exposed but it's all good, I've got a fresh roll and I'm excited to shoot again. I think I'm going to merge October and November together so get ready for a nice chunky post!
Remember to follow me on all my social media to stay updated and to see some cool behind the scenes and extra shots!
Summer on Film | Zafira
Hi!
So I've decided to start a new series on here. I'm going to start doing a blog post about whatever month it is but shot in film. I hope it gets me experimenting with film a lot more and also one thing I really love doing is talking about my photographs and why I took them which is why this series is pretty much perfect. I love love film. I can't even get over how much I adore shooting on it. I'm always trying to find new and fun ways to document my life and so far, using film has been my absolute fave. I just love how it looks and shooting on it is so so so much more fun that digital. It's exiciting, you don't know what the outcome is going to be.
The first post in this series are some shots I took over summer, I honestly didn't get out much. I spent a lot of time travelling to see family but I was either indoors or in a car most of the time or just at home lazing around.
Here are some of my favourites from over this summer!
Like I mentioned earlier, I want to document my life and I feel like I've currently hit my peak teen years, next year I'm going to be an adult which I don't even wanna talk about. But here's the door to my room which makes me feel so young and childish and I love it.
I own a troll that looks like a roadman. I don't really know why I bought this but it's sat on a shelf in my room looking quite cute.
I remember I took this when the weather because extremely bipolar and it was raining cats and dogs once minute and the next it was so sunny. You can see the grey clouds clearing in the top of the picture. I love taking pictures of the sky.
Just the view outside my bedroom window.
I wanted to take a picture of the moon but obviously considering it was the middle of the night and it was pitch black, the picture didn't come out as great as I had visioned it too but it still looks semi cool.
Here's my cat that isn't actually my cat. I think it belongs to our neighbour but it seems to love me a lot.
Here's my cousin looking pretty cute, I spent a lot of time with family this summer and it was really nice.
A cute tiny little vase thing with flowers in with pink water because my obsession with pink has honestly hit a new level of extreme where I'm basically killing all my plants with this pink water that consists of paint.
I also bought a hat (from New Look) and this shirt (from Zara, also in my prev blog post) which I wore like everyday. It's a cute combo.
I also took this on digital which you can see over on my Instagram, links to everything will be at the end of this post.
Of course there was some pictures of the lovely Hannah on my camera as always. She's my go to model and I had to take some images for my photography project for college. These film ones are quite blurry because I didn't use lighting and I didn't really want that artificial look to them. But, I really like the different tones and hues in these and I don't mind the blurryness at all. These were all inspired by the photographer
.
Here's a behind the scenes of the star face shot, this is my fave image I've ever taken.
Also for my college photography project, I had to choose another phtotographer and create images inspired by them. So I chose
and here's a behind the scenes. If you check out my Instagram, you can see one of the final versions from this set! Links to all my social media will be at the end of this post.
It was Eid on September 1st and here's me looking overly happy in my Eid outift.
I took this the day before college started, pretty sure I was procrastinating and avoiding all the work I had to do.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram and my other social media to find out when I post the next post in this series and when I just post in general!
Exploring London: Columbia Road Flower Market | Zafira
Hello!
So my first few blog posts were all about exploring London, it seemed like a really good way to start off my blog and I loved writing about all these new places I had visited and explored. I adore travelling, maybe not the travelling itself but the idea of adventuring around somewhere I have never been always excites me. A couple of weekends ago during my half term holiday, me and my family decided to go to London for the weekend. We have family there so it's always nice to go down and see them and do a bit of wandering around too! This time I revisited Portobello Market which is an absolute beauty of a place but seeing as I've already done a blog post on that I decided to do this post of the Exploring London series on Columbia Road Flower Market. When walking towards where Columbia Road was, you could see people leaving with bunches and bunches of flowers and the hugest grins on their faces and straight away, I knew I would love it there. I entered and I was overwhelmed by the flocks of people as well as the pretty and colourful flowers. It had this amazing atmosphere. I felt a sense of warmth on the inside (shock), it was just the loveliest place ever. I didn't buy any flowers unfortunately mainly because I can barely keep maself alive let alone a flower but if you do go buy some flowers! They've also got the cutest little shops along the sides of the market which are just adorable! Anyway, enjoy the pictures, I'm posting all the pictures I took in my 2 day stay in London over on Instagram (link at the end of the post) and I'll also leave links to all my previous posts in the Exploring London series!
http://zafiraahmed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/london-saatchi-gallery-zafira-ahmed.html
http://zafiraahmed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/london-victoria-and-albert-museum.html
http://zafiraahmed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/london-portobello-market-zafira-ahmed.html
http://zafiraahmed.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/london-brick-lane-zafira-ahmed.html
Follow me on social media for more pictures!
The Wedding Series: Part 1/2 - The Engagement | Zafira
Hi guys and welcome to my blog!
Wedding season has officially arrived in my family which means I'll spending most of this summer holiday going to and from weddings. If you didn't know, I am Bengali. Bengali/Asian ish weddings are absolutely crazy and consist usually of 2 or 3 parts. The first part of the whole wedding shindig is the Cinifan. More commonly known as the engagement party which is what I went to on Sunday. The second part is either the actual wedding ceremony or the wedding and the after party which is called a Walima mixed together. Then the last part of the whole procedure is usually the Walima but some families throw the wedding and Walima together.
If you even understood that then you deserve a gold star.
This weekend it was my uncle's Cinifan (engagement) and I took a couple of pictures of my family making things for it and of the event its self. At Bengali weddings, people usually take these things called Thaals. The only way I can describe it as is a decorative platter but you'll understand it better when you see the pictures. Anyway, it was a hectic weekend of madness and I had so much fun. Congratulations to my uncle on his engagement and I can't wait till the wedding!
Here's a couple of pics!
Make sure to follow me on Instagram as I'll be posting more pictures from the Cinifan on there. Links to everything is at the end of this blog post!
A Month In Bangladesh | Zafira
Hi guys and welcome back to my blog!
So during this summer, me and family headed up to Bangladesh to visit family and to also explore the small South Asian country. For me, this was an eye opening journey as I discovered a lot about Bangladesh, it's traditions and the people there. In all honesty, Bangladesh isn't one of the prettiest places in the world at first but you can see the beauty of the country in the people there. What I loved most about Bangladesh was the amount of pride people had in their country and how much they love it. A majority of the people there don't take anything for granted like many of us do in countries like the UK where important factors of life such as education are handed to us on a plate. Last time I went to Bangladesh was about 7 years ago in 2008, I was too young to understand of how much an important holiday it was and how much things would change when I next came back. Bangladesh was very different this time for me, I focused too much on the minorities and things weren't important such as bugs and the fact that it was about 40 degrees and I was melting . The only thing that should have been important was grasping hold and creating memories of what could be one of the last visits to my somewhat home country. ALTHOUGH I was a major fusspot throughout a big quantity of this holiday, I did create a few memories and on here, I'll share a few with ya ;)
ALSO ALSO ALSO, I'd just like to let you know I didn't use a fancy shmancy camera, I only used my small Canon Powershot A2500. It's not got top notch quality but it took decent pictures and was easy to carry around.
I hope you all had a lovely summer and enjoy my pictures!
I'm really really pleased with how these shots and edits came out. I hope you like them! Make sure you follow me on Instagram and Flickr, I post regularly :)
To keep up with what I am doing follow my other social media accounts: