October (and a bit of November) on Film | Zafira
Hi!
I'm back with my film series! This is probably my favourite thing to post on here just because I love looking back at everything I've done at the end of each month.
October was a bit of a weird one, I feel like it was so eventful but I only remember picking up my camera a handful of times. I was feeling a bit meh towards my photography work recently so this roll of film was a bit of a struggle to get through. It ended up being in my camera for over a month which is completely unlike me. Anyway, I had a good mope about it and now I feel a lot better. I'm also looking forward to doing so many new projects very very very soon! I switched up my film this month so if things are looking slightly different than usual then it's because I used the famous Kodak Porta 400 which I bought for waaay too much.
(also how weird is it that in literally 2 months, it will 2019. wtf.)
I started off October with a shoot with my favourite model Hannah. I stupidly started a new roll right towards the end of our shoot so I had to wait until I had filled up my roll which like I mentioned earlier, took forever.
Since I not only live in Manchester but go to uni here too, it's impossible for me not to snap a pic here and there of the pretty city scenes it has to offer. It's so amazing seeing it how it changes through the seasons.
This is my friend Vicky. We had a bit of a flashback Mary moment but it's okay, she's still cute.
My outfit was inspired by Rachel Berry from Glee lol.
Sorry for taking bad pics of you Vicky.
I walk past this everyday and I've never realised how beautiful it is, especially in autumn.
I'm trying so much more to photograph strangers because despite being told to stay away and never speak to them, they're actually quite interesting people.
This is Manny, he's my favourite barista at Krispy Kreme where I go twice a day to over caffienate myself.
And what would my monthly film series be without these losers? I'm looking a bit rough in this I had the worst cough and cold ever.
This was taken at Leaf when I went out for lunch with my friend Matt.
This is Matt in an overpriced white t-shirt.
I look so grown up in these I do
not
like it whatsoever.
This is Rianna who's always disappointed in me.
Thanks for reading!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Wales on Film | Zafira
Hey!
So if you've read my last blog post (
click here to read if you haven't already
) or have been keeping up to date over on my Instagram, you would know that I spent the most magical and absolutely beautiful weekend away in Wales. It was just what I needed after the stress of exams and college.
We begin our extended weekend away in the small but pretty town of Penmaemawr. If you're thinking what in the world, how do you even pronounce that? Well after a lot of practice and help from this website, I can finally enunciate it like a proper Welsh gal. My family is pretty big, there were about 40/45 of us on this trip which is a loooot of people but this is what made it so so so good. We stayed at this place called Mountain View which is sort of like an Airbnb kind of place. It was just like this huge house with 20+ rooms and it was the coolest. It was based in this cute and quaint town which was most definitely the most picturesque place I've ever been.
What station house looks this pretty in 2018?!
To further emphasise the beauty Penmaemawr had already blessed us with, there was a beach literally down the road from where we were staying. I love love love love love beaches. On extremely sunny and warm days, it almost felt as if we weren't in the UK. It was so calm and is completely different than beaches near Manchester such as Blackpool. It's just stunning. I think we ended up at the beach pretty much everyday.
The next place I explored whilst at Wales was Llandudno. I'm not exactly sure which bits of it we went to but we visited the famous pier and some hilly areas too which were absolutely captivating. It's so weird how you can go from the hilly areas that are completely isolated to areas such as the pier which is filled to the brim with people.
The last place I went to was just as encapsulating as the other two. I was so blown away by how stunning Wales is I can see myself going down there for so many years to come. I had no idea it was as alluring as it was. It took my breath away. It's so strange to go from a busy city like Manchester to somewhere like Penmaemawr and feel such a stark contrast in the way people live. It's even stranger that this is literally 2ish hours away from Manchester and it's so different. Anyway, Snowdonia was the last place we went to. We actually went on my birthday which was the 24th of June and I loved it. It's crazy how amazing the weather was when we went too. The sun was shining, the water and sky were as blue as ever and mountains were this amazing luscious green.
And lastly, here's a shot on me looking too happy on my 18th birthday which was the best birthday I've ever had.
Thank you to my family for making this the best holiday ever! You can see some more shots over on my Instagram 😊
Lots of love,
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/thezafiraedit
Photography Tumblr:
Personal Tumblr:
Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/zafiraahmed/
:
https://twitter.com/thezafiraedit
Youtube:
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:
February on Film | Zafira
This month, my eldest cousin Tahmina got engaged. In the Bengali culture, we have this thing called a 'Cinifan' which is basically an engagement party. It was so much fun and I'm still bewildered as to how old me and my cousins have gotten. It seems like only yesterday that I was like 8 and Tahmina was 13 and I was dying to borrow her Jacqueline Wilson books (still am).
I'd like to give a very big thanks to Jarred and Rachael for absolutely wrecking and making my Valentines day a very funny and eventful one, I appreciate it lots ❤
We went to the Jungle Jazz Cafe in Manchester during our very short one week holiday for breakfast and discovered such a beautiful place to just chill and hang out. It's so pretty inside and is definitely one of the most photogenic cafes you will find here in Manchester.
For my last ever photography project at my last ever year at college, I chose to explore composition. I'm looking at photographers such as William Eggleston who use composition in such a unique and eye catchy way. Me and a few friends ended up in the Manchester Art Gallery and spent some time walking around, admiring art and as shown in these pictures, watching people admire art.
I'll be posting these plus a lot more over on my Instagram!
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
December on Film | Zafira
Hi!
IT'S 2018. I still can't get my head wrapped around that it's 2018. It's actually insane how fast time has gone. The last few months of 2017 were quite busy and hectic, especially December. It consisted of finishing college work and most importantly, the end of a very very very long term. I was very much looking forward to the 2 week holiday and I spent it quite wisely (I did nothing whatsoever). It was a pretty good month.
Here's December through my eyes.
I love love love the snow. It's something I look forward too very year and this year it actually snowed at the right time of year here in the UK.
In December, everyone who applied for Uni pretty much had interviews. This is my friend Cherie on the day of her first interview!
This year I'm starting I'm portrait series on film, I'm going to photograph pretty much everyone I see and Richard was a great place to start.
This is everyone taking their snaps, Instagram stories, Whatsapp pictures and Whatsapp stories of our wonderful Christmas dinner.
The food was a solid 10/10 just to let you know (yes that chicken was as good as it looks).
Baby Zakariya turned into a big boy this month! He turned one in December and you can already tell by that turtleneck of his, he gets a lot of his outfit inspo from me.
Not only have we been blessed with one baby boy in the family this year, but two! This is Mikail looking as handsome and adorable as ever in his little bow tie.
This was taken earlier in December when we had little family gathering. Liyana in her pretty dress!
Christmas has turned into a annual massive family gathering for us. It's really the only time of year where everyone is free and doesn't have work or college or school. We usually have a lovely Christmas dinner, followed by a game of secret Santa and then a couple of quizzes and games and movies to finish off the day. It's my favourite time of year.
FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY UPDATED:
November & October on Film | Zafira
I'm back with another one of these film blog posts!
In my September post I said I'd combine the film shots from October and November because I knew it'd be a hectic couple of months. But, it's December and I'm finally on a fresh roll of film and I've finally gotten round to getting my previous roll developed and scanned in!
October was pretty uneventful, I was feeling quite uninspired but a day out with my cousins shopping in Manchester slowly changed that. It was nice to be out and about. I think I'd like to do some sort of film series based in Manchester, I have lived here my entire life and I've only just started to explore it.
This bin was looking particularly photogenic I couldn't help but take a picture.
At the beginning of November, I spent a weekend in Birmingham with family to mainly look at BCU as I'm applying there, but it was also really nice to just explore Birmingham a little bit since it could possibly be my home for the next 3 years. This is the Bullring and I love how it looks.
Whilst in Birmingham, I spent some quality time with these two cuties.
Since when did My Little Ponies look like this?
It was Bonfire night when I was still in Birmingham and these shots are pretty decent considering I had no tripod.
This bathroom was really nice but you can't see.
These are pretty underexposed but they have a bit of gloomy vibe and I appreciate some good old Mughal era paintings. This was when me and my family went out to eat in Birmingham.
We went out to local park and took a nice stroll and my little cousin Liyana helped me take some pretty shots.
I've spent the last two months in these amazingly comfy pants from Zara and making this glum face too.
I quite like this even though it's heavily under exposed.
I'm usually never home until after the sun sets except from on the weekends but I spent most of the weekends in my soft office. I luckily caught this shot and the these lovely warm tones it. It makes me feel really nostalgic.
Towards the end of November, it really felt like Winter.
We had a little baby shower for my Auntie at the end of November and there were a bunch of leftover desserts so I bought some in for my friends Sanjida and Cherie. They loved them.
One of my favourite portrait shots I've ever taken on film.
This is the best purchase of the year I think. I bought it from the little boys section in H&M for the bargain price of £14 and even though it's for 14 yrs +, it's quite big and over sized and has kept me warm over the past couple of weeks.
I was kindly gifted this
and it's the perfect bag for me. It matches everything I wear and has tons of space in which is perfect for me because I now use it for college. It's handiest, prettiest satchel I've ever set my eyes on. Expect a 'What's in My Bag' coming very very soon!
My walls are slowly starting to get completely covered in my film shots.
Kitty is the real star of the show in these film blog posts. I might have bribed her with some string but she's just so photogenic. A film roll isn't complete without her pretty face on it.
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!
Shooting on Film | Zafira
Heelllllllllllllooooooooooooo!
When I was younger, I was so fascinated by film strips. I remember how my dad would have them laid out when he was sorting out all of his photographs and I would just love to look at them. These brown strips with these tiny pictures in them were the coolest things I had ever seen. I'm pretty sure my dad shot on film for quite a while, even in the 00s when digital was a lot more popular, I still remember him shooting pictures of me and family on film. Now it's just so fascinating and utterly amazing looking back at the pictures because I can literally see the whole of my life and my family's life in images. I love how my family always document everything, it's one of the reasons I started getting more into photography and taking it more seriously. There's nothing I love more on the weekends then looking through the endless photo albums. It's a joy. Film shots look so good, I love the different hues and tones the images have. They just feel a lot more raw and gritty than digital. I asked my dad if I could borrow one of his film cameras recently and it's what I've been playing around on for the past few months. It's been amazing. I love film now.
Basically during my first set of film photos I was really dumb and when I told people I was shooting on film, they were like huh wut so I opened the back of the camera to show the film itself which is a big no no unless you want something like this. I still think these look so cool which is why I've kept them. I love the sunset-y colours, reminds me of the Instagram logo.
And then some of the pictures from my first set were two images merged together which had some quite strange outcomes but this is one of my friend Britt that I took at college. It's actually two separate images. The right side is of an image I took inside where she was leaning against the wall but you can only see her knees and the second image is one where she was sat on a bench outside but these two images have merged together and they kind of fit as one in a strange way lol?
The cutest candid of my friend Sunny.
The final one from my first set is when it snowed really heavily back in Jan/Feb time for about 20 mins and then it rained and all washed away.
My second set came out so well and it is truly when I realised film was the love of my life. Here's another snap of Britt with a swanky fringe this time.
This is probably the best picture I've taken in my entire life.
Here's me with the brightest thing in my wardrobe.
The famous pink jacket I wear pretty much everyday.
This was the day one of my favourite people in this entire world died.
My lovely boots when they were shiny and new.
I took this when I was on a shoot with two of my hilarious friends from high school.
When I started getting more into photography a few years back I would always take pictures out of my bedroom window. I don't what but there's something about it that looks so calm and peaceful. It was also really fun seeing how everything would change throughout the seasons as well which is something I might try with my film camera and document all the flowers growing and sky being blue and stuff.
Somewhere in London.
Columbia Road Flower Market which was amazing btw.
Me looking extra cute in my pink jumper from Bershka at the lovely Flower Markets.
That's all I have for now, make sure to follow me on Instagram for updates and just some really cool pictures!