Here's my rant for the week, I apologise in advance.

Why oh why do people still use paper tickets on the tube in London? Seriously, I don't get it! Commuting during rush hour is soul destroying enough but what adds to it are people fiddling with their tickets at the gates, holding up the ever growing line behind them.

Just use an oyster card, place it on the reader, gate opens, hey presto. I understand it's a London thing but even if you only visit for a day, it's worth paying the £5 deposit as you will get it back when you hand in your card anyway. And you get better rates.

Since September its been made even easier, you can now use your bank card. Most popular cards like Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and American Express are accepted as long as they display the contactless payment symbol. No need to pre-load money, it comes straight out of your account with no additional fees if your card is connected to a UK account. I've just learned that you can even use your mobile phone to swipe if you have the contactless payment app or special tags and wristbands - I'm afraid I've got no clue how this works so you'll have to do the research on that. Whichever way you twist it, not only are these methods more convenient than queuing at the ticket machine, they will also save you money.

And whilst I'm at it, please, please, please dear London visitor, have a lie in on your holiday instead of travelling before 9.30 am. As someone who has to get to work in the morning I haven't got a choice but to be sandwiched like a sardine underneath the armpits of my fellow commuters, but you have! Why would you do that to yourself when you can have a seat and enough room to breathe an hour later? And the ticket price after 9.30 am also drops substantially - win win situation. I live in Zone 5 and the daily price-capping for Zones 1-5 is £8.50 for off-peak compared to £15.80 for peak. Quite a difference, don't you think?

Sorry, it's been one of those days. Maybe I should retire and move to the country ... 

For more info on ticket types and rates visit the Transport for London website.

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.

Aaron Siskind

Much like the American photographer Aaron Siskind, my passion for photography started when I was gifted a very basic point and shoot camera at the age of 12. Back then in the 80s photography was an expensive hobby. You had the initial outlay for film and then getting it developed afterwards, often to realise a little too late that the pictures taken were out of focus, too dark or totally overexposed and not useable for anything. Being a teenager with only pocket money as an income I had to reign myself in and could only afford to take photos at special events like holidays or celebrations.

How things have changed since then and how lucky we are now! In the age of digital we don’t even need cameras anymore, our phones can do a pretty decent job with in-built effects and custom settings that can rival most digital point and shoot cameras. There is a seemingly endless list of photography apps available and you can take the shot and upload it straight to your social networking account of choice for the world to see. Any mishaps go straight to the bin and there is no money wasted on development fees.

Modern cameras are smart, but they can be fooled into mistaking the scene and subject and don’t always get the settings right. It is so disappointing when you travel half way across the world to visit a famous landmark and then the photos you take look nothing like the real thing you see in front of you. But there are a few simple things you can try to get a better result.

If you only use the automatic settings option you are putting all your faith into the digital brain of your device and whilst technology is getting smarter and smarter, it still can’t compete with the human brain and the human eye. So sometimes it pays to give it a little help by selecting the best scene mode for your desired outcome instead of sticking to auto mode. I don’t want to bore you with technical jargon but here’s a quick overview of the most common scene selection options and how they can help you take better photos:

Portrait mode

As the name suggests, this is the most useful mode for portrait photography. Your camera will automatically adjust its settings to throw the background out of focus and your subject will stand out more. The same mode can be used for any other subject where the main focus is in the centre foreground of the frame, for example a bunch of flowers against a boring background.

Landscape mode

This does exactly the opposite to portrait mode. The camera will adjust its settings so everything within the frame is in focus and it is a good mode to select for wide scenes that are far away from the camera. In landscape mode you will have a slower shutter speed so the use of a tripod, especially in low light conditions, is encouraged to avoid blurry pictures caused by camera shake

Sports mode

This mode is so much more versatile than the name suggests and can be used for many more subjects than sports only. The camera will adjust its settings to a fast shutter speed which means that all action appears frozen in time. It is a great way to get sharp images of anything in motion including children, pets and wildlife. When used in connection with water you can get some fun shots of the kids playing with the sprinkler where the water droplets seem to stand still in mid air.

The word "photography" was created from the Greek roots φωτός (phōtos), genitive of φῶς (phōs), "light"^[2] and γραφή (graphé) "representation by means of lines" or "drawing",^[3] together meaning "drawing with light".

As the literal meaning of the word photography suggests, light is the most important aspect of taking a good photo. The most magical time to go out and take beautiful photos is during the Golden Hour. This is the approximate hour just before sunset and just after sunrise when the light is very soft and warm and gives everything a flattering golden glow – perfect for beautiful portraits. And if you are a fan of sunsets but can never quite get them right, don’t wait to take the photo just as the sun sets. The real magic of wonderful colours and patterns often happens in the 30 minute lead up to it and this is when you should be clicking away. And if your camera has got a sunset mode – now is the time to use it.

Now go out and shoot, it is free and you’ll create some wonderful memories and art for your home.

I have got not so fond memories of one particular vacation in the early days of mobile phones. I’m talking REALLY early days here, phones the size of building bricks. You didn’t need an IT degree to use them so what is there to know when you take them abroad. Just don’t use them for outgoing calls, but it’s fine for people to call you. After all you don’t pay for incoming calls – right? Wrong! Being naive and clueless about roaming charges, I got back after 2 weeks holiday and the daily phone calls from my then boyfriend back in the UK had manifested themselves in over £400 on my mobile bill. I had no choice but to call my parents pleading for a loan until next payday to cover that unexpected cost and it still stings to this day.

I learned my lesson from that episode and realised that using my mobile phone abroad can get very expensive, so from that point forward it was used for emergencies only to keep the costs at bay. Until the next hurdle came along, the invention of smartphones! A constant stream of news feed and weather updates and so much happening in the background I’m not even aware of. My paranoia of another astronomical phone bill left me at a stage where I would turn my phone off the minute I got on the plane and only turned it back on once I landed back in the UK. Finally, after several years, my husband convinced me that it is safe to leave it in flight mode and use Wifi when available. But I’m still not 100% convinced that I managed to choose all the correct options in my settings and those sneaky app updates won’t find a little backdoor to hook onto my data plan and leave me with charges I didn’t bargain for.

My relief was immense when I found out about a gem offered by my network provider, Three. “Feel at Home” allows you to use your mobile abroad at no extra cost in currently 16 destinations including the US and Australia. No roaming charges at last and no more panic about automatic downloads. A quick call to Three customer service revealed which providers I can use and as long as I stay on that network I will be able to receive calls and make phone calls to UK landlines and mobiles within my free monthly minute allowance. I can text UK mobiles and it comes out of my text message allowance and I can use the internet without Wifi, taking advantage of my unlimited data. The latter is limited to 25GB but that is plenty enough for facebook check-ins, navigation and looking up local attractions and restaurants. And of course, those vital holiday snapshot posts! So my friends ...

... Sorry for all the hot dog legs!

PS: I am pleased to report that I have now returned from my fortnight in the US and my phone was on CONSTANTLY and served as a Sat-Nav for a 800+ miles road trip as well. Everything was within my allowances and didn’t cost me a penny extra. Well done Three!


Image source: Three

Please note: This post is not sponsored and I am not paid to endorse any products or services.