Orange Flower

During the early winter of 2015, the harsh weather had yet to hit the city of Southampton. As a result, the gardens were still hosting a range of beautiful flower beds and plants. I had gone through a stressful few weeks. I was still in my first term of university, and I had experienced my first and hopefully only fail grade in my work at Southampton Solent University. I needed something to take my mind off everything. Fortunately, I was able to rent out a camera from the university's media department. With the camera settings as I wanted them and the SD card formatted, I went on a journey to explore Southampton and all of its beauty. I was currently living down the south of Southampton towards the docks. Although there were some small parks close to where I was momentarily living, I felt as if there had to be more in the area. I headed north-west, towards the Southampton Solent University. Usually, I would be crawling out of bed and making my way there to attend a lecture with a hangover and then drag my arse back to bed. This time I decided not to cut through the back streets and shortcuts to get there and instead took a massive detour. This detour placed me 1 minute away from the university, merely across the road from the main campus. It had seemed clear to explore opposite the campus, but throughout the whole of the first term, I had not bothered to visit the park that sat across the road. The park itself was what you would expect in the centre of a city, clean footpaths for pedestrians to pass one another and reach their destination. That wasn't the only thing it had; it also had a large fountain, lights that had been put up for Christmas that would glow in the night and beautiful flower beds. I decided to go on a quick photo shoot, which led to this personal favourite image of mine. Simply titled 'Orange Flower', I feel as if this photograph represents what most of us miss. A genuine beauty of the world that lies around the corner. If you have read this post, I hope you feel inspired to explore places that seem familiar to you. If you take a routine journey, try taking a detour for a minute, and you'll be surprised as to what you find.