11 Dec 2024, 14:20
LUMOS! For the New Year
Saturday, 11 January 2025
Upon returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for those students who left for Christmas Break, they returned to an absolute winter wonderland across the Scottish Highlands were their magical school resided. A blanket of sparkling white covered everything and it was absolutely beautiful. Was he able to capture this moment? Simon had thought about that for a moment, curious if he could get the settings just right on his wizarding camera to truly do the landscape justice and it occured to him that he hadn't had a meeting of his club at Hogwarts for some time.
He had created LUMOS! - (Let Us Meet On Saturdays!), but it also played on the wand lighting charm, Lumos, as one needed light for photography. Essentially, photography was writing with light - capturing light. Maybe now that he had stepped down as prefect he could devote more time to this forgotten idea.
Yes, he'd call an unofficial meeting to order. If young witches, wizards, and halfbreeds of Hogwarts wanted to experiment with photography or show off their already-known talent, he'd arrange a meeting. They would gather on the Grounds right outside the Entrance Hall of the Castle.
Upon arrival, they would find a table with a banner hanging from the front saying LUMOS! and on it was a good variety of wizarding cameras that they could borrow for the time if they hadn't their own. Another table had hot refreshments, some hot cider and tea and chocolate. Cups were at the ready as well as some mix-ins and under the refreshments some sort of magic was adrift to keep the liquids continuously warm so that the aspiring photographers could come back for more warm drinks if needed. A controlled fire also burned nearby to warm up any that might be out for awhile.
There was a sign also rested up on a tree, advertising the reason for them being there that afternoon. THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE! Their goal that afternoon? - Use a wizarding camera to capture a moving image that showed the beauty of winter and submit it for a contest. The first place winner would get a Robe of Warmth from Gladrags Wizardwear, the second place winner would get 3 Enchanted Snowballs from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and the third place winner would Tea from Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. In additional, all would get bragging rights for winning top tier of not just a photo contest, but LUMOS's first official contest. This wasn't just any photo contest either, it was THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE! - So said the sign.
Simon was there to take photographs in the hopes that he would take his own entry for the contest that afternoon and would be available to give anyone a rundown on how to use a camera or answer questions anyone might have. He hoped some good friends would stop by and maybe he would meet some new students at the gathering.
He also wrote up that he was willing to either develop their film/prints for them or they were welcome to use (and he would again be happy to give instruction for those learning) the LUMOS!'s darkroom in the Room of Requirement.
Each participant for THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE would choose one moving image and voting would be conducted in an anonymous manner - where students didn't know who the photographer was of each image. Voting would last for one-two weeks, depending on the amount of feedback.
OOC NOTE: This thread is for the gathering, where students (and staff) can interact with one another as they traverse the winter wonderland surrounding Hogwarts to take their photographs for the challenge. If you want your character to submit a photo, please be looking at winter gif images that could potentially have been taken at Hogwarts and fit a winter theme. I'll inquire about collecting those gifs from you soon! I'll make another post for voting for the image, but if you want to place your image in your thread to sort of 'claim it,' that would be a good choice. If there would be any repeats, whoever had made claim first gets dibs. Please only choose one image to highlight in this manner, although you can always suggest your character took more than one. Thank you and hope to see you participate in THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE!
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
11 Dec 2024, 18:11
LUMOS! For the New Year
If Avis' new cat hadn't been enough excitement in a new term at Hogwarts, there was something else that was new: this whole LUMOS club. Although Maisie had only heard about it through word of mouth, she knew she had to go.
Pulling her wizarding camera over her head and tucking Mischief into her satchel, she started out onto the grounds. It was cold, but beautiful as the snow draped over the grounds like velvet. In the city, snow tended highlight buildings or sculptures; here it was more like the castle only elevated the effect of the snow.
She followed the snow—or rather the footsteps in the snow—to a table with refreshments and the large sign "THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE." At that, her eyes lit up. Maisie would never shy from a challenge, let alone an artistic one. And on this, she'd have to make her father proud. She'd begged him for a camera as nice as his and now was her chance to prove she was good enough for at least a lens upgrade, right? Apparently there were prizes here too—material things—but nothing could compete with the chance to show Dad that she could be a photojournalist too.
Blinking she looked around. The obvious choice in a scenario like this would be landscape. She wanted something more exciting than that.
As she was still thinking, she came across a young man who looked like he was at the head of this whole affair. "Excuse me," she spoke to him, "I just wanted to know how often you did this sort of thing? Or where I could find out more information about it?" All this time, she'd tried two unofficial sports, but she'd never joined a club. A camera club, however, seemed right up her street, especially as long as there wasn't yet a knitting club. Besides, she did genuinely want to give her Dad's old camera a good try.
Meanwhile, as she was socializing, Mischief had managed to hop right out of her satchel and into the snow. The way the bag skittered against her torso made her turn her head. "Oh!" she let out as she saw him start to burrow in the white snow. "Sorry," she said to the older Hufflepuff student, aware she was slightly abandonning him mid-conversation. Kneeling down, she held the wizarding camera to her eye and waited til he popped his head out. Then—
snap.
And she smiled at the photograph of her best friend (besides Avis, of course).
Interacting with @Simon Kincaid. Mentioning @Avis Greymond.
Photograph is here:
Reducio
Last edited by Maisie Gemmell on 11 Dec 2024, 19:53, edited 1 time in total.
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11 Dec 2024, 19:52
LUMOS! For the New Year
𝕽uth Fairchild exhaled softly, watching mist pour out of her lips. Boy, it sure was getting colder. Autumn, just like the start of her Hogwarts year, passed by in a rapid blur. Now winter had come, dissipating any sign of amber and rust coloured leaves, full-on spewing frozen, white, goodness.
While it had been awhile since the season began to pretty much redecorate the whole of the school, Ruth was still very much not used to the change. Snow wasn't very common in Bath, though it did happen. Here, it was a blizzard madness.
The girl shivered under her scarf, rubbing her arms. Was it really the greatest idea to go out for a walk that day? She shook her head to herself, squaring her shoulders as she strode out of the school and down the grounds. Yes, yes it was. Best get on with it while it wasn’t too cold. Besides, Ruth couldn’t stand the thought of halting her walks just because of the season. Barely a month and Ruth had itched to get back outside.
The freezing air was also starting to get slightly less bitty and far more comfortable, now that Ruth had done quite a bit of exercise running up the steps from her common room to the second floor in hopes of bringing Jan along, only for her to dash the plans before she went further up. Ruth wasn’t too sure if the boy would have liked it. Now that she thought about it, Jan really didn’t tell her much about himself. Pity.
She brushed aside the thought. No matter. She didn’t need to be accompanied for walks all the time (though Jan’s company was appreciated). Striking up a slow Christmas carol, Ruth continued to whistle as she began to make her way around the castle. On the way, though her eyes caught sight of something.
"Lumos?" Well, that was interesting. As she got closer, Ruth realised there was a table that had cameras. Not the muggle ones, surely, but the wizading ones. Magical ones. A wide grin split across the girl's face. She had been seeing them around, not frequently, but enough to spark her interest. Ruth had been wanting to get her hands on one for so long. Perhaps now would be the time to try it out.
While the cameras lured her all the same, the burning fire and warmth coming from the direction was too hard to resist. Besides, was that hot chocolate? Oh darn it! She had thought that by the time new year rolled around she would have stopped her drinking addiction. Mm, wouldn't hurt to have more while the season was still in its fresh point, but maybe later.
Ruth grabbed the nearest camera, looking it over. There wasn't much difference she could place, but she knew that it was the function of the wizarding cameras that made wonders. She took a glance around to realise it was the senior hufflepuff that she had seen at the party( Simon, was it?) that was manning the stand. Nodding at him and holding up the camera, Ruth began to wander off, wondering.
What should she take picture of? Everything about Hogwarts was surely wonderful, but there had to be something that stood out. Her thoughts drifted along with her, losing her in the train of thought. As always, when it does this, her legs would work on its own,ambling off in its own direction. By the time Ruth came to, she had a hard time placing where she was. When she did, though, she gasped.
The edge of the forbidden forest, the whomping willow. It stood several yards ahead of her, majestic but terrifying. Hadn't the professors said something about going too close to it? Ruth gulped, watching, still. In all the white snow, Ruth had a hard time blending in with her brown, red clothes. Clutching the camera rather tightly, she held it up to her eye, watching the tree through its lens.
Well, why not? Ruth's nerves quietened down ever so slightly. She was pretty far away from the tree, safe distance even. It wouldn't hurt to get a quick picture. Inching closer cautiously, she made her move.
CLICK.
As if startled, the whomping willow, rigid previously, shook its branches, whipping out the mounds of snow bunched on its branches and trunk. It drenched Ruth, hurling wet flakes in her direction, stinging her cheek. Ruth gasped from surprise, but laughed, wiping her now numb face with her shawl before checking the camera.
Ah, bummer. Some of the ice covered bits of the lens, which meant she didn't get a clear shot. Ruth couldn't care about that now. She best head off before she managed to annoy the willow further.
And she would love a cup of hot chocolate.
Interacting with @Simon Kincaid, mentioning @Jan Dehoff.
Photograph:
Reducio
ALMOST EVERYTHING 𝐓he sun rises for everyone, not just those who chase it. |
11 Dec 2024, 21:36
LUMOS! For the New Year
Avis trudged back through the snow miserably from a tutoring session in one of the greenhouses. Unfortunately, although she'd barely managed to pass with an A last term, she was still required to continue the sessions with her grumpy, but grudgingly helpful, Slytherin tutor Oliver this term as well, which she was sure he wasn't all too happy about either.
Avis sighed but perked up immediately when the lovely smell of melting chocolate filled her nostrils. Impulsive as ever, she made the decision to follow her nose and found herself pushing through snow in the direction of a rather nice set up, complete with a fire, a snack table and a large sign hanging from it that read 'LUMOS'. Avis cocked her head as her gaze shifted towards another sign nailed to a tree. 'THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE.' Hmm, if that's what was required to get her hands on a cup of hot cocoa and whatever else lie in wait on that snack table, she'd be willing to do it.
Walking closer, she caught a glance of her best friend and Avis' face perked up as she began to wave in Maisie's direction.
"Oi, Maisie!!" she called, happily noting that she had her pet bunny with her. Her friend was smiling down at something in her hand and she was standing near an older boy, presumably the director of the event. Was this some type of club contest? She hoped not if that meant only club members could participate in the hot chocolate part of this photograph challenge. Catching her breath, she finally found herself standing in the snow next to her friend. She peered down at the photograph in her hand. "Oh, wow, is that Mischief? He's a right model, he is!" she gasped, thoroughly impressed as per usual by Maisie's creativity. She turned to the Hufflepuff standing nearby.
"Say, what do we have to do to get some hot cocoa? And how does this challenge work?" she asked, prioritizing her questions in a manner she thought best.Interacting: @Maisie Gemmell, @Simon Kincaid
Mention: @Oliver Armani
WC: 354
Photograph (to be taken):
Reducio
sta 8 | eva 8 | str 3 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 10
inpc: bastien archambeau
11 Dec 2024, 22:58
LUMOS! For the New Year
Avery walked through the snow. Excited that it had finally snowed. Avery loved the snow and always enjoyed seeing the beauty it could create. Even though it was always cold. Avery watched as an owl flew by heading back toward the Owlery. Probably coming back from delivering a letter.
Suddenly, Avery smelled apples. Apple cider to be exact. She was curious, so she decided to follow the scent. When she finally found where the scent was coming from she was excited to see a sign that said THE GREAT WINTER PHOTOGRAPH CHALLENGE!. Avery didn't even know that Hogwarts did anything like this. Before she got her letter, she used to take pictures of small animals in the woods. She usually got pictures of birds, deer, or other small animals and bugs.
Avery was happy to find someone she knew at the booth. Avis was standing there with a couple other girls. There was also an older boy standing there. He was most likely the one to talk to about this event. "Hi Avis, and everyone else. Is this where we sign up?" Avery asked hoping that there was still enough slots left for her. She also hoped that the apple cider was open to everyone. After smelling it, she was really craving a hot drink.
Avery grabbed a camera and looked it over. It looked similar enough to her old camera at home, so she walked away unsure of what she would take a picture of. Eventually she came across some white horses pulling sleighs through the snow. The horses looked majestic with snow falling onto the ground.
CLICK!
Avery snapped a photo of the majestic horses. When she checked the picture she was amazed. The horses pulling the sleighs and with the castle in the background was beautiful. She couldn't wait to show everyone!
______________________________________________________________________
Interacting With: @Simon Kincaid and @Avis Greymond
Mention: @Ruth Fairchild and @Maisie Gemmel
Photograph Taken:
Be the change you wish to see |
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in the world. |