Photography Bootcamp

23/09/2020

This is happening today and apparently they have a special offer coming from Adobe as well as loads of interesting stuff going on. So worth a look, its today but if you have time jump in.

Latermedia

Save the date for September 23, 2020! This year, we’re bringing you even more speakers, live Q&As, exclusive giveaways, and strategies for every platform.

05/09/2020

If you sell food, then a whole heap of time, energy and more goes into the production. Sometimes people fail then to make it look its best on stalls and in photography and this is SO, SO important. Why on earth after putting all the blood, sweat and tears into production would you settle with DIY and second best photography to showcase your amazing creations?

Food like this, displayed beautifully on a market stall as this is, will sell well. The same thing just slung on a stand with no attention to details won't stand a chance. The same applies to the photos you use in showcasing your products.

It's often thought that good photography is too expensive, it isn't if you compare the return on investment to DIY photos. If you really feel you can't indulge then at least learn how to use your camera (whatever that is) well, it can make an enormous difference.

Display, composition, lighting, knowing your customer, branding .... the list goes on, if you want to know more give me a shout.

31/08/2020

There are myriads of images I could pull on for my last day of 31 days of Happiness, but this grabbed me this evening after a day with my very beautiful granddaughter.

This image for me is both sad and happy. It's just a flower and some sheet music you say - Yes. BUT it isn't. Not for me. If it doesn't work for you, then fine, off you go.

I can't share images of my beautiful granddaughter, Ava, as her parents don't want it and I totally respect that. Being a photographer that's hard!

Today her Grandad picked up his guitar and played and she was memorised and it was lovely. She adores music and I hope despite being tone deaf I will never put her off. My adorable little granddaugther is gripped by music and its lovely to watch her face. The sad part is her older brother, Harry isn't here to watch and take part, but will always be missed. So both happy and sad.

Because sometimes things are happy and sad, you can't change the past, you can only influence the future.

31/08/2020

Day 30 - 31 Days of Happiness

Nearly at the end of the month and running late again but this is a forgotten treasure - how many do you have hidden away? It's so easy to take photos now, love them at the time, keep them digital and move on. But they all have your memories woven through, lets not forget that. And when we are in the midst of deepest winter, its easy to forget the light lovely days and evenings of summer, but actually holding onto them and remembering warmth 'should' (after 2020 there has to be a get out clause right?) return...

I thought when I first looked back on this it was Autumn, but actually it was Spring 2013! But look at those colours.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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29/08/2020

Day 29 - 31 Days of Happiness

Meet Attila the Duck! This is way back in 2011 and I'd just collected my beautiful Indian Runner Ducks. I adored my ducks and I was very lucky that they all turned out to be female so they produced a huge number of eggs. Once they went free range it was always a nightmare trying to find them mind you. Sadly one day I came home to no ducks, Mr Fox had been! I've had an aversion to foxes ever since.

But when I first got them we needed a pond and didn't have one, this pink paddling pool was all I could find and they loved it. This was just after it had been newly filled and I spent ages trying to get the shot I wanted. Attila kindly obliged finally. I do still miss my ducks.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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28/08/2020

Day 28 of 31 Days of Happiness

Today's picture was taken in Cumbria at Lake Bassenthwaite on the same day as yesterday's image of Sunrise at Lindisfarne. We went to St Bees for sunset but it was sadly grey and overcast with no sunset to see. So we went back to where we were staying and walked down to the lakeside where despite the sun having gone the skies were still pretty. It was a lovely evening there and so quiet and still. One of my favourite hotels to stay at and it's been a while now since we were there.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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28/08/2020

Day 27 of 31 Days of Happiness

I ran out of day yesterday so here it is now. I had to include this one from way back in 2013. I had this mad idea that I wanted to photograph sunrise on the east coast here and then sunset over on the west in Cumbria. That was followed by weeks of waiting for some weather that would allow such a thing, this being the UK!

However suddenly there was what looked like the perfect opportunity and off we went. I can still remember how cold I was, despite all the layers. That was also when I realised that no matter how much I loved landscape photography it and I were never going to get along as it wasn't very long before I couldn't actually feel the camera controls and there was no blood left in my fingers. I can still remember the long painful thaw of them in the car later. BUT it was great and I loved every minute of it, just couldn't do it on repeat!

Sadly when we got over to Cumbria, the weather had a change of heart and there was no spectacular sunset at the coast at all. I did get some nice ones over Bassenthwaite which I'll try to look out.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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26/08/2020

Day 26 of 31 Days of Happiness

Well, what can I say. This one was shot during lockdown in the garden next door, which is now our garden... It was done as part of Creative Contagion with where four of us worked on a theme to produce 3 images. The theme for this one was 'I'm at home cleaning my glass' - a direct effect of Covid, what else would a photographer do lol.

I decided that this was best done with cocktails in the garden and since I'm in the middle of the English Countryside, that it would be fun to dress up as an eccentric English Lady ... (though actually I might need to own the 'eccentric' bit..). I decided it would be fun to have two of me doing this, in different attire ...

It was huge fun to do and a really nice memory from 2020.

25/08/2020

Day 23 of 31 Days of Happiness

Sorry for posting snow when it already feels like we're well into Autumn in August... but given its been a strange year then why not? Remember the Beast from the East? Well we were literally snowed in for 10 days, the snow was chest high at the end of the drive. It was .8 of a mile to the nearest neighbour and the main road which also was impassable for a good while.

Luckily we had oil delivered the day the snow started to fall ... that could have been very tricky. I decided that it was important to make the most of the time, and so building snowmen was planned, (I'm happy with snowmen by the way, no offence meant!! I think snowpeople sounds naff, but that's just me) then I looked out the window and saw the garden chairs and thought we could have some fun. So Mr & Mrs Snowmen having champers ..... I'm so pleased we did that, was a happy thing to look out onto for days .....

I truly believe that its so important to find good stuff and opportunities in amongst the difficulties we face as it helps to get through things.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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25/08/2020

Day 24 - 31 Days of Happiness

I love walking along a deserted beach, it doesn't matter what the weather is, I think its a great place to chill and to think and I love the vast open space and the even bigger skies. So this had to make it to the 31 Days of Happiness project too. And while I've got loads of sunny beach photos, I think bad weather can be good too, love the drama in the light and skies on days like this. I'm starting to sound like a right Pollyanna now ....

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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25/08/2020

Day 22 of 31 Days of Happiness

Whoops catching up time, after several days absolutely flat out. Have you ever had a day where you've woken up and its a glorious spring day, warm with beautiful light and just known that something good lay ahead? Or taken a random day of because you know you need it?

This was one of those days. I decided to take a rare day off, well busmans' holiday more like as I was off to shoot for me! We'd been wanting to visit Old Bewick, not far from us for ages but never made the time. So into the car and off we went. It was fabulous, so warm for the time of year and the church yard was ablaze with lovely flowers. It's a fantastic old church, even if you're not religiously inclined like me. But the sense of history there and the fabulous light that day made it a very special morning.

I was able to totally switch off and just really enjoy the quiet, the sunshine and doing what I love best, taking photographs! The images from that day always make me smile.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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21/08/2020

Day 21 of 31 Days of Happiness

Following on from yesterday's post, this was the scene outside the kitchen window on our first day we lived at Tarry back in 2014. The May tree was spectacular that year and to see this little beauty underneath and the fabulous view was just wonderful. The sun was breaking through but there was a haze and you can see the fog lifting in the background.

It's rare I'm first to the kitchen to do the morning coffee so this was a total bonus and I felt so blessed. The deer would be around the house quite literally for days or weeks at a time, then vanish for a while before returning. I always missed them then.

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31 Days of Happiness is a project I'm running in my Photography Bootcamp group as a way of counteracting some of the doom and gloom around us all currently.

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