The Rub, a fabulous BBQ smokehouse is quite a new addition to Newcastle but it's already becoming a firm favourite of mine thanks to being a passionate carnivore, what I didn't know was how amazing they are at making cocktails so when lovely Laura from Ellefluence put on a cocktails event I couldn't refuse the chance to try out the menu as well as spending some quality time with some of my most favourite bloggers.

I'm a big fan of cocktails even though I will confess, I am a lightweight and really don't drink a lot of alcohol, well apart from the 1 or 2 hangovers I have each year but one or two hangovers isn't bad when you're a grown up!!

The Rub serves a mind-boggling selection of cocktails, the menu is huge and contains all of the favourites, however they may not taste quite the same as you remember them because these guys are doing it properly using only the best of ingredients and taking 110% care to get the tastes just right, one of our hosts for the evening Joe is a world champion cocktail maker, this makes me think he'd come in very handy at parties.

I've never been to a blogger event which was quite so much fun as this one, we were split into teams and then had to recreate some classic (and not so classic) cocktails after first being given a demonstration by Joe, I decided to put myself up for the Cosmopolitan round being that it's my favourite cocktail and clearly I know my favourite drink well because our team won that round, it's no surprise then that this week when I hold my very first Christmas cocktails and karaoke party at home its Cosmopolitans I'll be providing for my lovely guests.

I love the Ellefluence events because as well as gorgeous Laura there's also lovely Laura Pearman Photography, an awesome photographer who I happily recommend if I can't take my own photos, Laura is number 1 on my list in the photography world, she's quirky, fun and fabulous, she's also amazing at capturing events, something I definitely don't specialise in, it does also give me the option of leaving my camera at home and that isn't a bad thing at all, I did, however, bring my camera to The Rub because I love photographing cocktails, yes I know, I'm a weirdo!!

After several rounds and a truth or dare style round which saw me doing an extra salty tequila shot (really, tequila is my favourite so it wasn't too hard although I also followed that by having lots of water, it was a Monday after all) we finally came to the last round where we had to create our own cocktail from a random selection of ingredients and so I did, I created a caramel choo choo, Joe even said it was good and he'd be happy to serve this on the menu, I'm currently adding cocktail making queen to my CV. 😉

As well as cocktail concocting fun the lovely people at The Rub, Newcastle also provided a tasty carnivorous cornucopia which helped to soak up the alcoholic we had imbibed during the evening, I'm growing incredibly fond of the meaty delights served by The Rub!

All in all, it was such a great evening, full of fun and I met some fabulous bloggers I hadn't encountered before, I love my blogger family so it was a delight to spend more time with favourites Pixie and Katie, Alice and Melissa even if Pixies team pipped our team to the post, remind me never to be on an opposing team to Pixie, that fabulous diva is not to be messed with in any kind of competition, I've never seen anyone suck on an Oxo cube (not a euphemism) for as long as that lady!

If you want to check out the delicious cocktail menu at The Rub which you'll find in The Gate, Newcastle you'll be super duper chuffed to know that they have 2 for 1 on classic cocktails every day from 11-7 and 10pm until close, now that's got to be a good excuse for another night out with my favourite girls!

Best Camera For Bloggers, Fuji X70

I've had a long standing romance with Fuji, the first camera I bought myself when I was 29 and fell in love with photography was a Fuji, my second and only bridge camera was a Fuji and then I walked away and bought a Canon as my first DSLR, then a couple of years ago I bought a Fuji X-Pro1 and fell instantly head over heels with the yummy high definition colours and the gorgeous images which have helped me bring many a travel image to life.  I went back to a Canon for portraiture and I truly believe that Canon make the very best cameras for social photography but when it comes to travel, I am Fuji all the way.

Now I have an extra problem with a prolapsed disk and need to keep the weight off my neck as much as possible, I also want a camera which will take photographs as beautiful and professional as my agency and my own high standards require.  So I've just bought the perfect travel bloggers camera, the Fuji X70, it's a new camera and at £499 it's not cheap but it's also smaller than my iPhone 6S, has an integrated teleconverter for switching between 28, 35 and 50mm focal lengths, something I require as they're possibly my favourite focal lengths for travel photography and blogging based images.  

The beauty of this camera is undoubtably it's size and it's simplicity, if you aren't an expert photographer then you can simply throw the X70 into auto and it will literally do everything for you and a series of rings like old school cameras I find are easier to understand than complicated digital things, if you are a little more advanced then you are going to find Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and full manual, for anyone who's wondering how I choose to shoot these days, well it's no secret that after perfecting my craft in manual I rarely use anything other than aperture priority but that's because I also know that I know manual settings inside out and can switch between the modes quite comfortably should I need to.  I tend to shoot most travel images at f8, portraits at between f1.8 and f2.8 and the X70 offers f2.8 so perfect for my needs, if I'm shooting food in a dark restaurant I find f2.8 is absolutely fine and the Fuji X70 will quite comfortably go to iso 6,400 which is about as much as I'll need but it is expandable up to 51,200 which is insane, my Canon 6D goes to 25,800 and it's only occasionally at evening wedding discos that i've ever needed it so to think of a compact which must literally photograph in a cave is incredible.  Incidentally, the X70 is more expensive than my first and second DSLR's.

It doesn't have a viewfinder of course but I can live with that, I often use the screen on the X-Pro1 with my 42 year old eyes!  I also love that it has an adjustable screen you can flip out for the occasional selfie and being that it's quite a wide lens (although don't forget to figure in that crop factor as it's not a full sized sensor) you can quite comfortably take the odd selfie.

Video on the go is also another thing which I think i'll probably use in the future but haven't yet, I'm not the biggest fan of vlogging but you never know, I might still fully embrace it and 4k crisp video might just come in handy!

So, downsides, well having just spent a half hour editing through the same process as I do with all of my images it was easy to see that these images are not going to be quite as good as my huge clunky Canon but then I'd be expecting way too much if I'd have thought that.  I have to admit to using the wrong film simulation mode today, I usually use Velvia for enhanced colours, today I used the classic chrome and I'm not really a fan, it's a little on the washed out side for me  and so there was more post processing than usual.  I shoot in Jpeg these days, I have for about 2 years now, I'm just not sure there's a need for RAW as long as you know what you're doing, obviously your opinions may vary but from a bloggers point of view I'm not sure just how many shoot in RAW.

The things I've loved today were the lightness, the small size with such mighty power and it is occasionally just nice to point and shoot!

If think if you are an intermediate photographer who wants a great camera for blogging that you can pop in your handbag or messenger bag then really, the Fuji X70 is the best compact camera for blogging that's currently on the market.