Continuing on from our restful stay at St Mary's Inn we had hatched a cunning plan with my lovely friend Harriet to have a half term day trip to the South Lakes Safari Zoo, just 1 day of nothing but fun, animals and friendship, Looby, Harriet and I set off at 7.30am with excitement in our hearts and a tune or two on our lips with lots of singing along to "old people music" as Looby likes to call it.

The weather I think you would say was dreich, lots of rain and mist and fog but it didn't for a moment dampen our excitement, Harriet knew Looby and I would love the South Lakes Safari Zoo, the animals are so free, it's not unusual for a cheeky lemur to jump on your hand or for an Ostrich to suddenly stop you in your tracks because it's inquisitive and wants to know exactly who you are.  Every enclosure brings you closer to the animals than in any other zoo I've been to and the fact that a lot of the animals just have the run of the park is amazing!

One of my favourite findings was that the South Lakes Safari park is free for children and that's all children, not just the under 5's, the only extra cost was if you wanted to feed some of the animals, which of course we did, have you ever fed a giraffe?  I can say I have and I adore Giraffes, I think I adore them even more now.

The food selection was pretty good although there wasn't a great deal in healthy choices but you do usually find that's the case with most zoos, theme parks and the like, Dorito seemed to like the chips though!

Looby absolutely loved the whole experience but I would have to add that Harriet and I were probably the biggest children there, I nearly cried after my giraffe experience as it was so magical and I didn't even mind when I got jumped upon by an aforementioned cheeky lemur who put his muddy footprints all over the sleeve of my new Joules jacket!

When we left the park we did a quick detour past lake Windemere just after sunset, I quickly shouted to pull over the car as I'd seen the extraordinary colours of the sky and in a perfect moment I managed to catch the last red hued light of the day as it set over the autumnal landscape.

It seems like weeks ago now and I've been booked solidly ever since even if the weather has lead to one or 2 more rescheduled sessions than I'd like.  I'm pleased to say now though that weekend photo shoots are booked right up until Christmas with the exception of 2 half days, PM on the 13th and 19th of December so if you would like to book a photo shoot at weekends before the end of the year those are your two easy choices, just send me an email or a Facebook message and we'll get that set up.

Still Having doubts...

Is it just me or does everyone go throug moments where they really doubt their own ability?

Just lately I have some things going on which strangely enough I can't even mention on my blog, anyway this has really forced me into a make or break situation with my photography and I have decided to go for it, I get great feedback, I've had work and I have bookings for the future and yet this teeny voice at the back of my head still says "Are you having a laugh"

I think it probably is a common feeling for most of us in creative roles as all art is subjective and selling your own personal style of photography is key to getting repeat work, after all, if you love it but others can't see why, it doesn't mean it's bad but at the same time it's not going to make money.

Once again, just my random thoughts and feelings but hey isn't that what having a blog is all about?

Todays photos are more from Edinburgh zoo and really I suppose thats what set this whole thing off. I was just saying to hubby that I didn't end up with as many photos in my final cut and was this because either A, I was a great big pile of pants or B, because I'm just getting fussy and striving for perfection?



Of course I opted for the latter explanation because I kind of know that I'm a whole lot fussier than I used to be and again I think thats because the images I put on my blog are a direct representation of the person someone can hire and therefore it's unlikely that I'll put poor quality snapshots and of course even from my own personal point of veiw I love to see a good shot where as in the past I would have just been delighted at any shot containing my family etc, let me tell you I have atleast 20gb of photos of my family now, I'm not going to keep every single samey photo! LOL

So if you're reading this today and you're an artist of any description and I mean this from actual artists to photographers, scrapbookers, crafters.... What do you think, do we strive higher and higher for perfection the longer we practice our art or are we just setting ourselves up for a fall and should we try and veiw even the bad shots as good because intrinsicly they are part of our portfolio too?

Edinburgh Zoo

Ediburgh Zoo was our location today an away day of low stress and high fun!

Edinburgh Zoo is on the outskirts of Ediburgh just north of the border in Scotland. (just popping that in for my US Buddies ;) ) It opened in 1912 and these little fellas have been there since 1914 and very happy little chaps they are too, Edinburgh Zoo is now a world leader in conservation and all of the animals are very well loved and looked after. We had a ball of a time and Loobys reaction to animals she had never encountered before was truly magical.

I have to say I have had an absolute whale of a time, I love animals and could have spent much more time there. It's one of our favourite places and quite well worth the 2 and a half hours it takes to get there.

I'll share some more photos over the weekend but for now my feet and my shoulders are aching, one thing about the Zoo was sll the walking we did, it's all built on a hill and I must recommend getting the safari bus to the top of the hill as it's a bit steep. Actually in all the times we've been visiting this was the first time we waited for the Hilltop safari bus and I feel all the better for it tonight.

I'm off to the bath now for a soak before bedtime, tommorrow is Saturday and you know what that means....

Well Iain thinks it means that we're off to our usual weekend jaunts in Yorkshire, You never know!!!