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Dorset photography trip - sunset

A photography trip to Dorset – Shaftesbury, Portland Bill & Lyme Regis

The problem with working from home in a small village in central Somerset, is that we are in danger of going a bit stir crazy! Over the last couple of years Chris and I have made more of an effort to use our weekends to go exploring nearby. So far this year, we’ve cranked it up a notch and have gone further afield to Dartmoor in Devon a couple of times, and our last day-trip was to Dorset…

Magic in the Mundane – inspired by Sara Tasker

As per usual, I fully intended to write about something immediately afterwards so it was fresh in my mind, but stuff got in the way and before I realised it, it was a couple of weeks since reading Sara Tasker’s Instagram and photography guide book, Hashtag Authentic. Although I got side-tracked thinking about how to take photos of moments, not things; I still haven’t written my review….

Somerset Wassail at Pilton Tithe Barn

Monthly Memoir – a Somerset Wassail, visits to Dartmoor; the snow; the sun etc

I’ve decided to bring back the Monthly Memoir! I made this decision about half way through January. About three quarters of the way through January I realised the month was never going to end, but now, at the beginning of March, I realise that somehow two months of 2019 have already finished and I’m still getting over Christmas!….

Instagram advice

An Instagram Confidence Crisis

February 27, 2019

I’m having a crisis of confidence in my Instagram account. Whilst I appreciate all of you who follow me over there, and the numbers aren’t completely terrible; they haven’t increased at all in months. MONTHS!….

Joulesredcoat

A photography trip to Wistman’s Wood, Dartmoor, Devon

February 5, 2019

Chris bought himself a new lens recently, and his place of choice to try it out for the first time was a photography trip to Wistman’s Wood in Dartmoor. Full of myth and legend and being the place of many a fairy sighting, I was pretty keen to go as well…

black and white photography project

What to do when your photos don’t match your Instagram! (A black and white photography project)

September 1, 2018

The use of Instagram means something different to different people, and I’ll write more about my feelings on that in another post, but briefly, I’ll tell you that my Instagram, @HelenHobden is fairly curated with some of my best photography included. However, whilst away in Connecticut, slouched on the hotel-room armchair, having a break from typing; I realised that the simple scene with my feet up on the arm would look great as a square-cropped photo in grainy high-contrast black and white….

Visit New England in Winter

10 Photos that will make you want to visit New England in winter

February 20, 2018

Chris and I recently returned from a month in Connecticut, near the city of New York, and each weekend we went exploring in every direction. I’ve put together ten of my favourite photos – and this was a challenge to get it down to only ten! – in the hope that the cold weather doesn’t put you off from visiting the New England area of America. I thought it was absolutely beautiful!….

photobook review

How to take control of all your photographs

November 6, 2017

About this time last year, I worked with a company called Printerpix – it’s one of those online places that print your photos on all manner of gifts as well as your standard prints. I actually had two photo books printed by them and was very pleased with the quality and ease of use of the website. My parents recently came to stay, and I produced my most recent one for them to have a look at, and Mum asked if I had seen her Italy holiday photos yet. I hadn’t; and I knew it would mean squashing up next to her while going through all her photography files on her small laptop. It got me thinking how strange it is that in a time when we are taking more photos than we ever have done before; we’re actually getting far less printed. They remain a fleeting post on Facebook or Instagram, but are rarely printed and displayed or treasured in a large and heavy book. Has our old family tradition of passing around the photo album at Christmas or after a Sunday roast been lost?….

The Glastonbury Festival sign

A sneak peek at Glastonbury Festival 2017 a week before the fun starts!

This is mainly a photography post as there isn’t a great deal to say about it really! I had the opportunity to have a walk around the Glastonbury Festival site last night, so of course I took my camera with me! I also vlogged it, so when I’ve had chance to edit the footage, I’ll add that too. I’m pleased to report that the ground underfoot is very firm and the grass very green. It amazes me how much there is still to do in the next six days, but so much has happened in the last week, I’m sure they’ll manage it!….

Walking round Glastonbury Festival site

A walk around the Glastonbury Festival site – the story of the photographs

Considering Glastonbury Festival is a hop skip and a jump away from us in Pilton, I’m surprised we don’t go for a wander around the site more often. I’m guessing it’s the long uphill walk back to the villagers’ gate that puts us off! Anyway, on Mothering Sunday the rest of the family didn’t really have a choice in the matter, and as it was a bright sunshiny day, I thought I’d drag them off on a walk….

Muchelney Abbey, Somerset – the story of the photographs

February 26, 2017

Last July my parents came to stay for a few days and as they are recent members of English Heritage, we looked around for local attractions near me in Somerset. Muchleney Abbey is (unsurprisingly) in the village of Muchelney on the Somerset levels with the nearest town being Langport. It’s in a beautiful peaceful spot, and the perfect location for a picnic, but as we didn’t come prepared, we bought ice creams from the little shop there, and then found a cute place for afternoon tea further down the road afterwards. Although the south cloister is still intact, sadly as usual, Henry VIII is to blame for the ruined state of the rest of the abbey. It is the Tudor Abbott’s house that can be explored properly….

3 days in new york – Day 1. The story of the photographs

February 10, 2017

Oh dear, I had trouble narrowing down the number of photos of New York to include to make it a reasonable length blog post! We did a hell of a lot each day, so I had to include enough to illustrate that, and I managed to get it down to fifteen photos, which I thoroughly enjoyed preparing. By the way, I should explain that this is the first post about the epic holiday our family went on last July. (I’ve had so many blog post ideas that it’s taken me this long to get to it!) I’ve decided that pictures speak a thousand words, so these are mainly going to be photography based travel blog posts, rather than tonnes of information provided. However, if you’d like more information about anything I mention, please just ask in the comments – I’ve got a box full of leaflets and tickets and a detailed diary to refer to.