Robin Hood's Bay, Part 1

I'm not really sure why its called Robin Hood's Bay considering that it isn't anywhere near Nottingham...perhaps the smugglers that used it stole from the rich to give to the poor?

Anyway, this bay is kind of what I would imagine my quiet, safe place to look like and every time I look at these photos I feel the same as when we were there, calm and relaxed.

I was a bit worried about using a black and white film as the colours were so lovely but I think that I actually prefer the look of the black and white tones here, the contrast is perfect.

Location: Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire
Camera: Refurb LC-A
Film: Kodak BW400CN

Instax photos from the weekend...

I haven't used my instax mini much this year as I've been distracted by my polaroid land camera, but this weekend with my friends I decided was a perfect time to use a pack of film that I've had sitting around for a while, and I'm really glad I did.

These photos are a mixture of shots from the Cow and Calf Rocksin Ilkley and also some from feeding the ducks Otley in Yorkshire, I love how the beautiful country side is only 5/10 minutes drive away from Leeds and these shots show the stunning views so well. (You can also see that it was cold, brrr!)

Location: Ilkley and Otley, Yorkshire
Camera: Fuji Instax Mini

Out of my comfort zone...

I wasn't originally going to share these photos as overall, I'm really disappointed in them, the colours are dull and most of the results are a little blurry (wrong camera and film choice I think. Bother). However I mentioned before about 'keeping it real' and sometimes I think that the process of working towards a great photo is just as important as getting that great photo and these photos are definitely part of the process.

I took all these photos in an attempt to populate my photos, to document the people around me as well as the landscape. This is a challenge for me and something I struggle with when I go somewhere new. I studied Interior Design at university so I am automatically drawn to architecture and perspective photos, so training myself to look for interesting human moments is really quite difficult when I'm constantly distracted by interesting designs, shapes and lines.

{a moment alone and a pop of red}

{Ok, I was more interested in the dogs, but look at the middle ones happy face... so cute}

{I so wish this one wasn't blurry... I was quite taken with these two ladies.}

{Ok, this last photo, I am actually happy with - I loved the idea of the seagulls being just like the couple on the bench, having a moment to look around, enjoy the view - perhaps they are even all looking at the same thing.}

I think its so easy to fall into habits with your chosen hobby, to know what you're good at and just stick with it but film (and toy camera) photography to me has always been about the challenge, and I'm hoping that when I look back at these in the future, I'll see these photos as the beginning of a new, tougher challenge and hopefully I'll be able to see some progression too (fingers crossed).

I'd love to hear about how you push yourself in the comments - either with photography or elsewhere, sometimes even a small push is all we need to improve, so lets encourage each other!

Camera: Holga 135bc
Film: Lomography ISO 400 (usually a winning combo but not this time)
Location: Whitby, England.

p.s. if anyone tells me how great these photos are, I won't believe you lol, I'm just saying!

Ladybird Likes in Leeds

In October my blog friend, the lovely Zoe, from Ladybird Likes came to visit and as well as helping her out with her stall at Reetsweet, we also went for a lovely little photo walk around Kirkstall Abbey.

I love meeting blog friends in person and Zoe was a joy to spend the weekend with, I'm so glad that she came to visit and Thomas and I both enjoyed showing her around Leeds and getting to know her better.

You can see Zoe's beautiful film photos from the weekend here (with a cameo appearance of my hand) do check them out, I really love them as it was great watching Zoe take her photos and then seeing the final results.

Have a great weekend, I'm spending mine with my girls and I can't wait already.

Camera: Yashica Samurai
Film: Kodak Portra NC 160
Location: Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds