Lands End to John O'Groats with our Friends, the Hall McNairs ~ Part III

Now this is the final entry regarding this trip. I think I have taken up enough space on something that really isn't even that closely related to my photography business, even though it does contain a lot of photographs.

So, where were we? Oh yes, the good weather had ended. It was Saturday August 9th and the

Highland Games in Mey were due to start that afternoon. We managed to get the tent and everything packed away in the dry but it didn't take long for the rain to start. By the time we arrived at the Highland Games it was typical, horrid, Scottish weather. And of course, I forgot to pack proper rain gear for us all. But we weren't going to let that stop us, particularly since this was the closest we were ever going to get to royalty.

I must admit that I knew very little about the Highland Games. I certainly didn't know that the public could enter on the day. Having seen that very few people were entered anyway my step son decided he'd like to enter. My husband and I are so glad he did. He can now say that he has competed in the Highland Games. And not just any Highland Games either. It is the one that Prince Charles attends each year for the judging of the tug of war.

As it turned out that he came in 3rd and won £3 in the boys 100m. Although, there were only 6 of them running so not necessarily the greatest accomplishment in his life but one he will be able to tell people about it for many years to come.

Only minutes after Kieran crossed the finish line Prince Charles and his entourage entered the field. None of us were expecting him to be in the first car and we certainly weren't expecting him to be driving. As such, I was unprepared, in part due to our good friend Niki suggesting that they would be

coming in behind us rather than in front. Hence the reason I have a shot of the car driving away from us rather than towards us. I will be kicking myself for some years to come having missed the shot of Prince Charles waving at us as he drove past.

To give an idea of the size of the event, the Royal enclosure was directly across the field in the white marque here in the distance. Even with the limited numbers, the press quoting somewhere in the region of 300 in attendance, it still didn't stop the abundance of press from turning up with their huge and extremely expensive lenses. And I thought I had a big lense. Some of their lenses looked more like telescopes. And there I was with my 105mm lense. I contemplated pulling out the larger lense (a 200mm) but it was buried beneath a sea of camping gear and still would have pailed in comparison to their 800mm's. Had the weather been better I am sure I would have made more of an effort though.

So in the end all I could get of Prince Charles and Camilla was what you see above. But it will have to do.

Following the Highland games we headed towards home, with the intention of staying a night near Perth to break up the journey. Getting a campsite without pre-booking was harder than we anticipated. In the end we found a place that could squeeze us in. But the trouble wasn

't over there. It wasn't until after our night out at an Indian that we realised just what we had gotten ourself into. We left the restaurant in the pouring rain and total darkness, with airbeds still to blow up and sleeping bags to take out. That wasn't the problem though. It wasn't until I got into bed that we discovered our tent was flooded. My daughter pointed this out to everyone as she splashed in a puddle inside the tent. Morning couldn't come soon enough. And it wasn't until the then when we took down the tent that we realised just how our tent became flooded. We were sleeping on a small lake.

To finish our trip off we decided to head to Blackpool. No one, apart from Andy, had ever been there so I thought it would be something worth seeing. Having now been there, I am so glad we made the stop so that I don't have to make a special trip in future to see this place I had always been curious about. I had heard many things about Blackpool and unfortunately it was all true.

What was most amazing of all though was the blue skies we had from about 10 miles away until we left the place. Prior to that we had nothing but terrible rain. We almost drove straight home thinking we would just be wasting our time anyway.

In all it was a fantastic trip. We are all very glad we made the effort and it will always be something we look back on quite fondly.

Thank you Niki and Rob for letting us be apart of your adventure.

Comments

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe

Fine Art Portraits of a Beautiful Young Girl

So this is really becoming my thing lately. I am having so much fun working with children individually where I can direct and interact in ways that bring the best out of my subject. This has certainly become a process now of creating rather than taking photographs. And its what I have always wanted to be, a portrait artist rather than a photographer. I cannot put into words fully just how rewarding this is. For each of these shoots (as with nearly all of my shoots) we begin with a consultation where we discuss what we would like to achieve in the shoot. Here we will consider the type of clothing and any possible props. We will look at both the clients clothes and my ever growing collection so we can pick what will work best. In all circumstances we are heavily guided by what the child in the portraits wants to wear as I see this as vitally important. If he or she is uncomfortable its going to show and the portraits won't work. But most are happy to play dressups and wear a com

I'm a Portrait Artist and Variety is the Spice of My Life

I often admire the work of other photographers. I'm always having a browse or spotting something interesting on Facebook or Pinterest. Many of them have a very consistent style and subject, as is the case with many newborn photographers especially. This has made me wonder if perhaps I'm not developing as a portrait artist as well as I could be. We are taught early on within the realms of the photography world that we are to develop a distinct style and this of course must be clearly evident in any upper level qualifications panels we choose to submit. However, when I look at my own work over each passing year I fail to see the same consistency. I don't have a particular subject in which I specialise. I can photograph anything from newborns to teenagers, toddlers to families and even the occasional male nude. How can you put these together in an album and form a beautiful collection that I see many other photographers displaying so well.

5 Reasons you Should Consider Getting a Professional Headshot

Headshots, or profile pictures are becoming a requirement of so many tools we regularly use or reference today. From Facebook to Linked In, Instagram to Twitter and often any website that represents a company for which you work or own will have a place to include a photograph that is meant to show your audience who you are. And how you present yourself there will tell your audience so much about you. 1. A profile picture is your first opportunity for your audience to see you. Its often the first impression you make and we all know you only have one chance at a first impression. A professional photographer has the skills to show you in the best, most suitable way to give a great first impression. (These headshots were created for recruitment firm Optima UK who asked to have their logo placed behind them. I think it makes these headshots quite eye catching and they should do their job well.) 2. Using a professional to create your headshot will convey yo

My Fellowship in Child Portraiture, Baby Photographer of the Year and All Things Convention Related

Its been a very busy year for me. Hence the reason I've not been keeping this blog up to date. That's about to change though. I anticipate this coming year to be even busier but I plan on getting a lot more organised and keeping on top of things like this. For now though I'd like to tell you all about last week. I keep trying to think of some words to describe this past week and I keep coming back to 'I had the time of my life' and breaking into song in my head. Apart from when my daughter was born I haven't had a better time in my life. This week was spent at the Societies Convention where in excess of 14 thousand photographers from around the world meet to take part in print competitions, submit qualification panels and join in on various classes and events. The week began as one of the most stressful of my life. I've never felt nerves like it. I'd just spent the best part of a year planning and preparing my 20 image panel to present to 5

Christina Lauder Portraits

Search This Blog