#INNTRAVELCAPTUREYORK WITH KEITH MOSS | QUEENBEADY

I’m munching away on a tuna & cucumber sandwich, with a bag of salt & vinegar squares to be precise and an email lands in my inbox inviting me to a photography event with Inntravel, where legendary street photographer Keith Moss would be our mentor for the day. Now, anyone who knows me, I don’t put down food for anything (hey, I love food, what can I say?) but this email made me put my sandwich down. No lie. You see, I’ve owned a DSLR camera since October last year and it’s only fluke that I get a decent photo from time to time. I couldn’t wait to understand my camera bit better and how to get the best shot.

We were invited by Inntravel who are a tour operator who are all about the “slow holiday” – you know, really enjoying a pace that takes in all the culture around you without missing anything. It definitely sounds like my kinda holiday, especially with my fast-paced life at the moment, so it was a perfect excuse to enjoy a day wandering around my home town with my camera in hand and spending some time with some of my favourite bloggers.

Keith gave us a bit of background about his style and some of the publications he’s shot with (FYI none other than Vogue!) Once some of us managed to understand our cameras a little bit more, we were tasked with heading off in small groups to grab some portrait photos. I teamed up with Natalie from The Tofu Diaries and Jenni from The Thrifty Magpie Nest so we could get some practice in before we set off on our biggest challenge, street photography.

Jenni from The Thrifty Magpie Nest

Natalie from The Tofu Diaries It became apparent that I was much more interested (and better!) in capturing portrait photos. I did take a wild stab at some street shots. These ladies played the perfect muse, as they seemed very happy to be snapped in the streets. One smiled directly in to my camera despite not even knowing the photo was of her. It’s about breaking down the barriers which as Keith said, can take years of practice.

I decided that really, Street Photography wasn’t the best option for me. I like something that is the focal point of an image, I want to capture people smiling and being happy. So when we were asked of who would volunteer to ask a man on the street for his photo I felt, rather timely, brave. Keith explained that once you overcame “the fear” you only have to conquer it once, and the next time it won’t be so scary. I walked up to the gent in the street, and asked him “would you mind if I took your photo?” to which his reply was, “who, me? Sure.” I was so pleased with how these photos turned out and it really reminded me of the photo series “Humans of…” I’m sure this guy has plenty of stories he could share. It kinda made me want to start doing photography full time. Heck, the guy even gave me a cheeky peace sign. Did he subliminally know we were all bloggers?

And then we took photos of these dogs, do we really need an explanation of that? I mean, look at their little faces!

I decided that with even more playing around on my camera I wanted to give Street Photography one more go. I didn’t want to completely rule it out all together! So, Natalie & I split off from the group again and just out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a street performer. Once again, I was looking for a living being to really focus on, but I really did try to get the street in action to whilst the man played with his balls (#LOLZ. Okay, I know that does not sound right.)

It was such a great experience, getting to explore my home city at a rather chilled out pace, getting to do one of the things I love most, photography. Inntravel really instilled that in. Sometimes life can be a little crazy and now and then, you need to step back and enjoy the view for what it is. So, thank you for inviting me along and thank you to Keith Moss for a truly inspirational bloggers day out!

Do you ever just get out with your camera in your hometown and snap away or do you reserve photo taking only for when you are on holiday?

Bee xxx

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