The Amateur Camera

I recently got nominated for the Sunshine Award by the very person who started me on my blogging journey… my wonderful daughter, GrADABOUT, (check out her blog, she writes beautifully!) she encouraged me to start posting my photographs because she knows how much I love taking them, assuring me that the wordpress community were really friendly and she wasn’t wrong!  I am so glad I took her advice.  Knowing that there are people all over the world, not only seeing my photographs but actually liking and enjoying some of them makes me feel wonderful!

“The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are: “Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere”. The way the award works is this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Answer questions about yourself. Select 10 of your favourite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!”

Doing this blog has encouraged me to get out even more with my camera and has given me more confidence in myself as a photographer, amateur though I may be, when someone comments on one of my posts with the words ‘beautiful photos’ it makes my heart soar!  So thank you to my lovely daughter for the encouragement and the award.  Thank you too to all you bloggers in WordPress land and beyond!

So, now on to the questions and answers, feel free to skip ahead…!

What inspired you to start blogging?

Oops! I’ve pretty much already answered this one above but aside from my daughter, I guess I just wanted to put my photographs ‘out there’ and see whether anyone other than my family thought they were any good!

How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Originally it was just ‘The Amateur’ but that was already taken. I wanted it to be a bit different and also didn’t want it to sound like I was a professional photographer… I’m an amateur photographer, my camera is my partner in crime… so was born ‘The Amateur Camera.’

What is your favourite blog that you like to read?

That’s just impossible to answer!  There are so many good one’s!  I read a lot of very different topics… of course there are many amazing photography blogs that I love but there are also some bloggers that are serious writers, some seriously hilarious that crack me up every time!  Some are poets, some live in other countries that I love to hear about and some blog about some seriously mouth watering recipes!  Too hard to pick a favourite, sorry!

Tell us about your dream job…

Now that’s an easier one… I’m probably past the stage where this is going to be possible now but I would have loved to have been a travel or wildlife photographer… preferably a combination of the two!  My other dream job would be helping with Dolphin conservation, maybe that one’s still a possibility?   Ah well, one can dream… 🙂

Dolphins are just awesome!

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Oh definitely half full!  I have my moments like anybody but I am generally a very happy and positive person… I try to see the beauty in the simple every day stuff!

If you could go anywhere for a week’s holiday (vacation, American ones) where would you go?

This is another hard one as I haven’t really begun my travelling journey yet! There are so many places I want to see but if I had to choose one I would have to combine it with another lifelong dream which is to swim with wild dolphins, so preferably somewhere exotic (not off the chilly British coast!) with warm crystal clear turquoise blue waters (see pic above) … Fiji… Seychelles… can’t I have both? 😦 Too hard!

What food can you absolutely not eat?

Easy… Faggots!  When I was a child the advert (commercial) for faggots was about a certain brand which happened to be called ‘Mr Brain’s Faggots’ I got it into my head that faggots were made out of brains because of the way they said it in the advert… ‘Brain’s Faggots!’  Even though I now know this not to be true, I still won’t eat them because of that memory!  I also use to throw my green beans out of the window so I didn’t have to eat them and got caught because they landed in front of my next door neighbours front door… but that’s another story!

This is how I remember them… they look like tiny little brains swimming in gravy!

How much time do you spend blogging?

That depends very much on what’s going on in my other world!  I try to spend as much time as possible catching up with the blogs I follow, on a daily basis and I try to post a blog once a week though as I said this is not always possible and I prefer to take my time to put together something I feel happy about and it can be a long process sorting through all the photographs I take!

Do you watch TV? If so, what are some of your favourite shows?

I do watch TV but very rarely until around ten o’clock at night which is when the offspring are ushered off to bed and I regain control of the remote (or ‘the buttons’ as they are known in our house!) Unfortunately there isn’t much on at that time worth watching!

I do record stuff so I can watch it when I have some peace (which isn’t often) I enjoy period dramas like ‘Call the Midwife’ and ‘Larkrise to Candleford’ but I also love Documentaries about Nature and Wildlife.  I’m a big fan of ‘Friends’ and ‘Sex & the City’.  I love a good comedy, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ or from years gone by ‘The Good Life’ is a classic!  Also, dare I admit it in writing… ‘Eastenders’… it sucked me in years ago, it’s the only soap I watch… I’m sorry! 😀

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Phew!  That was harder than I thought!  Now for the even harder but fun bit… spreading the Sunshine!

So, without much further ado and in alphabetical order…

Canine Psychology School  – This lady is amazing and so deserves this award for all the sunshine she brings into the lives of the dogs she fosters, especially ‘Charlie’ who was a feral dog, she adopted him into her home and he is now a happy & contented member of her family because of all the patience, love & training she has given him.  Wonderful!

Focused Moments – Beautiful landscape & nature photography with some great macro shots.  Just lovely!

Indira – Beautiful poetry and musings accompanied by lovely photographs.

Kellie Elmore – Author of  poetry & fiction.  Wonderful poetry, great writing challenges/ideas & a lovely blog.

Le Pirate – Delicious recipes with step by step lovely photos to accompany them that make you want to dust off your baking equipment!

Multifarious Meanderings – This lady lives in France with her family, including smelly dog and has a wonderful writing style that regularly cracks me up and never fails to put a massive smile on my face!  Some great photographs too!

Our Adventure in Croatia – A blog about a couple who bought and renovated a place in Croatia and their lives when they’re over there.  Great wittily written insight into life in Croatia with helpful tips for visitors & some recipes too!

Rick Alonzo Photography – Lovely photography! Beautiful butterflies, flowers & sunsets.  Some great wild Dolphin shots too… need I say more! 🙂

Speedbird 71’s Blog – Wonderful photography of nature, landcapes, animals & his travels.  Check out the lovely Glasswing butterfly!

The Peckish Kiwi – Absolutely mouth wateringly good recipes!  Ice cream reviews too!  Never fails to make me drool, especially with the way he describes how things taste!

Lastly, as I believe a big part of my blogs popularity is due to ‘Mutley’ and the pictures I post of her, I think she deserves a little praise… not too much or her head will swell even more than it has already since she started her little sideline to my blog!  So below is a pic just for her!