by Melissa Beckford
A quick introduction
Happy New Year!! Page one of a new book and I'm kicking it off with my first resolution - my very first post on my very own little photo sharing doobery watsit. Technical term ;)
This year I plan on spending much more time outdoors - last year wedding plans took over a tad. I aim to take even more photos in 2017 - YES MORE, and I figured it was better to post them here rather than spam my family and friends on Facebook.
Photography is my passion and my most relaxing hobby besides eating. (I'm looking for some courses to invest in in the future if anyone can recommend any - photography courses not main courses ;) ).
Anyway, I tend to waffle on a lot. Welcome to day one of a new adventure.
Richmond Hill
I love to head to Richmond Park and walk amongst the deer. A beautiful place in all seasons, I recommend it if you havn't been - parking can be a little tough in the Summer so be sure to go early.
This time around, we thought we'd stop at Richmond Hill first for the view. We got distracted by a little garden tea shop. When in Rome... of course we stopped. Great start to a walk!
The hot chocolate was delicious. Mr B opted for a Chai which had me salivating from the Christmassy scented mist that kept blowing my way. He approved.
He also opted for a Spanakopita, which I of course had a wife-sized bite of. What's his is mine right? Delicious!
The Hollyhock Café is situated in the Terrace Gardens with a great view over the gardens and the River Thames. My picture doesn't really do it justice I'm afraid. From here, it is a short wander down to the Thames - would be rude not to.
And it didn't disappoint with its Wintery light.
Perched in all his glory, Mr B spotted this fella. Magnificent. Living on the canal; I have a bit of a thing for birds - you'll learn this soon I'm sure.
Unfortunately, Mr Seagull doesn't quite get the same 'oooh' but the bridge was pretty cool.
For the biggest 'ooooohhhhhh' of all, I spied some muddy feet through the bushes. Possibly the cutest, curly haired toesies of all.
Back up the hill after a belly full of yet another festive snack (IS IT TIME TO STOP EATING YET?!).
The view didn't disappoint. Even in the winter. The foggy distance, naked trees, occasional plume from someone's log fire. Perfection. It was here I remembered a recomendation. Rather than scooting into Richmond Park as we normally would, we hopped in the car and headed to Bushy Park. Quite a few people raved about it to me and so we figured why not. We had nowhere else to be.
We were greeted by this guy... he wasn't a fan of being papped.
Whereas this guy was a bit more of a poser...
The lighting here was pretty cool. We've had a few days of intense fog and today it had finally lifted but the cloud hadn't passed. It made for an incredibly moody sky. The only kinda moody I like.
And the water was still frozen.
We normally have a bit of a competition to see who can spot the deer first. I think on this occassion Mr B won but that's not what I told him. "Of course I saw that one already!"
They are such awesome creatures. Winter provides a very different scene to photograph deer. I would say possibly not my favourite season. Autumn is my favourite favourite. The colours then are so vibrant and if the deer are rutting it's brilliant to see. Not my strongest photos here but the deer do the hard work really, posing perfectly.
A family portrait? Say cheeeeeeseeee.
Something Bushy park does have to offer over Richmond park (so I have experienced at least) is the variety of deer. They seem very 'uniform' in Richmond park. Here, there were so many more colours.
I'd definately recommend this park. It is more open plan than Richmond park and so much easier to find your way around for shorter walks but if you are looking to invest a little more of your day into it, I'd head to Richmond park instead.
After a good walk around and me asking Mr B every 2 minutes if I was going to be eaten by one of the big guys... the sun started to set, we said our goodbyes and headed home to warm our toes and feed our tummies yet again.
- MTWP xxx
