Photos by Emily

I've moved!

2012-01-09T11:02:00.000Z

My photography and blog can now be found at:

www.emilywallphotography.com

Thanks for reading!

The 365 Project - Done

2011-10-21T20:10:00.000+01:00

After 365 days, or 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes, my 365 photography project is complete!

It's quite amazing to be able to look back on the past year and see where I was or what I was doing every day. In terms of photography it's been a fantastic learning experience. I wouldn't necessary say I can now take better pictures all the time, but I'd say overall the quality of photography has improved, I'm much more aware of what a 'good' photo is now and more able to achieve what I want in a photograph or a situation.

The whole project can be viewed here: Full Set on Flickr

Here's some of my favourite from the year.

And if you have any comments or feedback at all, please let me know; I'm keen to keep on learning!

Day 317: August 29, 2011: In flight

Day 331: September 12, 2011: So close to

Day 89: January 13, 2011: Honza flying high!

Day 29: Flying south for winter (Nov 14th)

Day 33: November 18, 2010: Autumn Colours

Day 49: December 4, 2010: Fire Poi

Day 79: January 03, 2011: Giraffe!

Day 92: January 16, 2011: Cabbage!

Day 115: February 08, 2011: Helix!

Day 246: June 15, 2011: Flies

Day 259: June 27, 2011: Last morning in Plattling

Day 323: September 04, 2011: Sunset over the Ottawa

Day 364: October 15, 2011: Sneaky Sunset

The best of a LiLi summer: Canada

2011-10-04T13:18:00.000+01:00

This year, for the first time, Love it Live it headed over to Canada to explore the Ottawa River. It was my 5th time out there and I was super excited to be back. It was great showing Sam and the rest of the group around; we had awesome water levels which meant lots of time surfing Baby Face, Push Button and the super fast Garborator wave. Here's some photos from our trip:

Sam blunting on Corner Wave on the McCoy's rapid

Kiwi Courtney Kerin on Garvin's

Sunset over the Ottawa

Nick Troutman and Dane Jackson filming on Garb

Devyn Scott going huge during the Canada Cup competition

BBQ at CJ's cabin, an awesome spot by the river

Me during on of my prelim rides at the Canada Cup/Ottawa Rodeo (photo: Sam Ward)

Irish Tom going clean on Garborator wave

The best of a LiLi summer: Uganda

2011-09-27T18:42:00.000+01:00

Here's some photos from our summer Love it Live it trips on the White Nile, Uganda. All taken by me, except the shot of myself taken by Ivan Ngobi

Hannah nailing her line on the big volume rapid, Bujagali Falls, that's soon to be disappearing on the White Nile, Uganda.

Steph Mansell

Party surf with Theo, Stu and Sam

Heidi Cook

Stu going for a one handed line down Blade Runner

Me on Club Wave: Photo by Ivan Ngobi

Tasha bouncing on Nile Special

Stu lining up for Bujagali

A few photos from Worlds

2011-07-01T16:12:00.000+01:00

New World Champion James 'Pringle' Bebbington and his girlfriend, Katya.

Claire O'Hara's mum celebrating

Philipp and Helmut

Eric 'EJ' Jackson

More can be seen here: Finals Day - World Champs

My World Champs 2011 - Thanks Mike

2011-06-25T10:29:00.003+01:00

Last week I gave my friend, Polly some advice:

'Her words of wisdom today helped a lot too, and she said “you never know what is going to happen and what this is about. Don’t place positive or negative judgment on the outcome. There could be something entirely different that comes that you never saw or expected”.'

These words have been in my head a lot this week.

On Thursday 16^th June, my first paddling mentor and dear family friend, Mike Dodd, lost his life in a motorbike accident in Tanzania. Mike was so important to so many people and he will be sorely missed.

I first met Mike at the very beginning of my paddling life. He took me out on the River Stour at my very first Sudbury Canoe Club session. This was where everything began for me, those first few years in the club were where my passion for kayaking started. Without Mike’s kind words and encouragement I very much doubt I would be where I am today. Mike was so generous with his time and so gentle in his approach, he has been essential to so many paddlers, and so has gotten so many people into the sport.

So this week the Freestyle Kayaking World Championships have been taking place in Plattling, Germany. After a shaky prelims, a personal best quarterfinal and a below average perform in the semi final, I placed 6^th. I just missed the cut by 3pts. I’m proud of myself for getting that far. Of course it would’ve been nice to paddle better in the semifinal and make the final, but that’s just the way competition goes. I’ve learnt so much this past week and I’ve have a great experience with my paddling to get to this point.

Fellow Sudbury Canoe Club paddler, James Benns has kicking ass and is paddling in the junior men’s final this afternoon. I’m so pleased for him, he’s just 15 years old and has got many years of competition ahead of him. I know that Mike would have loved to have been here with us this week, and I know he was very proud of all James and I have achieved.

Yesterday the Walls, the Wallcooks, the Wards and the Benns’ all headed out on the river for a paddle in memory of Mike. It was so special to have us all on the water together in his honour. He would have been so pleased to see it; getting outdoors, enjoying nature and having fun kayaking was so fundamental to Mike, it was a fitting way for us to remember him.

Thanks for everything Mike, we'll miss you.

More photos from yesterday: For Mike

World Freestyle Championships 2011...just a couple of weeks away!

2011-06-03T15:17:00.000+01:00

The 2011 World Freestyle Kayak Championships is now just around the corner. I feel like I've been waiting for this one for so long now! I've been hanging out in Plattling for a while, enjoying the sunshine and varying water levels, and I'm looking forward to the competition getting under way. Just this week I picked up my new carbon Rock Star S from GalaSport. I'm super excited about it, the responsiveness of the carbon feels great!

I've been posting various photos up on my Flickr. Here's some of the latest shots:

Claire O'Hara

Jordan not enjoying Plattling?

Katya Kulkova looking smart

Gerd Serrasolses deep in the foam

Katya and Polly watching me getting some air (photo by Sam Ward)

Jordan Poffenberger getting some air in his C1 having just arrived

New boats!

More can be found here: Plattling set on Flickr

and here: Carbon Rock Star S on Flickr

A selection from my 365

2011-05-30T15:23:00.000+01:00

More can be seen over on my Flickr as usual:

Em Wall on Flickr

I finally made into my 365, sort of.

Who says kayakers can't play football?

This is what happens when you paddle with your wallet, nice work Tom

Jagermeister

Sheep herding, Plattling style

More from my 365 Project

2011-05-11T20:53:00.000+01:00

So I'm super behind posting on here!

You can see all my 365 shots over on my Flickr: Em Wall's Flickr

Here's a few samples...

Plattling...

2011-04-20T15:44:00.000+01:00

Here's a few photos from my stay in Plattling so far...

More can be seen here:

Plattling Photos - Spring '11

The latest from my 365

2011-04-20T15:37:00.000+01:00

I'm now kayaking in Plattling, Germany and have become a bit slack when it comes to posting on my blog! I upload some new 365 shots to my Flickr the other day:

Here's a couple of them and for all the rest check out the following link:

April's 365 so far...

Day 166: 31/03/11: Lomo mushrooms

2011-03-31T16:53:00.001+01:00

Day 166: 31/03/11: Lomo mushrooms, a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

So I've spent the vast majority of my day in bed with a rubbish cold, but I did sneak out to take today's photo.

Day 165: 30/03/11: Locked on

2011-03-31T16:51:00.001+01:00

Day 165: 30/03/11: Locked on, a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Day 163: 28/03/11: RockStar

2011-03-29T11:42:00.003+01:00

Day 163: 28/03/11: *RockStar*, a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Gav Barker testing out my new Rock Star kayak. Isn't it pretty?!

Day 162: 27/03/11: He's back!

2011-03-29T11:42:00.001+01:00

Day 162: 27/03/11: He's back!, a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Hooray.

Day 161: 26/03/11: There you go Dale

2011-03-29T11:41:00.001+01:00

Day 161: 26/03/11: There you go Dale, a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

You can be my photo of the day today.

Day 160: 25/03/11: Lilies

2011-03-26T08:11:00.001Z

Day 160: 25/03/11: Lilies , a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Perfect for sleepy, evening, lazy, 365 photo-taking

Day 159: 24/03/11: Quick cookies

2011-03-24T19:43:00.003Z

Day 159: 24/03/11: Quick cookies a video by Em Wall on Flickr.

A time lapse of cookies! Yummy.

Day 158: 23/03/11: Is it a...

2011-03-24T19:43:00.001Z

Day 158: 23/03/11: Is it a..., a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Is it a moorhen or a coot? I'm never sure which is which.

Day 157: 22/03/11: Slippers

2011-03-22T20:52:00.001Z

Day 157: 22/03/11: Slippers a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

My friend Tim (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vic-tim/) likes taking pictures of his legs for his 365, what can I say? I was inspired I guess?!

Day 156: 21/3/11: Outside the window

2011-03-22T09:43:00.001Z

Day 156: 21/3/11: Outside the window a video by Em Wall on Flickr.

Alright so this one started as a much longer time lapse, featuring the sun going down and some awesome parallel parking by someone in that red van....but it got a tad disrupted by my coming back into the room, turning the light on and causing lots of reflections on the window so it got cut down to this. This was my fourth attempt at a time lapse today so I'm sticking with it as today's photo of the day because I don't have it in me to try again!

Day 155: 20/03/11: Loopy loop

2011-03-21T12:09:00.001Z

Day 155: 20/03/11: Loopy loop a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Craig Ayres looping it up on the inlet gate at Nottingham

Day 154: 19/03/11: HPP, only smaller...

2011-03-20T19:01:00.001Z

Day 154: 19/03/11: HPP, only smaller... a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

A bit of photoshop title shift action on a photo of the white water course, Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham.

Day 153: 18/03/11: Nottingham light trails

2011-03-20T19:00:00.001Z

Day 153: 18/03/11: Nottingham light trails a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

A long exposure on the road towards Trent Bridge.

Day 152: 17/03/11: Apple Crumble

2011-03-18T12:17:00.001Z

Day 152: 17/03/11: Apple Crumble a video by Em Wall on Flickr.

So today's photo for my 365 Project isn't just one photo. Maybe that's not quite the rules? Well it's my project and I got a 7D last week and a shutter release cable and I got a bit excited. So here's my first time lapse attempt...

Day 151: 16/03/11: Postman Pat

2011-03-17T11:29:00.001Z

Day 151: 16/03/11: Postman Pat a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

The Postman Pat van is back.

Day 150: 15/03/11: St Jude's

2011-03-16T10:55:00.002Z

Day 150: 15/03/11: St Jude's a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

My kanga bag from the School of St Jude where my Mum is currently working in Arusha.

www.schoolofstjude.co.tz

www.facebook.com/schoolofstjude/

Day 149: 14/03/11: Nottingham sunset

2011-03-16T10:54:00.001Z

Day 149: 14/03/11: Nottingham sunset a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Sunset over the River Trent - I ran out to get this one before I lost the light after paddling on the white water course, I'm glad I made the effort!

Day 148: 13/03/11: Rafting again

2011-03-15T09:48:00.001Z

Day 148: 13/03/11: Rafting again a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

So I've started working at the watersports centre in Nottingham again, but in a different role this time. I'm taking photos of the rafting. It's a fun job and it means I get to spend lots of time playing with my new 7D, which is awesome by the way.

Day 147: 12/03/11: Cookie!

2011-03-15T09:44:00.001Z

Day 147: 12/03/11: Cookie! a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Matt Cooke and his lovely dog, haven't seen him for so long! (Matt, not the dog)

Day 146: 11/03/11: Rafting...

2011-03-11T19:13:00.001Z

Day 146: 11/03/11: Rafting! a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

A bit of white water rafting at the National Watersport Centre, Nottingham.

Day 145: 10/03/11: Down the canal

2011-03-10T21:21:00.001Z

Day 145: 10/03/11: Down the canal a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

The view down the canal near where I'm living this week..

Day 144: 09/03/11: Nearly there

2011-03-10T08:48:00.001Z

Day 144: 09/03/11: Nearly there a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Daffodils by the rowing lake at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham.

Day 143: 08/03/11: Pancake day!

2011-03-10T08:47:00.003Z

Day 143: 08/03/11: Pancake day! a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Yummy pancakes..just what I needed to recovery from the Focus on Imaging show and spending lots of money...

Day 142: 07/03/11: So nearly forgot today!

2011-03-10T08:47:00.001Z

Day 142: 07/03/11: So nearly forgot today! a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Took this at around 11.45pm. So nearly forgot to take a photo at all. (And yes I know the time maybe different in data, my clock's set wrong...)

Day 141: 06/03/11: Old Skool

2011-03-10T08:46:00.003Z

Day 141: 06/03/11: Old Skool a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Tom Parker popping out in the Old Skool class at the NRS'11

Day 140: 05/03/11: No Mankinis

2011-03-10T08:46:00.001Z

Day 140: 05/03/11: No Mankinis a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

The year's National Student Rodeo was beach party themed.

Day 139: 04/03/11: It's a free raffle

2011-03-10T08:45:00.003Z

Day 139: 04/03/11: It's a free raffle a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

It's a raffle. And it's free. It's a free raffle.

Day 138: 03/03/11: NSR coming soon...

2011-03-10T08:45:00.001Z

Day 138: 03/03/11: NSR coming soon... a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Just a few days to go to the annual National Student Rodeo kayaking event...

Day 137: 02/03/11: Spring flowers

2011-03-10T08:43:00.003Z

Day 137: 02/03/11: Spring flowers a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

I liked the lighting of this one, (no vignette added btw).

Day 136: 01/03/11: After the fire

2011-03-10T08:43:00.001Z

Day 136: 01/03/11: After the fire a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

Headed out for a walk on the hills behind Sam's place yesterday. Found this left over bonfire, had some interesting pieces left behind after the fire.

Day 135: February 28, 2011: What's that...?

2011-03-10T08:42:00.001Z

Day 135: February 28, 2011: What's that...? a photo by Em Wall on Flickr.

I was going to take some pictures of Johnny here attempting to 'face shake' but instead I got this just before he tried. He was curious what lens I was using so he was peering intently at my camera.

365 Project: Days 131-134

2011-02-27T17:50:00.000Z

Day 134: February 27, 2011: 4800m deep in the ocean

The polystyrene cup was decorated by Sam's sister Sophie (who is doing a PhD a Bangor in the oceanography department) and then travelled far far south on a research cruise in the Atlanic Ocean. There it was taken under the sea to 4800m! The pressure crushed it and created a now tiny little cup!

Day 133: February 26, 2011: Menai Bridge

Visited Sam's sister last night over in Menai Bridge, we went for a walk as soon as we arrived but I was a bit late on the sunset photos.

Day 132: February 25, 2011: Snow Drops

Snowdrops outside Sam's parent's place in North Wales. Funny I think I'd actually missed the UK countryside.

Day 131: February 24, 2011: Favourite food

When I'm in Uganda I always end up dreaming of the food I'll eat when I get home. Fajitas are my favourite. Yummy.

365 Photos: Days 121 to 130

2011-02-25T12:19:00.003Z

More of my 365 Project. I'm now back in the UK for a while so hopefully I'll be able to keep up to date with posting my photos...oh and there'll be none of my pig for a while!

Day 121: A long exposure of the kitchen staff just before dinner time on the Hairy Lemon

Day 122: The bridge between the main Hairy Lemon island and the second 'Teachers' Island'

Day 123: Oh there she is again...sorry! She just keeps sneaking in there. I didn't mean to have another one of my 365 shots of my pig but my battery ran out...

Day 124: Er bad photo day I guess, I've been lacking inspiration lately. Need to get out and try some new things I think...

Day 125: The back of Nick Troutman at Nile Special

Day 126: Dane Jackson lining up to film at Nile Special, being watched by a local kid

Day 127: A dragonfly

Day 128: Emily Jackson watching her Dad, EJ, at Nile Special.

Day 129: Unfortunately the gecko lost this battle

Day 130: Brussels Airport; I spent a bit longer than expected here on Wednesday, and my luggage spent even longer!

365 Photos: 113 to 120

2011-02-14T13:28:00.003Z

More of my 365:

Day 113:

Day 114:

Day 115:

Day 116:

Day 117:

Day 118:

Day 119:

Day 120:

More of my 365 project

2011-02-04T13:38:00.002Z

I'm now at day 111 of my 365 project. Keeping up with uploading/blogging here in Uganda has been tough! I'm now up-to-date with it all again and photos from day 64 thru to 110 can now be seen on my Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilywall/

Here's a few of my favorites from the past couple of months:

Day 70:

Day 76:

Day 79:

Day 80:

Day 89:

Day 96:

Day 103:

Day 110:

365 Photos: Day 56 to 63

2011-01-19T11:34:00.004Z

Here's some more of my photos from my 365 project; I'm still going strong with it, just massively behind on uploading them due to being in Uganda.

Day 56: About to flower

Day 57: Sunset beyond the Hairy Lemon

Day 58: The Hairy Lemon

Day 59: Flowered

Day 60: Club wave on the White Nile

Day 61: Palm frond

Day 62: Ugandan note taking

Day 63: The Hairy Lemon bar at Night

The Nile River Festival 2010

2011-01-18T12:25:00.003Z

This past December, paddlers from all over the globe congregated on the White Nile for the unique Nile River Festival. There was the usual carnage in the form of the 'boda-boda' race (which involves racing down the Silverback section then jumping on mopeds back to the NRE bar), a mass paddle down the 40kms or so to the Hairy Lemon island and then a freestyle competition.

More can be seen on Will Clark's blog: www.thenileprogression.blogspot.com

I was stoked to not only win the women's freestyle competition, but to also win the Ben Holland memorial photo competition and $200! Here's my winning photo (all photos massively downsized to cope with Ugandan internet, sorry!)

It's also the photo for Day 54 of my 365 project.

Here's some of my photos from the freestyle event:

Winner of the men's freestyle competition, Julien from France

Prelims on Club wave

Paul (owner of the Hairy Lemon) busted out some old skool gear and moves

The judges and crowd watching Club wave

Quinton on his way to taking 1st in the Prelims

King of the Wave: Timmy vs Chugga

Timmy waking up in the bar...

365 Photos: Day 50 to 53

2011-01-18T11:58:00.002Z

Day 50: Bali Flags

Day 51: Dentistry on the Hairy Lemon

Day 52: Washing Line

Day 53: Briefing for the Nile Freestyle comp in the bar...

365 Photos: Day 43 to 49

2010-12-20T12:00:00.005Z

Yesterday I manage to get out to Jinja and on some fast internet; so here's some of my 365 photos from the past few weeks. A couple more can be seen over on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilywall

Day 49:

Day 48:

Day 47:

Day 46:

Day 45:

Day 44:

Day 43:

Day 42: Mamba!

2010-11-27T14:11:00.000Z

A Jameson's mamba (I think) right outside our house....!! Not the greatest photo in the world, but it had to be today's photo because it's a mamba!!

Day 41: Red tailed monkey

2010-11-27T14:10:00.001Z

Day 40: Dragonfly

2010-11-27T14:03:00.001Z

Day 39: Home sweet home

2010-11-27T13:56:00.001Z

My home in Uganda. It's good to be back.

Day 38: Empty Check In

2010-11-27T13:46:00.001Z

Although not a very exciting photo, it seemed fitting for the day as I spent it all travelling to Uganda.

Day 37: I heart NY

2010-11-27T13:38:00.002Z

Time for a change of scenery...

2010-11-22T18:29:00.002Z

Now the winter's drawing in here in the UK, it's time to escape again! I'm off to Uganda again in the early hours of tomorrow morning. I'm going to do my best to keep up posting my 365 project photos but I'm guessing I won't be blogging quite a regularly as I have been so far! We'll see....

Day 36: Balinese Flags

2010-11-22T10:53:00.002Z

Courage: Not the absence of fear or despair but the strength to conquer them

Day 35: Hurley

2010-11-21T10:18:00.001Z

Yesterday the last of the UK Freestyle kayaking league events took place at Hurley Weir.

The light was awful and I struggled to get a fast enough shutter speed. I think I was more focused on the kayaking I had to do than taking pictures. This is one of the better ones I got, definitely not the best paddling shot I've ever taken, but at least I got something for my 365 Project.

The paddler is Doug Copper, and he's going for is a clean blunt.

Day 34: Gold

2010-11-21T10:15:00.000Z

These are just some decorations in the conservatory, but I liked the way the light was hitting them and using my trusty 50mm 1.8 I thought I could get some interesting bokeh going.

Day 33: Autumn colours

2010-11-19T09:41:00.002Z

On Wednesday I left Nottingham for North Wales. I'm over at my boyfriend's parent place getting ready for heading to Uganda next week. Took a little walk around the garden yesterday and found these gorgeous colours. I love my 50mm 1.8 lens, it barely leaves my camera these days.

Day 32: Empty

2010-11-17T11:19:00.002Z

Today I'm moving again.

I've lived in 6 difference locations this year, including 6 weeks living out of my van. I've spent no more than 2 month in any one place.

Time for change again.

Day 31: Animal Pawn

2010-11-17T09:33:00.002Z

Day 30: City Lights

2010-11-16T09:25:00.002Z

Day 30 of my 365 Project: The Victoria Centre in Nottingham

Day 29: Flying south for winter

2010-11-15T09:21:00.002Z

Flying south for winter is what I'll be doing this time next week.

Day 28: Last rose by the lock

2010-11-13T21:44:00.001Z

Day 27: Hurley Weir

2010-11-12T21:13:00.002Z

So I spend quite a lot of the past two days kayaking rather than taking photos. I quickly took this fairly bland shot of Hurley weir on the Thames today, decide to have some fun with it in Lightroom to make it more interesting. Almost makes it look tropical...

Day 26: Memories

2010-11-12T21:09:00.001Z

Day 26 of my 365 project

Day 25: Tesco

2010-11-10T20:24:00.003Z

Day 25 of my 365 project. For more of my photos from today head over to my Flickr: Em Wall

Day 24: Another sunset...

2010-11-09T21:09:00.002Z

I'd have preferred to not post another sunset shot so soon, but for some reason, there's an abundance of good ones over the river at Holme Pierrepont.

Day 23: A walk in Wales

2010-11-08T15:47:00.002Z

A few photos from my afternoon walk north Wales...

Day 22: Necklace

2010-11-07T12:53:00.002Z

My mum just sent me over this necklace from Laos

Day 21: Ice Cream

2010-11-07T08:27:00.002Z

Yesterday morning I was at work at 6.30 am so I took a few sunrise shots to make sure I'd got a few photos in the bag, however, it being bonfire night on Friday, I was intending to take photos of the local firework display to use for my daily shot. I took about 100 photos at the fireworks but my composition wasn't great and I didn't have my tripod with me. After, we went to the pub and ordered a mountain of ice cream and I got my shot...

Day 20: Lines

2010-11-05T22:14:00.002Z

Day 19: Leaves

2010-11-04T23:53:00.000Z

Day 18: Sunrise

2010-11-03T17:59:00.001Z

A sunrise photo for day eighteen of my 365 project.

Day 17: Work

2010-11-02T22:20:00.000Z

Day 16: Hair

2010-11-01T19:15:00.003Z

Today I had my hair chopped off.

I'm donating it to a charity that makes wigs for kids who have suffered hair loss due to chemotherapy or illness

Little Princess Trust

Day 15: British Open & Prem race day 2

2010-10-31T20:12:00.002Z

Some more photos from the British Open...

Day 14: British Open & Prem Race day one

2010-10-31T19:52:00.003Z

Some photos of the British Open/Premier slalom race that took place at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham this weekend.

Day 13: Two different shots of the course

2010-10-29T21:55:00.002+01:00

A evening photo of the white water course at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham...

And one that's a little bit different...

Day 12: Lamps

2010-10-28T20:21:00.001+01:00

Day 11: Another sunset

2010-10-28T08:50:00.001+01:00

Here's another shot of a sunset over the river Trent at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham for my 365 project

Day Ten: wall hanging

2010-10-27T09:10:00.001+01:00

Day Nine: City Lights

2010-10-26T09:04:00.002+01:00

Day Nine of my 365 Project

Days Seven & Eight: GBR Freestyle Team Selection

2010-10-24T21:13:00.003+01:00

So for days 7 and 8 of my 365 project here's just a few shots from this weekend's GBR Freestyle Kayak team selection. The 2011 team are being selected for the World Championships in Plattling, Germany.

Update: Full results of the event can now be seen on Alan Ward's blog: Liquid Projects

Saturday 23rd October:

Sunday 24th October:

Day Six: Waiting for rain...

2010-10-22T21:14:00.001+01:00

I was in the house all day today, can you tell?

Day Five: Sunset

2010-10-21T21:58:00.001+01:00

Sunset over the River Trent

Day Four: More at the white water course

2010-10-20T21:07:00.003+01:00

I spend a lot of my time at the white water course in Nottingham, both paddling and working; the great thing about this project of mine is that it's making me look at the course in a new way. I saw so much that was going on today. I couldn't decide which photo to chose for my blog post, I thought both these shots were worthy of sharing...

Day Three: Kayta

2010-10-19T19:45:00.001+01:00

Katya was wearing these sunglasses in the cold, rainy weather today; she was wearing them because apparently everything looked sunny and warm with them on.

Day Two: The Course

2010-10-18T21:22:00.005+01:00

A night shot of the white water course at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, where I work and play.

Day One: A view from my window

2010-10-17T14:50:00.006+01:00

The first in my 365 days project. This is the view from the window where I'm staying at the moment. I was inspired by my friend, Ed Smith's gallery: 'Fabricated Meaning'.

The 365 Days Project

2010-10-17T14:35:00.002+01:00

In an effort to progress my photography skills and as a personal challenge, I've decide to undertake my own '365 days' Project. The idea is to take a photograph every day for a year. Not only does this help you to become a better photographer but it seems like a great way to document a year in your life. I'll be interested to see what my results are! I'm also going to attempt to post my daily photo here on my blog, I know already that this won't be possible all the time as I'll be back in Uganda in the very near future but I'll try my best.

Here's where I found my initial inspiration for the project:

The Digital Iris

Project-365-take-a-photo-a-day

and:

Taylor McKnight

Safari at Murchison Falls National Park

2010-10-17T13:03:00.002+01:00

Nottingham League Event: Results

2010-10-03T11:04:00.003+01:00

Yesterday saw the third event in this year's British Championships league series take place in Nottingham. The prelims were held on the inlet gate feature. The results of these count towards the league ranking which is one part of selection for the 2011 GB team.

Unfortunately, today's semis and finals had to be cancelled due the high pollution levels from the all the rain we've been having in the past few days.

So here's the results:

Junior Women

1st: Kim Aldred 160pts
2nd: Rachel Bovill 136pts
3rd: Gabby Bates 133pts

C1

1st: Dave Bainbridge 1016pts
2nd:Stu Parry 866pts
3rd:Adam Ramadan 748pts

OC1

1st: Paul King 76pts
2nd: Bob McKee 23pts
3rd: Chris Noble 11pts

Junior Men

1st: James Benns 1626pts
2nd: James Weight 1265pts (senior for selection)
3rd: David Wild 1230pts (senior for selection

Senior Women

1st: Emily Wall 993pts
2nd: Claire Ohara 776pts
3rd: Lowri Davies 533pts

Senior Men

1st: James 'Pringle' Bebbington 2740pts
2nd: Sam Anderson 1633pts
3rd: Joe Bradley 1443pts

And here's the British Squirt Boat Championships result:

Here's the open class results:

Thanks to all the organisers and judges for all their hard work yesterday!

World Cup Wash Out

2010-06-07T19:06:00.011+01:00

So after a successful first league event on the Tryweryn* I sped off to mainland Europe for the 2010 World Cup Series. Unfortunately rather than a series it turned into a one hit wonder at Augsburg after serious flooding here in Plattling.

I didn't get too many shots of the first event at the Eiskanal but here's a few...

The full results can be found here: http://akv-online.de/

On a personal note, I was stoked to place 2nd in both the prelims and the semi final. Unfortunately I didn't quite get it together in the end and finished up 5th, still happy to make a World Cup final though!

We then moved on the Plattling, where we were quickly washed out...

My sister was very happy to have chosen this event to come visit me at...

Still gave me some time to play with my new 50mm 1.8 lens...

And it gave others time for drinking...

That's all for now....

*I won the senior women's class! For full results see www.ukfreestyle.com

Just a short video...

2010-05-13T08:39:00.002+01:00

Of some of my playboating on the White Nile, Uganda. I try to film most of my paddling sessions as I get so much out of video feedback, so I ended up with quite a bit of footage from last year. Thought I'd finally do something with it:

An Indonesian Adventure

2010-04-27T09:19:00.002+01:00

This January Sam and I headed south of the equator to check out Bali and Lombok – islands in the archipelago of Indonesia. We were fortunate enough to have a base for our travels. Having moved there last July for a teaching job, it seemed rude not to take the opportunity to visit my Mum whilst she’s living in tropical paradise! (Ed: this was first posted over on our LiLi news blog)

Our time was split between surfing, relaxing and snorkelling, with a bit meditating and moped exploring thrown in for good measure (although not at the same time).

Sanur Beach – the is my Mum’s local beach where we spent many hours walking up and down the beach front, sampling the iced coffees and yummy fruit juices. More importantly it’s where we did quite a bit of surfing. Me in my kayak and Sam on his body board. Bali is world famous for it’s breaks and there were surfers everywhere. We were trying out the Sanur reef when it was in it’s prime season for wind (prevailing offshore), but less prime for swell size, this was great for me as a relative beginner in the surf: small to medium sized waves with perfect shape! When there were other surfers out in the water, they were mostly just curious as to what I was up to in my small plastic kayak, very few kayakers visit the region so I was a bit of a novelty.

Religion played a huge role in the everyday lives of the Balinese. Before heading out for some sunrise fishing, the woman in the above photography made an offering to the sea. Outside every home and business, offering are made 3 times a day. There are made up of flowers, incense and food as shown by the photo below:

We also explored many other beaches in Bali, including a long weekend spent with my Mum at Amed on the north east side of the island.

These children were playing on the beach at sunrise, waiting for the fishermen to return from the night spent out at sea.

We also traveled to the Gili Islands, just off the coast of Lombok. First stop was the party island of Gili Trawangen where I had my first scuba dive! That was definitely an experience I'll never forget, we saw, amongst many many colourful things, a moral eel, a school of impressive bumphead parrotfish and even a black tip reef shark! After that we headed to the beautiful Sunset Gecko resort to spend a few nights on the peaceful Gili Meno. None of the three Gili islands allow motorised transport so if you want to get around the island (although walking them is very easy) the only mode of transport is this:

On Meno we were able to snorkel right from the resort's beach front, there were some stunning coral formations and even turtles.

Our next stop was Lombok where we had a moped powered surfing adventure. Although a reef break wasn't exactly what I wanted for my first time surf boarding, I could not have asked for a more beautiful location.

While I flailed around trying to stand up on the smaller waves, Sam headed further out to the point to body board the bigger ones.

We travelled along Lombok's south coast and inland to the mountains on our trusty moped.

Although nothing like the antics in Iceland, we saw our own little volcanic eruption whilst staying in the foothills of Mt. Rinjani.

Maybe the youngest petrol station attendants ever?

Back in Bali, I managed to find a river to paddle. The Talaga Waga River is regularly rafted but from what I could find out had only been paddled by kayakers once before. Upon arriving at the rafting get in for Sobek I was greeted by the site of this lovely looking drop. After been told by many of the local guides that I was crazy, no one had paddled if before and I would break limbs, we decided it was all good, and I paddled the drop anyway.

What?!

Just below the main drop there was a fun little second drop. Fun times. After that I headed off behind the rafts to check out the rest of the river. It was definitely a bit of a random adventure which took far longer than expected and resulted in me putting some kind of bamboo stump through my foot but the river was gorgeous with lush green rice paddies all around and some fun grade 3/4- boulder gardens.

On the south side of Bali, down on the infamous 'Bukit', we found some sweet waves for some laid back surfing.

We also headed inland and spent some time exploring the cultural hub of Ubud, with it's yummy vegetarian cafes and bustling market.

Back in Sanur, Mum and I tried a bit of stand up surfing; like canoeing and surfing but harder...

We also checked out the typical tourists spots of vivid green rice paddies and spectacular ancient temples.

All in all, Indonesia provided a holiday with a bit of a difference for us. It was hot, beautiful and welcoming with amazing surf that could of entertained us far beyond our six weeks. Now we're back on the Nottingham, I'm kayaking lots, and Sam is busy running freestyle coaching clinics. Bali and Lombok are now distant memory but looking ahead there are exciting plans in the works. World Cup 2010 takes place in Germany next month and then it's back to Uganda after that!

Emily Parker

2010-04-11T18:06:00.004+01:00

On April 6th, Emily Parker tragically lost her life whilst paddling in Scotland. I was lucky enough to paddle with Emily last September out in Uganda, she was a pleasure to teach and such a positive person to be around. She will be sorely missed by many. My heartfelt condolences go out to her family and my thoughts are with the friends that were with her that day, I can’t even begin to imagine what you've been going through.

I wanted to share a few photos I took of Emily last year.

There are more here on Flickr:

Last few months in Uganda

2010-01-10T18:03:00.007Z

After the World Championships, I returned to Uganda until mid November. Since then I've been hiding out in north east Wales working, saving and planning for my next adventure. I've been pretty quiet on the blog front with not much to report. Now it's time for me to make the most of the quick internet post some of my favourite photos:

Sarah here had been paddling for about 10 days by this point, she's come to the Nile as a complete beginner on one of our trips. She was trying to surf Club wave for the first time, she hit the meat of it, flipped over and went to pull her deck. As she did so the wave popped her the right way round, she then surfed Club for a full ten second with no paddles and no deck. Once she realised where she was she turned to us on the bank and waved! Amazing.

Anna Bruno concentrating on the rope

My boyfriend and my boss: Sam Ward

Craig Ayres flying at Super Hole

Me watching our LiLi client, Helen Jones at Nile Special (photo thanks to Scout)

Right that'll do for now