ASPIRE...just fabulous!

Such downpours as we are experiencing up and down the country right now always take me back to caravanning holidays with my parents in the Lake District. My parents were not for going abroad so we spent our summer holidays in Scotland, Wales and most often the Lakes.  On this particular occasion we did not step out of the caravan for four days due to heavy and continual rain - it was pretty miserable, even as a 6 years old the delights of camping in a forest were staring to wear thin. Mum kept us busy doing drawings and sticking pictures in our holiday scrapbook.

The similarities and contrast with my visit in March to the wonderful Aspire photographic training school were marked!  The weather was glorious - warm and sunny and awash with daffodils.  Spring at its best in the Lakes! Although not my first trip to Aspire, this visit was to be the first of many training sessions to come over the next 12 months as I embarked on their renown Bespoke programme.  I met my fellow Bespokers for the first time and was happy to be amongst a bunch of like-minded creatives with a passion for photography, each pursuing their own business goals.

The three days flew by and covered an array of different topics;  Catherine and Jane welcoming us and preparing the business ground work, highly motivating as always; Melissa Love discussing branding and creating our personal scrapbooks - yes, here I was about to get sticking again!

Our photographic shoot was led by Tamara Peel - her warmth and individual style put a smile on our faces and kept us engaged as we hunted for perfect light. By the end of the session we were all adopting brummy accents and "fabulous" catchphrases!  Finally, Phil Barber engrossed us with workflow and post-processing, and inspired us with a selection of images from his wedding shoots.  With our heads buzzing and emails of homework pouring in as we packed up to leave it was an inspiring start to our year of learning. First thoughts running already as to where to get hold of our scrapbooks...

I can't wait to see what is in store for the next visit later this month.  Until then, here are some images from our shoot on day 2 with Tamara and our gorgeous model Courtney with her Mum Anne-Marie. Tamara really couldn't have put it better. It was all "just fabulous"!



Judi x