What a week I’ve had! Since lockdown set in my life has been pretty predictable and boring just walking the dogs, working full time and keeping the house in order.

But this week I finally got out and about again and spiced up my weekly routine. I signed up to Alex Ward’s first photo walk, these are a great way for local photographers, bloggers and creatives to meet up, share their tips and collaborate on projects. This was something totally new for me, I’ve never been on a photo walk before and being an amateur photographer and blogger I just wanted to go along to meet some like minded people.

As most of my photographs are of landscapes and wildlife, it was a great walk to try out a different environment walking along the waterfront of Ipswich marina. We met as a group, did some introductions and then got stuck in to snapping photos of anything and everything, this produced some interesting shots and it was great to see what other angles people were looking from with some seeing above us and others lying on the floor to get the perfect photo.

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Having done photography at A level I suppose I should know more about cameras and how to get the most our of my DSLR but to be honest I’m very much a point and click girl. It was lovely to get some tips from much more experienced photographers and learn more about the composition of images. It was also great to connect with other local creatives and do some networking with people I would never have met or even come across online without getting together like this.

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I first met Alex when he came along to one of The Outdoorsy Type Suffolk’s events swimming in the North Sea off the coast of East Anglia near Felixstowe. Alex is a fabulous photographer and came along to get some portrait photographs of Suffolk people in the sea (proud r to say my portrait currently features on his website as the cover for the ‘People’ section).

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Since the event The Outdoorsy Type Suffolk have been featured in the East Anglian Daily Times about our morning at Old Felixstowe, with Alex’s photos telling the story of Helen and Nicki and how they started the group to get people outside and enjoy the outdoors.

Not only did I get out and about meeting new like minded people this week but my story was shared by Humans of HIIT which lead to me being interviewed by BBC Radio Suffolk about my role as an Active Suffolk This Girl Can Suffolk Ambassador.

I’m very proud to be a This Girl Can Ambassador and hope that my interview inspires at least one of you to get outside and be active to feel good about yourself.

I’ve had a brilliant week and can’t wait to get out more now restrictions are being lifted slowly, I’d recommend for any other photographers, bloggers or creatives to watch out for the next photo walk. I can’t wait for the next events planned by The Outdoorsy Type Suffolk to meet other outdoorsy people, they have all kinds of events including swims, walks and paddle boarding so anyone can come along and make new friends whilst enjoying being outside.

Activities This Girl Can #ipswichphotowalk interview photography photowalk public rights of way publicrightsofwayexplorer The Outdoorsy Type Suffolk theoutdoorsytypesuffolk