Kirstie Hunt Photography

After buying a rather nice shiny new lens this week, (for any photographers reading this it was a Canon EF24-70mm  f/2.8L USM) me and my mate Cameron went to Chester to try it out!  It was a blisteringly hot day so in-between ice creams and rests in the shade, I managed to get some great shots.  Let me know what you think!  Cameron is great to photograph and he's used to modelling as he has just finished his BTEC National Diploma in Photography.  He got a distinction for his course,  picked up the 'Student of the Year' award at South Cheshire College and is off to the University of Creative Arts in Rochester to further study Photography in September.  Check out his work on flickr.

On Sunday as part of Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival, Matt and I went along to a Womens singer-songwriter themed afternoon gig that included Rachel Harrington - a country / americana singer-songwriter from Oregon with musical partner Zak Borden.  Andrea Glass - a singer-songwriter from Bolton who we'd seen before at the Words & Music Festival in Nantwich in October as part of Bob Harris's set and Thea Gilmore who was joined on stage with Nigel Stonier and Fluff.  I've been a big fan of Thea's for a long time now but it was the first chance I'd had to take some live shots.  It was a fantastic mix of live music and a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon!

The Urban Folk Quartet (UFQ) are Joe Broughton on guitar, fiddle and mandolin, Paloma Trigas on fiddle, Tom Chapman on percussion and Frank Moon on guitar and oud.  I took some shots during their debut performance at Huntingdon Hall and then managed to drag them off down by the river to take a few fun relaxed portraits before they all went off for a well deserved beer or two!  They are off to Italy for a couple of Festivals this summer and are touring in this country in November so check them out - you won't be disappointed!

We visited Cambridge to catch up with family and spend a bit of time in the city itself.  As the weather was so gorgeous, we went punting on the River Cam on Saturday whilst enjoying a tour of the colleges and their history.  On Sunday we went for a picnic with Gem, Jake and Benjamin (Matt's daughter, son-in-law & grandson) who we just don't see enough of.  Benji has grown so much since we last saw him and is getting cheekier and more gorgeous as he grows.  We won't leave it so long next time!