Yurtshire - A Reet Good Place To Stay!

A few weeks ago, I went to Yurtshire (run by the lovely folk behind Yorkshire Yurts).  Yurtshire is a glamping paradise up in North Yorkshire.  I was working with them on a few new shots for their website.  After a quick drive up the A1, I turned off and drove through the Camp Hill Estate, near Bedale.  What a beautiful, serene location.  The low afternoon sunshine was making its way through the trees as I pulled up to the yurts.

The yurt where we did the family shoot, and the one I'd be staying in later, is called Wensley.  Nestled amongst the trees are 2 other yurts, Nidd & Swale.  The lovely chap behind Yurtshire is Tom.  He turned up and started lighting the fires inside and outside the yurt for our shoot.

And then our lovely family turned up for a few shots....

 After the BBQ came the obligatory toasting of marshmallows!

As the light faded, and I'd said my goodbyes to Tom and the family, I sat outside by the fire for a little while.

As the flames died down and the embers started to glow in the fire, I stoked up the log burning stove inside the yurt.  It's such a beautiful glow, with the tea lights in the lanterns too.

I saw a few bats flying around, and the owls in the woods were hooting to each other.  After a great evening shooting, I was feeling very pleasantly tired, and I tucked in for the night.

I have to say, it's probably the best night's sleep I'd had in ages!  I woke up to the sound of the wood pigeons.  After a nice HOT shower, I made a cuppa and sat outside for a little while.

I just had time for a little woodland walk before I set off on my journey back home.

It was with a heavy heart I packed up and drove away from my lovely Wensley yurt.  I can thoroughly recommend it as a place to stay.  These guys do weddings too - how cool is that!

If you love the outdoor life, but with some home comforts thrown in, you will love Yurtshire.

Claire & Luke -Wedding At Holdsworth House

With all this rain at the moment, and the distinct feeling of autumn in the air, I'm just looking back at all the lovely summer weddings I've had this year.  Claire and Luke were married at the end of July at Holdsworth House.  They have a lovely story, which has seen them having a long distance relationship over the past couple of years.  Claire's from Australia but was living in Cambridge, and Luke hails from these parts of Yorkshire, but was living in Munich.  Now they are starting a new life together in Munich.  Here's wishing them a very happy future.

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Feature in Pretty Nostalgic Magazine

Finally, I can blog about this lovely shoot that we've been keeping under our hats, as the magazine is now out!  It was great to collaborate with Hannah again on a magazine feature.  A couple of months ago, Pretty Nostalgic Magazine commissioned Hannah to write an article about contemporary lighting designers in the UK, and commissioned me to take the images to complement the feature.  It made my heart sing when the magazine's vision was to have the lights outside in the trees!  We started our search for a magical woodland setting, and with the help of Emily from The Tinderwood Trust Forest School, we found the perfect place.  Old oak boughs, mossy stones, and the woodland floor covered in mini mushroom forests - what a find!  We went up to the woods a few evenings, set up the locations (with lots of helping hands!), and waited for the perfect ambient light to give the shoot a real twilight feel.  

 photos by Ffion Atkinson

It felt like we had created our own festival with the sound track of the wind in the trees and every little creature living under those canopies.  The woods came alive at night, every cracking twig was slightly more heightened as it became darker.  We heard owls, foxes and other unidentified things!  I kept expecting a deer to walk into our magical scenes.  

photo by Ffion Atkinson

We set up different locations for each of the designers.  Jennifer Collier's shades looked so graceful, each little breath of wind catching the wisps of stitching.  Hannah's candle covers were the perfect companion, lighting the way to the forest beyond.

 We loved the glow of Amy Cooper's lamps, looking almost other worldly in their mushroom woodland.   

Tom Raffield's and Jane Blease's pendants looked at home on the oak bough.  

photo by Suzi Garlick

The BeauVamp & Deryn Relph's gave a soft coloured light through their shades, spilling onto the trees and woodland floor.  

We set up a mossy stage for the Sarah Lock lamps.  

And the Colin Chetwood lights looked like they were growing from the woodland floor.

Now it's all here to see in print.  

I think I admitted in a previous post that I am a bit of a serial magazine sniffer!  I love the smell of the pages as I flick through some magazines and books. Pretty Nostaligic is not only a beautiful magazine, it smells mighty fine too!  A blast to the senses.

It was nice to meet the Editor of this lovely magazine, Jo Keeling, at the End of the Road Festival this weekend, to talk about the shoot and to meet her in person.  

I'm so happy to be a contributor in this issue.  Look out for a copy!