Lychees to Local

If you asked me to name my 3 top passions in life there is no doubt that it would be great food, great photography and the South Downs (not always in that order). Imagine then my excitement when I was invited to attend, and take photographs of, "Lychees to Local", a food event being hosted by West Dean College - right in the heart of the South Downs... what a privilege.

These shots are of the event, some of the food we ate and the gorgeous gardens around the college at the moment - if you've got time it's well worth a visit.

Sheila Dillon of Radio 4's Food Programme, facilitated a discussion between 3 members of the Guild of Food Writers, Katie Stewart, Colin Spencer and Xanthe Clay. Rosemary Moon, self-acclaimed food activist and well-known cook in this part of the world, was present as co-host alongside West Dean but also laid on the most fabulous lunch of locally sourced food - proving that this area is 'right up there' with the best in food production.

There was too much discussion to write about but the panel touched on how food, and more importantly, cooking, has changed over the last 20 to 30 years. They discussed how food photography has changed (everything used to be in black and white!) to the introduction of Nouvelle Cuisine and onwards to the current effect of celebrity chefs. What was paramount was in the middle of all these goings on we somehow missed a generation of foodies - the ready meal being the problem. However, right now our passion for great food is back and growing and the more we can do to shout about buying British, buying local and encouraging and teaching the young of today the better. There are many obstacles to overcome yet - price being the top one in my opinion. In the current economy, just having enough money to feed a family can be a struggle, let alone worry about where it's all come from..... (a good read about all of this is the newly published How the British fell in love with Food, compiled by Lewis Esson)

I'll leave it there but one slide in particular summed up where we need to be going in our approach to food and I believe if everyone did this the world would be a better place, and we'd all be a lot healthier

Eat one meal a week knowing where the ingredients come from
Plant a fruit or nut tree
Eat less meat
Eat seasonal
Teach a child to bake a cake

Who's with me?

Painting the Countryside Yellow

If you drive anywhere in the UK at this time of year, you can't help but see miles and miles of yellow fields - Oilseed Rape as far as the eye can see. It's a true sign of spring and always brings a smile to my face. I was walking in West Marden last week and strolled to the top of Jubilee Clump where I took this lovely lot. It's in the heart of West Sussex with views down to the Solent and Isle of Wight - spectacular on a clear day. It's interesting that you'd imagine the best results would come with the sun out but it actually made the exposure extremely difficult. I'm still quite pleased with the results though - what do you think?

End of the Season

For those of you into country sports you'll know that the end of January heralds the end of the shooting season which started in September. Since the first day of the season I've meaning to join a friend's shoot in East Dean, West Sussex, to get some practice of capturing dogs in action, smoking barrels and weird garter things that the guns wear to keep their socks up!

It was a bit dull and miserable but still lovely to be out walking in some stunning scenery. The dogs are alert and excited so their ears prick up and, if trained well, do exactly what they are told. Here are some of the photos I managed to take. Note to self; next season go out on a sunny autumn day when the trees are blazing in red and orange and get that lovely low autumn sun!

It's Snow Time!

I, like the rest of the country, have been pretty much snowed in these last 5 days. But, what better opportunity to get out on foot with the camera and remember what it was that inspired me to do photography in the first place - capturing that moment in time before it disappears.

Here are a few of the shots I've taken over the last few days - all comments welcome. To see them all, just click on my flickr link in the right hand panel. Enjoy!

Where's you Wheely Been?

Finally, after 2 years of talking about it, last Saturday I walked the last small section of the South Downs Way that had eluded me - and not for any other reason except lack of planning. Cheesefoot Hill, just on the outskirts of Winchester, to West Meon. 9 miles of glorious South Downs. We woke to a drizzly, misty morning but within 20 minutes of setting off the sun came out, the skies turned blue, and we were treated to one of the last stupendous days of Autumn. It was warm enough to walk in shirt sleeves, stop for a picnic halfway through and take our boots and socks off to air our toes - it doesn't get any better than that.

The path takes you across Wheely Down with views right across the Meon Valley to Old Winchester Hill. Here the path splits into a footpath or bridle/cycle way - we choose the latter and walked on into Warnford, past the Watercress Farm and across the fields to West Meon with it's handsome church nestling next to trees turning red and gold and shimmering in the late afternoon sunshine. If you ever visit West Meon I can thoroughly recommend The Thomas Lord for a top cup of tea - infact a great pub all round and currently short listed for Best Country Pub in Country Life magazine - results to be announced next month!

What is this about?

So this is me, Lou Bushell, Photographer. I say that because I’ve never been quite sure of what I wanted to do. But this summer I joined the ever-increasing number of people made redundant in the recession – in my case it was the push I needed to ‘get out there’ and get on with it. After three or four weeks of contemplation, walking, sailing and generally getting much needed head space after nine years working in Richmond (20 years in London in total…. madness) I’ve made a decision of what I'm going to do in my new life!

I’m going to be a proper, grown-up, professional photographer! I’ve been a semi-professional photographer for around 8 years already so this may not sound like a huge step to you. But for me, it means investing in lots of new camera kit, learning a whole heap of technical stuff, networking like mad, and of course taking LOTS of photographs. It means getting up very early to get the atmospheric landscapes. It means going to lots of events held locally to me to record the people and activities that take place. It means sharing my journey via this blog, hopefully connecting with lots of like-minded people along with way and charting my progress, up and downs, good shots and bad shots… follow me to see what happens!