It's Christmas Offer time! Something beautiful for under the tree and something precious to come... Plan for future memories with our Christmas 2020 Gift Certificate and Frame. Included is your choice of ethical and sustainable Nkuku frame (to be delivered before Christmas) and a Gift Certificate for a sitting in 2021 for £65. ​

Just before lockdown kicked in, I started filming for this year's Penrith in Bloom film with some spring flowers in the St Andrew's church yard and a seed swap - 'Seedy Saturday' - at the Salvation Army. Very quickly it became clear that life had to change and the filming stopped. To the wonderful credit of the Community Gardeners in Penrith, with the support of the Penrith Town Council, the food production and greening in Penrith continued safely within the restrictions. In the face of a pandemic, the teams worked together to bring smiles to faces, supply fresh produce to those who need it and provide community and pride in Penrith.  As Louise says so beautifully in the film, people have appreciated. It's been one of the great joys of 2020 to record their activities - planting is a hopeful act, much needed this year.

Congratulations to the teams who have been recognised by Britain in Bloom and Cumbria in Bloom with awards and certificates for their fantastic work this year. You can see the film here:

It goes without saying that 2020 has been an unusual year. It’s also been a time of change here as, after 15 years, I’ve gone full-time as a photographer and creative. For many years, I’ve had the pleasure of working for a few days each as a graphic designer for Ullswater Community College and have counted celebrating the students of that school as one of the joys of my life. As 2020 began, it felt right to transition my role out and give my time fully to my business after eleven years at UCC. From this summer we’ve had a name change, from de la Mare Photography to de la Mare Creative, and whilst this isn’t necessarily the easiest year to do it in, I’m excited for the changes and opportunities ahead!

Over the next few months there will be updates on our website and social media pages - we have exciting new collaborations happening, some seasonal shoots and a new photographic venture coming too. So follow us and come along for the ride!

You can find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/delamarecreative and on Instagram @delamarecreative

For many years, March meant my annual visit to Eden Boutique at Newton Rigg for a fantastic couple of days shooting the end of year Creative image work from the hairdressers and beauty therapists there.  Sadly, due to Coronavirus, this year's shoot had to be cancelled so here's a couple of my favourites from the class of 2019 instead!

 A couple of months ago I had the great pleasure of shooting with the Lost Art Theatre Company.  The play, Number 8, is based around the life of the Carlisle-born suffragette Maud Mary Brindley.  What a performance it was! The subject matter was stirring and, putting the particulars of the politics aside, the story of human endurance and singularity of purpose was interesting in the light of the current climate on freedom, and on freedom fighters.  It was wonderful to work with director Jane Reardon again and alongside Jordan Summers from 1Five Events for the performance at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle.  If you missed the performances in August, Number 8 will be making a return at the Borderlines Festival in October.

Day 1- rule of thirds
Today my photography challenge was rule of thirds. The first picture is of a door and i took this to experiment on rule of thirds on a angle.
The second picture is of the same door but of the frame and wall, i used rule of thirds by using three different texture types/patterns 
The third picture is of a tree trunk, i took this as i thought the trunk would create a nice parallel through the image to create the middle third and i also thought the pattern looked like an eye.
The last image i attempted to use rule of thirds in both directions (horizontal and vertical) in order to draw attention to the focal point/ the cat.
-Rianna Bell-Raven

On a beautifully chilly day in January, Ben and Ailsa got married! We had a lovely wedding wander around the balmy Winter Gardens in Duthrie Park, Aberdeen. Lots of joy and beauty in these photos! Congratulations Mr and Mrs Millard!