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Some snapshots from a private London photo tour yesterday. For a guest visiting from Pennsylvania, USA.

To enquire about booking your own London photography tour, drop me an email for more info and cost. Choose your preferred date, hours and photography interests and I will put together a personalised schedule for you!







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www.lindawisdomphotography.co.uk
www.lindawisdomphotography.com

#streetphotography #streetphotographer #londonphototour #londonphotography #londonstreetphotography

A favourite shot from my recent Nottingham city photo walks with Lumix UK and Jessops stores.

Taken with the Panasonic Lumix DC-GX9 and the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-60mm F3.5-5.6 Lens

This image is available to buy as a fine art photography print.

Horsing around - Queen Victoria Square, Hull

Its been a long gap once my last blog posting. My only reason for this is simply because I've been chockablock with photography gigs around the UK including my Hull workshop weekend. This is my first opportunity in over a month to sit down, gather my thoughts, review/edit my photos and write a post. So here I am. Better late than never!

As a self-employed, professional photographer, you soon learn the ebbs and flows of work opportunities that come your way. Sometimes the jobs all hit you at once, which is exactly what I am experiencing. Not that I'm complaining at all. I have literally been to a different city every weekend for the past 3-4 weekends, in between travelling back down to London to fulfil more local jobs, then packing and jumping on a train to my next event! Sometimes a little stressful, but mostly I love it. I tell you what, it beats my old office life, hating my 9 to 5 job, just wishing and waiting for my work day to be over!


"Blah blah blah street photography blah blah blaaaah" - Princes Quay, Hull © Barrie Mee


© Elke Vogelsang

So, the HIPfest aka Hull International Photography Festival was a schedule-packed event full of workshops, photo tours, talks & exhibitions by some legendary photographers. I had never been up to Hull before, so that was very exciting. I had 4 x two-hour workshops scheduled. I was a little anxious about a couple of things before I got there, but most of them were soon put to rest once I finally arrived, (long story, don't ask!) and also once I met many of my fellow participating photographers and saw the venue before the first workshop, first thing on Saturday morning.

Thankfully all 4 workshops went well (despite some heavy rain on the first day), which I knew was forecast. I adapted a photo walk with a few sheltered stops to continue shooting from, and the majority of attendees on Saturday braved out the wet conditions and with some rainy day inspiration saw the rainy day as a creative challenge and got some good shots. With day one successfully under my belt, with a bit of relief, I was a lot more in my usual comfort-zone going into Day 2 (Sunday). Luckily for me and the Sunday workshop groups, the sun decided to shine all day and we had a great time light-chasing after my workshop briefings.


It's not every day that the legendary photographer Brian Griffin spontaneously walks into one of my shots - Hepworth Arcade, Hull

Hull is a wonderful city to shoot street photography. Lots of historic architecture, cobbled streets and that old town feel with a few little passageways to wander down and explore. The locals were also super friendly to me and the groups of workshop attendees I had on tow. Some even getting familiar and giving us a history lesson, each time I crossed their paths with each group I took out!

On the last workshop of the weekend, we were lucky and got to gatecrash a christening reception party that was going on. The reception attendees loved the group taking photos and so was a great opportunity to make some candid images of the many characters and moments unfolding in front of us. Sometimes in street photography, it is just fate to be in the right place at the right time. I had a brilliant weekend in Hull, met some great people and enjoyed hosting the workshops and photo tours around a wonderful city.

Thank you to Matt Hart, Alan Raw and the rest of the HIPfest for organising the event.

I am looking forward to hosting these forthcoming Lumix Photo Walks around the UK:

29 September, Cardiff
13 October, Liverpool
14 October, Nottingham
3rd November, Bromley

Sign up and bring along any camera, or even just your smartphone as we visit some interesting locations in each city chosen. We’ve teamed up with Panasonic Lumix and Jessops to showcase some of the best UK photo locations, with top photo spots to point your lens at. Whether you’re shooting with your phone or a great camera like the brand new Panasonic Lumix GX9, you’ll find some inspiration.

I will be on hand to offer you photography guidance if you want it. Learn how to take the very best photos whilst you explore the hidden gems of the city. Following the walk, which will last for approximately two hours, you will have the opportunity to print your favourite picture free of charge at the hosted Jessops store.

The best images from all the entries from each city will win a Panasonic Lumix GX9 camera. They’ll also be printed on canvas and displayed in the local Jessops store!

To secure your space on a walk, email: events@jessops.com with your name, contact details, and the subject heading [City Name] Lumix Hidden Cities Walk.

I am excited to be hosting four mini street walks/workshops in Hull over the weekend of 5th-7th October as part of HIPFest 2018. If you are free that weekend, come along and join in the fun, meet me and many talented photographers and exhibitors.

Tickets for my workshops are available to book now:

6th Oct - Saturday AM
6th Oct - Saturday PM
7th Oct - Sunday AM
7th Oct - Sunday PM

More about HipFest
The opening weekend of HIPFest 2018 is a celebration of the image. It is a chance for anyone passionate about photography at all levels to immerse themselves in images of all genres and to mix and socialise with likeminded people, both professional and amateur alike. Included with all the events details in this brochure there will be informal talks and social meets with many of the photographers talking and exhibiting over the weekend.

More than 10 exhibitions by award-winning visiting photographers & outstanding local talent, and lots of other exciting events including masterclasses, photo-walks, discussions and a trade show. Hull International Photography Festival #HIPfest takes over Princes Quay Shopping Centre for a 5th year. New for 2018; successful London show PhotoCity and partners Fujiholics bring fresh excitement to the opening weekend. HIPfest opens on the evening of Friday October 5th with a packed weekend programme.

Festival highlights include: POP by legendary photographer Brian Griffin, a masterclass by Sean Tucker, the very moving Tulip exhibition by Celine Marchbank, 50’s Paris fashion and more from the Marilyn Stafford collection, #PhotoCityHull, Fujiholics Masterclasses and ‘A1 Britain On The Verge’ by patron Peter Dench.

This exciting festival will take place in and around the HIP Gallery in Princes Quay Shopping Centre, Hull. It also includes opportunities for photographers of all ages and levels to participate in a programme of workshops, photowalks and portfolio reviews.

In just five years, HIP Fest has established its credentials as one of the most significant photography events in the UK. We have worked hard to put together a stunning celebration of photography for 2018. I am particularly looking forward to presenting legendary works by Brian Griffin who will be signing copies of his outstanding book POP at HIP Gallery. There will be new work by World Press Award-winning patron Peter Dench and welcoming Celine Marchbank and Marilyn Stafford to HIP Fest for the first time.

After successfully curating PhotoCity London last year, HIPFest is delighted to be able to bring the PhotoCity tradeshow and urban exhibition to Hull, along with a fabulous program of master classes from PhotoCity partners Fujiholics. There will be something for everyone and plenty to learn and do.

A £5 entry ticket (wristband) gives you access to all exhibitions, the HIPfest Prize Draw, discounts on site, learning opportunities and the ability to purchase workshop & masterclass tickets. This is down from £15 last year. Workshops, master-classes and portfolio reviews require individual additional tickets available on Eventbrite.

Tickets For Hipfest 2018

So, I just got back from my week in Porto. I have to say it was one of the best travel experiences of my life so far.
A huge thank you to Hugo & Mauricio at Fuji Passion for organising this workshop experience. It was a great pleasure to finally meet you both after months of planning!


© Linda Wisdom

© Gerry Penrose

© Gerry Penrose

The 3-day Porto street photography workshop itself went very well. I was a little anxious about doing before I arrived there, seeing as this was my first multi-day, international Street Photography workshop. However, my pre-worry nerves were soon short-lived once I met all the seven participants, who were all lovely people and fun to hang out with.


© Gerry Penrose

© Nick S

© Linda Wisdom

It wasn't just the workshop that made this trip special - it was the whole tour itinerary that the guys organised. We all stayed at the same hotel in Trindade, within walking distance of the city centre. The Fuji Passion guys made the total 4-day excursion a 'Porto tour experience', where each day we had a new exciting schedule to look forward to. This incorporated visiting interesting Porto cultural places, including a private tour of the Sandeman Wine Cellars, Casa De Musica, historical architecture like the São Bento railway station and taking in the stunning views from the Dom Luís I Bridge, as well as exploring the colourful neighbourhood buildings of Ribeiro and over the bridge to Gaia and so much more.


© Mauricio Reis

© Mauricio Reis

© Mauricio Reis

© Mauricio Reis

On top of this, we were treated to complimentary breakfast, then lunch and dinner at some amazing restaurants. Luckily all that wining and dining was balanced out (mostly) with a great amount of walking and stair-climbing, seeing as Porto is built on very steep hills. Lots and lots of hills. The city itself is built on the steep northern bank of the River Duoro, and between the centre and the riverside, there is nothing but a tangle of hidden, cobbled alleyways and some long, steep staircases that from the bottom seemed never ending! But all that walking I was thinking would give me thighs of steel…and went some way to working off those rich Portuguese dishes.


© Gerry Penrose

© Hugo Pinho

© Linda Wisdom

© Mauricio Reis

By the end of day three, the workshop had come to an end. It was time for us to say our goodbyes and though I was somewhat relieved that the workshop was successfully completed, it was by the same token sad that everyone would be going their separate ways again. But hey we do have our ongoing Whatsapp group chat, the memories and the amazing photos. I would like to say that it was an absolute honour and pleasure to be invited to do this Porto workshop and to meet everyone. Hopefully, I will meet some of you again in the not too distant future. Obrigado and adieu Porto!


© Linda Wisdom

© Linda Wisdom

© Nick S

I am really excited to be travelling to Porto this week to teach a 3-day street photography workshop! Portugal is one of my top destinations for photography. I visited Lisbon and Porto Spring 2017 during my Accidental, Extended Trip To Portugal saga!

Anyway, this time I've 'purposely' extended my stay in Porto to a full week. My last visit was very short, just two full days, so was a bit of a whirlwind, but fell in love with the place. I also had some great local friends show me the sights so made it even more memorable.



My guides have organised full day schedules where the guests and myself will also experience some cool locations including Bento Station, Casa Da Musica, a trip on the Funicular, a visit to the Sandeman Cellars and a whole lot more.

The weather was glorious last time, I hope that the light is as good this time around! I will post photos and updates from this trip on my return! :-)

Due to erm, 'human error' when I was booking my flight to Lisbon, I some how managed to accidentally book 10 days instead of the intended 5 days! Well, it was in the early morning and I was still up and you know what happens when you have hundreds of webpage tabs open from all the flight & accommodation deal pop up windows opening. So in the middle of all that page chaos and probably through sleep depravation, I ended up on clicking 'confirm' on my EasyJet booking on a return date that wasn't the one I had in mind! After letting out a shriek, a few expletives which I won't repeat here, and reading EasyJet's T&C regarding cancellations, I realised that I was better off just accepting my fate of a longer (and more expensive) trip than planned, suck it up and to just make the most of it!

Anyway, the point I am trying to make, now that I am back from my venture to Portugal, is that every cloud has a silver lining! Had I not made that late night, booking mistake, I would not have added the 3-day excursion to Porto, nor had any time to do some of the extra things I did like have breakfast at Pastéis de Belém, then spend a full day in Belem visiting museums, having lunch by the Tagus River Marina, or a Sunday just riding the Lisbon metro network and exploring the cool architecture at some metro stations I had read about. With several memory cards full of photos, I returned to London with a sense of fulfilment & achievement from the trip. Life lessons - Life's too short to book short trips – if you can, extend them and see more of the world (even if by accident!)🙂

One of my favourite pics, taken on a recent trip to Lisbon, Portugal.
This photo is available as a print from my shop.

It’s been a while since my last blog post. It has been a busy few weeks and particular I have just returned from a 10-day vacation to Portugal, which included visit to one of my favourite cities in the world, Lisbon and a short excursion to Porto then back to Lisbon for a few days. We had great weather for February/March, and I was lucky to have some wonderful local friends give me a tour of their favourite parts of their city that I would never have found on my own. Thank you guys!

Though, one of my favourite things I love to do when I travel especially to historical places like Portugal, is just walking around on my own with no real sense of direction or time, getting lost through the many hidden paths and streets off the usual beaten tourist track! The best feeling in the world is turning a corner and stumbling upon a photo moment!

So, right now I am doing the habitual (paranoid!) backing up my images from four memory cards, and then will have a look through the photos and over the next few days/weeks I'll post some of my favourites here.

Here's one to start things off. Taken from my top floor pad in Porto - Bowie and I watching a beautiful sunset :)

Palais Royal, Paris

Out on a wet and windy evening in Paris with a couple other photographers, I embraced the rain! Paris is a very beautiful city to photograph, come rain or shine and discovering new locations, learning new historical info from my Parisian companions was actually was quite enjoyable... apart from my non water-proof sneakers which got soaked! After walking approx. 3.5km into the Paris night from Palais Royal and ending in Faubourg Saint Denis, a nice meal and a glass or two of vin blanc at a cool bistro was well and truly welcome!

Pigalle, Paris

Montmartre, Paris

When I checked the weather forecast for my stay in Paris last week, and just saw predicted cloud and rain, I was half feeling a bit 'meh' about it, especially knowing I was leaving behind 30C sunshine in London! At the same time I was also quite excited about photography potential of getting my rainy/umbrella shots, but it all worked out in the end.

I took this shot from my apartment window one rainy early morning after breakfast. The light was quite moody and liked the silhouetted pedestrians, holding umbrellas as they walked up this street.

I am quite excited to be re-visiting Paris this month. Its hard not to love the city and get totally absorbed in the sights and sounds, culture, architecture and old tradition. I will hopefully be exploring some new areas and meeting some street photographer friends while I am there. I'll of course be taking my digital cameras with me just incase, though still deciding whether to take my haunted Minolta film camera or not!

Either way, I have been working far too hard and am need of a little mini break. Paris after all, is just a skip and a hop (well sorta) on the Eurostar train from London, so escaping to Europe is relatively easy!

I found some old black & white film scans from a holiday to St. Ives, Cornwall 2012. Shot on, a Minolta camera I purchased off Ebay. The seller gave me a back story and said the camera was originally owned by a deceased Cuban lady. I've taken it on my travels around the world. It did play up a few times and ruined some rolls of film or gave me double exposures, etc. I always thought to myself, I bet that Cuban lady either doesn't want me to use it or she's playing pranks on me from beyond!! Perhaps not, just an old, well travelled film camera with its quirky flaws....!

I'll post a few more scans from my trip to Cornwall in another blog post.

A bit of Tuesday street photography geometry for ya! Taken in Lisbon.
Taken in Lisbon, Portugal

Back from my week in Paris, which was a guest invitation trip to John Free's Paris Workshops. Fantastic city, great weather (apart from last day of rain!), though typically wonderful for street photography, I could get used to Parisian life... but home in London calls me for now!

Check out the Paris gallery for forthcoming images.

Au revoir!

I visited Lisbon at the end of February for a week, and I have to say that I was seriously impressed. This city has some amazing architecture, light and characters. I came back with some great street photography photos which I will upload to the gallery soon. For now, you can visit my Facebook page and check out my Lisbon album here

Just back from an amazing week in New York City! :) Staying in midtown Manhattan, just minutes away from Times Square, I was fortunate enough to explore most of the midtown and downtown areas and some of Brooklyn with my camera. Thanks to my New York friends for being wonderful guide companions.

Check out the New York City portfolio for latest photos from my trip!


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