I was filling in my calendar for June the other day and realized there were only 11 weekends left this Summer. At first it seems like you have plenty of time, but in reality, I already see myself at the end of August surprised where has this summer gone. The weather in passed May was surprisingly good, it was sunny almost every day. I really hope it will stay like…
The Cotswolds are full of delightful houses built from local limestone, originally funded on the profits of the medieval wool trade. It’s not a county in itself as some may think, but rather an AONB which stands for Area of Outstanding Beauty. The Cotswolds is large area and some of its villages are located far from one another. While you can get there by train from London via Oxford (an…
New Zealand is truly an amazing country with breathtaking scenery. The natural landscape looks like it’s been already photoshopped with enhanced vibrancy and colours. You really feel like you are in the setting of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. We only had 3 weeks for both islands and decided to spend one week in the Northern Island and the rest in the South. For the entire…
Over the past few years, I’ve developed a system of planning trips that work quite well for me. I’m one of those people who like to plan most of the things in advance. This saves not only my time when traveling but also helps not to spend a fortune. In addition to that, beautiful photos in 90% of cases require some preparation which involves thorough research and planning. Here are…
I woke up this morning to finally see my dream came true – it’s snowing in London! I got very excited to see Central London covered in snow so I basically ran there. By the time I got there (after of course being stuck in a tube tunnel for a while) it all melted. Still, there was a beautiful snowfall and I was lucky to pass this amazing window display…
This week I had a chance to visit a Costa store in Brixton that had been recently refurbished to create speedier service and a fresher in-store environment. They did an amazing job! The store looks very modern and trendy, space is big but still makes you feel cosy. The Brixton Costa launched a new installation to celebrate the ‘art’ of coffee and I met an illustrator working on a…
Here is the list of resources and tools I use for travel planning, photography, maintaining and monetizing my websites and social accounts. When I first started blogging, I used free platforms and that was enough. Just because I always wanted more and have never stopped discovering and learning about new opportunities and services that make my life a lot easier. I’ve grouped everything I use at the moment into 7…
As much as I love planning trips in advance I enjoy making spontaneous trips. Last spring when I got redundant at my previous job and was sitting at home and thinking what to do next, I decided to go home and visit my family (also, being without a job in Russia is much cheaper than being in the same situation in London). Last minute tickets to Saint Petersburg are around…
Instagram has always been a great source of inspiration for me. First of all, as a passionate traveller, I would religiously follow my friends’ travels on the app and slowly I discovered more and more interesting accounts. That was in 2013. I can’t say I have always wanted to make money on Instagram or was growing my followers with this specific goal. As a blogger, my main aim was to…
I don’t really miss the time when we only had film cameras, but I do miss printing out my photos and organise them in albums. Each printed photo had some meaning when nowadays we can take thousands of photos a day and they will be buried either on our phones or laptops. At the same time, I love how iPhone allows me to take really good photos and it’s always with…
For Easter, I was thinking of going to New York but my friend convinced me to go to Iceland. Why not? I saw a lot of amazing photos of this place and of course wanted to go there too. I didn’t spend a lot of time preparing for this trip, I only looked at some places to visit and booked the cheapest accommodation on Booking.com. The most important thing…
One of my favourite online platforms to learn new skills is Skillshare. I’ve been a member of this community for almost 2 years now and from time to time I binge watching creative and business related classes. My favourite courses are of course about photography. What I like the most is that they are quite short and gem packed with really useful information. You can get 2 months of Skillshare…
Summer has officially started and I see more and more people coming to the city to enjoy their holidays. Every time I go away I write a list of things to take and places to see. For your visit to London take the most comfortable shoes because even though it doesn’t look big on the map, the city is huge. Here is the list of items from the pic above.…
Spring is undoubtedly the most beautiful season in London. It starts with the first blooming tree – at the beginning of Portobello Road, followed by beautiful magnolia, cherry and wisteria blooms. At this time Instagram is going crazy, everyone is getting excited about checking their favourite photo spots. The best place to go is of course Notting Hill. Get off at Notting Hill Gate station and start Magnolia hunting at Kensington Pl. In…
Photos of coffee and coffee shops interiors are still trending on Instagram and London is the perfect place to master this type of photography. I’m not going to lie if I say that sometimes I pick Instagram-worthy places for my meetings (guilty). What attracts me in coffee shops as a photographer is a combination of a wooden interior, lots of light from big windows and interesting colours. Some places look better…
If I’m not mistaken it was Autumn of 2000 when we were studying world explorers at geography class. The teacher wasn’t able to keep an order in a class and everyone was talking and not paying attention to what she had to say. But not me. I was so intrigued and fascinated by those people and what they did so I was dreaming about being an explorer myself. That was…
I wrote this post for the online magazine Story of My World. When I think about London the first thought that comes to my mind is beautiful houses and weekend markets. While architecture varies from one area to another, markets are an essential part of almost each part of London. And when every tourist goes straight to Borough market and then wander around Southbank and Tower bridge, I recommend you…
“Remember, the composition is important, but also rules are meant to be broken,” says Steve McCurry, an American editorial photographer best known for his 1984 photograph ‘Afghan Girl’. “So the main point is to enjoy yourself while you’re photographing and photograph in your own way and your own style.” Instead of rules, let’s talk about principles in London photography. These are what I keep in mind when taking photos in…
So basically, if you ever wanted to feel as a King or a Queen and have your cup of coffee in a place looks like a palace room with high ceilings, mosaic windows and live classic music – you should head to Victoria & Albert Museum. It’s not so obvious from outside, but шf you go to V&A, pass all the shops on the ground floor and get to inner…
What I love doing the most is planing my trips and booking this time in my calendar. Yes, I’m a planning geek… Anyway, I recently went to Portugal for work and small holiday after. Lisbon is the place where I got an idea of starting this blog. I was very excited to back and explore this city one more time. The beauty of going to the same place for the second…
