A Creative Lifestyle Blog By Zoe-Lee Skelton

Photography

A Fluffy Bunny & Easter Recipe Book Photo Shoot

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I recently worked on the best photo shoot project ever!

Discount Supplements got in touch and asked me to take photos of baked goods for their Easter recipe book. But I never thought I’d be taking pictures of a real-life fuzzy bunny sqweeeee

People always say never work with animals, but Buda was  the most photogenic and amenable model I’ve ever had the pleasure of photographing.

So, obviously, the theme was Easter and the set was totally cute with lots of chocolate eggs littered everywhere. Buda was allowed to roam free among the delicious food created from the cook book’s recipes and not once did she attempt to have a little taste – so well-behaved.

bunny

As Discount Supplements offer healthy and free from alternatives on their website, the idea behind the cook book is to show people how to bake  treats that they love without all of those naughty calories or things that they’re allergic or intolerant to.

The recipes include gluten and grain free hot cross buns, gluten free cakes and vegan truffles.

hot cross buns

vegan truffles

If you like what your see, download the recipe book for free from here.

Have you made any Easter treats recently? Or have you already stuffed yourself with loads of chocolate eggs like me?

Old Warden Railway Tunnel and Nature Reserve

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Over Easter my boyfriend and I finally found Old Warden Tunnel.

My boyfriend likes to think of himself as a “Bedfordshire know-it-all” but even he had never managed to find the abandoned railway tunnel. I don’t know why he hadn’t been able to; I simply used Google Maps and it took us right there! But I guess for some rambling folk that’s cheating. Oh well, I won’t tell if you won’t.

The now abandoned railway tunnel

So the disused railway tunnel and surrounding area is now a nature reserve somewhat off the beaten track, full of hawthorn and blackthorn bushes, large ash and oak trees. When we eventually got there and trudged down about 2 million steps it was hard to believe that hulking great steam trains used to pass through this place.

Optimized-Landscape full view

The railway track used to connect Bedford and Hitchin and from there to London between 1853 and 1857. The line stopped taking passengers when it was officially withdrawn from use on the 1 January 1962 along with goods services between Hitchin and Shefford. And by the state of the detritus in front of the boarded up entrance, it’s been used as a dumping ground ever since. There was a cart with a bent axle and rusted wheel in front of the tunnel; almost serving as a reminder of the tunnel’s past.

Optimized-Rusty wheel tunel

(Oh yeah, and I was pretty impressed to see that the place had been tagged by All Type No Face – somewhere underneath the naff graffiti anyway!)

Standing outside was slightly eerie because there wasn’t the whooshing or echoing sound that I’m used to hearing when I’ve been through tunnels, both working or abandoned. The stillness was probably because this tunnel doesn’t have blast relief ducts, due to its lack of curves and relatively short length, allowing for good air passage. The air outside almost felt thick and hung around the entrance.

Optimized-Wire tunnel

Despite the surrounding area being well-known for its natural beauty, the Hitchin end of the tunnel has been back-filled to within 7 feet of the tunnel roof and the Bedford end bricked up with gratings for local bats. For these reasons it isn’t recommended to enter, but friends have told me that when it was opened up by activists a few years ago they were able to walk the full 882 yards of the tunnel and it wasn’t dangerous.

So after all of the anticipation, I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to get in, but perhaps that’s an adventure for another time for a little scavenger.

If you’re ever in the area, I strongly recommend a visit. Perhaps in the summer time when the flowers are in bloom (according to the official Wildlife Trust website).

If you would like to see a full set of higher quality photos of the Old Warden Tunnel, visit my Flickr album

New Photography: Death Project

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I’ve recently completed a photography project that I’ve been meaning to do for ages!

It’s called the oh-so-inspiring “Death Project” which is (loosely) influenced by my absolute love of the creepy sister’s Death Project in Ginger Snaps.

OK, it’s actually nothing like their death project, I just like the name and love the deadpan montages.

Anyway, here are the photographs, which are also available to purchase as prints from my Crated store

It’s no bed of roses

Side skull with flowers optimised

Teeth and death

Skull-with-flowers optimised

 Weeping sunflower

Skull-with-sunflower optimised

Single dying Sunflower

Upside-down-skull-with-sunflower optimised

It’s been so great to finally get these finished, and it was surprisingly therapeutic arranging a sheep’s skull with dried flowers. If you’d like to support my work, head over to my Crated Store now!

Have you been working on any photography projects recently? Let me know in the comments.

Day 43 | The Last Unicorn

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Animals and animated fantasy films are two of my most favourite things, and The Last Unicorn has to be up there amongst the best in the niche genre (a genre invented by me):

Jeff Bridges also provides narration too – another massive bonus!

Another one of my favourite Unicorn themed films is Legend. In terms of technical effects and make-up, I think it’s yet to be surpassed:

Although, the true star of the film is Tom Cruise’s teeth:

I guess one of the clauses of joining Scientology is getting your teeth fixed.

Anyway, on one of my walks I wrestled with brambles, tussled with thorns and fought my way through tree branches in the hope that I’d catch a glimpse of this beautiful creature: The Last Unicorn of Milbrook:

Day 42 | Saharan Smog

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I’ve been up early most of this week trying to catch a glimpse of the Saharan smog before it disperses.

It’s been foggy, but I haven’t seen any evidence of the storm. No sand on top of my car like others have reported, but I have got a vile cold so if that’s what the sand has brought with it then I’m not very impressed.

Anyway, I managed to capture the morning dew before it evaporated. Here’s a layered image:

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