Hotpoint are currently running a European Family Portrait competition and the prize is, yup, an all expenses paid family trip to New York at Christmas to include a free photoshoot with Steve McCurry. Take a photo of your family, upload it to the Hotpoint competition site here before 10 October. Vote for your favourite shots until 15 October for a chance to win Hotpoint products of your choice up to the value of 1,000 Euros.  One lucky winning family from each country included in the competition (Italy, UK, France, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine) will get to go to New York. Exciting!

Alas I can’t enter as I’m one of the judges for the UK competition but if anyone from the winning family wants to adopt me I’m totally open to that.  I get to review the top 100 UK ‘most voted for’ photos and select my top 10. But Steve gets to pick the winner… see a short video of him here explaining the competition.  So get snapping, get uploading and then get voting!

GIVEAWAY

As a thank you for being a judge, Hotpoint have sent me a wonderful lomography camera kit (the Diana F+) which includes the totally cool retrotastic looking camera, a flash, coloured gel flash filers, hardcover Diana + photo book, instruction manual and Lens cap plus a roll of film and a battery (the latter two thoughtfully added to the kit by Hotpoint so the user can get going straight away). See here for examples of what the Diana F+ can do…so so cool. Hotpoint said I could either keep the kit or offer it as a prize on my blog. After a little bit of an internal debate (!) I’m offering it up as a giveaway and, because I feel sad that the non-European readers are being left out of the competition, I’m happy to send it worldwide.

Leave me a comment here and I’ll pick a winner out of the hat on Wednesday 7 September.

Wave jumping, originally uploaded by -spudballoo-.

Congratulations to Lisa, I’ll put you in touch with wish.co.uk directly to arrange your photoshoot.

How many fabulous photos do you have of your family, with YOU in it rather than just taking it, do you you? I have none. Not one. I have plenty of lovely photos of the boys, and quite a few with MrSpud in, and handful with me in and absolutely none of all four of us. What a huge omission, must put that right.

I bet most of you haven’t got many, if any, fabulous family portraits either so I’m giving away a family portrait shoot (including one, free 10×8 print) and luckily for winner it’s not me taking the photos, it’s a Real Professional Photographer courtesy the lovely people at wish.co.uk. They have hundreds of studios all over the UK, please see here for a list of the counties.

This fantastic photography package is the perfect way to get your family together and create a selection of pictures that you can look back on forever. You’ll all be posing together for a professional photographer with all the latest equipment, and you’ll round the session off with a chance to view and select your favourite pictures. One 10×8 print is included with the option to purchase more if you wish.

How to enter

Easy, just leave me a comment and I’ll pick someone at random on Wednesday 17 August. I will put the winner in touch with the people at wish.co.uk to coordinate the details.

More about wish.co.uk

Offering everything from exciting flying experiences and fun days out to relaxing and pampering spa day gifts, Wish.co.uk is the ultimate place to shop for experience days. Every order comes with the benefit of free, fast delivery, a sleek gift box and you can shop safe in the knowledge that Wish guarantee the best price, or you get double the difference back.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment, either monetary or in kind, for this post…nothing in it for me! I just thought it would make for a great opportunity for one of my UK readers. Good luck!

Look at that sky! This image is straight of the camera, just a few curves added since it was shot in RAW. Looks blissful doesn’t it? A perfect May day…blue blue sky…calm…serene. Quite wrong. The warmth of the sun was engaged in a fight to the death with a very, very stiff breeze. And a chilly one to boot.  I’m amazed that shot is in focus because I could barely stand still while I was taking it, so strong was the wind.

MrSpud battling with one of our FIVE kites. Yes five. No, I don’t know why either. It was a pretty frustrating experience, just too windy. Shortly after this photo Diggy decided it was too cold. To be fair, he looks freezing…

Even the addition of a winter coat and hat didn’t stop the whinging. We made haste to the pub to get away from the wind, though it was giving it a good go in the pub garden anyway…check out the bunting, trying to make a break for it…

A little hangover from That Wedding I suppose, quite pretty flapping about against the apple tree and wicker fence. And helpfully very ‘on message’ for Family Spud’s primary colour May Day theme..blue sky..blue/white sweaters…blue/red kite…blue [with cold] lips…white [with cold] lips…and then ‘Thelma’ the red and white sailing boat. But what happened to Louise? Froze to death I suppose.