What dreams are made of ...

I am so fortunate to have such a supportive husband. Steve has encouraged me with my photography from our first days together - constantly helping, pushing and believing in me .... far more than I ever believed in myself if I'm honest.

It was Steve who invested in the very best cameras and lenses that Canon make for me and it was him that made me believe that I could make an amazing change of career such a success. My previous career was an Entomologist ... an insect biologist - I worked in insect pest research for 20 years after obtaining a degree in Applied Biology at the Liverpool John Moors University .... an interesting change of career some might think! As well as the company's Entomologist I also over time became their photographer photographing staff, insects and products!

I was a keen amateur photographer since childhood and my love for the natural world grew with me - inspired by the wonderful Sir David Attenborough (who, incidentally I was very fortunate to meet last year - a truly wonderful gentleman). So, for me my past career and my present career blend beautifully together.

So .... these dreams then?

Ever since watching Sir David I have dreamed of visiting those wonderful places shown by the BBC Natural History dept. This May, 2010, as many of you already know I am off to Africa. I'm travelling to Zimbabwe and Botswana with 4 other pro photographers, for a 12 day bespoke wildlife photography trip that'll take us off the beaten track away from the tourist zones, travelling by 6 seater cessna. The aim of this trip is to produce some amazing stock photography and also to support a wonderful elephant charity .... I'll tell all about that in another blog post soon. Steve isn't coming with me on this trip - he's staying behind to look after my 2 teens. Without his help and support I'd never be able to go.

And then there was the question I was asked this weekend. This weekend I was asked by Steve Allen (the same chap that's organised the Africa trip) if I'd like to go along on another trip - this one in May 2011. This really is for me a trip of a lifetime, the itinerary totally blew me away. It's a trip to Ecuador visiting Quito the capital city high in the Andes, the Amazonian rainforest, canoeing down the Amazon, the Mindo Nambilo cloud forest - to Sachatamia Rainforest reserve on the equator - a volcanic region with high biological diversity and many rare species and .....wait for it ...the amazing Galapagos Islands - which we will sail from island to island in a private luxury yacht. These are the places that I read about during my student years. The places where Darwin studied the wildlife and conceived his 'Origin of Species' theory. This, for me, is truly what dreams are made of.

Again, my wonderful husband has made this possible for me by letting me go off on my own while he stays behind and holds 'fort'. I can never thank him enough for giving me such a wonderful opportunity, a real chance of a lifetime.

On both trips I will be travelling with an amazing photographer, Steve Allen - one of the Worlds top travel and wildlife photographers. I hope to learn so much from this amazing man. I know I will return from both trips a changed person and a very much better and inspired photographer. I'll then be able to give my clients even higher standards than I do now.

If anyone is interested in the details of the trip have a look at Steve Allen's website www.steveallenphotography.com and click on 'Travel with Steve' and there you'll be able to see the day by day itinerary and links to photographs of the yacht and places we'll be visiting.

So, back to my Steve, my wonderful husband .... thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I can never explain to you how much this means to me - I could never do it without your support - the images I bring back will not disappoint you xxx