Can someone please tell me where summer went? Did it fly by for you too? Despite being a sun-loving, hot weather person, I’m quite entranced by these glorious golden mornings right now, and lighting the log burner more for the atmosphere than for the temperature (the narrowboat is instantly hot, out come the shorts and tshirts again!) is a lovely, cosy thing to be doing as the nights start drawing in.

Before I look back at that glorious summer, here’s what I’m going to be doing, and where I’m going to be doing it, over the next 6 weeks or so…

I’m still very much a regular in the Shambles, Devizes Market Place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Bay 20 - unless commitments elsewhere take me away. Find me there in October on:

Thursday 2 Friday 3 Saturday 4
Thursday 9 Friday 10 Saturday 11
Thursday 16
Thursday 23 Friday 24
Thursday 30

Philippa Huber Photography, The Shambles, Devizes — if you don’t see what you’re looking for, please ask!

Philippa Huber Photography in the Shambles, Devizes

I’ve a few other ‘happenings’ in October. First up, and I’m thrilled about this, is my exhibition at the Woodborough Club, Pewsey SN9 5PL - the Open Day is on Saturday 4 from 10 til 12 (with coffee and cake too, if that’s an incentive!) and runs through the month with Open Evenings every Wednesday as well. (I’ll be back in the Shambles for the afternoon, for those of you paying attention to dates…)

I’m also going to be at a new craft market at Honeystreet Mill (Pewsey SN9 5PS) on Saturday and Sunday 25-26 October 10 til 4 both days; you can find me in the shed called Fred (I love that!) Expect a great variety of traders and the chilled out, friendly vibe that goes with Honeystreet - don’t forget the cafe there too, it’s seriously good (and gets busy, maybe book ahead).

OK, that’s the forward looking bits, now let’s have a look back…

Birthday Sunrise, Le Crotoy - Nikon Z8 with z14-24mm f2.8

In August I was the incredibly lucky winner of 2 weeks’ free hire of the lens of my choice, from Lenses for Hire . I chose a fast 14-24mm to go with my Nikon Z8 and took it away to France. Oh la la, c’etait magnifique! Not my usual ‘embrace the blur’ bokeh-tastic style of shooting, I absolutely loved going wide and crisp. There were even moments where it didn’t seem wide enough - but that was just me getting carried away with those big beaches and enormous skies of the Normandy coast. Getting and sending back the lens was an absolute doddle and I’m definitely going to be renting more lenses from Lenses for Hire in the future.

In other personal photography news, I had a really great photowalk around Devizes with a few members of SheClicks, my favourite photography group ever…we went along the canal and through the market place, popped our noses (and cameras) into St John’s Alley and St John’s church grounds then called in to Brew and Vine to revive ourselves. Quoting directly from the website, “SheClicks is a friendly, supportive online community for women photographers of all levels. We offer meet-ups, a podcast, webinars, workshops, product reviews of photographic gear and more, creating opportunities to learn, connect and be inspired” If you’d like to know more, have a look on the website, on the FB page, or drop me a message.

I was also asked to be a guest judge for the SheClicks August challenge - the theme was Pets and I was obviously delighted to be invited. The problem of judging became clear very quickly - it’s so difficult to choose just 25 when at least a hundred seem worthy. After a lot of thought, I made and submitted my final choices and you can see them in the Gallery.

For my own personal/professional Pet Photography, I’ve been busy and having a fabulous time here there and everywhere! I did a beautiful shoot in the grounds of the Elvetham Hotel in Hampshire; I was up on Redhorn Hill, Wiltshire in the most wonderful late afternoon sunshine; I was crawling along woodland paths in Wickham Heath, Berkshire - I did similar in the Savernake forest close to Marlborough. I went to a lake close to Swindon; to a secure dog field at Granby House Bradford on Avon. Each shoot is different, each shoot (famous last words!) has been absolutely brilliant - here are a few images to give you an idea of just how much fun we have…

Well, that’s all for now, folks…I’ve had a great morning going over the recent past; it’s certainly been a fun-filled few months and if I didn’t have so much other work to be getting on with (website shop, for example) I’d be here all day.

If you’ve any comments, questions, requests - drop me a message whichever way works best for you (links below), and I’ll get back to you.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you somewhere soon…

Phil x

Hello and Happy New Year – I’ve been back in my favourite spot in the Shambles, Devizes this week saying the very same words to so many people who called in to welcome me back and have a look at my work…I’m willing the change of season along with some cute spring chicks, but then, since there was a rather half-hearted effort at snow on Friday, I also put out a quite surreal aerial photo of Silbury Hill under a white blanket.

But before I head forward, let’s look back for a moment at why I have been absent for January….

After a great but hectic 2024 that left me feeling in need of a proper break, I headed off to Cornwall and Devon for some refreshing sea air, big hills and coastal walks and a rather enjoyable selection of pubs!

Staying right on the beach in Downderry was amazing – and late sunrises meant I was able to enjoy an early morning of solitary photography, just me and some oystercatchers and gulls along with the swishing of the waves as the sun rose behind them.

Oystercatchers at sunrise, Downderry beach

After a quick trip back to Devizes for a change of clothes, I was off on a train to catch a plane to get on a ship in Norway, heading for the Arctic Circle – an adventure indeed!

We saw the northern lights, heard the crunch of ice as the ship made its way ever northwards and eastwards, walked out in -19 and I, personally, marvelled at the expanses of snow, ice and rock. What a place! I obviously took lots of photos and haven’t been back long enough to spend much time with them, but below are some of my current favourites that sum up the essence of the trip…watch this space, there will no doubt be more shared as I uncover them…(and don’t forget to click on the individual photos to see them in more and better detail)

And now, I’m back in Devizes and my workshop and gearing up for lots of lovely Pet Portrait Sessions - I did my first of the year at the fabulous Dawlish Warren in Devon. The weather and tide were with us, and so was the marvellous Pierre, who ran as fast and as far as his legs would take him for a good hour. He even went for a paddle which is quite a brave thing to do in January! And then, I’ve been told, he had the most enormous afternoon sleep while I was emptying pockets and boots of sand!

So, don’t forget I’m in the Shambles every Thursday, Friday and Saturday - a new plan for this year is that I’m not going to be there physically on Fridays, though my display will be and you can see my great neighbours and colleagues Jo (All That Glitters silver) and Sara (Dragonglass by Sara) to pay for anything or for any information. Instead of being there, I’ll either be in my workshop in Devizes Marina Village (and you’re very welcome to pop in and see me there on Fridays) doing my admin, editing and working on so many behind-the-scenes tasks or I’ll be out on a photoshoot.

Any questions, drop me a message/email/text.

Here’s to 2025 and all the good things that are going to happen!

Phil xx