West Midlands Safari Park Day Out | Competition Entry for 'Safari Photographer Of The Year'.

Hey guys :) 

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend and the beginning of the week hasn't been too tough! 

I am loving the fact it is slowly getting cooler at night because I can now freaking sleep! I do still keep waking up at night though in fear that there is a mahoooosive spider crawling about. 

* Actual vom*

Okay, so I cannot even breathe about Arachnids but animals however is a different story. If the world contained no humans I would happily live side by side with a fury being. Fact. 

Yesterday, I made a return to the West Midlands Safari Park, one because I wanted to go and two because I am entering a competition. More about that in a bit. 

I had a free return ticket which I received from the park when I went on my birthday. They always give you free return tickets which I think is really good. The weather was really nice but considering it was a Sunday it was actually pretty packed. 

WMSP are hosting a competition for 'Safari Photographer of the Year' where you can win a bundle of prizes, grab the said title and have your work on display in January. 

You guys know that I love taking photo's and I am totally in love with photography so I jumped at the chance to enter. Animals and photography combined = a happy Leya. 

Today's post is a little insight to my weekend and I also need your help on choosing 5 pictures to submit to WMSP as my entries. I have gone through the photos and have picked a bunch of my best ones. 

What I would love is for anyone reading to leave me a comment stating which 5 you think are the best out of the bunch I am about to show you. I may number them so if I do, just let me know which numbers. You can also let me know on Twitter - I will leave my handles at the end of the post. 

So yeah, Mum, Dad and myself went to the park yesterday and the animals were either being fed by the keepers or had been fed, so they were mostly really energetic. Unfortunately the White Lions decided to go and chill at the back of the enclosure AGAIN by the time I got to them, so I was really upset that I couldn't capture them.

It took around 3 hours get get round the park, especially as I was constantly like "STOP THE CAR" to Papa Hutt so I could hang out of the window to take pictures. On two occasions I almost broke my body in two, to get the pic of the Giraffe looking at me face on, I was literally hanging half of my body, backwards out of the car window almost dropping my camera on my face (and it was hella heavy). To get the image of the Tiger again half my body was out of the car and I put my lens against the wire to get a clear pic. I totally pulled  a muscle in the back of my left thigh. 

Ha ha. 

At the end of the  day we took a walk through the Lemur Woods and checked out one of my faves, the Meerkats! I took some more pictures, fed the goats, ate a load of doughnuts and took more pics. 

I love a good day out!! 

Right then, to the important part of the post. The photes! 

Please let me know what you think, if you would adjust anything and which ones I should submit. 

I will love you forever and evs, amen!! :) 

Lets GO!! 

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I took around 300 photos just yesterday so there were a lot to go through and edit. I shortlisted these ones as I feel they represent an atmosphere, capture a moment and showcased some of my better work. 

Don't forget to let me know which 5 pictures you feel could help me win the competition. 

If you like reading my blog you can follow it on Bloglovin' here. 

You can also find me here: 

Twitter: Leluroxxblogger

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Snapchat: Blackeyedfox

Until next time... 

L 

X 

What I Did For My Birthday | West Midlands Safari Park | Lush, New Look, The Girl On The Train And Sleek.

Oh hi there guys :) 

I hope everyone is okay and well?!

I am totally hormonal and in pain today but it's all fine because I am determined not to let it get the better of me. Instead, today I have been eating pick 'n' mix, watching films on Netflix and have been cuddling my Lion hot water bottle. Ha. 

I really want a job now guys, it really is beyond a joke now. I just don't understand why it isn't happening, I am applying for something new every day and I get zero emails back. Just recruitment agencies offering me awful jobs. 

Anyway, onto the purpose of the post. So guys, I turned 29 yesterday... That number makes me want to be physically sick in my mouth. I am a year away from being 30 years old, what a liberty. When you get older you don't really get excited for your birthday anymore, it's just another day! 

On Saturday ( 6th August) myself and my friend Jess went into Worcester to have something to eat and have a look around the shops. It was such a pretty day, really warm (I was obviously wearing black, as you do on a hot day, ha). We spent around 4 hours there and by the time I got home I was shattered. 

Jess bought me lunch for my birthday which was really sweet of her and I got a couple of things from New Look. 

When I got home on the Saturday I did my usual thang and cleaned Cody out and gave him all of his meds. I then ran myself a bath and used my new Lush Bubble Bar - The Comforter, I put my music on and spent the next couple of hours singing my heart out in the dark. 

Ha, that's how I roll people!!

Sunday the 7th is my burrrfffdaayyy and yesterday was a good day. 

I have to get up early anyway to see to Cody and start his meds at 8 am. I did all my morning chores before I went downstairs, where I was greeted by parents, balloons, banners, cards and presents. 

So cute. 

Check out the Guinea pig birthday card off my auntie!! So freaking cool man!! I am totally framing that!! 

So yeah, I decided this year again that I wanted to go to the Safari Park. I went last year and it was awful, it was rammed and I couldn't get a decent picture as all the animals were being shooed away by the park rangers. 

It was just me, Mum and Dad going this year as my brother was busy. He stayed at home to look after the dog and check on Codes. 

We left about 12 pm and when we arrived at the park we were told that it was packed and it would take roughly around 2 hours to get around the animals. 

I was pretty chilled this year as I bought a telephoto zoom lens especially for trips like this so I knew I could get a good shot from a distance. The weather was beautiful yesterday, it was hot but there was a breeze so it was pretty perfect. 

It actually took around 3 hours to get around the park but it was nice to be able to actually stop and take some decent photes!! 

A couple of things that lets the park down for me is, the animals aren't stimulated enough - their enclosures are basic, minimal and boring. They need things to keep their brain and body motivated. The other thing is when the animals are interacting with the public the park warden's usher them away and that really pee's me off. 

Why?! We have paid money to see the animals not look at grass and seagulls! 

Most of the animals were out yesterday which was super cool, the only ones that weren't really were the white Lions and I really wanted to see them but they always go to the back of the hill when it's warm. I will say, my new lens was freaking awesome yesterday. It worked really well and when I was far from the animals it zoomed right in and produced a really clear picture. I was so happy. 

AND, I actually fed a Giraffe!! I have never fed one before as someone told me once that they suck your whole hand in so it scared me. It didn't and it was really gentle. I LOVE feeding the animals. 

Next year for my 30th I am SO feeding Lions somewhere. It would be a dream come true!! 

It was literally one of the best days yesterday, it was really laid back and fun. I bought a little white Lion teddy and my Dad got me a Lion snow globe. We also did the Lemur walk which was super cute and I managed to capture some really nice pictures. 

When I got home, around 6-6.30 pm I cleaned Cody, took my makeup off and chilled. I ordered a takeaway and had my birthday cake. 

I loved my birthday this year and I was spoilt. I had money off all my family members, Cody bought me a Lush bath bomb - Ha... Okay Mum and mum and dad got me some pick 'n' mix. My brothers girlfriend also bought me some Lush stuff too. 

Everyone knows me so well!! 

Here's some pic's for y'all. 

Loving Sleek at the moment, I wanted to try their liquid illuminator and Precious Metals highlighting palette. I was super annoyed though as I bought these from Superdrug at the normal prices. I went to Boots after and these two were two for £12. I was abso gutted.  

I cannot wait to read this as this has been raved about so much. 

I will finish reading my Cosmo mag then I am on that shit!!

I am totally into chokers currently, bringing the whole 90's feel back. 

How totally cute is this arm cuff!! 

So that was my birthday... I will leave you with the pictures I took of the animals at the Safari Park before signing off at the end. 

Enjoy :) 

I hope y'all liked the animal photo's as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

And I hope you enjoyed reading through this post! If you did and you want to keep up to date with me you can do so by following my blog on Bloglovin' here. 

 I post every Monday and Thursday at 11.30 PM GMT.

You can also find me on the following social media sites. 

Twitter: Leluroxxblogger

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Facebook: Leya Hutton 

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Snapchat: Blackeyedfox 

Until next time... 

L 

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