Do you have people in your life who rub off on you when you are around them? I definitely do. I pick up a little bit of their happiness or enthusiasm when I’m around them. Whatever they have going on, I just can’t help but be swept up in their excitement. I’m continuing on to London today, sharing one final story of creative connection with a person who is like that for me: Kirstin McKee.

I’ve known Kirstin for a couple of years now. I first met her online through the Mortal Muses and we spent a weekend with her family in London while we were living in Italy. Since this trip back to England was all about connection, I was excited to reconnect with Kirstin. I stayed with her and her family for a couple of days between workshops. When she suggested we go to Whitstable, a little coastal town about an hour’s drive from London, I jumped on the chance. I’d never visited the English seaside! We lucked out with a gorgeously sunny day for our excursion.

Kirstin is fun to be around because she is so full of enthusiasm for photography. Whatever she does, she does with gusto. She’s gotten into film the last year or so, and raves about it. It makes it hard for her to decide what cameras to bring though! On this day trip she carried four cameras: dSLR, 35mm film, Polaroid and iPhone. I was a-goggle with all of her camera bags! But it was fun to watch her choose between one camera or another, to hear why she would choose each one, and to see the outcome later.

We wandered along the shore and through the town, following our interest and whatever captured our eye. We spent a good long time at this house with the gorgeous blue shutters, which reminded both of us of Greece. She even had to run back later and photograph the window again, since her original Polaroid didn’t turn out quite right.

I look at her photographs, and I’m just in awe of what she does. And she is so humble about it too. She creates because she loves it, and follows her joy. What a great example for the rest of us.

After wandering around for a while, photographing all manner of interesting things, we wrapped up our day with an amazing lunch at the Whitstable Oyster Company. There is nothing like a fantastic meal in a lovely setting to cap off your day.

The whole thing was so much fun. This is the best kind of photography excursion to me: Visiting a new place along with a friend who loves photography as much as I do. My photographs from this day are some of my favorite from the trip.

Kirstin’s enthusiasm definitely rubbed off on me. While I haven’t quite caught her bug for film, I can appreciate what she sees in it. And after she saw me using my iPod Touch, she pretty much made sure I got onto Instagram while I was with her… and you all know what’s happened from there. A whole new world has opened up for me with mobile photography.

Thanks Kirstin, for a lovely day, and for the enthusiasm you share with all you do. It was a wonderful reconnection and I already can’t wait for the next time. Where shall we visit next?

As I wrap up this series of posts, I am excited see how each of the creative connections I made on this trip string together into a story of influences. I can observe what I gained from each one and how they each are a little stepping stone on my creative journey. I would not be in the same place today without them. Thanks for joining me as I revisited my connections in England the last couple of weeks! I look forward to sharing more of my England photos over time.