A HILTON woman has captured the “beauty of her surroundings” by taking a photograph every day for a year.

Fed up with the “mindless gossip” of Facebook, Hayley Smith, 37, who lives in The Green, took to online photo journal Blipfoto. She started taking photos while walking her dogs last July ... and said she couldn’t stop, eventually turning her casual posts in to a project – called A Blip in the Fens – which would involve her taking a photo for 365 consecutive days. Her quest to find a new perspective every day has taken her on adventures she would otherwise never have encountered and captured some remarkable images of Huntingdonshire.

It has also inspired Ms Smith, who says she has never been a creative person, to look at the world differently.

“This is a beautiful part of the country to live and there’s always something to see – we don’t need to go very far to find the beauty in the place,” Ms Smith said. “It makes you want to get out there and look at things differently and try new things so that you can go home and upload a great photo.”

Ms Smith’s photos show a collection of animals, birds, insects and flowers throughout the year along with her own observations.

The Blipfoto website only allows users to upload one photo each day and it has to be taken on the day it is uploaded.

Ms Smith said: “Because I started in July last year it was quite easy to take a photo a day because the weather was so good. After a while it became a challenge every day to find something interesting.”

Counting herself as a beginner when it comes to photography, Ms Smith, who spends her days working at Fonestarz in St Ives, is now looking to learn more about the art and take her interest further.

“It’s something I’m going to keep doing. I can’t take pictures of people, I’m hopeless at that and I would like to be able to work on my photographic skills so that I can set pictures up.”

INFORMATION: To view all of Ms Smith’s photos you can visit www.blipfoto.com/Alesbirdwin