INTERVIEW: SUSANNA RISSER

You may know Susanna by her Instagram alias, Lady Cascades - she does have over 68,000 followers! I've developed an obsessive fascination with Oregon, thanks to Instagram, and Susanna's feed only adds to that addiction. Breathtaking shots of local landscapes sit alongside her sunlight drenched portrait work, whetting my appetite for a future visit to the PNW. Alongside her own account, Susanna also co-curates @thosePNWgirls alongside another favourite @ajclementine. 

Follow Susanna on Instagram: @ladycascades

GF: What's your name and what do you do?

SR: My name is Susanna Risser. I am a wedding, portrait and landscape photographer. Its sort of a new found passion of mine, which makes sense since my father was a photographer. I picked it up a couple years ago and it sort of took off. Word of mouth is by far the best form of advertisement. I also work for a PNW coffee company called Dutch Bros coffee. Its the perfect job because they are super flexible with my crazy schedule. 

GF: Where is your absolute favourite place in the PNW ?

SR: This is a touch question for me. I have too many, honestly. Does Yosemite count as the PNW? By far thats one of the most beautiful places Ive ever had the pleasure of visiting. Also, the Big Four Ice caves in Northern Washington is a must. They are huge glaciers that melt into caves. Dangerous for sure, but worth the hike in to see the views from Mount Baker. 

GF: Where are your go-to spots when photographing people?

SR: I love a shallow depth of field for my portraits. So I can really shoot anywhere I want because the back drop won't matter too much. But the obvious best place is outside where you can collect the best lighting. Anywhere there are mountains or beautiful landscapes I am there! Also, sunset (golden hour) is the best time of day to do portraits. 

GF: Can you share your favourite secret spots with us?

SF: For breakfast/brunch - Portland Oregon's "Por Que No?" best brunch ever!!!!

For insane scenery - Grand Teton, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. 

For coffee - Drive thru coffee is Dutch Bros coffee, sit down is Coava in Portland OR. 

For tranquillity - Oregon Coast 

For exploring - The Redwoods 

GF: Where would you most like to explore in the world?

SR: Well, I still have never been to Alaska. And the Swiss Alps has always been a place I'd love to visit. But I'm the first one to say, explore your own backyard first. So many people don't even realize what is near them. They spend all sorts of money traveling far when the most beautiful things are sometimes just a couple hours drive! I've pretty much explored all there is in Oregon, northern Cali and Washington. I'm ready for some new scenery..

GF: Where's your favourite place in the world? 

SR: One of the most incredible places I've ever visited in my life was on Prince Edward Island, Canada. It was a lighthouse called Peggy's cove. It sits on the smoothest cream colored rocks on the edge of the Atlantic. White bodied with a bright red top, it is an award winning view. The day I went it was filled with tourists. But I remember just sitting on a bench and starring as long as I could. I told myself some day I will return. Something about that lighthouse that just moved me. I highly suggest making it a point to visit. 

GF: What's on your travel bucket list?

SR: Iceland, Greenland, Swiss Alps, Alaska, Ireland. 

Follow Susanna on Instagram: @ladycascades

INTERVIEW: LIZ HULL

I've followed Liz on Instagram ever since I first discovered the app - and have frequently featured the inspiring look-book's for her online vintage store, Mayflower Supply on my other blog. New York is somewhere that has always been on my travel bucket list, and I would love to hang out with Liz and her friends if I ever got the chance to cross the pond - so it was only natural that I got in touch to ask if she would like to share some of her favourite places in The Big Apple, and beyond.

Follow Liz on Instagram: @liz.hull

GF: What's your name and what do you do?

LH: Liz Hull, and I'm the owner of an online vintage boutique called Mayflower Supply. We also sell some accessories from local designers and artisans that compliment the vintage.

GF: What's your favourite thing about living in New York?

LH: The people! I've met so many incredible and inspiring friends since moving here–including the man I'm going to marry! Whenever I'm feeling down, or just having a "what am I doing with my life?!" moment, these folks lift me back up and remind me why I'm here, and keep me moving forward.

GF: Can you share your favourite secret spots with us?

LH:  For breakfast/brunch - Cafe Ghia is by far my most favorite brunch spot in my neighborhood. The food is amazing, there's hardly ever a wait and the staff are just the sweetest, coolest folks.

For coffee - It's not really a to-go spot, but Mominette is this adorable little French cafe near me that has that quintessential French vibe. I love going in there, sitting at the bar and just ordering a coffee. They also have a fantastic backyard that is divine during the warmer months!

For getting out of the city - I'm originally from Massachusetts, and I always love escaping to my home state whenever I can. I especially love Western Mass. We have a couple friends who live out there, but it's also just incredibly beautiful and has some really great thrifting!

For escaping the crowds within the city -This is a hard one because no matter where you go there's people! I like going to The Strand and getting lost in their endless rows of books. Especially the top floors where the fashion and art books live. There's far less people and sometimes it gets quiet the same way a library does. Kind of magical.

For dancing - I think dancing could be replaced by karaoke. It's so much fun when you have a group of pals to go with too. Pine Box has great karaoke, Arlene's Grocery does insane live band karaoke that will make you feel like a rock star, and there are tons of places where you can rent a small room for you and your best pals for an evening. BYOB, sing along to your favorite jams and dance the night away. Nothing better!

For hanging out with friends - I think my favorite place to be with friends is in everyone's own homes. There's something so special about having good, homemade food and drinks with pals. It feels like a little slice of family for all of us. However, if we're all going out for dinner or to celebrate birthdays or something, we'll usually head to Royal Bangladesh in the East Village. It's a little basement restaurant that's famous for it's insane interior which is covered in Christmas lights. I mean, covered. The hosts are a little eccentric (they call you into the restaurant from the street), but the food is delicious and cheap.

GF: If you didn't live in New York, where would you live?

LH: This is such a tough one! Sometimes we talk about moving to the south–a place like Nashville–but I honestly can't see myself anywhere else than NYC at the moment. I love visiting LA, and have lots of family in Portland, Oregon, but I don't know if I'll ever live in those places. I know people say this all the time, but New York really is just the best.

GF: Where's your favourite place in the world?

LH: My family has a small cottage in the Muskoka region of Ontario. My grandparents bought the property in the late 60's, and my mom and her brothers have been vacationing there every year since they were little. I've been going my entire life. Our cottage is the last house at a dead end road, and we named it The Living End. It's cozy, simple, nothing too fancy. The air is clean, the water in Skeleton Lake is crystal clear and it's a slice of heaven.

GF: What's on your travel bucket list?

LH: My fiancée and I have been dying to go to Tulum for about three years. Mexico in general actually. His family lived in Chiapas for about 3-4 years before he was born, and he's had an interest in Mexican culture and history for as long as I can remember. I also have some family in San Miguel de Allende, so a Mexico road trip would be really amazing. Some day...

Follow Liz on Instagram: @liz.hull

Visit Liz's online store: Mayflower Supply

GET OUTDOORS: INGLEBOROUGH

Let's start off with an adventure of my own. 

I've just returned from a long weekend on the Yorkshire Dales/Cumbrian border.We're really lucky that my boyfriend's parents have a holiday cottage in Kirkby Lonsdale- the perfect base for covering some of my favourite walking routes. Yesterday, we embraced the good weather and set off to conquer Ingleborough; the second highest Peak in the Dales. 

We set off from a pretty little village just off the A65 called Clapham. If you're in the area and don't fancy a walk, there's a cute little vintage shop up near the car park that's worth a browse. If you're there to walk, fight off the temptation to laden your rucksacks with brick-a-brack, walk past the vintage shop and cafe and cross the bridge over the stream. Turn right and follow the stream up towards the entrance to Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail. There's a small waterfall to admire just before you enter the estate. 

There's a small charge to walk up through Clapdale Wood, but it's worth it. The trail has a steady incline which is the perfect warm up for what's to come. You begin walking past a lake, before the path snakes upwards through the woods and past an ancient stone hut, before emerging beside a pleasant stream that's the perfect location for a tea break.

The path continues up past the entrance to Ingleborough Cave (tours leave hourly, if you fancy exploring underground. Not my cup of tea at all), and snakes through a pass between two hills, bending towards the left. After a while you reach the striking limestone gorge of Trow Gill - a fun scramble up the rock slide at the top of the path brings you out onto a well trodden path, which you follow until you reach a stile on your left hand side. 

At this point, two peaks can be seen in front of you: Ingleborough to the right of Little Ingleborough. Keep to the path as you head towards them - this area is riddled with dangerous pot holes. Just before the ascent, the path splits in two, with the right path leading towards a short detour to Gaping Gill. 

This infamous pothole is both spectacular and terrifying. The chamber it opens up into is reportedly big enough to house York Minster, and the drop down to it is twice as tall as Niagara Falls. The area surrounding the chasm is fenced off, but there's a stone path down to the stream that vanishes into the crevice - you can get as close as you like, but be wary! We hopped over the rocks and ate our picnic beside the stream, carefully avoiding the smaller potholes that apparently drop steeply and suddenly into the chasm below.

Back to the main path, we began our ascent of Little Ingleborough. I found this part of the hike the most challenging, and had to stop several times to catch my breathe as we scaled the steep stone staircase. Looking back over the moors, it was worth the muscle pain to soak in the views of the Yorkshire Dales.

Once you've reached the top of Little Ingleborough, you feel a sense of achievement and the sudden gust of wind. There's a small stone wall to shelter behind and catch your breathe before turning right and heading towards the summit, which still seems so far away. It actually takes less than half an hour to reach the top, and you've already done the hard bit. The climb is relatively steep in parts, and there are perilous drops to your right, but it isn't long before the path vanishes and you step up to your left to make the short walk to the cairn at the summit.

There's incredible 360 degree views over the Dales to soak in, a small shelter to rest and protect yourself from the elements inside - and a pile of rubble, which is the ruins of a tower which stood for one day only at the top of the peak. You have several options of how to descend,including simply turning around and heading back the way you came - but we like to live on the edge, and decided to find our way down what looked like the sheer face of a mountain, just as a dark cloud carrying a flurry of snow swept past.

Just to the left of the pile of rubble, we carefully descended down a rocky face, which was only apparent as a path due to the couple that we were following. Part way down, there was a plaque in the stone detailing the story behind the tower that had for one day only crowned the Peak. 

Heading down, there were dramatic views every way you looked - especially if you turned back to gaze at the Peak you had just conquered. We followed the path as it steadied out and soon became less steep, heading into a valley with Little Ingleborough to your left and White Scar to your right.

It all becomes a bit hazy here - as there was apparently a turning to the left that we completely missed that would have taken us back to Clapham. Instead, we passed a farm house and continuing along the path, which became a lane that veered off the right. This lane eventually led us into the village of Ingleton, which is delightful to look around - but unfortunately was a further four mile walk back to Clapham.

All photos, my own.

INTERVIEW: EMILIE VAN CAMP

One of the first ideas that I had for Girlfolk was to interview a selection of my favourite girls on Instagram - those that explore both rural and urban spaces, and take the incredible photographs that make us want to visit the places that they have been. I've been overwhelmed with the response that I have received from an array of inspiring ladies, whose work always invokes wanderlust in me.

For the first in this series, I asked Emilie Van Camp a couple of questions. I was particularly excited to quiz Emilie; not only because I admire her beautiful landscapes, but because she recently spent nine months living in the Scottish Highlands - an area that I'm excited to be exploring later this year. 

Follow Emilie on Instagram: @emilievancamp

GF: What’s your name and what do you do?

EVC: Hello there! First of all I would like to thank you for having me on your blog. My name is Emilie Van Camp. I have a background in Modern Languages and Literature in English, Spanish and Italian, but I guess I am still trying to find out exactly what I would like to do (too many things I have an interest in)…But when I am not busy thinking about it, I mainly shoot, style and paint.

GF: What was your favourite thing about Scotland?

EVC:  I had the privilege of living nine unforgettable months in the Highlands and was surrounded by absolute beauty. I would have to say that my favourite thing about Scotland is its generosity. Nature is simply offered to you on a golden plate and you cannot help yourself but to grasp it entirely and selfishly. You can wander for hours because when you are in the middle of such a spectacle, time stops and you feel alive. 

GF: What three things would you recommend doing whilst in Scotland?

EVC: 1. I would definitely take a trip to the West Coast, it is simply magical and it is full of little hidden gems. 

2. If you befriend with a local or find a really nice place that does it well I would recommend to try a proper delicious highland specialty: Cullen Skink…just trust me on that one!

3. I would spend a day or two kayaking on a Loch or river. I do not why but it makes you feel closer to nature.

GF: Did you visit any of the islands? Could you share your favourite spot on the islands you visited?

EVC:  I visited the Isle of Skye which is like the Caribbean but a lot colder haha! Some of the beaches are considered the most beautiful in the world but no one wants to get into the water…I wonder why??? We were really lucky; we were on your way back home when a local told us we could not leave before seeing the Coral Beach (north of Dunvegan). There was little time before sunset so we hurried and drove to a car park where you then have to walk for about 40 minutes - but once you arrive your breath is taken away. You arrive on the top of a hill where you can see the playful seals welcoming you, the turquoise water, the white sand beach and then…cows resting on the beach and rabbits running along the grass! It is a bit surreal but what a picture! I would try not to miss the Fairy Pools and the Cuillin Mountain range as well…

GF: Can you share your favourite secret spots with us?

EVC:  For incredible scenery - without a doubt Glen Affric!!!! It is my favourite spot in the Highlands, and I was lucky enough to see it during the different seasons and whether it is snowed in or orange-yellow-green with nature, the place is just perfect! 

For remoteness - I would say Glen Etive. It's a very long dead end road but what a view!!!! 

For eating out - The Oyster Shed near the Talisker Whiskey Distillery in Skye. You will be welcomed by a lovely (hard to understand!) fisherman in his yellow salopettes literally in his shed selling his catches of the day: oysters, scallops, mussels…any fish or seafood that his mum will prepare for you in her chips van! The fish soup is a must!! There are little tables outside on the hill with a stunning view over the sea and the floor is covered with the shells thrown by the passing people.

For exploring - Everywhere, because any road is a journey and you will want to stop the car every two minutes.

GF: Where would you love to live, if you could live anywhere in the world?

EVC: Mmmmmh that is a tricky one, I guess I have not visited much of the world to be able to answer this question, there are still places I dream of visiting and where I could definitely see myself living. But having lived in a few different places and countries, I know it is a bit cliché, but it will need to be where my other half is and hopefully a few other people that I love. Because at the end of the day, I could be in my dream place but if I had nobody to share it with, it would not be perfect to me anymore. 

GF: Where’s your favourite place in the world?

EVC:  God, another one…let me think…Home, wherever that may be.

GF: What’s on your travel bucket list?

EVC:  Japan, Iceland, New Zealand, Lapland, Laos, Italy, Croatia, Tasmania, Australia, Russia, Cambodia, Peru, Canada, The United States,…………..and going back to Scotland!

Follow Emilie on Instagram: @emilievancamp

Visit Emilie's website