Vesna Armstrong Photography

I could not wait for a day off from work and a chance to go out with my camera to capture autumn colours at their peak. I did not have to go very far as I saw from the bus going to and fro work that the trees in the nearest park are looking very beautiful . I got there at 9 a. m. hoping the golfers would not be around yet (don't fancy being hit by one of those balls!) but they beat me to it - there was a lot of them there already all over the park. It was a dull, slightly misty, but, thankfully, dry day. And while the light would not always be very good for photography it was quite nice for capturing all the colours of autumn in a misty ambience. Autumn Glory

The park seemed more beautiful than ever when I visited. I think the autumn colours were at their best this year. I was completely delighted to come across the scene with a patch of flowers in front of trees with red leaves. Amazingly, a lot of flowers were very fresh looking. I stood there for quite a while taking different shots. This one here I took crouching down slightly to avoid an area of plain grass between the trees and meadow. It is one of my favourite images I took this year. Autumn Meets Summer

Being a lover of still life I felt an urge to do an autumn still life. I bought the squash form the local supermarket and collected some fallen leaves from the park next to my house. I normally have a clear image of what I want to do in my mind but this time I did not know what I was going to end up with. The composition is pretty spontaneous but I am not sure if it works very well. It certainly is far from conventional composition rules. However, I do like the muted autumn colours and the way the textured background came out.

The rose-hip grows in the car park outside my house. The berries come out in late September, and, since I love red in photographs, they are calling me to make a still life image every year. Because the berries are so striking and stark on their twigs I feel a simple composition works best. I like the idea of a vintage feel with an enamel bowl placed on an old stool. The second image is from 2010.

I took this photo of Mum back in summer when I was in Zagreb visiting. She is sitting at the table in the garden of a restaurant in Petrinjska Street where we had a beautiful lunch of grilled squid, chips and roasted vegetables. The midday light was tamed and diffused by the parasols placed at each table. I was quite pleased to see there was no reflections in Mum's spectacles and that the photo turned out to be one of the best I have ever taken of Mum. Sretan ti rodjendan, draga mama! Happy birthday, dear Mum!