Vesna Armstrong Photography

I love love cosmos! They are such a spectacular sign of high summer. This is part of a scene I see every morning and afternoon on my way to and fro work. The gorgeous mixture of white , pale and hot pink flowers never fail to lift my spirits. There are some other colourful flowers along the fence wall on either side of the gate stretching the whole width of the front garden. It is the entrance to a caravan storage site and they certainly know how to draw attention and make themselves noticed! I used a texture in post processing the first image, mainly to soften it and give it a bit of a dreamy look. The other three images are straight out of camera apart from a crop.

Just a couple of more photos from my visit to Hawes eariler on this year that I would like to share. It was a beautiful day and G and I thought we would leave exploring the inside of the mill for another maybe not so nice a day. We chose to climb the steep path above the village of Gayle, walk across uphill fields and admire stunning views over Wensleydale. What a liberating and thoroughly enjoyable experience!

I was really pleased to find this old swivel vanity mirror in the local charity shop. I had been looking for a mirror for my bathroom window sill for a long time and now I have one that sits there perfectly. As usual, when it comes to antique or vintage objects I buy for my house, I started creating a still life image in my mind. What would made a good composition with the mirror? The vintage pair of cream gloves, pink perfume bottle and floral  powder compact came as natural answer. I just needed a box to arrange them at different heights. And oh yes, the old black iron was also going to be a good addition. All I needed now was some white fine fabric and some lace to give it a bit of elegance so I found some voile curtains. I realized the reflection in the mirror was very important an decided it should also contain fabric to echo the fabrics around the mirror. I also slightly darkened the reflection in post processing and chose an aperture that rendered it in soft focus to avoid it be

A day to remember walking around this majestic and romantic place, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, one of King Henry VIII's wives. G's Mum and Dad kindly agreed to take us here and we had an amazing time. On arrival we had lunch in the Henry VIII pub, incredible old, rustic, country pub with tasty and beautifully presented food, and then we had a long stroll around the castle, motes, gardens and the lake. We had afternoon coffee in the charming cafe where we were rushed a bit as it was closing soon due to a wedding taking place! What a lucky lucky couple to be able to afford to get married here! All in all, such a great day out with my dearest ones. The place was teeming with people (it was Saturday) and I was fascinated by this woman who seemed to have found an inner peace in this beautiful garden despite all the bustle. This is also one of the most beautiful views of the castle I saw on the day.The woman sitting on the bench with closed eyes inspired me to create an