Vesna Armstrong Photography

Friday, 16 October was one of the most memorable days of my life. G and I stayed at the wonderful Ponden Hall , a 17th century house with lots of Bronte family connections. It is situated above the Ponden Reservoir, in my beloved Bronte Country. It is a private home but the owners Julie and Steve generously decided to open three rooms for bed and breakfast over a year ago. G and I arrived to Haworth very excited about 12:30. It was too early to go and check in so we had lunch in the "Cobbles and Clay" and wandered around a couple of shops before we made our way up to the Hall. I had met Julie before when I went for a "Tour and Tea" she organizes for those wishing to just have a look around the house rather than stay. And yet I did not expect us to be regaled on arrival with tea and home made Victoria sponge. It is not what you normally get when you check in to a B&B and is just one of  many kind things the lovely hosts do for their guests. After a good chat...

I am one of relatively few amateur photographers who do classic still life photography. I am not sure how or why I developed the passion for still life. It may be the extra dimension of creativity it offers a photographer in that he/she creates the image from scratch rather than merely takes a shot of a "found" scene. Or it may simply be a fine sensitivity to the aesthetics of a harmonious interaction of objects put together. Whatever it is, I regularly feel an urge to create still life images and I do not think that will change for as long as I take photos. The change of season we are just going through - the end of summer and beginning of autumn - automatically saw me looking for inspiration and subsequently conjuring up a still life composition in my mind. There were so many colourful fruits of nature to choose from. I pictured the cheerful, rustic sunflowers in the old earthenware jug as the main focus of my image. A few stems of the orange red crocosmia flowering in th...

I woke up to a lovely early autumn morning. There was a fine mist up on the distant hills and the air was fresh and mellow. I knew the mist would give way to a beautiful weather later on. It was a perfect day for my planned trip to the Bronte Waterfalls up on the Haworth moor. G and I passed it on our way to Top Withins three weeks ago but it was a Sunday and there were far too many people around to experience properly the idyllic and inspiring spot. I made a mental note to return before bad weather set in. Now the day had come I could not wait to get ready and set off. G gave me a lift to the Morrison's car park from where I took the 760 bus to Keighley. It is an hour's drive, quite a long journey but I always enjoy it. The bus goes through Calverly, Shipley, Saltaire and Bingley, towns which are all of interest to me either from the photography or shopping point of view. I also spend some time reading on the bus and usually have a sandwich I prepare at home for breakfast. ...