Vesna Armstrong Photography

I have struggled a bit with my autumn still life this year. There is so much to choose from in terms of props, and maybe that is why it can be difficult to come up with an interesting composition that works well. My heart was set on using brassica, a cabbage-like plant that appears at florists and supermarkets at this time of year. My first instinct was to photograph it in a vase, but it just didn't look right and it was hard to team up with anything else. I decided to cut the thick stalks short and lay the flowers down facing the camera. There are brassicas with different colour centres - cream. pink, purple....I chose purple ones to add a new colour to the colourful autumn set up. When I think of autumn things to include in a still life image red berries always come to my mind first. They are pretty, simple, but striking too, and they will go with virtually anything else. I found these lovely rose-hips, the type I have not used before, in the local Aldi, and used them as a ...

The weekend I visited Gawthorpe Hall we stayed at the Rosehill House Hotel for one night. I wanted to stay somewhere in character with the sort of place I came to Lancashire to see, which meant an old hotel/B&B with traditional decor and original architectural features; somewhere to satisfy my love for interiors photography too. Rosehill seemed like just the place I was looking for, and I was not disappointed. Originally a Victorian manor house built by a wealthy cotton mill owner in 1856, Rosehill House was converted into a hotel in 1963. It is run as a family business and it looks and feels like a home that belongs and is loved by somebody. The hotel is tucked away inside surrounding walls, and between trees which makes for a charming approach to the house. The driveway, and the Victorian conservatory which is modern, in contrast with the rest of the house. It is part of the restaurant and functions as the breakfast bar too. We loved sitting here in the morning next ...

As a big Bronte Sisters fan I am on a mission to gradually visit and photograph all the places of connection with the sisters, both with their life and their work. Living in West Yorkshire where the sisters lived and wrote, I consider myself very lucky to be in a position to do so. It also makes for a special pleasure of marrying two loves of mine - the one for photography and the one for the great literary sisters. The weekend of 8th and 9th October was reserved for a trip to Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire. The Kay-Shuttleworth family who lived at the Hall in the 19th century came to hear about Charlotte Bronte, who was becoming a well known author, and invited her to stay, which she did on a couple of occasions. Gawthorpe Hall is a beautiful, early 17th century Elizabethan mansion, and is the last stop on the Bronte Way - a 43 mile long footpath that starts at Oakwell Hall near Birstall. Charlotte described Gawthorpe as "grey, stately and picturesque, a model of old Englis...

At the beginning of this summer I bought a red hanging basket with a strawberry plant in it from the local Aldi. There were only leaves and a couple of tiny pink flowers on the plant. I thought it was something different to hang on the garden fence and was looking forward to seeing how the plant evolves. Well, it has been flowering and producing sweet and juicy strawberries all along. At the end of September I was surprised to see it was still going strong with new strawberries springing up. I decided it was high time I took some photos. I had a choice of taking some macro shots of the fruit hanging from the basket, or cutting up a few stems for a still life image. Not being a huge fan of macro photography I opted for the latter. I feel still life work gives me more scope and flexibility in creating an interesting image. I found my vintage wine bottle, put the stems inside and arranged them so the strawberries form an appealing composition and the single pink flower faces the camera. ...

It has been many years since I last did some portrait photography. The reason for that is not that I am not interested, but the fact that there is very few possibly willing and suitable models around me. Majority of people don't like being photographed, or if you do persuade them and manage to actually do a shoot with them, they just appear stiff and uncomfortable in photos no matter how much you tried to put them at ease. Well, not my niece Haidi! She sees modelling as fun and challenge, and is so natural and easy to work with. In not so distant past I photographed Haidi three times. Being a yoga teacher she wanted me to take photos of herself in some yoga poses. You can see my favourite pics from that shoot here . When I was in Zagreb back in May Haidi asked me to take photos at one of her yoga workshops. Then, soon afterwards, she visited me with her boyfriend Bruno here in Leeds, and we grabbed one afternoon for a little indoor photo session.   This is quite a heavy crop...