Vesna Armstrong Photography

September is one of the months that inspire me the most to create a still life image. My preferred still life work entails using elements from nature, and in September there is so much Mother Nature bestows on us: lots of the colourful summer blooms still persists; red berries, like rose-hip, rowan and pyracantha are springing about, and various lovely fruits have ripened and are being picked. This year I have gorgeous rudbeckia thriving in my back garden, thanks to our lovely neighbour who gave us a few plants she had grown from seeds. I admire it every day and I thought, with its heavenly looking golden flowers and dark centres, it would be a perfect subject for a seasonal still life. The little set of jam jars in wicker casing beckoned to me from a kitchen shelf, and I thought of blackberries and blackberry jam as good additions. I bought some blackberries from the local supermarket, but didn't get round to making jam this time. I also chose some greengage plums and red fig...

I tend to get a little piqued when at the beginning of September people say that summer is over. Just because kids are back to school it doesn't mean the summer is over. September is usually a beautiful month, and by calendar summer doesn't end till 22nd September. However, I must admit, this year September has been quite disappointing. Instead of the usual mellow sunshine and mild temperatures here in Yorkshire we have had a lot of lashing rain with autumnal chill already present in the air. Now that summer is officially over I thought I'd create one last "summery" post just to celebrate the lavish season and say good bye till next year. Last year G and I visited the beautiful village of Cawthorne on a glorious late August day. Here are a few photos to summarize the gorgeous country summer feel we enjoyed very much. All the images below were processed with just a quick and basic edit in attempt to convey the summer colours, light and mood the way they were on ...

In the past, when I was in my beloved native town of Zagreb, I would take as many photos as possible of everything and anything. I would come back to England with hundreds and hundreds of random images, which would just sit (and still sit!) on an external computer drive. There was just too many of them to organize in any sort of way or edit for that matter. This year I thought I would do something more sensible and coherent with my photography in Zagreb; I thought I would start working according to a theme; I would only take pictures on a chosen subject or place which would also form material for a blog post. That way I was going to be free of that frantic feeling by which I had to go different places to take as many photos as possible, and in turn I would be able to spend more relaxed, quality time with my family and friends. For a start I chose a theme that is very familiar to the people of Zagreb; a subject that every Zagreb photographer must have tried their hand at - Zagreb's...

Last Sunday I came back from a visit to my beloved native town Zagreb. This time my intention was to spend as much time as possible with my ailing Mum and therefore, to put my photography on the back burner. I decided I would only take a few photos for a small blog project, which I shall reveal in one of my next posts, and while doing that I came across this beautiful new park which completely took me by surprise. The area that only contained trees and grass was attractively landscaped with beds of gorgeous purple flowers and winding footpaths; benches are dotted around thoughtfully in the way they used to be in the distant past; gas lantern type street lights are installed (not connected yet). The bronze statue of a boy playfully sitting on the floor has been moved to a nearby location and a white fountain placed instead. The fountain is a replica of the original one that stood in the park in the 19th century. There is also a beautiful antique style drinking water founta...