Vesna Armstrong Photography

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been looking forward to creating a seasonal still life image with summer fruits, and here it is finally - somewhat late in the season I suspect. This time I didn't really have an idea of the composition for my image, all I knew was that it was to contain as much summer fruit as possible, and it was going to be about the abundance of summer and its explosion of vivid colours. I went out and spent a lot of money buying different fruits. It proved really hard coming up with a balanced and pleasing composition with so much fruit, and I ended up not using all of it, and not all of the kinds I bought. I didn't use the cherries (they were too dark) and the slice of melon (just couldn't fit it in). I thought yet again of the saying "the simpler the better" and how true it is. After what felt like hours of arranging and rearranging the fruit I decided to use two round dishes and arrange the fruit in two circles - berries on top...

When we were on holiday in The Lake District the other week we stayed in the lovely Primrose Cottage in Hawkshead. It is a pretty, very comfortable and well equipped cottage, dog friendly,  reasonably priced and situated just yards from the heart of the village. I regret not having taken more photos of this cottage, but there is always a next time. A scene from our bedroom I found Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit in our bedroom, a fitting find as Beatrix lived just two miles up the road, and her husband had his solicitor's offices just round the corner - presently Beatrix Potter's Gallery. The plush toy inspired me to get one of my favourite Beatrix's character - Mrs Tiggy-Winkle . Loved the vintage green wallpaper in our bedroom. It gives the room a very soothing and relaxing feel. The kitchen window.   Back garden. We loved this charming, cosy place with a lot of great and clever detail like the little local slate shelves attached to the arb...

The other week we holidayed in our favourite Lake District haunt Hawkshead with our besties Dave and Liz. We love not only the storybook look of the village, but also the tame countryside around it, and the fact it is close to some other lakeland places we love, such as Grasmere. The weather was not very good; it rained a lot every day, and there was no great light for my photography. But, one thing that is always there in the Lake District to capture by a photographer is the unique atmosphere and mood the mountains surrounding the lakes create, so that is what I endeavoured to do. Sunday, the first full day of our holiday it rained non-stop all day. We decided visiting Brantwood , John Ruskin's house at nearby Coniston would be a good idea under the weather circumstances. The house itself was really beautiful and very interesting with lots to see and admire, but it was too wet to walk around the extensive gardens with beautiful views of Coniston lake, even carrying an umbrella....

Last week we went for our usual yearly week's holiday in the Lake District. Each year we go at a different time of year depending on when we can get the same time off work, and this year it happened in the middle of summer. We chose to stay in Hawkshead for a second time, a pretty village we both fell in love with for many reasons. We thought it was going to be crowded, but were relieved to find there wasn't too many people around despite peak season (more reason for us to love Hawkshead). Unfortunately, we were not very lucky with the weather: it rained every day at least half the day and we hardly saw any sunshine. The village was wet, but still beautiful and cheery with lots of lush green plants laden with gorgeous summer blooms and colourful flower baskets dotted around whitewashed houses. The Honey Pot, an irresistible delicatessen shop, and The Kings Arms, probably our favourite village pub  Flag Street, one of the most charming Hawkshead streets A typical ...