Vesna Armstrong Photography

I've just processed a few images of the Hollens Farm Cottage for a submission to Trevillion Images, and thought I'd write a blog post about them too. The 19th century farmhouse was our abode while on a week's holiday in Grasmere last month. I have written about the cottage back in January, so this time I shall just add a few more photographs I took in February. The table in the charming, authentic, olde worlde  kitchen where we had our meals and played games. It was Valentine's Day on the second day of our stay, hence the red roses in the old earthenware pot. The cheering log burner and fire our friend David look after each night and made sure the room was toasty and the atmosphere cosy. One of the two armchairs in the sitting room matching the Chesterfield sofa under the window. On the seat there is the map of the Lake District we were perusing on a daily basis. The lovely little window on the landing upstairs with a bookcase underneath. The win...

I love working on seasons still lifes, but it has been a few years since I created an Easter one. Inspiration does not always come spontaneously, and when it doesn't, I don't push myself. I prefer to wait till it happens naturally. This year I started thinking about Easter still life back in February. I thought I'd get a floppy straw hat and tie some colourful ribbon around its brim. And then I would pair it with some daffodils and also use my lovely French shopping basket. But I could not find a hat I liked and realized I did not need one after all. If I used my white chiffon scarf and vintage gloves there would be more than enough props for a pleasing and impactive composition. Daffodils were a must use, from the start they were going to be "the life and soul" of the image. I chose the ones with orange centres because the orange adds an extra cheerful note to the yellow flowers. I love my rosewood console table, which I use as tabletop for many of my still life...

I am so pleased to be posting about Haworth again. Thursday was the first day this year that I finally managed to get there. How I missed the place! It was such a glorious early spring day, St Patrick's day, and also anniversary of the Reverend Patrick Bronte's birthday, the father of the genius literary sisters. There was so much I wanted to do but I decided the main purpose of the visit was to see the new "Charlotte Great and Small" Exhibition set up in celebration of Charlotte's 200th birthday next month. It is a very good and interesting exhibition, taking place in the Charlotte's room, Children's Study and Bonnell Room at the Parsonage. It is curated by the novelist Tracey Chevalier. On display are Charlotte's clothes, personal possessions, manuscripts, a love letter etc., all so fascinating to see. I am glad the exhibition will stay on till Christmas as I want to see it again. Haworth will be hosting many other events to mark Charlotte's bi...

I must admit my favourite props for still life work are the usual, classic flowers and fruit. I suppose the reason is their natural beauty - colours, shapes and textures that lend themselves well to a poetic and artistic depiction. However, sometimes it is a good challenge to try something different. Interesting objects can make for an appealing still life too. Being a vintage and antiques lover I have a few shelves in my study where I display small, old and vintage objects picked up at charity shops, antiques centres and fairs, car boot sales etc. A lot of them are bought with a still life photography shoot in mind. So occasionally I turn for inspiration to these little treasures as well as other larger things around my home. I found the wooden toy rocking horse in a charity shop and the bobbins in the "Oh la la" vintage shop in Haworth. I like the parallels between these objects: they are all made of wood; they echo the red and green colour in each other; the bobbins ...

On day two of our lovely holiday in the Lakes we woke up to a glorious morning. There were pristine blue skies with hardly a cloud in sight promising great weather throughout the day. We thought we'd just stay local and do a walk around Rydal Water which lies very close to Grasmere lake. This is the heart of Wordsworth Country where he lived and wrote his poetry from 1813 till his death in 1850. I am very much taken by the Wordsworths and love getting a glimpse into what their life was like, and exploring sights from which they derived inspiration. This is one of the reasons why I keep coming back to this part of the Lake District, the other being that after seeing 7 out of its 16 bodies of water Grasmere and Rydal remain the most beautiful ones for me. The walk, chosen from the little book I bought the day before in Elterwater village, starts at the Pelter Bridge car park, just outside Rydal village, but we found that even on a Februrary weekday the car park gets full early so w...

Last Saturday we came back from a lovely, relaxing seven day break in the Lake District. We stayed in my favourite Grasmere and shared the delightful Hollens Farm Cottage with our dear friends Liz and Dave. The weather was very good, especially the first couple of days. It only rained on our last day but by then it did not matter any more as we had already done a lot of walking, and we were more than happy to stay at the cottage just enjoying its old fashioned charm. I did not take as many photos as I would have done if I had not been in company, but I did end up with quite a few shots to process and share. It was a socializing and resting holiday in the first place; we all had a great time, and I would not change anything about it. Sunday, our first full day, was Valentine's day and also Liz's birthday. It was a beautiful, sunny day so we decided to start our holiday with a nice walk somewhere none of us had been before. We chose this walk from my little pocket size, much l...

As our next visit to Grasmere this month is fast approaching I have been getting more and more excited and have started planning our walks and thinking about what photos I would like to take this time. I still have quite a few shots from our previous trip last spring on my hard drive waiting to be edited and shared, so I thought now is a perfect time to do that. This is a random shot taken not around Grasmere, but the adjacent Rydal lake. It is the only image I took on the day because of persistent rain. In order not to waste the day due to bad weather we decided to visit the fascinating Rydal Mount - the home of the poet William Wordsworth for the last three decades of his life. I came across this storybook scene while walking around the grounds of the house. I thought the little hut looked magic in the woodland clearing, surrounded by the luscious green of the early spring leaves with a smudge of red in the middle. The following day was fine, although a bit nippy, with b...