Vesna Armstrong Photography

Here are a few images of the farm animals I found at Lane End Farm in Tong village. They were taken back in February and were one of the first iPhone images I took, but I've just processed them now. I decided to crop them square and wonder if the quality would have been much better if I took them in square format in the first place. But, at the time of taking these shots I had a different composition in mind and only afterwards felt square crop actually worked better. One of many good sides of using square crop is that square images appear much larger on social media sites than rectangular ones. The processing apps I used here are Snapseed and PhotoToaster; I must say I'm falling in love with monochrome photography all over again, even if it's only about converting digital images into black & white. It is amazing what the absence of colour can do, especially if you are able to come up with good monochrome tones. There are a few lovely working farms w...

In my previous post I blogged about a great black and white photography exhibition by Helen Burrow, entitled " A Brontë Reader ", which I went to see in Halifax. Despite being a city child, these days I don't go visiting large towns and cities unless they hold something specifically of interest to me, and to be honest, my passion for photography doesn't include anything to do with cities and large towns. Halifax is a typical West Yorkshire, Calderdale town, but it does have a couple of distinctive and attractive landmarks that made me want to reach for my iPhone to take pics. Helen Burrow's exhibition left me in sheer awe and tempted me to edit the photos I took on the day in black and white. It is at times like this that I miss having a film camera and a darkroom I used to have in the 80's when I first took up photography. Times are different now and I'm having to stick to digital photography. To convert these images in black and white I used the PhotoTo...

It had been a while since I was at a photography exhibition; the truth is that there are not very many taking place around here where I live in Leeds, or at least I don't hear about them. So I was very pleased and excited to learn about Helen Burrow 's photo exhibition running in Dean Clough, Halifax, 9 February - 21 April 2019. What was specially interesting for me is that the photographs are based on Haworth and places associated with the literary Brontë family of whom I am a huge fan. On the first opportunity I took a bus to Halifax and paid my very first visit to the fascinating Dean Clough, a group of 19th century factory buildings, presently used to house various art exhibitions and business venues. Here is a glimpse and a taste of Helen's exhibition which, of course, cannot be compared to the experience of viewing it at the gallery, but it can give a rough idea to those who are unable to attend in person. I personally was very impressed by what I saw. It was ...

Last Sunday the weather here in Yorkshire was incredibly nice for this time of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the warmest and sunniest February day on record. I must admit it was a bit shocking, and I wasn't sure what to make of it, but the truth is that it was a stunningly beautiful late winter/early spring day. And I was so grateful to be able to pay my first visit of the year to Haworth, the place where I need to go to as often as I can; the place where my heart tells me to go to; the place where my soul finds respite and my mind inspiration for everything I do/want to do in my life; this is where my home will be in a not so distant future, I hope. There was a lot I wanted to fit in a still short winter day: a walk on the moor; a visit to Brontë Parsonage where a new exhibition opened at the beginning of the month; a look around the Main Street shops, and a hearty meal and relaxing moment in one of the village's cosy haunts before I headed back to Leeds. An...

After years of refraining ourselves from getting a dog we are finally in a position to own one, and I am very happy to say that ten days ago we got a gorgeous Border Terrier puppy we named Midge. It is a very positive, life changing experience for us in so many ways. We now have a new family member and a precious companion; someone to shower with love, care and attention. We will now spend a lot more time outside and I am so looking forward to this. I cannot wait for Midge to be ready to go out for his first walk in about two weeks time; I cannot wait for all of us to explore together the great outdoors and the nature. And I am so excited by the prospect of further developing my love for seasons and the ever changing nature. Like every dog owner I intend to take lots of photos of my dog. However, so far pet and animal photography hasn't really been my area of interest. I have never been much of a portrait photographer at all. Prefering to have time to compose my images leisu...

I'm not really into Valentine's Day, but I am always inspired by seasons and occasions, so here is some work I have done recently with forthcoming Valentine's Day in mind. I loved playing with my new iPhone and particularly using Snapseed and Mextures apps for post processing.

Tong village lies on the border of Leeds and Bradford cities and about 15 minutes drive from where I live. It's a rather pretty rural place with a nice country pub, the "Greyhound" and a great garden centre where I used to work. I often meet my friend from Birkenshaw at the Greyhound for lunch and on this cold but beautiful January day we celebrated his birthday there. Before heading back home I made sure I caught the last of the winter sunlight with my iPhone. Who says winter isn't beautiful?! Well, I certainly love it, just like I do every other season, each month having its own distinctive charm the ever changing nature bestows upon it.