April in the garden - i
I’ll be sharing with you little details from my garden here as long as I can. I finally have time to really observe every tiny bit of the garden through my lens. I hope you enjoy it.
Cove Harbour - Scotland
The moment Storm Dennis arrived in Scotland, I stopped at the wee parking in Cove and went for a walk after a long drive up from England.
Christmas Wreath Class with Swallows and Damsons
I consider myself very lucky as I often work with the country’s most experienced and creative florists. I’ve always admired the work of Anna Potter of Swallows and Damsons but I’ve never had the chance to meet or let alone learn from her. My lucky day has come and so my December started the best way possible when I went to her Christmas Wreath class.
Anna’s class was held at the Samuel Worth Chapel in Sheffield situated in a beautiful cemetery.
There were wreaths too but Anna’s presence was most inspirational.
Ah yes, there was mulled wine and mince pie too. And off I go.
And two hours later, there was my wreath. I really like it and just to know that I made it makes me really proud. Despite it not being a the shape of a perfect circle, ops.
I’d like to say a special thank you to Honeysuckle and Hilda who kindly offered me this class because she knew how much I’d love it. We went to the class together and the drive through the frosty Peak District was very scenic. The perfect start to December.
Gingerbread
Last year I created a gingerbread recipe book. I updated it with some new images this year.
Click on the image to download your Gingerbread recipe book. Happy baking!
Debbie George at Green and Gorgeous
I first came across Debbie and her work via Alan Callander. He made this wonderful video of Debbie, look. Then I started to follow Debbie on Instagram and have been admiring her work form far.
But when Debbie came to teach her magic skills at Green and Gorgeous Flower Farm, I was so happy I could finally meet her. The course was so super relaxed and colourful and floral and just, well, perfect. Let me show you ..
First, Rachel showed the class around the gardens where everyone could pick the flowers they wanted to paint.
Flower arranging with Honeysuckle and Hilda
It’s a very quiet Saturday afternoon in our little Oxfordshire village. It’s snowing. Several times I make my way to the dining room. Not to eat but to admire my floral arrangement and pinch myself! I still cannot believe I made it! How lucky I am to have been able to participate at the flower arranging class given by the super stylish Claire of Honeysuckle and Hilda. Claire organised the class in the ever-so beautiful village of Hambleden. A village I absolutely love and that is not short of cute cottages and rolling hills everywhere you look. It’s only a twenty-minute drive away from where I live and I often go there, especially when the cow parsley covers the churchyard. Now back to March ..
The class was held in the village hall and people came from all parts of England. After everyone introduced themselves, I got a bit intimidated as everyone was a florist with years and years of experience between them. There was a moment (or two) where I wanted to run away and cry but I had my camera with me and that calmed me down, as always. And then I returned to my arrangement and kept working on it. When I arrived at the village hall that morning, I spotted the fritillaria persica and I knew I wanted that flower to be the centre piece of my arrangement. Claire’s signature flower is amaryllis that she always arranges so wonderfully and I almost felt bad I didn’t use that flower but I’m sure she didn’t mind. So yes, fritillaria persica and with many other Spring flowers. The arrangements all turned out so beautifully, as expected, and I was fascinated by how we all made arrangements so different yet quite similar. Clearly the influence of the class and Claire’s style.
Enough of words, I let the photos speak for themselves. There are photos of the class too but I’ll share those with you once Claire has written her blog post about it too.
Also, here’s how all our arrangements looked like. Well, one thing is for sure. I love flowers even more but I’ll stay behind the camera and take photos of them rather than working with them every day.
The Old Year
The old year. One not to forget about. One of the biggest years in my life with some big changes and 6 months on, I can finally say that I’ve moved on and it feels so good. But let’s start from the beginning. I won’t go into all the details but I’d like to give you a very nice flowery idea of how my year was.
The year started with snowdrops and daffodils and the instant urge of wanting to garden right away. Luckily, it started early as I signed up for a Propagation Class at Green & Gorgeous Flowers and oh my, it was one of the most useful and informative classes I’ve ever had. Not to mention the seeds and dahlias I came home with and that covered the garden that year. This class is on
Spring also brought my first printed images in House&Garden. The images I worked on the year before again, with Green and Gorgeous Flowers. It was such an excitement! And it went on until dahlias in September. Have a look how these articles looked like. Some of these 6 articles have recently been published by House & Garden South Africa as well, so happy!
In May, I travelled to Italy with House&Garden where I photographed a garden and you can see it in their April issue so check that one out soon! While in Italy, we stayed in Sermoneta, look how beautiful this little town is.
By May, I used up almost all of my public holidays as I worked full time and I took holidays for my shoot days. I had worked for this company for 10 years and it was my second ever job and I loved it a lot, it was almost like a small family to me(before it really started to expand) and I travelled a lot thanks to work, so yes, on one hand it was a very very good job but on the other hand, my heart was in photography and the day came when I had to decide which one to choose. I cried all day on my last day and it took me months to let it go. But with the new year coming, I finally did!
Due to this fact, our only holiday last year was a quick trip of 5 days to Copenhagen. It officially became my favourite city (maybe only because I haven’t been to Stockholm yet?) so yes, have a look at some of my photos here and here. We also went to Sweden for a day where we visited a wonderful museum.
That Summer, I wrote a little article for 91 magazine, you can read it here. I also started a collaboration with Botanika Floral in Sussex . We’re working on something flowery and creative that you’ll be able to see at the end of this year. I’m also I’m coming around to Bea’s if you sign up to her classes and would like a photographer to take photos of your floral creations, here are more details.
During Summer and Autumn, I photographed a beautiful garden in Somerset. I can’t say much about it just yet but I’ll let you know as soon as I can. It was such amazing experience - and I really can’t describe it - being so close to nature and still in a garden designed by a wonderfully talented garden designer and the two being in perfect harmony. More on this, later this year!
Summer also brought a beautiful collaboration of Blue Tin Produce and The Mill at Cuxham. I loved photographing this very relaxed, so friendly, super super delicious and beautiful-countrysidey event.
I also did some styled shoots, including one in a beautiful country house. My super talented stylist neighbour was the stylist and it was again such a great experience, when you’re tired but still full of energy at the same time? We used a lot of ceramics from local artist Joanna Oliver’s ceramics for this shoot and also textiles from Jill Waite.
I was commissioned by The English Garden magazine to photograph an article of a wood-magician as I call him, this is in their current January 2018 issue.
Lucky me, I got to spend some time at Soho Farmhouse as a photographer. Just getting there from where I live, it’s always a magic trip itself, deep in the Cotswolds. Not something I can really share but you can see some images here. Well, just imagine a relaxed and stylish environment..
I started the year with a class and finished the year with a class. The finishing one was a Winter wreath class with Botanika Florals. I learnt so much and I’m very grateful for Bea for this class.
At the end of the year, when you get into the festive mood, I also created a gingerbread recipe book that you can still download here but also, you can read about it in the Chilterns Food Magazine. It’s only my photos but professional words of their editor.
There was so much more there, including the remarkable ladies at Pyrus botanicals in Scotland, the lots of private gardens I had the chance to visit and photograph, I’m forever grateful for those who let me in their private space. I photographed for local businesses too, that sometimes included freezing cold mornings but just loved every second of those shoots too.
To remember the year and keep flowers around us all year, I created this calendar. Thank you for everyone who ordered one.
So yes, and the new year is here already, there will be definitely flowers but not only those! I’ll certainly keep you posted. If you like seeing my work and what I do, do come and read the blog or if you’d like me to come and photograph for you, do get in touch!
Happy New Year!
