Now and Then

On my desktop I have over 600 photos from Freshwinds Garden taken this year. 

It is showing as a continuous slideshow.

I have been astonished at the changes, which day to day, happen slowly.

But when they are placed side by side, it is quite staggering.

It has taken quite a while to pair these up and I`m just sorry that some of the pairs are not all from the same direction.

I hope you enjoy them.

I may do some more.

 

 

 

My Photography Lesson

For my birthday, my Jabbitt relations gave me a photography lesson with Craig Payne.

 

www.facebook.com/craigpaynephotography

Craig recently did a photo shoot with my niece, Hazel, along with her two horses and the two dogs.

(one of his specialities) .

This too, was a present from her family.

I think this is my favourite from that shoot. It epitomizes Hazel`s love of her animals and the joy she gets from working with them.

 Steve, would say I am always complaining about my cameras, but the truth is, I didn`t know enough about the settings. Most of my editting has been done on the computer.
I guess it was just time for me to bite the bullet and get down to it.

I have often thought about joining a class but this never materialised because I always wondered which class I would choose. My learning needs were rather specific.
So a one to one lesson was perfect for me.

Craig arrived on Thursday afternoon ..... a very pleasant and personable young man with an interest in many things. The conversation ranged across ancient crafts, such as corn dolly making and spinning, gardening......dahlias, straw flowers and vegetables.......yurting and of course photography.

I wanted to learn how to use the full potential of my camera(s)
and
I wanted to get a basic understanding of settings.

First of all Craig had to familiarise himself with my 3 cameras and once we had decided which one was going to give the best results, we were off. I took notes, but luckily Craig has written a booklet which has helped me to  consolidate what I learned.
I read it over breakfast today.
I will be referring to it again and again as I experiment.

Well I enjoyed my lesson very much and felt fully at ease, especially when asking rather basic questions. Nothing was too much trouble for Craig.
He was able to adjust his teaching techniques to match my learning style which was most impressive.
When I didn`t quite "get it," he approached it from different angles and gave examples and analogies.

Today I had the chance to experiment......

.....in my garden.....

  I also visited Fairlight Hall`s Plant Fair.

Here are some of my contrasting results.

I have a lot of experimentation that I still want to do, followed by plenty of consolidation.
It may take some time but I hope my photography will improve and that I can wean myself off the auto button.
Many thanks to the Jabbitts for a great birthday present
and
many thanks to Craig for a brilliant lesson.
I highly recommend them.
Altogether a most enjoyable experience.
Please see the link above for details of lessons.

Pumpkins and Bargains

This is a good time of the year to find gardening bargains.

Half price stainless steel trowels....

...half price violas....

....all seeds at 50p......some REAL bargains here.

Likewise in Poundland, packs of bulbs for .... yes....£1 a pack!!

At the garden, the sun was shining, with people still arriving and 

departing from the yurts and shepherd`s hut....with promises to return.

Steve fed the rabbits and guinea pigs with a rarely found dandelion.....no weeds in our gardens ha ha.

 

I spent most of my time weeding this bed and trying to pull the sunflowers back into position.

I cut the edges and weeded the path. Lots of fungi sprouting up now.

There was helichrysum to pick.....

......green manure to sow...

 

 .....pumpkins to harvest....

 .....and flowers to pick.

There are still flowers hanging on despite colder nights.

We`ve started to clear the polytunnel. The growth is phenomenal.

We still have plenty of aubergines and chillis.

Here are a couple of views from today.