Jill Ferry

Pink Rose

Pink Rose

I was hunting for something to process the other day when I came across this rose image. It’s a nice enough photo untextured but with the addition of just one texture the mood and look have been changed completely.  I could have added softer textures and used a different blending mode and got a totally different feel, this is what I love about textures.

Cup of blues

Cup of blues

It’s no secret that I love my blue hydrangeas, unfortunately I have trouble growing them, they all seem to revert to pink unless I sprinkle Aluminium Sulphate around the plant and I’m hopeless at remembering to do this, the result, pink hydrangeas this year! So while I was out on one of my daily walks I appropriated a small sprig of this beautiful blue specimen which was growing over a fence by the footpath,  put it in a tiny cup and shot from directly above.

Pretty

Pretty

It’s been a while since we’ve had some floral prettiness here on the blog!  This was taken in our New Zealand spring a few months back. The flowers grow over the fence just down the hill from where I live and I couldn’t resist picking a sprig while passing, I’ve no idea what they are but they’re a beautiful subject, especially when paired with one of my little oriental styled teacups.

Catlins

Catlins

During the recent summer holidays we paid a visit to the Catlins, a beautiful unspoilt coastal area to the south of Dunedin. The day we visited it wasn’t very summery, but looking on the bright side, the overcast showery conditions did lead to wonderfully moody photos, the kind that are so good for texturing. After a walk to Jacks Blowhole  (stunning coastal views but a fairly chilly walk since I was dressed for summer); we stopped for lunch at a bay at the mouth of the Catlins River

Winter Rose

Winter Rose

t’s been a while..sorry! Blame holidays and suchlike. You’ll be pleased to know spring is finally starting to spring here in southern New Zealand (though it doesn’t feel much like it today)! There’s not a great deal in flower in my garden yet, but the Hellebores more commonly called winter roses are in flower, they start flowering midwinter and brighten the garden when there’s not much else around. I picked some and discovered they aren’t the best as cut flowers but before they drooped I did manage to photograph them.

Feather Light

Feather Light

I got a new macro lens for my lovely little SonyA7 a couple of weeks and I can definitely say that it’s money well spent! It’s a Sony 90mm F2.8 and the results are beautifully clear and sharp and it has wonderful bokeh. I’m looking forward to having more time to play with it. In the meantime, since flowers are in short supply here with it being winter, I’ve been taking macros of anything that catches my eye, kitchen tools, fences, things from the workshop and feathers!

Hydrangea Blue

Hydrangea Blue

Not another hydrangea I hear you saying 🙂 I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many! They’re such photogenic flowers especially my favourite blue variety. This was textured with a mix of old and new Flypapers, one texture came from our ever popular Summer painterly pack and one from the brand new Distressed Painterly.

New pears

New pears

Sorry about our long absence here on the blog, we do have a good excuse though, we’re excited to announce we’re busily working on a wonderful  new pack!! You’ll be pleased to know it’s almost ready for launch so keep an eye out for the “mailer” with the details and if you’re not already on our mailing list there’s a joining form HERE!

Blue

Blue

You’ll be pleased to know that the Hydrangea that I planted last season has remained blue! So I’m happy! I’m now hoping the bush will grow a bit bigger now and have a mass of flowers to brighten a fairly bland corner of my garden. While we’re on the hydrangea subject, I was given another hydrangea bush for Christmas which I planted it at our country hut. Unfortunately when the river that borders the property is low, the sheep from the paddock over the fence can get in via the river bank and this is what they did a month or so back. They ate everything; hosta, roses, flax bushes, potatoes, they even nibbled on

Jam

Jam

I have always made my own jam, usually from produce I’ve grown in my garden. As well as knowing exactly what’s gone into the jar, you get the satisfaction of eating something that’s completely home made (well apart from the sugar that is). The above is a jar of blackcurrant jam and I was delighted to find I’d sold the photo for use as a bookcover via Arcangel Images . The book is  Burnt Toast Makes you sing Good by Kathleen Flinn, here it is on Amazon. I’m adding it to my reading list, I love books like this about food 🙂