Happy New Year!

2010 was an absolutely awesome year for me - on the photography front.

During 2009, I completed a photography project, photographing National Garden Scheme owners, on their open days, together with views and plant portraits of their gardens. I donated the photographs to the NGS  and was very surprised to receive an invitation to the launch of their 2010 book and even more surprised to find 4 of my photographs in the yellow book.

                                                                           Wild Garlic

                                                                 Aquilegia Nora Barlow


I photographed NGS gardens in 2010 and donated my photographs once again, to this very worthy cause.
I cannot tell you the absolute pleasure I get from photographing plants and gardens. I work in a studio 5 days a week, so getting out into the fresh air and capturing the beauty of plants fills me with such joy!

My love of gardening and garden photography bought another fabulous opportunity for me in 2010 and that was to write an online gardening blog for the local newspaper the Bournemouth Echo. Although I have been gardening for many years, vegetable growing is still quite new for me, so this blog is about my trials and tribulations in the garden and includes my garden photography.

After thinking about starting a portrait photography business for the last two years, it all came together at the end of 2010. My love of photography started with photographing portraits 15 years ago, so to re-kindle that love has been so much fun.

So what will 2011 bring?

Well, my good friend Darren Hackett and I have started Mirus Wedding Photography.

We have assisted each other when photographing weddings over the past couple of years, so we thought we would join forces under one banner.

We are the perfect team. I love photographing the brides preparations and finding the small details to photograph and Darren is brilliant at the big stuff. Getting people together, making people laugh, he is one of a kind!

Oooh I am so excited for 2011.
Albert Einstein said
'Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions'.
and I am imagining some super times ahead.

Bright Winter Blessings

Today is the winter solstice. The sun is re-born and we can welcome it back to the northern hemisphere, where it has been greatly missed.

This time of year is not usually my favourite but for the first time in many years, I am welcoming the Yule tide festivities. It's all part of the cycle of the seasons and if you do not enjoy the commercialisation, then give that bit a miss. No more bah humbug from me!

The snow has bought chaos to the UK (although we do seem to thrive on something to moan about in this country) We simply cannot fight nature and the sooner we realise this and work with her instead of against, the easier life will become.

Our solstice celebrations had to be cancelled this year but no matter, we all did our own thing at home - gave thanks for the year that's been and wished for peace and harmony for the year to come.

I have been so busy out of the garden these past few weeks. My new blogsite for my children's photography has been launched www.louisejolleyphotography.com which is rather exciting. I absolutely love taking portraits, so it really is a joy to do.


In the garden, I have dug up the parsnips for Christmas dinner. They aren't very pretty but when removed from the frozen ground, they smelt so sweet, I cannot wait to eat them.

I leave you with a couple of photographs taken in the garden at the weekend and wish you happy gardening in 2011.

                                                              Viburnum tinged with ice

                                                         Hydrangea bract covered in ice

The beauty of Stourhead Gardens and capturing the little ones

                                                                   Stourhead Gardens

I have been spending so much time at the computer, creating my new website, that I felt it was time to get some fresh air on my face and to enjoy the autumnal display, before it was over for another year.

Today we went to Stourhead Gardens in Wiltshire, like the rest of the southwest I think!
 It was rather busy but that didn't effect our enjoyment. Everyone had their cameras at the ready to capture the amazing views. The above photograph is very rare for me. I don't usually do landscapes, preferring the closer detail but I just had to capture this one.

Whilst everyone was photographing the magnificent trees, I spotted the most amazing lichen on a branch.

                                                                      Lichen on a branch

and whilst everyone was traipsing along the path, not really looking closely, I saw this heart shaped stump.

There is so much more to see when you look really closely.

Although I have photographed the humble hydrangea many times, I am always compelled to photograph their papery flowers. 

                                                                            Hydrangea

I have had an amazing time these past few weeks, photographing children for my new portrait business.

I have been thinking about doing this for the past 2 years and have finally found the courage to go ahead with my ideas.

I used to work with children many years ago and had an absolute ball, so tying that up with my photography is the perfect match.

My style of photography is contemporary. I have taken my lead from the American children's portrait scene which is much more relaxed and less posed than the British.

Whilst my website is under construction, I have a facebook page which I would love you to visit and 'Like' if you do, of course. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poole-United-Kingdom/Louise-Jolley-Photography/113059648757957
Just a small sample of my images. There will be lots more on my website plus lots of information about the products I will be offering, how you can display them plus the current trends in wall decoration.

A busy, busy time but there is method in my madness.

Photographing plants and children, just makes my heart sing. After practising my craft for the past 15 years, or so, I finally feel in control. Well as in control as you can be when photographing little ones. You just have to go with the flow.

My love of photography started with the portraits taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson. I photographed my children when they were little and then turned to objects which didn't move, loving their predictability. I have now turned full circle and just love the unpredictability of photographing children. Photographing that moment, whilst they keep still for just a second or two, if I'm lucky and capturing their personality, in an image, which will last a lifetime.

                                                             Louise Jolley Photography

Neglectful but not wasteful

My blog postings have been a little thin on the ground this summer. There is an explanation for this and that is I have been writing a gardening blog for my local newspapers website The Daily Echo.
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/blogs/grow_your_own/

It is said that women are good at multi tasking but I think I was at the back of the queue when they were handing out that skill!

So although I have neglected this blog, I haven't been wasteful with my time.

I have been picking tomatoes, like they are going out of fashion. We have made oodles of tomato sauce for pasta, sun-dried (oven-dried really) tomatoes, to remind me of warm summer days in the winter and some scrumptious tomato soup, courtesy of a Sarah Ravens recipe.http://www.sarahraven.com/learn/this-month-in-kitchen/cleopatras-tomato-soup I have picked loads and given lots to my family and there are still plenty more for picking.

                                                     Tomatoes ripening on the greenhouse bench

The squashes are ripening and the raspberries are dripping from their stems; so its time for jam making.

My recipe of choice is Hugh's (Fearnley-Whittingstall) raspberry fridge jam, from Pam Corbin's river cottage book. It's so easy and what I love about it, is that it uses less sugar than regular jam so this means once opened you need to keep it in the fridge.

Today I have been cutting back the lavender, which is still smelling gorgeous. I felt all relaxed in the autumn sun, which still had warmth in it but not for long, with the passing of the autumnal equinox, darkness is on its way.

There are still plenty of flowers in the garden. The dahlias are still flowering their socks off and the sunflowers are hanging on in there. The bonus of planting them up late.

                                                                  Sunflower

Knautia

 macedonica

All my photography for the National  Garden Scheme, is done and dusted and I am hoping they will want to use them again, to help promote a very worthy cause. They have used one of my images to promote a Mary Berry cake recipe on their website, which made me very proud.
http://www.ngs.org.uk/news-features/features/classic-cakes.aspx

My garden photography is still my biggest passion but this summer I have rekindled my love of portraiture.

                                                                                        Engagement Photography

                                                                                    Wedding Photography (obviously!)

                                                                Children's photography courtesy of my gorgeous nephew Tono

Lots more about my new venture over the coming months but until then I shall be enjoying my garden and taking in every minute I can before it starts to fade before my eyes and the winter chill sets in.

Three Men Went To Mow: The Gibberd Garden

Mr Alexander-Sinclair and friends have been having fun and have filmed it for our enjoyment.

You can watch it here: Three Men Went To Mow Part 10: The Gibberd Garden

My garden is so damn tasty!

On each trip to the bottom of my garden, I return laden with produce. The raspberry canes are starting to produce luscious red fruits, which I wash and then pop in the freezer until I have enough to make some jam.

My blueberries are an absolute success. They were only planted last year, so this is the first year I am picking them and they are so delicious, I am going to grow lots more next year.

The courgettes are still abundant and I am using them to make courgette fritters, which take minutes to make and are delicious with a chili dipping sauce.

I have just picked my first crop of green beans, some climbing up canes and others clambering up the sweetcorn. I think they are quite late this year, I'm sure I picked them earlier last year and the purple beans, which were planted the same time as the green variety are only just appearing out of the flowers.

Green Beans

As far as flavour is concerned, my greenhouse tomatoes are a triumph. I have never tasted tomatoes so sweet, and delicious from any supermarket.

Tomato Legend

My 3 sisters bed is coming along splendidly. Some of the leaves of the squashes have turned a little yellow. I think this is down to my sandy soil, which is just not holding onto nutrients. I think a little feed of Epsom salts should do the trick, to boost the magnesium levels. That said, I have some sweet squashes appearing, and as my family absolutely love butternut squash, I think they will be looking forward to eating them.

Young butternut squash
In the flower garden, the sunflowers are just starting to make an appearance. These were quite late going into the ground, so I am going to be enjoying them when most peoples have already gone over.

Sunflower bud
My recent birthday has been filled with the joys of gardening. We took a trip to RHS Wisley, which was absolutely gorgeous. I haven't been to Wisley for at least 10 years, so I really enjoyed revisiting the flagship garden of the RHS. The long borders with the Henry Moore sculpture at the top of the hill are amazing. The colours and textures of the plants are wonderful.

A piece of the long border at Wisley

Echinacea at Wisley
My other gardening birthday joys were three gardening books. The lovely Alys Fowlers' book from my sister in law and I went a bit mad for my favourite gardener Carol Klein with her book on propagation, from my sister and Carols book on growing fruit from me!

Is there anything more wonderful than gardening?
A feast for the eye and the tummy!

An afternoon of cricket: River Cottage v Gardeners' World

I love the drive from my home in Poole, to Devon. Through the leafy countryside and chocolate box villages, like Winterbourne Abbas and Chidock and I still get excited when I see the sea sparkling all the way along the Jurassic coast around to Torquay, on a clear day, which thankfully Saturday was.

The trip was made all the more lovely, with the prospect of a cricket match to watch. Now, if I am honest, I don't really know much about the game or can say that I enjoy it. No, the reason I was looking forward to the match so much, was the prospect of seeing Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Joe Swift, Toby Buckland and a cream tea.

I have met Hugh and Joe before and they are such lovely chaps, so I was hoping to meet Toby and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Joe Swift, Toby Buckland and me grinning like a crazy fool

The afternoons fun and games, was organised to raise money for Thrive http://www.thrive.org.uk/ A charity which helps people with disabilities, recovering from an illness or accident, to find practical ways to garden. Everyone who gardens knows how good it is for mind, body and soul.

We were treated to a glass of delicious elderflower sparkling wine and I'm glad it was so quaffable, as I won two bottles in the raffle.

Toby Buckland

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Joe Swift

The hospitality which River Cottage provides, is always lovely and this event was no exception, with high tea being served, finger sandwiches, delicious cake and scrumptious cream teas (you could help yourself to the most delicious jam I have ever tasted and clotted cream) it really was a spread fit for a king!

           Joe Swift, Mark Diacono and Toby Buckland enjoying a spot of tea

River Cottage won the match but no one was disappointed. We all had fun watching the match in the sunshine and eating our picnics and  I wouldn't be surprised if there was a return match next year. Maybe I should learn the rules in case this happens; on second thoughts I'll leave it to Andy to tell me what's going on, life's too short!