Last year was the first time that I’d planted fritillaries, like the ones above. And I’m delighted to say that they started to bloom in our front garden this week.
I brought some inside too and they’ve turned out to be very long-lasting.
Here’s what I’ve been up to this week…
Out & about
Monday
Easter Monday and my mum, who was staying, helped me plant lots of sweet peas in pots.
Also, as it was a bit of a rainy day, we all chilled out in the afternoon watching dvds, with cups of tea and chocolate eggs…
Tuesday & Wednesday
Wrote blog posts and dealt with emails. Also put together a draft page for my column in the summer issue of Heart Home magazine.
Spent time tweaking my Facebook page. Many thanks to everyone who’s ‘liked’ my Flowerona page so far.
Thursday
I’ve been using my digital SLR camera for over a year now and have been shooting mostly using aperture priority to get lovely blurry backgrounds.
But sometimes, when I’m taking photos inside at exhibitions or trying to capture white flowers, I’m finding that some of my images are overexposed which means that they lose detail.
So a very kind professional photographer friend offered to take me through using the manual mode on my camera whilst taking photos of flowers at the fabulous Kew Gardens.
And here are a couple of images from our time there…
Taking beautiful photos is such a skill and I have so much admiration for professional photographers.
There’s a great deal to consider before pressing the shutter release button…ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, composition, light, wind, pristine flowers, etc.
I so enjoyed our time at Kew. For me, when I’m looking through the viewfinder, it’s like entering another world, you’re so focused on getting that perfect shot.
I still have a very long way to go…and I’ll be putting all I learnt into practice this weekend!
Friday
Wrote blog posts and dealt with emails.
At home
Reading…
- Floristry & Wholesale Buyer magazine
- Living Etc magazine
Listening to…
- Sheryl Crow’s album, 100 Miles from Memphis
- Heart FM
- Classic FM
Most popular blog post this week on Flowerona
Book review, Q&A & competition…Laetitia Maklouf’s new book ‘Sweet Peas for Summer’
And you have until April 27th to enter the competition to win your very own signed copy of Laetitia’s book. Simply sign up for my monthly newsletter on my About page.
Guest blog post
On the Heart Home blog this week, I featured a new vase collection from Villeroy and Boch.
Twitter links
Here’s just a selection. Simply click on the purple hyperlink:
- Peony heaven at this wedding shoot via Style Me Pretty
- Beautiful floral finds via Dear Designer’s Blog
- Love this Gwendoline Flower Dress from French Connection
- Bold & colourful floral wallpaper from Anthropologie via Bright Bazaar
- Beautiful images of rustic wedding shoot by Segerius Bruce
- Floral print inspiration from Elizabeth Anne Designs
- Lovely wedding blooms including anemones from Fairy Nuff Flowers
So, I hope you have a lovely weekend whatever your plans…
(Images : Van Meuwen, Rona Wheeldon for Flowerona, Bloomsbury, Villeroy & Boch)
Thank you so much for linking up, Rona. Your photographs from Kew are lovely. I too have had an SLR for about a year and I’m enjoying learning as often as I can. Hope to see you soon!
You’re very welcome Will. Perhaps we can share photography tips the next time we meet up
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