Bluebell Cottage Gardens

Hidden away in a little dip in the relatively flat surrounding Cheshire countryside between Warrington and Northwich is a beautiful little garden and nursery called Bluebell Cottage Gardens and Lodge Lane Nursery. The garden is edged on one side by the Trent & Mersey Canal and the peace and quiet is only broken by the occasional chug of a canal boat motor or the distant whistle of a train. I first visited the garden last year after meeting the owner, Sue Beesley, at a charity event in Knutsford last summer. Sue offered to give me display space in her tearoom for my floral images and since then I’ve done a few jobs for her. A few weeks ago Sue asked me to shoot some pictures of her and the gardens for her newly appointed PR agency. Sue won BBC Gardener of the year in 2006 and a silver medal at the RHS show at Tatton Park last year and she and her gardens are increasingly in the media.
This was one of those jobs that you pray for – the weather was perfect (actually too perfect as the bright, sunny conditions made the shoot quite challenging!) and Sue was very relaxed in front of the camera. Shooting a subject who knows a little about photography also helped, as she was very aware of the light and how to position herself in it. The location was superb, with the gardens immaculately presented and spring flowers such as tulips, hellibores and pasque flowers in bloom. As the name of the garden suggests, there is also a profusion of bluebells in the nearby woods and we were keen to capitalise on this. There’s something special and unique about the light in a bluebell wood – the green canopy of leaves filtering the sunlight, the vivid blue haze of the flowers and the muddy brown of the tree trunks and branches. There was a very tranquil feeling in the woods and although the shots are all obviously staged, they come across as very relaxed and natural. Sue’s PR agency also wanted shots of children playing in the woods and my two budding models obliged later in the day. They enjoyed climbing along the falling branches and running along the narrow paths so much that it wasn’t hard to get some candid shots to meet the brief.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

The wonder of babies

Had a wonderful few days last week visiting and photographing babies. I met my great nephew Beanie (no official name yet) for the first time and caught up with Myrtle again, who is six months old and has tripled in size since I last saw her. Baby Beanie is a very welcome addition to the family - his grandfather, Ralph, sadly passed away last year and it's great for everyone to celebrate a new life. Beanie was just 5 days old when we visited and caused much awe in us all, especially the children who I've never seen be so delicate and attentive to anyone or anything. We spent a very peaceful afternoon sitting in the kitchen in the warm spring sunshine, with Beanie content and fast asleep for much of the time. We tried in vain to remember top new baby tips for Lucy and Alan but it's funny how your memory fades. My best piece of advice was to "just go with the flow" for the first few weeks - not that I followed my own advice but I wish I had! Lucy is a graphic designer and has painted the most amazing mural on Beanie's wall - see pics above.

Myrtle is our friends' Gael and Max's baby daughter. I spent a lovely afternoon in their back garden playing with her. She's sitting up now and it's such a lovely interactive stage. She was happy sitting there taking everything in, whether it was next door's cat strolling tantalisingly close by or pulling at blades of grass (and trying to eat them!). Seeing the two babies within such a short period of time really brought it home to me how quickly they grow and change. In just 6 short months Beanie will be sitting up, exploring his surroundings and engaging with people. I can't wait to see them both again to see how they've changed and to photograph them again of course!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Nunsmere Hall Hotel

I first became acquainted with Nunsmere Hall Hotel when my husband booked a surprise overnight stay for our wedding anniversary in 2004. We enjoyed a delicious meal in an intimate dining room and loved our slightly quirky room with its own little staircase and very comfy and luxurious bed. The next morning it was very cold, clear and frosty and after breakfast we strolled around the gardens, taking photographs of the white coated lawns raked with long shadows from the line of trees in front of the lake. Little did I realise at that time that my career would take such a different direction that I would end up photographing the hotel in a professional capacity a few years later. Through my portrait work I met the manager of the hotel, Mark, and his family last year and have photographed them several times now, with the hotel making a spectacular location for the shoots. When we had the so called “snow events” in February Mark invited me to photograph the hotel and grounds and will be featuring the above shot on the cover of the 2009 winter brochure. Other shots have made it into Cheshire Life, one as an advertisement and another (see left) accompanying a feature on top Cheshire restaurants. Mark and his team at Nunsmere Hall are highly professional, but also very friendly and informal and I always enjoy my visits there, whether for business or for pleasure!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

The meaning of Easter

What Easter means to me... usually the first opportunity since Christmas to really stop, relax and spend some quality time with Nic and the kids - without the hectic schedule and stress that inevitably accompanies the build up to Christmas. And this Easter break has been particularly welcome following a period of relentless business travel for Nic and the usual non-stop family and work routine for me. We opted for a caravan site in the Lakes and it's proved to be a real haven - a large site but sprawled over acres of woodland, with lots of tucked away little dells and copses, so it actually feels quite intimate. We are pitched next to a babbling brook, surrounded by wild garlic. Our little campervan and awning look a little like the poor relation to the luxurious caravans and motorhome around us, but we're not short of any home luxuries (if you ignore the fact that we don't have running water because the pump has decided to stop working). The kids are aghast that we only have 4 TV channels, but then they do have a CD player, laptop with mobile broadband and their Nintendo DSs should they need a fix of technology. Whatever happened to playing cards and ludo!? They've been happy to go off on their own, exploring, making dens and playing pooh sticks, although Abigail gets lost without Sam to lead her back again.

With warm, sunny weather this is truely camping at its absolute best - lazing around the campsite, reading and taking the dog for the occasional exploration through the woodland. At the bottom of the site there's a river that's perfect for a spot of paddling - for feet and paws. It's proven to be such an idyllic spot that we haven't ventured off out anywhere else, preferring to stay in our little slice of heaven.

Talking about Heaven, with a capital "H", I eavesdropped on a hilarious conversation between Sam and Abigail at bathtime a few days ago. They have been learning about the real meaning of Easter, but haven't accepted it unquestionningly. Abigail was firmly extolling the truth of the Big Bang theory and the dinosaurs but got confused about where Adam and Eve and Heaven fit in to this, whereas Sam was arguing that he believed that a greater being created the earth and all life on it. He even managed to weave the dinosaurs into a religious framework, having watched an episode of Primeval in which a dinosaur like reptile was worshipped as a god! Nic and I have tried not to influence their beliefs as we would like them to make up their own minds. I suppose it is inevitable that they will be sceptical about the existence of God and Jesus, being brought up in a mainly non-religious environment, other than what they are taught in school. We fall into the agnostic, sitting on the fence classification. Abigail came up with her own terminology for this position, declaring to Sam that she was "comme ci, comme ca" about whether she believed or not! But Jessie the cat, Ursula the next door neighbour and Uncle Ralph are all definitely in Heaven!

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Dressing up

Kids just love dressing up, whether it's in a uniform or fancy dress & we love admiring them. I wonder what age they'll grow out of this - I guess just before they go to high school when the majority become more image conscious and more aware of the need to fit in with their peers - although both have already kicked in with Abigail sometime ago. She's got quite an individual streak but occasionally feels under pressure to be like everyone else. Case in point is her hair, which is short, suits her so well and makes her look gorgeous (in our biased opinion), but occasionally she suddenly feels singled out because of it and wants to be like all her friends. (Please note that decision to go for drastic short hair style was all her own!)

This week saw Sam enrolled at Beavers and proudly wearing his full uniform. I wish I could freeze moments like this, when he is so chuffed to bits with himself. Later, at home, we went from beavers to bunny ears and also conjured up an Easter bonnet for the practise Easter assembly the next day. I had to persuade both of them not to wear them in bed and then had a giggle watching them walk to school wearing them the next morning. It had seemed like a lot of hassle making emergency Easter head gear at 8pm in time for the next day (either I had not read the school note as usual, or the kids hadn't relayed the message to me on time - both very typical of our hectic school week), but looking at the pictures and their faces it was very worthwhile. Whether tissue paper ears and flowers will survive until the actual event is a different matter altogether.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Life, loved ones & lenses

There just aren’t enough hours in the day at the moment! How on earth did I used to hold down a fulltime job and run a family?! The truth is that I didn’t really – I stumbled from one day into the next, prioritising whoever shouted loudest, at home and at work. I used to dream of having the sort of freedom and pressure-free existence that I supposedly now lead. Surely running your own business from home should give a better quality of life and ease the juggling of home and work demands? In many ways it has - writing presentations to pointless deadlines, attending endless meetings and commuting (read "crawling") along the network of Manchester motorways is a thing of the past – thank goodness. I now spend my “workdays” either at the computer editing photographs, printing out jobs, updating the website, emailing (presumably a valid verb these days although it’s arguable whether it’s a valid use of time...), or nipping to see customers, running errands and fitting in walking the dog somewhere in between. This should all be squeezed in to the school hours between 9.15 and 3.00 but somehow time always runs away from me. Lunchtime seems to sneak up on me when I’m convinced it’s still only about 11.00, and then it’s a mere blink of an eye until 3.00 is here and I rush out of the door to collect the little peeps. Then the other part of my day starts, with after-school activities, tea and homework filling the slot from 3.30-7.00 every day. If I’m not falling asleep by 9pm then I’ll do a bit of work or blogging in front of the TV before collapsing into bed. Somewhere between 9.00 & 11.00pm Nic & I are supposed to find some quality "us-time".

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not bemoaning this new way of life – I just need to get a better handle of it. I’ve been used to a very structured working week for more than twenty years and I need to be a better mistress of this still relatively new freedom. (Here I am now in Costa at 11.15 writing my blog off-line as I can’t get a signal on my supposedly mobile broadband to go online and write some emails!)

As a change of subject, I’ve added to my collection of lenses this week. I’ve read lots of write-ups on the Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, all of which conclude that it’s a must-have in any portrait / wedding photographer’s kit bag. And at around £90 RSP it’s without doubt my cheapest lens – and I got it for £75 on ebay including p&p. I’ve not had much time to play with it yet – just a few shots of the dog and the kids, but I’m already excited about the difference it’s going to make to my portrait shots, especially in low light / indoors. I’ve also fallen back in love with my telephoto lens, although I’m looking forward to the day when I can upgrade it to a lens with a lower f-stop and better quality all round, especially now that I’ve seen the potential of my recent purchase. But I still got some lovely shots of Sam, who was at his absolute posing best on Mother’s Day, when we visited Dunge Valley Hidden Gardens nr Macclesfield. Despite the fierce arctic winds he explored the gardens with me, claiming he didn’t want me to have to do it on my own on Mother’s Day and that he would be my model. So, whilst Nic and Abby huddled in the campervan, cooking chilli and rice for lunch (the tea room was closed due to flooding), Sam and I had a blast of fresh air and a blast in general, with me laughing at him for most of the walk as he tried to hold his trousers up to prevent me taking shots of his builder’s bum (Sam suffers from this no matter what he wears, having no waist and a tiny behind!). Dunge Valley will be well worth a visit after Easter, when the Bluebell walk and the Rhododendron Trail will both hopefully be in flower (and the tea room open and flood-free). The hellibores were magnificent, by the way, hence the opening shot (another great use for my telephoto lens).

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Blurring the edges

After all the effort to unearth my Lensbaby I had a play around with it today at a local park, as I was wondering whether I could use it during some photoshoots to get some shots which are a bit edgier. A Lensbaby is a cute, but odd looking lens that mimics the effect of a tilt & shift lens. It looks like a short piece of black vaccuum cleaner hose with the same bendiness and it gets some peculiar looks. By stretching or contracting the hose bit and bending it at the same time you can determine where the point of focus is (the so called sweet spot) and also distort the areas around it. I've got version 2.0 which you manually hold in place as you press the shutter. More recent versions have systems to fix it in place. Getting to grips with it again was a steep learning curve but I quickly remembered how to handle it and with a very willing model I got some quite nice images for its first trip out in perhaps two years. You can't set the aperture in camera - you choose a disc with a hole which

defines the aperture. I think the one it had in it was f/5.6. Using the camera on AUTO was a complete disaster - totally over exposed, so I constantly checked and changed the shutter speed. It was a bright sunny day with the occasional passing cloud, and we moved from open grass areas into shady woodland. So we ranged from around 1/600th to 1/2000th of a second.

Anyway I've fallen in love with it again and will include it in my camera bag so that it's available for all my shoots. I'll carefully pick and choose which client I first use it with - it'll have to be a shoot where everything has gone swimmingly, it's all in the bag and I've got a willing model to practise with it on. Before the end of the week I'll have a go at some daffodils as they've all suddenly bloomed this weekend and Spring really feels like it has sprung. It's amazing what a lift a bit of warm sun on your face gives you. The grass was cut this afternoon, we had our first barbecue of the year (and I'm sure we weren't the only ones!) and the children dragged out every blanket, cushion, teddy, hammock etc insight.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!