I was staying in Cornwall with friends Alf and Nain and in fact that is where all this photography began really. It was my first trip with my equipment, and I photographed just about everything in Cornwall!    I remember Alf being amazed at the things I was photographing, and I told him I was shooting them for textures. He gave me a look that said he thought I was a complete nutter, but I carried on anyway. Later in that stay I saw him look at Nain with a ‘here we go again’ expression on his face and I heard her tell him, ‘He’s taking them for textures’, ‘oh’, he said, as if it coming from her it made complete sense!  I don’t think I explained to either one of them just what I meant by ‘textures’.

Many of the images that are available on my site come from that trip to Cornwall.  We visited several gardens and Alf and Nain’s garden is a real showcase too and the plants from there feature quite heavily on my website.  The one photograph I did not take, and regret to this day not taking it, is the one of the hedgehog ice cream!  I have never had one before or since, but it was so delicious and decadent it is worth the trip to Cornwall for one of them alone. For those that have never had a hedgehog ice cream it is a cornet filed with Cornish ice cream topped with a very generous dollop of clotted cream and then the whole thing rolled in nuts that finish off looking like the spikes of a hedgehog. It could well be the reason I move to Cornwall at some point in the future!

Greediness aside, it was a pleasantly warm summer’s day in Cornwall when there I was sporting a fun pair of beige shorts with a floral design, very trendy that year in case you are wondering and yes, I do still have them, when I came across this Achillea Millefolium. I particularly like it against the background here with that lovely purple Allium just getting in on the action on the right-hand side. The bright colours of the achillea are just stunning and work beautifully in this setting. The colours of the background really do work to support the main star and help show off its reds and yellows, vibrant and glorious whilst not allowing the image to be too garish, it has a relaxed yet engaging atmosphere about it.

 

Parts of this image allow you to float off on a day dream and lose yourself in thought whilst others, the achillea Millefolium itself, focus your attention. I think this is a great image for an office or reception area or even a meeting room. Because this image allows you drift off in deep thought, perhaps whilst problem solving,  it also brings you back to the present, keeping you focused and in the moment.

 

Achillea Millefolium is available in my on-line shop in various sizes.