December came and went in a sprucey, hot minute did it not?  This year saw a return for me to working on words and pictures for Hampshire’s most fabulous and Heath Robinson farmyard; Wylds Farm Christmas Trees.

For their winter ’25 season I photographed in the farmyard and also reworked graphic visuals earlier created on Procreate which is a ( brilliant ) digital art canvas app for tablets.  Brussel sprouts, humbugs and pies of mince became features within the social platform posts alongside pictures of the plantation, trundling tractors, Grinchified childrens’ faces – can’t wait for that trend to end incidentally – and other joyful ongoing farmyard activities over the month.  

Writing for Wylds Farm also allows me to become my fullest Punderella / Pun in Boots for a few weeks since this is very much the tone on brand for their business and audience.

Their brand colours are matte bear fur brown, a muted red and an off-white which I reimagined into candy cane stripes and a texture of heavy msg Hahnemühle art paper.  I’ve popped a few examples of the work below even though in January, unless your work is within the creative space, anything Christmas-related is often the very last and most confronting thing to see at all.  Sorry about this; it goes with the territree …

Wildstonefloral is the brand name for Leanne’s floristry and we photographed her parading (albeit briefly and for the camera only) around the picturesque cobbled streets of Midhurst and ahead of a workshop she was leading.  Next month you’ll find her running a workshop at The Pig Hotel to learn how to create a dried flower crown like the one in picture here.

The Deli on Lavant Street in Petersfield is stacked to the rafters with copious, tasty products wrapped in tins, boxes and refrigerated in packages.  My brief was to photograph some suggestions for hampers and also to showcase some of the hero gifts for the season.  Madeleine’s Kitchen is undergoing a phase of expansion and rebranding.  Capturing the store setting in camera along with bakehouse hub and the flavoursome activities that take place there on a daily basis is part of this growth phase.

The Deli on Lavant Street in Petersfield is stacked to the rafters with copious, tasty products wrapped in tins, boxes and refrigerated in packages.  My brief was to photograph some suggestions for hampers and also to showcase some of the hero gifts for the season.  Madeleine’s Kitchen is undergoing a phase of expansion and rebranding. Capturing the store setting in camera along with bakehouse hub and the flavoursome activities that take place there on a daily basis is part of this growth phase.

I’m about to email parents with welcome instructions ahead of our Tuesday Photography Club which resumes tomorrow.  I’ve lots of fresh ideas for these sessions, to encourage creativity and curiosity amongst the children even though they often arrive to the room depleted from a day’s lessons and listening. 

We always begin our session with a hot drink – I delegate each week though have to mind the classroom kettle with the dodgy handle which overheats like the bubbling water inside – and a group check in to gauge everyone’s energy levels in the room.

I’m thinking that, tomorrow, since it’s first week back at school, we might do a deep dive into the work of a British institution, Martin Parr, a photographer who sadly died recently and just ahead of a major retrospective of his sizeable and distinctive work in both Paris and Bristol simultaneously.  Just look at the visceral reality of 1980’s British seaside distilled below like a strong white vinegar.

I was reading somewhere about how his flash-heavy, vivid depictions of how humans behave on holiday, can be considered a real though not preachy commentary on climate and this crisis our species has created through freedom of movement, cheap air travel and leisure.