​It is part of a Guernsey childhood to grow up with tales of shipwreck and salvage.  The story, potentially apocryphal, is that nerines arrived on the beaches of my home island in this very manner.   Along with their South African sister the Agapanthus, they have thrived in Guernsey and it was a thrill to photograph The Guernsey National Collection of Nerines care for by Plant Heritage Guernsey.

They say that Guernsey folk are always on a rubber-band pulling them back; in a stolen moment before the November Covid-19 lockdown, a flight to Guernsey was possible to be amongst the people and places of home.  In this time of crisis and unknown trajectories, there seems to be a great need for that feeling of home and belonging.  For me, these nerines – and their greenhouse - are a representation of that very thing and I was keen to capture a moment of their beauty at the end of the season.  Fittingly, they were on the cusp of their winter fade with some in full splendour and some submitting to the change of the seasons.  The Collection beamed with timeless beauty whilst giving a reassuring nod to the cycle of their growing year and the year to come. 

It was a joyful thing to walk amongst the plants with my camera, being drawn in by the Collection as a whole and at a more intimate, individual level; photographing the character of these plants, both delicate and flamboyant, and the peace and beauty of what they represent. 

It's with great pleasure that we can say that de la Mare Creative is featured in this month's edition of Cumbria Life alongside the wonderful Liz Newport from Buzy Lizzie Garden Design as well as coverage on In-Cumbria, Cumbria Crack and the Cumberland and Westmorland Gazette.  It's been one of the highlights of the year to work with Liz to capture a few of her gardens.  I can't recommend her work enough - do contact her to have her work her magic on your outdoor space!  You can read the full article below, written by Sally Seed, and if you are interested in recording the seasons of your garden, please do get in touch. 

A shared love of gardens is picture perfect
When garden designer, Liz Newport, and photographer, Rachael de la Mare, met at a Dacre yoga class, they didn’t expect to have gardens in common. Today, Liz is supporting Rachael in a new business venture to capture and record the glory of Cumbrian gardens through the seasons.

Liz, who trades as Buzy Lizzie Garden Design, loves the challenge of creating planting schemes and gardens that look good throughout the year. Rachael, who recently worked with Penrith Town Council and the Penrith in Bloom team on a celebratory film, has always enjoyed capturing the personality and life of plants and gardens on camera. Together, they’ve developing Rachael’s concept of creating very special photographic keepsake journals of clients’ gardens.

Rachael, who is originally from Guernsey but now lives near Penrith, has been a professional photographer for over 15 years. “I love to capture stories in my images and gardens have that element of narrative and continual change. They’re also very personal to the gardeners who’ve worked so hard to create them and there are often special memories, particular plants and other nostalgic elements that give the garden character. I want to preserve those memories and moments and reflect the life and personality of the gardeners and their gardens in a way that can be kept and shared. A book is ideal but I’m also aware that some people may prefer a keepsake box of prints or a framed selection instead.”

To make the concept a reality, Rachael was looking for gardens that she could photograph and capture in this way. She wanted to test and hone her ideas and get feedback from the owners and gardeners before launching the idea as a commercial option.

“That’s where I could help,” says Liz, “as I’ve designed and developed over 500 gardens in and around Cumbria during my 15 years in business in a variety of styles, each one fitting a particular client’s brief and the specific location. I was pretty sure that some of my clients would be happy to let Rachael and her camera in through the coming year to capture the different seasons. So far, the response has been really encouraging and it’s definitely looking like something that could develop into a new strand of work for Rachael.”

The pilot project for the new venture covers five different Buzy Lizzie gardens, including a couple at Manor Park in Penrith. “I’m thoroughly enjoying visiting the gardens,” says Rachael, “and I can see that, over the course of a year, I’ll get to know the owners and their gardens really well and learn a lot about how this idea could work out. I am sure there are proud gardeners out there who will see the value and appreciate the pleasure of having a photographic record of their garden through the seasons. I’m already getting interest in commissions to do this sort of work elsewhere so working with Liz to fine tune the ideas has been invaluable.”

Liz is also very conscious of the challenge to design a garden that has something special to enjoy right through the year: “Spring bulbs and June flowering are quite easy but having the evergreen structure in place for the winter frosts and planting for the late summer into the autumn need careful thought. Seeing Rachael capture one of my gardens on camera is giving me new ideas too!”
“For instance, later flowering clematis species are worth including on any trellis or pergola so that there’s flowering later in the year once the roses and honeysuckle are fading,” she says, “and I also love the daisy family (Asteraceae). Rudbeckia, Echinacea and others are at their best in the autumn and bring vivid colour to a garden at this time of year.”

A shared love of gardens and mutual support is definitely creating a flowering business relationship.

For further information about both businesses, please see www.buzylizzie.co.uk and www.delamare-creative.co.uk

It's been a busy two or three months leading to a very delayed 'Best of 2017'.  I almost considered leaving it until 2018 but there were so many lovely moments in the last year that I thought it was worth popping them up even if they are a little late.  Thank you to all those who have appeared through the lens of the de la Mare camera this year!
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Starting with a stunning Couple's shoot for Simon and Bethany in January, following their London wedding, this year's weddings have been a joy! There's a couple in here too of Tom and Hannah's stunning Graphistudio album that arrived this year.  Congratulations one and all.

It's hard categorising photos - a few in here could fit into the lovely people section, just they aren't people! Getting out and about or shooting pets in the studio were some of the highlights of 2017, with another successful Pet Week in Angel Square and lots of opportunities for capturing nature.

It's been such a pleasure to work with lots of different local businesses and organisations again this year including the beautiful work of mj cabinetmakers, a stunning fashion collection, work for the wonderful Ullswater Community College (including a little bit of Joey Essex) and Eden Boutique and a project for Hospice at Home's 20th anniversary including a visit from The Duchess of Gloucester.  If you don't know about Hospice at Home, please check out their website - it's a wonderful charity.

Really, it's all about people.  Thank you to all of these people who spent a little portion of their 2017 with me as we preserved a few memories together.  

The last few months(... well six months!) around here have been a little crazy and there should be multiple blogs cataloguing all the things that have been going on but sadly there isn’t yet! Hopefully that will be remedied soon but before spring photos should appear I thought I’d share a few wintery ones from the new camera.

Not a lot of words today - just to say that I had a lovely pop to the Llangollen Canal in Wales for an afternoon walk along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the highest and longest aqueduct in the British Isles.  Truly beautiful surroundings and a wonderful slice of cultural history.  I particularly loved the places in the railings where the old tow ropes had cut sculptural little faces.  The history and passage of time was palpable.  Worth a pop if in the area!

Last week I had a gorgeous weekend in the more souther Lakes - staying at Skelwith Fold and spending time around Windermere, Ambleside, the Langdales and the Tilberthwaite valley (inspired by the photographer Mark Littlejohn).  It was more of a holiday then a camera trip but I definitely want to go back, especially to Tilberthwaite, with enough time to potter at my cameras pace.  Also a first out for my gorgeous new camera bag - more on that another day!

One of my favourite discoveries on moving to the UK was the existence of Hoar's Frosts.  I suddenly realised why Christmas cards had glitter on the snow and trees! A few quick ones from today...

Very quick post of yesterday's variety of weather! Gorgeous clouds over towards the Langdales and beyond, definitely worth getting out in the cold for.  There were also some lovely spring-like touches around Grasmere and Loughrigg Tarn, especially around the Wordsworth's graves.  Always pass by for a quick salute to the old Laureate but it's especially fitting when there are daffodils on his grave. 

I snatched a couple of minutes in the last few sunny mornings to photograph some of our current flora! The Snowdrops and Cyclamen are home-grown, the Gypsophila is sadly not. All equally lovely though - long may these clear, crisp pre-spring days continue.  Well... if spring and summer want to hurry up then I wouldn't be complaining!