'Rustic love' by **mog**

Rustic love, a photo by **mog** on Flickr.

So how has 2013 been for you so far? My year has started well - had a lie-in, got the Christmas tree and decorations put back in the loft and had a yummy meal at Wagamamas. Hopefully the rest of the year will be just as good! I am missing 2012 a little bit though. It felt like even though there were a lot of ups and downs it was an amazing year. However, I couldn't put my finger on why. I know it was the year my son was born but it felt like more than that. Then I read a post by Simone at Honey and Fizz and it all made sense. This was the year that my family became complete. We love our daughter so much and if we only had her we would still be very happy, however we knew we wanted two children so when our son came along everything just fell into place. I look forward to all the fun things we'll get up to in 2013 as a family of four.

Oh and today was also very dry and sunny which after all the rain we've been having has got to be a good thing. Therefore the blue skies in this lovely photo seem to be the best photo to start the year with.

Happy new year!

'My very first Flickr photo' by Me

My very first Flickr photo, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I thought tonight I wouldn't post anything festive and instead show you the very first photo I posted on Flickr. I am rather unimpressed with many of my early pictures but this one I actually really like. I find that trees can make really great subjects for photos. I love the shapes of the branches here and of course I love the blue sky.

'Summer radio' by Me

Summer radio, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I thought I'd share a summery photo with you tonight as it's just rain, rain, rain here at the moment. I guess it is April so we should have expected a few April showers. Just a bit of a shock to the system after March was so gorgeous.

I took this photo last summer. I don't really know what my inspiration was. We just had a radio in the garden and it seemed like a nice idea to hang it in a tree and take a picture. I think the result was a rather relaxing image.

'Magnolia' by Me

Magnolia, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I love magnolia trees. They're just so pretty and also I feel nostalgic looking at them as we had one in the garden when I was a child. There's a gorgeous magnolia just round the corner from my house which I would love to photograph. I feel a bit funny about it though as it's obviously in someone's front garden and I'm not sure if the owners would appreciate me pointing my camera at their tree. Luckily though at Nymans the other day I spotted a magnolia tree in the grounds that was equally beautiful and I got to take loads of pictures. I think this one is my favourite. It shows off the pretty pink flowers and the bright blue sky whilst still being quite soft and subtle. I can always look at this on cold winter days and think of spring.

Untitled image by -Fearless-

Untitled, a photo by -Fearless- on Flickr.

I can't believe that this time next week it'll be Christmas Day. I also can't believe the lack of festive images on my blog. I must do something about that so have decided that this week will be lovely and sparkly and festive here on 'It's all about the photos'!

Let's get the ball rolling with this lovely picture. It's another one of a snowy tree but it has a completely different feel to the pine tree image in my last post. Firstly, I really love the reflection on the bauble. It's a lovely picture itself. I also like all the detail, how the snow is kind of melting on the tree and I love the little splash of red. And how cute is that blue colour? Really makes the photo vintage looking. Another one that would make a great Christmas card. I've I feeling I might be saying that about very picture I post this week though.

'Pine and snow' by Shari-Lynn1

Pine and snow, a photo by Shari-Lynn1 on Flickr.

Well it snowed a little bit this morning. Not enough to settle and cause any disruption but enough that my daughter could get all excited! She said, "I told you it would snow!" as I've been telling her I didn't think it would snow for a while. I would say that's probably it for now but I underplayed the wind on Monday and woke up to a broken fence in the back garden!

Here's a snowy and rather Christmassy photo which I find absolutely beautiful. The colours are so strong and fresh. You can almost smell the pine needles. The detail of the snow is great and I especially love that it's been captured falling out of the sky. This could definitely be a Christmas card.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

'Blown away' by Me

Blown away, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

As I sit here at the computer I can hear the wind blowing a gale outside. Well, it's not gale force quite yet but it does sound rather strong and I'm sure it'll be even stronger in the middle of the night. Oh well, at least it's not snowing!

The weather might be rubbish but it has inspired me to post this rather cool photograph. Whilst up on Beachy Head I spotted this fantastic tree which of course had to be photographed. I wonder why it had grown in this way. I mean it is rather windy up at the top of the cliffs but you'd wouldn't expect quite such a dramatic growth of a tree. I think this picture works well in bold black and white. It makes it look really wintery and cold even though it was a beautiful and sunny autumn evening.

'Autumn leaves' by Me

Autumn leaves, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I'm always disappointed I never take enough nice autumn photos but whilst walking home yesterday I spotted the most beautiful tree and had to stop to take a few pictures. There were so many wonderful yellows, greens and browns it was hard to pick which image was my favourite but I think this one is it. I really want to go out again now and take some more pretty leaf pictures before they all fall off and winter is upon us.

'Blossom' by Me

Blossom, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

Earlier this week I said I couldn't decide whether to show you a blossom picture or a beach one well here is the blossom one. This was taken in my garden where we are so lucky we have lots of trees and bushes which blossom in the spring. The sad thing though is that it's all over so quickly. The flowers in this picture are now long gone which is a shame as they are so pretty. The best looking tree at the moment is our cherry tree which is in full blossom. I reckon I should get out there very quickly if I want a photo though as I'm bound to wake up one morning and it'll all be gone.

'Pink Magnolias' by eRachel11

Pink Magnolias, originally uploaded by eRachel11.

I get a huge whoosh of nostalgia when I see pink magnolia trees. As a child we had one in our garden and I have so many happy memories of it. Funny how you can feel so nostalgic about a tree. I remember the feel of the petals. They are so thick aren't they? I also remember the leaves being huge - or was I just small. My biggest memory though has to be the two lowest branches which for some reason had been cut off to stumps so I used them as microphones and used to sing into them! How funny!

I miss that tree so that's why when I saw this photo I just had to post it. It's beautiful and the colours are just perfect. Like in yesterday's picture, it's all about the turquoise. I love that light turquoise sky. And I love the retro tones as it makes it an even more nostalgic shot!

'The night before---' by tollen

The night before---, originally uploaded by tollen.

Now the snow has pretty much gone here I can start thinking about it in a romantic way again. I can focus on how pretty it looks and not all the chaos it tend to cause.

This is a fantastic snowy photo. I love that it shows off that orangey glow you get when it snows at night. Snowy nights are always rather magical because of that glow. I love sticking my head out of the window and taking in the freshness and silence.

It feels like the person who took this photo was going home. That they'd been out when the snow started to fall heavily and now they can see a cozy warm home just a short walk away. If you look carefully you can see the snow falling and it looks pretty heavy. I hope there was a huge mug of hot chocolate and a snuggly duvet waiting for them.

'Snowy tree' by Me

Snowy tree, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

So it finally snowed in my part of the country. It wasn't a lot of snow but more is apparently on it's way. The best thing about it though was just how super excited my little girl was about it! I decided when we went out today that I wasn't going to go home until I had something on my camera that I could post on my blog tonight. Here is the result. What do you think? I always think that trees make an interesting subject for a photo. On this tree I like how it there was just a thin layer of snow on every branch. I wish there had been bright blue skies today but it was actually rather a grey day so I made this black and white for extra impact. I am sure there will be a lot more snow this winter so I'll make sure I try to get some more snowy pictures over the next few months.

'Off to School in the Mist 2' by Jahina

Off to School in the Mist 2, originally uploaded by Jahina.

Yesterday I posted a picture of the stunning Northern Lights. As I said I do hope to view these for real one day but in the mean time I can be content knowing that the light right here in England can be just as striking.

This photo was taken in Albany Park in Enfield and hasn't the photographer captured such magical lighting? I love the fact there is a person strolling through the park in the background as well. I hope they were enjoying what looked like a lovely crisp autumn morning as much as I'm enjoying looking at it.

'September Promises' by Kala_M

September Promises, originally uploaded by Kala_M.

Earlier this week I promised you a beautiful autumn photo. Well here it is. Isn't it stunning? It captures what love most about autumn - beautiful colours but still bright sunny so you don't mind it's suddenly gone cooler. I hope the autumn sticks around a while and we don't hop straight into winter now.

Anyway, it's Friday!! Hope you all have a lovely autumn weekend - or spring weekend even if you are in a different part of the world far away from here!

'Nesting Season' by georgianna lane

Nesting Season, originally uploaded by georgianna lane.

I wanted to feature one of Georgianna Lane's photos here as her work is fantastic. I love the way the colours in her photos manage to be both pastel and vibrant at the same time. You can see more of what I mean here.

But the photo of hers I wanted to share with you today was this one. It's just so cute. A perfect looking nest in a perfect location. If you wanted to sum up spring in one photo this would probably be it. In fact I think I may even be able to hear the beautiful bird song just by looking at it.

'pink' by Newgreen_Fotosintesis

pink, originally uploaded by Newgreen_Fotosintesis.

Just had to feature this stunning photo tonight. It's just perfect. The light, colours, the focus - all wonderful.

I hope you had a lovely long weekend and if you were back at work today it wasn't too much of a shock to the system. The weather was gorgeous here. I just hope it sticks around for a while. It's definitely spring now, in fact dare I say it, I even felt rather summery today!

'drifting' by gardinergirl

drifting, originally uploaded by gardinergirl.

Well, so far so good! I am very happy to report that March has been beautiful and sunny! Therefore I officially declare it spring! Even if it rains tomorrow it's been nice enough this week to believe that spring flowers and warm weather is not too far away.

I shall be looking up into the trees from now on with my camera in my hand looking for some beautiful spring blossoms to photograph. I hope I can take a photo as lovely as this one. It's a perfect blossom shot.

'Reaching For Gold' by pendeho

Reaching For Gold, originally uploaded by pendeho.

Have you ever wondered what you'll find at the end of the rainbow? Well turns out it's not a pot of gold but a really cool looking tree. This photo is great because the sky is so dramatic and I love the light. I think even without the rainbow it would still have been a really interesting photo. But the rainbow really adds a splash of colour and happiness.

'Church in the snow' by Me

Church in the snow, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

Well the snow is finally melting. I'm a little bit sad because snow is so pretty but mainly I'm relieved. The UK isn't very good at dealing with snow so I am pleased things can get back to normal now.

I'm a bit disappointed I didn't manage to take many nice snowy pictures but I did manage a few I'm pleased with. I like this one of the church. I tried it in black and white and sepia but I think the sepia works best. I'm pleased that I have the tree in the foreground because I think it makes the photo more than just a picture of a church. It's almost a candid shot of chuch taken by someone hiding in the branches! Well in my opinion anyway!

If you'd like to see more snowy pictures taken by people who aren't me please visit my 'Let it snow' Flickr gallery here.