Haven:

a place to grow

The idea of creating a community space has been quietly brewing for a number of years. We have plans of owning a bit of land where our bees can be in one space, where a big pollination garden can be developed and where we can share this with others - perhaps providing inspiration. The search for land continues and while it does, I experiment in my garden. I plant and grow with my bees in mind. I take photos and write words to share my garden space virtually with others until I can do it in really life. Haven: a place to grow, is an extension of this. A virtual step until I can invite you to visit my garden and we can walk, talk and take photos together.

Why is it called Haven? I think it was a day of indifference and I was coming home from wherever and as I walked through the gate that opens onto our section I immediately felt better. I relaxed as I step into the garden. I see roses beginning to flower. A bumble bee zooms past. I notice a weed or two that needs taking care of. I go inside and change into my gardening clothes. Coming outside, I potter away for an hour or so. The dogs join me, fossicking away. Once my gardening is done, I take a few photos of something that caught my eye as I gardened. A moment like this is why I view my garden as my haven. It is a space which gives me peace when my mind is ruffled. It stimulates me creatively. It is nourishment. It is beautiful and messy all in one moment and I want to share what my beautiful messy gardens gives me through how I see it from behind my camera.

Haven will be a once a month paid newsletter which will have a central theme connected to my garden and photography. It is a non technical photography newsletter which focuses on how to develop your eye, style and artistry. What does that mean? You don’t need a fancy camera to join in. It is about you and what you see and how you can capture that with meaning. When I first started taking photos with my digital camera I found the terminology connected to the technical side intimidating and confusing. Even now with a basic understanding I tend to play in order to get an image that I like. I’ve als learnt that the technical stuff is only one part of taking a photo and that the years of playing with my iphone before moving to digital were invaluable in developing my eye for taking a photo. That is why I want to side step the technical and embrace the creative. You will know when you are ready to move from iphone to digital and that will be your moment and not because someone said you should.

Within the Haven newsletter I will talk about different things I do and have learnt over the years as I have developed my photography practise. Things like the importance of daily photographs and how this can help develop your skill set. How to get curious about what you see and how to translate that into a photo that captures what you feel. Most importantly it is about sharing how I have learnt through my garden and my camera to take a moment for myself to connect with nature and how that connection just generally makes me feel like a better human being.

I have long term plans for haven which include chat space outside the sphere of social media where we can share photos and talk. I want to create and share films that are prompts for creative moments in the garden. And of course I want to hold workshops and garden visits when we have that space established. Nothing would delight me more than to have you visit my garden and we take some photos together and we share my haven.

There is a cost involved and I liken it to us catching up in person once a month for a coffee and cake (or a gin) where we talk and share. Each monthly newsletter is $14.00 NZD per month or you can subscribe for a year $120.00 NZD. You save a few pennies ($48.00) if you subscribe for a year.

There is is an option to gift a subscription to someone who you think might enjoy this newsletter - it is a great gift idea.

I think it is important to know what you are signing up for so I wanted to share with you the first issue which you can access for free here.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did in creating it and as I bustle away creating the second issue which will be out early January I feel this is the beginning of something simply beautiful and I hope you join me in my little haven.