Anna is an expert in the field of colour and design, and works with brands, retailers and designers to make the right colour combinations and has brought her expertise to this amazing visual feast of colour. Colour is a very personal reaction and everyone has their own preferences, but we don’t always know what accents to put together, or are unsure if our ideas are going to work, or if we will like the colours together.

As I look outside from my kitchen window the colours of autumn in the garden are warm, vibrant and uplifting, which brings joy to my heart, and an appreciation of what colour does to our senses. From the reds and burgundies of the acers to the golds of the cornus and the medlar tree, interspersed with a dazzling array of greens and browns. Colour creates a feeling and an aura, and is the basis of all interior décor – get it right and your home is a haven, get it wrong and your home just feels wrong.

Image credit: Mr.Lightman1975

1000 Ideas for Colour Schemes is literally 1000 ideas for colour, as every page is packed with the most glorious images to help you understand colour and how to use it. The images are grouped into nine colour families (red, yellow, green, blue, violet, pink, orange/brown, neutral) with a range of combinations in each group to guide you towards your vision. There is a short introduction on colour theory (we all should know the theory, but the reality is so different) but the main draw is the superb images showing you so many different colour combinations – many that you perhaps wouldn’t have thought of.

Blue is a colour I am wary of as it can feel cold and bland so I gravitated towards this section to see if I could be inspired. I prefer a strong, dark blue with gold, and quite a lot of the images on Audenza are styled in these colours so I was thrilled to see our image of our mirrored drinks stand with a Basalt (by Little Greene) backdrop in that section (the first time one of our images has been reproduced in a book). There are several pages of mid tone blues with various accents that really don’t appeal to me, although I know that for many people it’s their ideal combinations, then some truly luscious images of aqua and turquoise that really sing out to me.

Image credit: Kati Molin/Shutterstock.com

A favourite colour of mine is pink, from pastel to magenta I am naturally drawn towards it, and could happily use any of the colour combinations in this section. Another of our images – the gorgeous Aurora round velvet chair and copper lamp, with a backdrop of Calamine by Farrow & Ball – is in the Just Peachy section.

An inspiring and very useful book to keep at hand whenever you have colour decisions to make, be it for your décor, your clothes, or just to drool over!

Jacqui x

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Photography and styling: Audenza

We decided that we’d love to work with a few, select bloggers to style our products; we have a particular look with our styling (as most do) and it we thought it’d be fantastic to see how other stylists work with the same items.   We knew exactly who we wanted to work with for this and we were really excited that they all agreed to get involved.   We sent out different products to each and you can see a snapshot of the results below:

Brass Desk Lamp- Swoon Worthy

Kimberly Duran, of Swoon Worthy had had her eye on our Brass Desk Lamp for a little while, so when I got in touch she was rather excited to style it in her home.  Alongside the styling and review of the lamp, Kimberly very kindly also featured us in her ‘Shop in the Spotlight’ column and described us a ‘a powerhouse of creativity and eccentricity’- which we were rather taken with!  I love the results, which looks very different to our original image and shows just how versatile pieces like this can be.

Wire Kitchen Étagère- Mademoiselle Poirot and AO Life.

Carole Poirot, of Mademoiselle Poirot and contributer to  AO Life  was putting together a post for canapé ideas for New Years Eve, so our new range of kitchenware was the perfect accompaniment to serve and style them with.  I love the gorgeous festive feel to her shots and Carole’s lighting always had a moody feel to it, which is very hard to achieve.  Oh and of course… those canapés!

Copper Mugs- Curate & Display

Tiffany Grant-Riley, of Curate & Display had a bit of a tricky time with these copper mugs, they were bigger in the flesh that she was expecting, which threw the first idea out of the window, and then just when she had a flash of genius, realised that the super-shiny copper is an absolute nightmare to photograph without getting your own reflection in (which Amelia can attest to!).   However, the resultant post which is a recipe for spiced hot chocolate is the perfect way to style these mugs and I think Tiffany really captured them in a stunning setting.  I have also been saying since the post went live that I’d like to try the recipe out, so maybe I’ll do that… one day!

It’s so inspiring to see how other bloggers have worked with our products, do click through to have a look at each of the posts in full and come back to let me know your fav!

Hollie x

Image source: Holly Pickering

Image source: Holly Pickering

I think the pumpkin soup photo below is my absolute favourite, it’s just so autumnal and cosy.  I am fascinated by images that can make you FEEL a certain way and this one makes me want to be there, eating that soup.  What a talent that is to be able to have that effect on someone.  Have you noticed particular images having that sort of effect on you?

Image Source: Holly Pickering

I also had the privilege of speaking with Holly to get a little more info about her work:

Q1) How long have you been a professional photographer?

I’ve been a full time professional photographer since the start of 2013, before that I spent several years building up my photography career part time, whilst still working as a freelance fashion designer (my previous career for the last 12 years!) to ease the transition!

Q2) How did you get into photography? What inspired you to start?

My dad was a photography lecturer whilst I was growing up, and we were lucky enough to have a darkroom set up at home, so I’ve always been a keen photographer, but I started to realise after a decade working in fashion that photography was what I was really passionate about, and that I wanted to pursue it seriously as a career. 

Image Source: Holly Pickering

Q3) What sort of clients do you normally work for?

I specialise in food and interiors photography so I work for quite a wide variety of different clients, from smaller scale projects for interiors clients and restaurants, to editorial shoots and larger scale commercial/advertising jobs. I’ve just finished a lovely commercial shoot for Lurpak butter, and I’m shooting for a major food retailer and some urban gastro pubs next – so no week is ever the same!

Q4) Do you have particular stylists that you work with regularly?

I work with some lovely stylists, but I’m particularly looking forward to teaming up with the super talented Rose Murray on some upcoming interiors projects, as we share a really similar approach. (Rose’s styling work can be seen on her website)

Q5) What’s your favourite photo and why?

My current favourite is this still life of pumpkins that I shot for my lovely agent Lisa Pritchard Agency for Halloween, the idea was to create something fun but still foodie for their Halloween blog post, which meant I could be really creative and play around with props and test some styling and lighting ideas, and I ended up being really happy with the final shots.

Image Source: Holly Pickering

Q6) Finally, what do you love about photography?

I absolutely love earning a living doing something creative, the opportunities to work with really interesting people and the satisfaction of creating beautiful images at the end of the day!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little more about the work of Holly Pickering, do head over to her website to have a look at more of her beautiful photography.  I’d love to know which one’s your favourite below!

Hollie x

Interview with Photographer, Holly Pickering by Hollie Brooks