An Autumnal Stroll with the Camera

 

        These woods have several carcasses of erstwhile trees from which all dangerous branches have been lopped, oft times resulting in shapes for which visitors can visualise recognisable structures of figures or animals; and fallen trees that might resemble snakes or crocodiles. Funghi can resemble the complex frills of flamboyant ladies' dresses. 

        Some trees seem overpowered by past storms and funghi seem to resemble crusty pies – but heaven forbid you ever mistake them for such!

        Autumnal colours pervade but every so often, brighter colours – of reds, golds and yellows can still be found – adding brightness. Squirrels dart between fallen nuts and other foods, wind ripples the water on occasion, and the ferns which still retain their lushness when in shadow and beneath some trees, can be seen, a carpet of gold interspersed with yet fresh greens.

        Numerous trees remain with interesting shapes that your imagination may picture animals and reptiles. During our stroll, Tabitha and I came across fellow walkers with dogs, and the sun often silhouetted some individual trees. All these quiet, autumnal hues are the fleeting glimpses of richer colours prior to the winds; that will remove the vestiges of leaves and bring on the winds that foretell Winter.

Forest Centre – A Walk in the Woods

    My most frequent exercise is achieved invariably by gathering a few items of camera equipment together, and heading out either directly or indirectly with a camera to some nearby park or woodland area. In this instance I chose the nearby walk that took me to the Forest Centre. The entrance is fairly close, but the first part is a tree-lined path alongside the long drive to the Car Park.

    Although this stretch does not provide a wealth of interest, I do grab a few shots in passing. Trees’ trunks are often overlaid by creepers, and fungi, which can form patterns that the mind can imagine create recognisable resemblances to other objects or faces (can you spot the Hippo’s evil eye?) My eye is often drawn to trees that have lost branches earlier in their life, and subsequently the wound has healed; frequently I have found this can result in creating faces – early in this walk, one such tree resembled the oft-featured idea of an Alien from a distant planet! For those whose imagination requires more recognisable detail, Artists have carved their creations to both provide respite support and enhance seats alongside the paths; for the weary to rest awhile.

Seeds that fall to the paths provide pigeons with occasional sustenance and furnish me with images to capture, as do the distant Wind Turbines turning in the light breeze, as I glimpse across the water and intervening bushes, the Marina. My camera finds the freshness of Spring in the colours of young growth, of hardy succulents in the dried mud, and later the fine filaments of web that define the entrance to a Spider’s home.

               Meanwhile overhead, clouds gently glide by in the breeze, some massive, some mere small puffs and below small clusters of colour lie at the edge of more open ground and I come out into the open and on the water I find Swans gliding across the lake. On the shore a Dragonfly alights, its wings barely visible against the arid, dessicated shore. A damselfly lands on a sun-parched reed causing a gentle ripple on the surface of the water beneath. Others prefer the dry ground, or dead twigs that intersperse the pale green of struggling grasses.

               Some of the swans have small families of young, their grey-brown colour lacking the lustrous sheen of later life. In the shallow water of the shore, tiny young fish glide serenely amongst the tiny clumps of weeds and a damselfly clutches a dried ball of dying leaf as it sways in the gentle breeze, and on parched land nearby a dragonfly has its barely visible wings outstretched as it rests in the sun.

               Meanwhile a frisky Swan attempts to have its evil way, but is spurned, with much flapping of wings, which definitely disturbed the Peace and Calm that had preceded! The young Cygnets seemed quite unfazed, whilst above the clouds seemed in an equal turmoil to the parent Swans!

               Close to the far shore of the lake a red-sailed dinghy glides serenely past the low silhouette of the Technical College. Meanwhile my walk takes me along the shoreline where some bushes have been hacked back and around the stumps of earlier trees are fresh green and red leaves, and nearby another hacked stump with an exposed root running along the ground alongside. I tend to capture oddities that I spot whilst out walking in woods and alongside streams and lakes, and the red roots gently swaying in the wash from either passing boats or paddling birds at the shore simply caught my eye, as did the letter ‘A’ rooted in the mud. This stretch of shoreline abounded in tree trunks sawn off at ground level, hence why they caught my camera’s eye! As did other oddities such as the abundance of bright red, fresh growth by the stumps.

               Spotting another dragonfly with its splayed wings, barely visible agains the desiccated mud challenged me to see how well I could capture the fine detail in its wings. Also, I always like a good lens Test and the sharp, vibrant, blood-red teeth really shouted: “Don’t mess with Me!” 

               By this time I was getting hooked by what I saw: the abundance of the colour Red; the dearth of water around the reed roots, set against the lushness of the green leaves; the alternate winding of the paths; the curvature of the Turbine blades due to their rotation, set against the focal plane shutter motion; the scudding clouds; the parched ground, yet resilient colour of young growth; the path, bridge and steps, leading off into the distance; the lone bird, the lone man, the lone boy intent on his phone; the tightly curled desiccated leaf; the disappearing path into the distance; likewise, the further carved seats; the lone, distant wind turbine; the turbulent clouds and wind-blown branches; the striding Power Pylons; the rich crimson flowers; and finally, the powerful Seed heads heralding the Future… I give you a long, enjoyable Walk in the Country with my Camera.

Springtime Nearby Walk

                There has been far too long a gap in my writing up a narrative describing my walks taken over the last fortnight and sadly I completed the editing of those pictures two or so days ago! However, at least, the wait to write the text is coming to an end now; provided I can recall why I took the various shots!
I was fortunate that there was sunlight, so capturing the texture of fresh young leaves, and the sheen on shiny, fresh growth always delights, as do individual branches that break out from the hedgerow to bathe in the warm sunshine.The first blooms of Spring provide delicate shades of subtle colour, and the fresh green leaves dapple the light that reaches through the canopy to the winding paths through the Wood, and backlight some long-broken concrete with embedded remnants of old pipes. Every so often sunshine manages to reach and cast shadows on the history of earlier branches’ scars on the trunks of Silver Birch trees.
I soon break out from shade to more open ground and find myself under an expanse of blue sky, with proud individual trees, and an expanse of scrubby grass with wandering paths heading in different directions. As I stroll with my camera ever ready, I spot incongruous, broken concrete embedded pipes, broken branches that could suggest a leaping hound, or another sliced branch that almost seems fossilised.
The vibrant blue sky above is now more like a sea of floating islands of clouds and I am spoilt for subjects of highly textured leaves; some with high sheen, others with more matted textures. As I continue walking, some areas exhibit far taller grasses, with narrow, trodden paths passing through.
The variety of plants and leaves is extensive, with often, isolated clumps of similar species amidst an expanse of more dominant examples. The colour clusters vary widely, as do the palette, from the subtle shades to the bold and vibrant, Larger bushes force the paths to deviate from gentle curves to more abrupt changes in direction; all the while I wander with the camera to capture the varied, textures, colours and shades that abound. Also sometimes I observe different compositions or shades of light that appeal. I see different backgrounds, viewpoints, placement of bee against background. I experiment with composition, emphasis and I frequently break off when an alternative subject arrives; be it bee or butterfly, or I notice a tiny insect, so alter the exposure to enhance it. Every so often, I simply note the tunnel of the path, with a view of light beyond.
The Sky alters, or my perception of it changes, so I capture some of these changes. Every so often, the incongruous catches my eye, such as I glimpse a section of a discarded brick wall alongside a path off to the side! The Bizarre intrigues me, and they say Variety is the Spice of Life; either I spot the unusual, or it seeks me out; either way, I use a camera to record what I see, whether it is either beautiful, or simply puzzles me! I enjoy what I see, and simply hope others might too!

Sunny BrogLake

          The Lake at Brogborough again sees some action, as Sunshine and Wind favours the Sailors. The overall activity this year seems to have resulted in a level of calm, possibly allowing Time to savour the opportunity to enjoy the moments for longer.
          I had made the decision to use my Lumix camera on this occasion, which also offered the opportunity to work without the camera being mounted on a tripod. I am trying to weigh up the freedom from the fixed viewpoint against the response speed between the two very different cameras (my Canon which with its far weightier body and lenses, always mounted on a sturdy tripod, versus the featherweight Lumix with its zoom lens permanently attached to the body.) The major difference, beyond the obvious weight variance, is the burst rate – my Canon is faster! But, when the light is bright as on this occasion, the freedom from the tripod is welcome.
          I did not have long to wait before Sam, with his Kite Sail had taken advantage of the wind, to take to the air! But this was ‘a blink, and you missed it’ moment, rather than sustained flight! Later a pair of Geese flew over, and were able to display their ability to easily maintain grace when in flight, though their effort expended at Takeoff was more energetic! Almost immediately after spotting the pair of Geese, the sky celebrated by displaying a rainbow against the darkening sky. Turning my gaze away from the Lake at that point allowed me to catch a group chatting, before I brought my eye back to what was happening on the Lake.
          A few more were now making their way back onto the water, and once again in the lulls between obvious activity, I was again taking opportunities to capture Clouds; one of my endless fascination at their various forms, as anyone visiting my blog will probably already have noted!
          As numbers on the Lake dwindled, I realised that the time had come for me to head back, I am sorry that it has taken so long for these shots to appear on the blog, but as I have occasionally said before; Life has supervened!

BrogLake Windsurfers Return

          Brogborough Lake has lacked the life of past seasons due to the Corona Virus situation, so to visit in sunshine and wind, was an opportunity not to be missed. As I approached the lake’s Windsurfers Car Park, I did wonder whether it was even open, however, as I turned right in the entrance, I was relieved to find there was a fair number of cars, and numerous people; some already in their wetsuits and, as I parked up by the trees ahead of me, I caught a quick glimpse of one sailor on the Lake!

          I had worried unnecessarily. I felt as relaxed as all those who were chatting in small groups by many of the cars. Instead of hastily getting my camera ready, I locked the car and headed for the water’s edge to see just how much activity was on the water — less than five I surmised, so now I did return and remove the soft cover of the camera, and turned the dial from its high ISO set from l the grassy area, and then went down to the water’s edge to be as low as possible to make the sails look taller in the next shots I envisaged taking.

           Right on cue, one Surfer headed straight towards me and was so close I clipped the very top of his mast. That was so keen for someone to head for me, he just had to make the Headline picture! In my haste to try to make up for my recent issues with getting these images up in good time, I seem eminently capable of making other mistakes as well. I spotted one too late to resolve, please forgive me.

Gt Barford Trip & Chopper

          Always a good sign when the sun is up early, so a quick shot of my breakfast toast seemed appropriate, as I had just been checking the camera settings and the sun fell on my toast, and later decided it was available to make up the numbers of images to fill discreet pages in the gallery.
          My destination by the long bridge over the meandering River Gt. Ouse was fortuitous, as I had certainly not expected to be later featuring a small private helicopter to be landing so close to where I was! But, I am getting ahead of myself, I had set off initially to capture the Spring blossom and the landscape adjacent to the river. The cloudless sky with its rich blue can often be less interesting than either towering Cumulus clouds or fast-scudding small puffy ones, but it proved to be the ideal backdrop for a tree bare of its natural leaves, but with a mass of clinging ivy to its trunk.
          The weir was in full flow and the bright sun was again fortuitous in giving crisp texture to the frothy water cascading beneath the walkway that was such a contrast to the calm water surface before the drop, that barely disturbed the reflection of the Red Emergency Lifebelt on the far side. The shadows cast by the sun accentuated the various shapes of the railing; the ridges to aid good grip when operating the lock gates, and the string of green buoys to capture hazardous floating branches and the like. It was pure serendipity that a lone gull should fly into frame to add extra interest. And as if to add further interest to the bland blue sky another gull flew in to draw attention away from the flat top of the Cedar! Perhaps the gulls arrival drew a group of passers-by to ascertain whether the gulls meant this spot was a good one for human Anglers?
          Close by a currently, very stark tree set back from the river bank by a narrow green sward stood a tower that I presumed might be a test for climbers with a viewing platform at its top. The trees by the bridge were typically stark for this early season and made even more so by the cloudless sky! And a man was exercising his dog by playing Fetch and throwing a stick into the river. Then as if on cue, a boating couple paddled slowly by and seemed to acknowledge my recording their efforts! As did a braver man who stood upright on his far steadier wide paddleboard.
          My further observations of this stretch of the river captured the stark wreck of an abandoned blue, decidedly Off road vehicle and further on an even sadder sight of a seriously damaged memorial stone to some loved, passed parents at presumably their favoured spot for watching the Wood and River Life from a roofed bench.
          At this early season of the year, when the sun is shining, it brings out the textures with its harsh light, of tilled fields and stark, leafless trees and gnarled bark. And then as it looked as if I had finally run out of subjects of interest for my camera, I hear the light sound of a small helicopter approaching to land! What a splendid way to finish my day’s shooting. I hope it gives as much pleasure to those who follow my blog; all the action took place correctly chronologically, with only early mention of the helicopter providing a teaser, being out of place timewise!

Short Nearby Spring Walk

          It is a difficult time to be out and about with a camera with dull weather prevailing, but I have tried to get out as much as possible, taking the Lumix camera along to capture images that appeal whilst walking in the nearby wood.
          There is a wind, and every so often there are signs of the clouds thinning and brightening; on this occasion as I crossed the road and headed for the path that skirts the fields and follows the course of the stream, I was able to capture the blues, golds and whites of some early Spring flowers in the gardens that front the road out of the village, heading towards the Forest Centre. After the last house, I enter the path that skirts the School and Parish Church, Catkins hang like golden jewels, swaying gently in the light breeze. Some leaves that once were dark blue-green are now fringed in deep red. Others are striped in green and shades of varying, rich red shades. I also spot a cluster of what appear to be Pigeon feathers, suggesting a fight of some sort, and then disappointingly, a thoughtlessly discarded group of empty Vodka bottles!
          Further along the path, I capture the subtle, early stages of fresh buds and leaves before a square concrete column topped with a central golden cluster of lichen and as I leave the cover of the path, in the middle distance a flock of birds searching the field for grubs and seeds.

Therapeutic Walk Before Sun Sets

Who is Spying on who? Is this a budding fellow photographer?

                                                                           Sorry, it was just too tempting!

          Somewhat late in the day the sun shyly arrives, and I collect my camera, and head out towards the path that skirts the nearby church; the sun brings out the variety of colours that abound at this time of transition. Leaves show both ends of the season’s colours; the russet golds of leaves falling, fallen, and temporarily caught before their final landing, to carpet the grass beneath, and the lush green of shoots that hope to survive the coming frosts.

          I capture also, the lush yellow of lichen and the varied structures of the coming season’s seed forms, and upturned leaves that more clearly define their veined structures that barely show when viewed from above. Beyond the denuded branches, the clouds display their forms, and on the water form a backdrop to branches reflected on the surface of the stream in the deeply cut field boundary to save the fields from flooding. Occasionally, shafts of gold penetrate gaps in the boundary trees to highlight the richness of a nearby tree as the sun gets ever lower, and the clouds themselves are also edged in gold as the sun finally dips below the horizon, and beyond the nearby rooves. 

          I am doing my best to catch up on some of the individual trips I have made in recent days, but other pressures have meant that there are several trips I have made with pictures taken, but have yet to be processed as other pressures have prevailed. However I can take some comfort that despite the dearth of new images reaching the blog, the readers’ viewing figures have remained high, and seemingly visitors have in some instances ventured beyond the present page to view shots taken back in August. I wonder whether that came about by using the Search box and entering subjects of specific interest, or whether some reached the bottom of the initial screen then decided to venture even earlier.

          I have taken some pictures that have yet to be processed, but I am hoping that they will see the light of day soon and I apologise if the subjects feel neglected, it just seemed easier to deal with some later shots that were nearer the surface.

Autumn Woodland Stroll

          The sun beckoned me out from where I had parked my car close by a Vauxhall Car Showroom; a handy spot from where to cross the busy main road, and enter a park. One of the beauties of sunlight when photographing leaves is that when leaves are backlit, the internal structures are revealed, adding interest to even the most mundane of leaves. So it was hardly surprising that seeing sunlight streaming in from the direction my camera was facing, rather than over my left shoulder, it would feature such an image so early in my walk. Nevertheless, strongly textured leaves soon became the focus of my attention in the seasonally natural hues of dark green and red.
          Against such a backdrop, I then sighted a Shield bug, making its lethargic way around the handily, rippled textures of the leaf. The combination of sunlight and the season’s varied and rich colours always appeal, as do the dark gold of dying leaves due to drop from their stem when the wind breaks their grip.
          It is interesting to note that when I am spotted aiming my camera’s lens close to something of interest to me, and almost right on top of my subject, passers-by are often sufficiently puzzled to enquire just what it might be that I am looking at? This breaks down any reticence they might feel normally, about asking me what has caught my interest? I cannot be sure in this instance whether this was the case, but one of the next shots I took was of a couple of well covered, happy people who engaged me in brief conversation. If they spot this image I hope they were pleased with the outcome.
          I continued walking close by the trees to spot further subjects for the camera and was alerted by the loud and obviously happy chirping of an immaculately groomed Robin generously providing me with differing backgrounds for the shots! Up till then, I had not taken much note of the sky and it’s few clouds, but I took a quick shot before going back to closer subjects of tree trunk textures and leaves, and leave you with an ivy-clad tree ‘giving me the bird’!

Marston Moretaine Woods Walk

           Once again, the call from beyond the confines of the house beckons, and the sun has warmed the air and banished any of the possible remnants of frost. In this time of isolation it requires little to tempt me to grab my camera once abluted and breakfasted, and head for the door. Nor is there a need to drive anywhere; I am fortunately blessed with parks and open spaces and I can travel light by selecting the LUMIX camera and my two closeup rings, and head off out..

          Closing my garden gate, I turn left, out towards the main road, and once it is safe to cross it, head off to walk to the edge of the village, where I take the path that skirts the edge of fields with hedgerows either side, and within thirty yards, the camera has found varied colours and shapes of leaves that bear the mixtures of varied Autumn hues from the still remaining greens mixed with elements of the true Season’s bronze and gold. The all important seeds for the coming year are also on show, hanging in anticipation that winds will aid their further dispersal.

          Every so often the sun is momentarily covered by passing clouds, but predominantly the sun is shining and enhancing both the hues and textures that bring joy to artists and photographers. Time passes, and particularly at this time of year the ever-changing angle of the sunlight means our view of the scenes can appear and disappear in instants!

          Luckily for me, there is a bird that shares my joy of these moments and is delighted to let me know and, anyone else within hearing distance, by shrilly sharing these moments by singing its little heart out; an energetic Robin! It even ensured it was able to reach a varied audience by flitting between different vantage points!

Riverside Birds, Bedford

          On this visit to Bedford, I parked very close to the river, and took a gentle stroll back to the bank having already taken the soft case off, and set the zoom and exposure in anticipation of what I might be capturing initially. This turned out to be one of the Greylag geese who looked up towards me in anticipation of my throwing a handful of seed in its general direction. The action of doing so caused others to react more speedily as all were far swifter and more nimble!

          It also attracted the interest of others on the wing, mostly gulls. My interest was in trying to capture some of those in the air, as the LUMIX, my camera on this occasion, is less easy to master in such situations.

          The LUMIX is far less obtrusive than my EOS cameras with the bulky Sigma telephotos, so the Squirrel in the tree felt safe and although it was very much aware of me, it was confident and not threatened, which allowed me to spend quite some time capturing shots of it, both in the tree and on the ground.

Short, Nearby Walk

           Shortly after my walk. begins, an abrupt change in the depth of water has created a miniature waterfall, and beyond, a narrowing causes a fan shaped pattern beyond, and some reeds create bubbles on the surface.

          As I walk further, the banks have clusters of bright contrasting colours of red and golden leaves on fearsome thorned purple stems, set against green leaves pockmarked with smallish brown growths. Clusters of lighter gold thistleheads also share the tops of the raised banks to the stream. The sky in one direction still has some blue beyond the clouds, yet in another now only has shades of grey above the waterlogged fields. This does enhance the lushness of the coming year’s crop.

          In the wooded areas sharing the space amongst the carpet of golden fallen leaves, can be seen what I imagine were once brick based gun emplacements, now sharing the ground with trees intent on reclaiming the space from the relics of a past war. Also a single, taller brick structure on two levels of concrete. As I returned to the main road, leaving a hint of the church tower beyond the tall bushes, I encountered a deep cube cut into the road, and protected by interlocking bright orange plastic barriers  

          This now waterlogged trench with clustered cables presumably awaiting conection to the next pit further along the road.

Sunshine Lake Images

     Recently the sun has been a less common visitor, so the opening image was a pleasant welcome to be captured as my camera and I took a walk, from the almost full Car Park, along the lengthy, tree-lined walk to the open expanses and lakes beyond. As I had noted before with my local wooded area, within these spaces the most frequent grouping were dogs and their owners.
     Other notable visitors flew overhead — small light aircraft with their gentle buzz and beyond, the silent painters of light wispy trails that provide history of their travel with white contrails against the blue of the sky — the high-flying jets of numerous airlines’ passenger jets. As I walked through the expansive green spaces, the afternoon was darkening as the sun lowered and the colour tinted the clouds pale blue against the paler gold of the clouds.
     Against the sky, trees and buildings were silhouetted crisply like Lino cuts. I also selected red berries against a blurred, more diffuse and monochromatic background and verdigris topped vertical poles, as a way to exaggerate the contrast and drama of the season.

            Finally, I have got my act together and got at least the most recent gallery of images up at last! Sorry for the extended delay; hopefully "Normal Service will be resumed as soon as possible!" to steal a quote from the BBC!