Weird Autumn

It's been a weird Autumn this year - warmer, wetter and windier than usual - and it's about to get a whole lot weirder! After walking around in this dragged-out season for several weeks I become restless and start to search for something different, usually aided and abetted by my long telephoto lens. I'll add a few notes after each picture for the baffled and confused......

Windy days take the leaves from the trees but give a few opportunities for taking something slightly different. This what happens if you leave the shutter open for a sixth of a second to allow the movement of the leaves to blur a little on the finished photo.

A more straightforward picture but with the background out of focus; it's just what happens when you photograph small things with a long lens.

The above is actually two photos; one in focus and one wildly out of focus, blended together in the computer to give a nice dreamy effect.

If you focus on the little "sun-sparkles" on running water and use a slow shutter speed they trace strange hieroglyphics on the water's surface.

A single little leaf bent over and bearing strands of cobweb. The background is the sun reflecting off of wet ivy leaves, again way out of focus.

Nothing but the sun shining through a couple of oak leaves.

In focus, out of focus and way, way out of focus. It's fascinating to search out miniature scenes like this; just a slight movement to one side changes everything. Of course if anyone's watching they will think I'm mad - a conclusion you may have already reached yourself!

So at other times I just point and shoot, Billy the Kid style, and ask questions later. Occasionally I like the result.

Two leaves that I picked up on a walk and took home. I scanned a picture of them on my photo-copier. The background is another photo, just very blurred sunlit leaves. Then I put the two together on the lap-top.

The odd abstract pattern above is merely the reflections of leaves and blue skies on the stream near my home.

Circles like the one above are formed by an unfocussed highlight in the background. Photographers call this "bokeh".

More "bokeh" here. And here's another clever trick......

It's done by deliberately moving the camera while taking a photo - the opposite of what you're normally trying to do. I don't usually like the results but this one, using upright trees, a picket fence and autumn colours looks OK to me. And there's more....

If you zoom the lens while taking a picture you get results like the above....sometimes!

You should be able to work that one out for yourself by now. I hope you've enjoyed that slightly different take on Autumn. Don't worry this is not going to turn into a technical blog about photography - I just know that some of you will want to know.

Take care.