It Gets Me Out Of The House

I know it's hard to believe, but the sun doesn't always shine in England. Sometimes, as described in unforgettable terms by Bill Bryson, it's like "living inside some Tupperware". And during the last few days a lid of thick cloud has been firmly clamped down upon us. But, if you've got a camera, there's always a reason to get out and about.

Here's a fairly typical wintry scene near Malton Farm, which is within walking distance of home. That little building on the left is an old dovecote dating from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. There used to be a village here at Malton but all that's here now is the farm and a few houses.....

....and a field with some Highland Cattle. They don't usually do much except stand and think, but I got lucky....

.....and found a particularly expressive shaggy beast.

I have no idea what attracted me to photograph this arrangement of poles and wires.

Or indeed these fences and sheds! Except that England is a worked-over (and overworked) land; barely an inch of it has not been changed in some way by the presence of humanity. It's silly to always search out scenes that look natural and untouched.

There's still a tinge of autumn about if you go and look for it.

Oak leaves are beginning to pile up under their trees. I've taken loads of these "forest floor" pictures but I don't think I've included many on the blog this year. So here's another taken in the last week.....

I think this is the leaf of a White Poplar shining out on the fast decaying leaf litter. And occasionally you can still come across real autumnal scenes like this.....

But it is really winter that is holding sway. And as I squelched my way across a watery meadow beneath a gloomy sky....

That's no pigeon perched up there and if you're a small mammal you'd better watch out - it's a Kestrel keeping watch for anything that moves in the grass. But sometimes the sun does come out, then you can keep an eye open for.....

Twenty-two degrees to either side of the sun on a chilly morning or evening you may see "sun-dogs". These bright, colourful spots in the sky are caused by sunlight being refracted by ice crystals in the atmosphere. No one seems to know why they are called "dogs", though I've always assumed it was just because they appear either side of the sun, like dogs being walked. 

If you haven't got a dog then take a camera for a walk.

Take care.

Welcoming Winter

Occasionally, at this time of year, we are blessed in this part of England with fine days of biting clarity that reveal the tiniest details of the landscape. 

We're off on a circular tour of the woods and fields around Ardeley in Hertfordshire and the first detail made obvious by the piercing morning light was that most of the trees are now stripped of their summer foliage and displaying the intricacies of their twiggy branches. The novelty of this sight, after our lengthy autumn, is almost as welcome as the green leaves of spring or the first golden shades of autumn.

Not that the battered denizen of the hedgerows seen above has changed much over recent seasons. 

We soon found ourselves in an even more ancient feature of the landscape as we travelled along a hidden lane between the trees. It's actually an old Roman road, so has been trodden by pedestrians for almost two thousand years. Roman soldiers once marched where my brother and I were sauntering with much less urgency on this fine but chilly morn.

Oak trees are as tardy as ever in getting on with the business of autumn and still hang on to their golden leaves. Would we find more of these beauties on our walk?

Yes, and this time photographed looking almost straight into the harsh sun which is lighting up the remaining leaves. 

In December the height of the sun at these latitudes, even at midday, is no more than 15° above the horizon. This can make photography difficult, but looked at another way, it means that the "golden hour", that time just before sunset which photographers love, lasts nearly all day!     

           ♪ ♫ Always look on the bright side of life ♪ ♫

This is the kind of scene I always envisage, perhaps with a few more clouds in the sky, when thinking about winter walks

A birdwatching interlude:  As we made our way beside the fields we came to an area of sunflowers, their seedheads bowed down and providing what amounted to a huge feeding station for any birds who found it, and many did. At first we saw Blue Tits and Chaffinches, but slowly we became aware of more and more species among them, including Bramblings. In normal years I may see one or two of these northern finches, but so far this winter I must have seen in excess of a hundred - and all associated with sunflower fields like this one.

I think this area had been sown to provide cover and feed for gamebirds, though obviously all wildlife was benefitting from this sunflower seed bonanza. Bizarrely there were two old trampolines standing beside the field, too far from any road to have been dumped and clearly carried here for a purpose. Even more oddly, neatly positioned in the corner of the field, was a wickerwork sofa of the kind usually seen in conservatories or on patios. Then there were two men wearing hats and gloves drinking hot chocolate from a flask - ah, I can explain that one. 

Back to the walk. Apart from one or two dog-walkers there were few people about on this fine morning. 

We passed through a section of private woodland, but on a public path. Again the low sun was angling in and lighting the leaves from behind.

As we completed our circle back to Ardeley we met some of the animals from Church Farm. The farm sums itself up on its website thus:

 "We are a not-for-profit farming, food, care and education farm. Our aim is to enhance the countryside, provide people with special needs the opportunity to learn and grow, conserve wildlife and farm ecologically". 

Noble aims indeed.

I suppose you'll be wanting to see a little of the village. Its church was, surprisingly, not open; probably the result of the Covid pandemic which has left many churchwardens uncertain of exactly what to do for the best.

There is a traditional village green with thatched cottages grouped around the old well. It's so picture-perfect that it attracts many visitors from far and wide. But all is not as it seems: this entire scene was contrived by the lord of the manor who had the whole lot built just over a hundred years ago. Though it's no less pretty for that.

And there's a pub too, the Jolly Waggoner, which gets its name from there once being a blacksmith's forge nearby, so presumably by the time the horse was reshod the waggoner had refreshed himself in the pub and was suitably jolly.

Take care.

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.

The Village Beat

A few photos from my early morning walk, starting before dawn and home again by 09:15. Just a stroll from my house, mostly on the footpath beside the little chalk stream that runs just behind the houses.

That's how it looked this morning as the sun rose and then glowed. There was just a hint that a low mist was going to form but that never really happened today. It was all so autumnal that I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw this as I neared home....

Talk about getting your order in early for Christmas!

Take care.