Sometimes it is serendipity that creates the images that I am pleased with. I walked out the door one afternoon recently, just wanting some fresh air and a stretch of legs. I took my camera as an afterthought.
Just five minutes walk from home and I am in Bradley Woods in the valley of the River Lemon. These ancient woodlands are cared for by the National Trust, and offer a wonderful 'green lung' to my town. It is a Site of Scientific Interest being one of the few habitats that grow on limestone.
I walk through the trees, absorbing the peace, the gentle noise of the breeze in the highest leaves. And soon my eye is drawn to the light dancing through the branches and picking up splashes of autumn colour amidst the lingering bright summer greens. I decided on a little wiggle of the camera to catch this dance:
Walking on I reached the river, and again was stopped in my tracks by the light, this time on the water:
One of the things that I like about using Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) in my photography is the variety that I can get in my images, just by varying the movement and the shutter speed.
Further along the river, there is a weir which offers a range of possibilities for photographs. My time is already running out, so I quickly take stock of the scene. The trees on the bank of the river are quietly reflected in the still pools of water gathered ready to tumble over the weir. The noise and movement of the water as it falls offers an interesting contrast. I decided to capture this in my composition using the edge of the weir as a divider between the still water and the rushing waterfall. And the sunlight splashes were the icing on the cake!
And finally before I set out for home, I experimented with a couple of multiple exposures. Interesting that they convey more of a sense of cold than the other images, a sign of the winter to come:
This walk reminded me again that I do not have to go far nor take a lot of equipment in order to capture some images that I am pleased with, and it need not take very much time. The combination of a walk in nature and the creative buzz it provokes though is priceless.
A poem from the Philosophical Poet, Allen Steble, to finish:
A walk in the woods
Calms my racing thoughts
A breath of fresh air
Pure meditation
Nature is the key
To the soul's locked door
A walk in the woods
Let's me breathe again
From the rush of life
A caged freedom
Giving me release
From expectation
A walk in the woods
Brings me to the now
The present moment
A beautiful place
Where my mind finds rest
And my soul finds peace
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