First post of the New Year! Hope that everyone is well, and has had a peaceful and safe holiday period.
The weather over Christmas in London has been really grey and rainy. I am aware that I may have been moaning about this fact quite a lot. :) We had a very colourful sunrise that I got out for mid-december, which although lovely, wasn't really that great for photos, as I felt that the light was harsh and there was a complete lack of atmosphere. I had a more interesting, very foggy outing the Sunday before Christmas (for another post), but recently I have felt like there has been a real lack of the sort of weather that works for me photographically in the park.
So far I have kept my blogs on Hive to be quite current, and haven't dipped too much into older pre-Hive photos. I quite like this format, because all landscape photographers know that we aren't all blessed with perfect conditions 100% of the time, and I mainly just write about recent outings.
This one couldn't be more current. The forecast for overnight on Wednesday was showing a temperature of -5! That's pretty cold for London, and given that we've had record breaking warm temperatures for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (it was 16 degrees in Hyde Park on New Year's Day!) this was a big drop in the mercury. The wind was also forecast to be very light. Yesterday morning, I put on about 20 layers of old clothes, hopped on my bike, and rolled up to the park before sunrise.
I hoped that there would be some mist, but sadly there was none. However, I was treated to some lovely light, and beautiful hoar frost.
Because I had to be back home at my desk for 9.30, I decided to head to the brook. It's the closest location to get to, and if the light was good I would still be able to be home in time for work, without feeling too rushed.
ISO 100, 125mm, f/14, 20 sec
This photograph looks really peaceful. What one can't see is the road that crosses the frame in the distance, that is used as a rat run for people driving to work. The vehicle gates for the park open at 7ish, and there is a steady stream of traffic traveling through until the end of rush hour. I had to deploy a long exposure to remove the traffic from the photo, as I like to get things right in camera rather than trying to fix in post. I also had to clamber down the frozen slippery banks using my tripod as a walking pole, to drag out a branch that someone had helpfully chucked in the river, that was ruining the composition. Despite the cars and branch throwing being a bit of a nuisance, I really love this photo. The sun was rising almost directly behind me and it wasn't yet up. The reflected light from the hoar frost, and the subtle peachy pinks in the sky, are so pretty and delicate. It's rare for me to photograph the brook without any misty atmosphere (that would have been the icing on the cake!), but I'm still super happy with this image.
ISO 100, 210mm, f/14, 2sec
This view is changed forever with the demise of the willow that fell in November. Part of the trunk has been left where it once stood, bottom left of frame. The Royal Parks never take the wood from fallen trees away. It is always left to lie as it provides great habitat for invertebrates. The rest of the wood is piled up further away from the bank. I still feel a knot in my stomach when I see that it's not there anymore. The original composition that I used to take from this part of the brook, pointing in this direction, feels a little unbalanced now, so this is a new angle that I haven't shot before. It's very nice, but I don't think has quite the same impact.
To illustrate, here's an image I took a couple of winters ago, with the willow still standing. Off course the conditions when I took this photograph are arguably better. I had some thick mist as well as a lovely frost. The willow bark and branches were at their mid-winter peak fiery red colour. It was an excellent morning for taking photos.
In this shot, the fallen willow had been recently pollarded. Since then, it had grown back it's feathery branches, and had looked very photogenic.
Beautiful willow tree, you are very missed.
I've got a couple more photo outings to write about. The foggy morning I mentioned earlier in the post, plus a trip into the city centre for some Londonscapes last Sunday. Hopefully, by the time I've posted about these, I'll have had some more misty sunrises under my belt to write about too.