August 29th – A late rove around Brownhills and I just missed the sunset, and there are sadly few decent places to catch it in the town without going to Chasewater. I got as far as the Chase Road Bridge, then realised I wasn’t going to make it and looped back to Brownhills.
It was a gorgeous evening with great skies, and considering how windy the day had been, it was very still.
August 29th – I nipped down to Stonnall to see a pal and left just as dusk was closing in. As I came over Shire Oak Hill and back into Brownhills, the sky caught fire with a most gorgeous sunset.
Brownhills never looked better.
August 24th – A remarkable sunset struck when I was travelling around on errands, and I couldn’t get in a good place to photograph it, so I let the trees in on the glory.
Beautiful. Very little sun in the days, but the sundowns are gorgeous.
August 23rd – On my way to a friend’s house in the evening, I shot through Walsall Wood, and as I came over the canal bridge looking towards Walsall, something about the lights, the sunset sky and that window showroom caught my eye.
An odd splash of colour. It was actually raining lightly as I took these photos.
August 12th – The photography was better, but I wasn’t.
Still pretty rough, and not really any better, I got out a little earlier and bumbled off to Chasewater to catch the sunset. Getting used to a new camera can be odd and the Nikon seems to have interesting habits; it doesn’t seem to do sunsets quite the same as the Panasonic, which tended to redden them, where as this one tends to pull out the pink aspect more. It worked better than I thought it had from the picture preview.
From there, I scooted back to Brownhills as it got dark. Some shots from Clayhanger’s railway bridge using a gorillapod allowed me to experiment and found that aperture priority allowed me to get the hash, sharp light pattern I like. That was a real discovery.
I was a lovely evening, and although I felt dreadful, I’d learned something, so it wasn’t a bad trip, really.
And then there were the toads…
August 8th – From Seven Springs I headed down onto the canal at Weetmans Bridge near Little Haywood, as far as Breretonhill, then back through Upper Longdon and Stoneywell. The canal was glorious on a golden evening, and I drifted lazily past narrowboats, clumps of Himalayan balsam and waterside gardens that were enchanting. At Longdon, I see the refurbishment of the windmill continues well, after seemingly being stalked for ages.
As I came through Stoneywell the dying sun caught the have step fields and rendered them precious.
June 19th – Scooting late through Walsall Wood, I caught the sunset.
I haven’t caught a good one for ages – I’m just not usually about when they happen at the moment, which is sad.
I was glad to see this one. I must make more of an effort – some of the recent ones have been spectacular.
June 18th – The other end of a long day, Walsall Wood’s Oak Park bathes in a glorious golden hour.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
May 13th – Less dramatic and more serene was the view over the new pond at Clayhanger from the canal towpath; caught in a glorious golden hour, the fresh greens glowed in the evening, and all seemed right in the world.
I was, of course, taxed for tidbits by the same pair of geese as usual, the canny devils – all hissing and wing flaps until they get food, then they waddle off, sated.
May 6th – I got back to Brownhills at sunset, but couldn’t get anywhere to get a good view of it, sadly; but it did look nice from the canal over Clayhanger Common.
It was nice to be home; I was worn out. Some days, you don’t know which way up you are by the end of them. Your legs turn the pedals, and your body knows which way to go, but mentally, you’re knackered.
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