Galleries

November 16th – A hazardous time of year, and not just just from the black ice on frosty mornings. Many hazards lurk in the damp autumn waiting to steal the wheels from beneath the incautious cyclist – one of the worst is leaf mulch. Fallen leaves, ground into a pulp by feet and wheels turn to a soapy, slippery grease that makes steering and braking a hazard.Combine this on busy roads with road grime, oil and spilled diesel and you have a real recipe for an accident.

The only answer is to be vigilant, beware of the front brake and take it easy.

November 16th – Also providing colour, and much later than normally expected, the leaves are stunning still.

It’s that time of year when if it rains, many tracks, backlanes and other cycle routes become slippery with leaf pulp, which is treacherous and hard to predict.

The colours were beautiful, even against a threatening sky.

November 15th – There seem to be some species of shrub and tree that are unique to commercial and trading estates, in that you only see them in the borders and copses there. These were in Tipton.

One such shrub is this one: laden with a huge quantity of bright red berries that the birds don’t seem to bother with much, I have no idea of it’s name.

Looks like another bumper crop this year, too.

November 13th – Another evening mooch around Lichfield with camera and tripod. I’m really enjoying night photography at the moment and am learning more about the camera with every attempt.

Mind, it’s easy in Lichfield – such an enigmatic, beautiful place at night.

November 9th – A wet night in Walsall, returning later than usual through the area near the Civic Centre, I noticed the fallen leaves were forming a glistening, multicoloured carpet. This area is surprisingly beautiful at any time of year, with usually unnoticed mature trees and wide pedestrian areas, but in autumn, after dark, even with the peculiarly strident street lighting this place is special.

Walsall is a place of many hidden beautiful and unexpected corners.

November 8th – Back to the Nikon S9900, and this is what I was after yesterday. I love the harsh way can be set to pick up on light sources. It doesn’t suit everything, but I think it works better on the bridge scene that the fuzz the Panasonic does. The light was completely different tonight, sadly, as I travelled home in steady rain – but I may flip back to this camera for a while and see how I get on…

Novemebr 6th – Lichfield on a dark, damp and nearly deserted Sunday evening was a treat. Armed with a tripod and some time to kill, experimentation was undertaken. I managed to get the hard light I wanted, and loved the effect long exposeure have on passing strangers, rendering them ghosts. 

There are few better urban spots for night photography than Lichfield.

November 6th – I saw the deer on the scrub between Chasewater Dam and the bypass – just the two, what I assume to be mother and child. They were contentedly loafing, and although interested by the human attention, they didn’t seem nervous, at least until a dog appeared.

I’d not seen he dear at close quarters for a while, and on a wet, grey and very cold-seeming afternoon, seeing these graceful creatures cheered me up.