Light and Colour in Winter (January 2019)

Even after years of photographing the local landscape it still surprises me how much variation in light and colour there is across seasons and year-to-year. I guess this is why I keeping taking the photographs and enjoy the results.

At this time last year we were either snow bound or in between blizzards that were driven by east winds. This year, however, has been generally mild. We escaped the snow that other parts of the country suffered and more latterly the air from the south has been unseasonably warm.

The following selection from the Southwell Trail, taken in January, demonstrates the type variation I often see in the local landscape. Some of the fields had been recently ploughed, catching the golden hour light before sunset, producing a rich red earthy colour - perhaps akin to a painter's burnt sienna. This was so different to last year and looking back over similar images from this location on the trail, I had not captured anything like this combination of light and colour previously:

The light on this particular afternoon was quite variable and at times I had to wait for the clouds to pass. These were some of the of images captured both before and after the above selection: