Crop Harvest (February/March 2019)

There was a lot of farming activity in the local fields towards the end of February and the start of March. In one particular field the crop, possibly sugar beat, was harvested and the landscape that had broadly stayed the same during the winter changed with the new spring season.

This might seem like a small detail, not worthy of its own post, but I was surprised by how photographically engaging the whole process became. I could sit on a bench, dedicated to the memory of a local person who enjoyed the same view, and watch the green field turn into a rich earthy brown with the contours of the landscape explored by the sunlight passing between clouds.

The sequence of photographs started with the pre-harvest view in early February:

The harvesting took place over a couple of days leaving sections of the crop still in the ground:

Finally, these were the scenes after the harvest with sunlight falling on different parts of the landscape including a hint of a rainbow in the last image.

Warm, Cool & Cold

One thing I have learned over the years in photography is never to prejudge the photographic conditions from the safety of the armchair at home. It is so easy to believe that there will be nothing ‘new’ to photograph. Sure, I get times when I go out and get nothing. For example, I generally don’t take photographs if it starts to rain heavily, but then again, I can think of times when I have got wet and then seen wonderful rainbows.

As I have matured in photography I have come to realise that photographing something new is not necessarily about the subject, it is about the light and the weather conditions. Each day is unique in this sense, particularly in the UK, where we are blessed with a variety of different weather conditions, sometimes all in one day! 

Getting out and recording some of this with a camera is the joy of photography.... for me anyway...and I am very happy to see the same relatively small bit of landscape change from day-to-day. This selection taken from the Southwell Trail during February is a good example of three different days and three different types of light: firstly, some cool light on the fields, then some warm light at the tail end of the day, and finally some cold and misty conditions.

Cool Light

Warm Light 

Misty Coldness 

Winter Trees and Branches (February 2019)

There is almost a full canopy of leaves on the Southwell Trail as I write at the end of April. Only the ash trees are yet to sprout. Some trees, like the oaks, are still developing and the leaves are displaying that fresh spring colour which is more yellow than green. Already the structure of the trees is being disguised by greenery creating ever deepening shadows as the leaves strain for space and light.

One benefit of being behind on my photograph processing, and even further behind on my blog posts, is the new perspective that is possible on older images. In my February trail catalogue I had a section on winter trees, some of which I posted a few weeks ago, and then another set that I had broadly discarded. Now the trail has quickly moved to the spring/summer condition I am looking at the discarded set with some sense of missing the stark winter branches and the brightness of the trail under leafless trees.

Don't get me wrong though, I love the change of seasons, and spring will bring a whole new set of photographic opportunities including the wonderful bluebells I captured this week. In the meantime, I am happy to look back and indulge in some of the last of the winter photography: