Winter Warmth (February 2019)

It was unseasonably mild towards the end of February and it was great to get out without the winter hat and coat and the cold that diverts attention away from the photography to keeping warm. I can think of a few times when I passed up a photographic opportunity in order to keep the gloves on, or worse, keeping the gloves whilst trying to change the camera’s settings - it really doesn’t work!

On the first day of winter warmth I treated the conditions with skepticism with only a short coat free walk around the village. As the warmth persisted, we made visits to Clumber Park and the River Trent buoyed by reports that we were warmer in the UK than Malibu! For anyone, unfamiliar with UK weather, we have a national pastime that likes to compare our temperatures, be it hot or cold, to places around the world, particularly anywhere considered more to be exotic - which, in the case of the East Midlands, is practically everywhere!

These are a selection of the village photographs from the first warm day. Looking in one direction on Combs Lane it was more winter-like with a mist or haze hanging on the landscape and a cold looking harsh light. In the other direction however it was completely different, more warm looking with just a hint of haze in the distance. In fact, these images don’t really look like they belong to the same location or the same ten minute time period:

Before I move onto the other fine days and the visits to Clumber Park and the River Trent, I will take an opportunity to round up some other images taken during February in the same, Combs Lane location. And, whilst I might have jokingly down played the East Midlands in my comments above, I do think it has some wonderful countryside particular when the sun shines: