First Autumn Photos


I took this photo in Gotts Park, the local park where I often walk my dog. I love to watch the double row of horse chestnut trees throughout the year; they look lovely at the moment with their leaves turning beautiful autumn colours. I processed the image quite heavily in order to enhance the colours and deepen the shadows and to add a bit of a mystic and painterly feel.


With its abundance of colours, forms and textures in nature autumn for me is the most inspiring season for still life photography. Colourful squashes always catch my eye and make me think of a still life image. These three I brought back from Zagreb. I arranged them simply in a straight line on the chest of drawers next to a window in my spare room, the usual place for my still life work; I added a conker in its shell to offset the pattern on the bottom of the squash on the right, and waited till the afternoon sun just started to emerge from behind the cloud to take a pic. In editing I applied a very dark texture layer which is rather unusual for my style, but is something I have been leaning towards for quite a while. I decided to be really bold this time and leave the image very dark so as to symbolize the cosy darkness of early nights that October brings about.


I brought back home lots of conkers from Gotts Park and put them in a basket for decoration in my dining room. When G saw them he immediately suggested I do a game of conkers still life. Not my usual still life type of image, but I thought I'd give it a go; so, after watching a video of the game on youtube to make sure I get things right, I made the necessary preparation and took a few shots in my garden. Here is one of the most dramatic ones.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Villages of Laycock and Goose Eye, West Yorkshire

Image
Two miles west of town of Keighley, on the border with Brontë Country lie two old, small and peaceful villages: Laycock and Goose Eye. I love exploring and photographing picturesque villages and was very pleased to discover these two which are only a slight detour on my way to Haworth. Wandering around Laycock, I was immediately drawn to the sense of slow pace of life and living in harmony with countryside and nature. The villagers were friendly and took the time to chat to us: there was an owner of a beautiful and unusual, very old house doing some work outside, and further up a group of ladies came out of another house after getting together for a morning coffee. There were some gorgeous gardens teeming with colourful summer blooms and attractive tables with chairs thoughtfully placed to enjoy soothing, far reaching views. We passed through Goose Eye on our way out of Laycock, but I came back to take photos a few days later. Goose ...
Read more

Gawthorpe Hall and Charlotte Bronte

Image
As a big Bronte Sisters fan I am on a mission to gradually visit and photograph all the places of connection with the sisters, both with their life and their work. Living in West Yorkshire where the sisters lived and wrote, I consider myself very lucky to be in a position to do so. It also makes for a special pleasure of marrying two loves of mine - the one for photography and the one for the great literary sisters. The weekend of 8th and 9th October was reserved for a trip to Gawthorpe Hall in Lancashire. The Kay-Shuttleworth family who lived at the Hall in the 19th century came to hear about Charlotte Bronte, who was becoming a well known author, and invited her to stay, which she did on a couple of occasions. Gawthorpe Hall is a beautiful, early 17th century Elizabethan mansion, and is the last stop on the Bronte Way - a 43 mile long footpath that starts at Oakwell Hall near Birstall. Charlotte described Gawthorpe as "grey, stately and picturesque, a model of old Englis...
Read more

Ponden Hall to Ponden Kirk, Bronte Country

Image
The other weekend I returned to the wonderful Ponden Hall , my favourite place to stay in the Bronte Country. This time my intention was to explore the dramatic countryside around Ponden and locations linked to Emily Bronte's novel "Wuthering Heights". I was particularly keen on seeing Ponden Kirk, a large rock high up on Stanbury Moor, the place Emily chose for Cathy and Heathcliff to meet in the novel. It was a mainly cloudy, but dry day with the sun only very occasionally trying to break through the rather thick clouds. After a hearty English breakfast cooked by lovely Julie, the landlady at Ponden Hall, I set off by myself on the long planned 4.5 mile walk. I felt pure excitement and just a little bit of trepidation at the prospect of being alone on the top of wild and windswept moorland area as yet unknown to me. I headed north-west of Ponden, along a rural track flanked with one or two farms. The sun was trying to push through some menacing clouds creati...
Read more