Sometimes my work ask me to work a few extra hours, on various shifts. Yesterday was one of those days, where I was asked to work 3hrs in the morning and my usual 3hrs from mid afternoon until close. That meant I had a 3hr 'window of opportunity' between shifts, though of course I also needed to eat some lunch to maintain the balance on my diabetes.
It was a grey and misty day, no hint of the sun appearing, but I had a plan that involved me having a woodland walk (thereby getting much needed exercise) with the intention of taking photographs if I could find interesting compositions.
The idea of a woodland walk was easy to come up with, due to the large choice of locations close to my work, and I opted for one where I could leave the car parked at work and just walk.
Walking up the lane to the junction with the A217 main road, I was able to turn left into a bridle way that runs along the edge of woodland parallel to the main road but just out of sight of it.
I found a couple of interesting compositions along this path - one where a small tree had some colourful but rather withered looking leaves still clinging to the twigs and providing a welcome splash of colour at that spot. I experimented with composition and took a few shots before heading onwards.
A bit further up the path, my attention was drawn to some colourful and unusual looking fungus growing on a fallen tree branch. I decided to take a closer look and to try a few shots, the best of which is below. I put the camera on the tripod and managed to tilt it over for an overhead shot of the fungus, while also managing to support the tripod with the branch.
After that little interlude I continued my wander, knowing that the path I was on would bring me to a large roundabout on the main road, from where I could make my way to Mill Road on the edge of Walton Heath Common - a spot I visited a few weeks ago for Autumn Colour.
I had hoped that there might be mist lingering within the woodland there, but sadly it was only visible out in the open on the common. I looked for inspiration for compositions and found a few within the relatively short time I had available before I needed to be heading back to work for my afternoon shift.
One of my first, was a revisit of an angle I used for the colours a few weeks back - this time leafless, a bit misty on the common, different but interesting I thought.
A little further on, I noticed that one tree had its branches covered by lichens and I tried a shot to show that.
While taking that shot, I noticed that a couple of the branches off to the right formed a sort of V shape where they got quite low a their furthest from the tree trunk and thought the view from there looking back towards the tree might be interesting. I set my tripod in between the two branches and composed the photo so that those branches acted as lead-in lines from the bottom corners of the photo. It looked like quite a web of branches and I liked that composition, though it might benefit from a revisit on a brighter day to accentuate the colours of the lichens.I will let you decide, please see below.
Off to the right behind this tree, there is a path that continues through the woodland and that was to lead me to two more interesting images before I had to pack up and be on my way.
The first of those incorporated one of the other lichen covered branches of this tree, as I used it to add foreground to a shot of the path continuing and it provided colourful contrast to the rest of the image.
In the middle of that photo, alongside the path, you can see a tangled mass of branches and once I was alongside them they provided my next image. I liked the tangled mass and the fallen tree in the ferns below it - especially as the background showed a clearing as I had not ventured far into the woodland.
and that was it, looking at the time on my mobile it was time I made a move towards work. It was an enjoyable wander, exercise and fresh air combined to be of good value to my health. The search for compositions had set my creative thoughts in motion and my mental health always gets a boost from successful photo trips. The weather made me work harder to find what I considered to be interesting shots, which might not be to everyone's taste - the joys of photography, it is all very subjective and that is the big attraction of it for me.
As suggested earlier, I decided to revisit the spot with the tree covered in lichens on a sunnier day - so I returned on Thursday as it was sunny and still. I set my tripod in a similar position to Monday shot and extended the legs slightly. Unfortunately, that gave me tripod shadow in the foreground and I eventually lowered the tripod. That didn't give me same angle of visibility of the closest lichens, but it did give me a wonderful blue sky backdrop to my shot.
After a few shots at this angle, I moved the tripod to the right and between two other branches for a different angle.
Thereafter, it was time to head to work - as I had planned this for on my way to work and left home a bit earlier than normal. I think it worked as an idea, but there might be a compromise day that is less bright and getting there a bit earlier to avoid shadows where they are not wanted. Maybe 3rd time lucky.
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