Everyone likes crisp autumn days with sun shining and vibrant colours of changing leaves and ripening fruits everywhere. Often it is just not like that. Damp and muggy. Dull overcast skies. Dead, diseased, and dying reminders of the passage of time. It can be difficult to find something to brighten the scene, lighten the mood, a reason to be cheerful. It was like that yesterday as I walked around the village with my camera. This is what I recorded before completing my circuit, feeling better for the exercise and fresh air regardless of the dull and dismal day.
I rather enjoyed the mournful descriptions! That weather does look dreary. Hope it ‘crisps’ up for you.
…and yet your photos make it look far from dismal :)…
Thank you, Nature on the Edge. The one thing you can be sure of with English weather is that it never stays any particular way for long. It is sure to change for something better some time soon.
Thank you, Clare. When the natural light is so “flat”, wider views seem boring as well, at least for rural scenes. It is probably more suited to capturing urban or industrial scenes. Macros and close-ups seem to be the way to go on dull days in the countryside.
As your photos show, and as you say, the lower light helps us to focus on detail. I love the subtle colours which can be overlooked in bright conditions, and I find decay can also be fascinatingly beautiful. Your images catch so much of that.
Thank you, Olga. You are right – there are advantages to low light and absence of reflection for photography. Not everything in the natural world is bright, beautiful, and dramatic. There is also room to record the humble and everyday occurrences.
Lovely autumn observations Jessica, despite the dull weather….
Thank you, Evelyn. I think autumn is probably my favourite time of year regardless of weather.
I asked my botanist husband about the “curious spines” on the rose hips in your photo, Jessica, because I was curious myself. Here’s what he said, “Roses have thorns on their stems and sometimes a few on the fruit because the outer layer of a rose hip is stem tissue that’s grown up around the ovary.” I hope you find this as interesting as I do.
We’ve had plenty of this weather too, Jessica. Daylight is already dwindling! I love the contrast of rich and muted colours that you found, and lovely textures.
Thank for this information, Linda. I could not have expected that answer. I was thinking that the spines on the hips were a kind of gall due to a particular kind of insect infestation. Thank you for the information.
Thank you, Jo. I think the weather lately has been what Scottish people call “driech” – if that is how it is spelt – and the evenings are drawing in as well. I am pleased to learn that there are people who appreciate what the everyday and ordinary in nature have to offer as well as the super spectacular.
I expected David to say they were galls, too.