Some of the characters you meet on your travels.
This street entertainer was plying his trade in an almost empty street; not sure if he'd just pitched up in the wrong place, or whether he had some insight into when the avenue was to get a lot busier.
Or maybe he read about it in the local newspaper 😉
Being bored out of my skull on Saturday, I eventually levered myself out of the office chair and - picking up a camera - headed out on my bike in the direction of the Union Canal.
It was a bright afternoon, though the early autumnal chill
was much in evidence, and I had to don gloves against the breeze as I cycled at
a good speed along the main roads.
The gloves came off again, though, when I picked up the canal
towpath where it crossed Newhouse Road. Much of the canal towpath between
Newhouse and Ratho is covered in a canopy of trees. These break the breeze and,
most welcomingly, create a wonderfully peaceful hush. There is no running water
in the canal; its surface still, calm and soundless, so the only disquiet came
from the slight rustling of tree branches which overhung the path and seemed to
have busied themselves in laying down a carpet of orangey-red leaves to further
enhance the beauty of this gorgeous stretch.
The Canal - as is the case with many nature trails which
wend their way through unbounded, (almost) uncultivated nature - is just so
beautifully photogenic. While I covered 12 miles on the bike, it took me ages
to complete as I was being constantly urged by my insatiably hungry camera to
stop, compose and capture image after image of the wonderful vistas to be found
along this alluring trail.
It was a good outing. Back home, I couldn’t wait to download the files and review them on the larger screen of the laptop. I feel I managed to harvest a fair crop of images.
I hope you enjoy viewing them - at least a little as much as
I enjoyed gathering them :-)
I captured these images many, many moons ago.
They are among my own favourite images: I can still recall how warm the air was that night; remember the texture of the skies and how they changed - minute by minute as the sun slid from the sky.
With luck, I'll be able to capture similar images as autumn arrives, once again.
Autumn is making it's approach.
You can feel it in the air and see it in the trees.
Storm Amy, the first named storm of the autumn / winter gave the trees a good shake. And the trees, delighted to be unburdened by the heavy load of their foliage, discarded as much of that burden as possible.
Leaf litter now carpets the garden; peppering the grass and sticking - wet and soggy - to all the exterior surfaces; summer-house, greenhouse, tables and chairs.
As a photographer, I welcome the coming season; its rich colours promising great opportunities for the hungry lens. But the heralding of Autumn means that winter will follow close behind: that wee chill in the air will turn to a biting cold.
But I'm ahead of myself; the vagaries of winter are not yet upon us, so I intend to enjoy as much of the autumnal months which lie ahead.
