Autumn is by far my favourite season, the season of light and colours of nature. After months of long harsh lit Summer days the world starts to slow down a little. The day starts slightly later, people stay in bed longer, there’s a slight chill in the air which sends us running to the coat rack and warning us that Winter is not too far away. Then of course there’s the light and colours of nature.
There are two signs that tell me Autumn is starting, the slightly damp mornings and the morning light. Sunrises are far more vibrant, at least to me, during Autumn. Gone are the long drawn our yellow/orange dawns of Summer and in comes the reds, rich oranges and wonderful gradations of colour in the sky at dawn. During September sunrise begins around 5:30am when I begin my morning walk to work, I see the slight orange hue on the horizon and then over the course of 30-40 mins it moves through the magical changes of red and orange mixed with the fading dark blue of the night. The clouds catch this rich hues and when the sun comes out it just bathes everything in a superb warm rich orange glow.
Then of course there’s the leaves. Death and hibernation is all around but nature doesn’t go quietly, it heads to into the long Winter days screaming a battle-cry that’ll be back soon enough. The trees that were thick and heavy with green foliage start to turn a slightly warmer tone of green, then over there course of 6-7 weeks the leaves just catch fire and finally fall to their final death, giving up their lives so they can feed nutrients back into the soil.
Walking around the parks in the city during Autumn is just magical, the long avenues of trees suddenly creating fiery tunnels, the dull mist that appears in the outer laying parks like Richmond and Bushey during October and November is punctuated by the trees now on fire with golden brown, dying foliage. The city parks are full of people throwing up leaves and having a friend photograph them for their social media pages.
Much like Spring and it’s explosion of unique blooms, Autumn doesn’t last long and I tend to save myself up for it all year round. It’s one of the times I’m busiest, I get out and spend hours and hours taking photos of orange bedecked trees in the parks around London, heading out before dawn and driving for an hour to reach the south side of the city ready to catch shots of the sunrise as it sets fire to the morning mist.
Back in the city, get out early on a Sunday morning while everyone is still in bed, shots of the famous landmarks surrounded by golden brown trees are highly prized and when well shot will earn your many brownie points on social media, raising your profile. Shoot any of the key landmarks and you’re onto a winner but add in something that only lasts a few weeks and you’ve often got something that’s a sure fire winner.
Autumn is just beginning, the leaves are just starting to turn, time to get some good strong coffee in and start preparing those long early morning trips into the quiet city and its parks.
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