Autumn Song

It's just around a year since I bought my first digital camera, having held off for a very long time. I still love using film, I still USE film, but now for most of what I do I use a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR). I've loved the freedom it's given me in many different ways, and I've accepted the challenges and limitations it brings too. http://www.robincaddy.co.uk/ remains the premier show case of my images, but this blog will feature new work, things which may not find their way to the main site, and a chance to share more about the way I do things than is possible on the main site.

I remember the excitement of getting my dslr this time last year and the voracious way I devoured the countryside around Hampshire, and into Dorset. A day not out making images, seemed a day wasted. I still feel much the same in many respects. The Autumn sings it's song especially loudly along the South Coast of England, and in The New Forest maybe more so than anywhere. It's like the forces of nature are having one last go at things before winter creeps in.

For me, the light is right, the sunset times are ideal and the position of the sun make it the perfect time of the year. Plans I've made, and images I've mentally prepared can come to fruition - the waiting of summer is over. Vistas I began a romance with last year can be revisited and additional ones sought. One such place is Hatchet Pond, the largest lake in The New Forest, near to the village of East Boldre. I've yet to begin fully exploring around the area, but it's a place of dramatic potential and worthy of further investigation.

I was out shooting another nearby familiar location to me, Shatterford Bottom, the other day and sensed the right conditions for a special sunset over Hatchet Pond. I knew time was tight, so made good time back to my car and on to the pond, passing several promising and previously unnoticed locations on my way.

The shoreline was alive with ducks and ponies (7 of them at one point eyeing me with interest) and I was lucky enough to spend maybe an hour and a half there watching the sun paint the sky with colour and character. The clouds behaved (for once!) and I came away with some images which reflect how I was feeling at the time. You're unlikely to find yourself alone at Hatchet Pond at sunset, but you will find your spirits lifted.