Watermeadow Sunrise - 15th Feb

Having enjoyed the sunset so much the previous evening and having done a bit of weather research, a clear dawn beckoned so begrudgingly I set the alarm for 6am in the hope of getting a little closer to the feeding Mute Swans for some nice low level photography.

Opening the door as the first hint of light hit the dark sky, the cold fingers of Jack frost latched on to me pretty quick, I would need a coat! Walking through the water meadows I could already see a hint of colour against the dark sky. I managed to get myself over the rather narrow bridge in the dark on through into the water meadow.

I set myself up led down in the hope of some low level Swan images and waited, it wasn't long before the sky started to brighten, the pastel hues effecting the colour of the mist that hung above the frosty ground. I don't ever remember being out on such a stunning morning watching the atmospherics changing every second.

Early Morning Light across the Watermeadows

Unfortunately my plan didn't really come to fruition with the Wildlife all the Mute Swans from the night before fed on the floods but they were along way away from my lens, Plenty of Greylag & Canada Geese along with Mallard & Gadwall went about there business flying above my head, every wing beat audible on such a still morning.

A lone Brown Hare emerged out of the mist in front of me, but the light on the ground was still to dark for photography, a real shame as it looked very atmospheric shrouded in mist. As the light started to improve 2 Little Egrets appeared and dropped swiftly down on to the water, soon followed by a Grey Heron, I managed a shot of it landed through the mist although it didn't quite turn out as I'd hoped.

Descending Heron in the morning mist.

As the light got brighter I started to think about making tracks back towards the house and get ready for work. Not what you want on such a stunning morning. I did take a couple more landscape shots before I left the sky now pinker than the original orange colourings half and hour or so before. Quite a stunning hour and a half well worth braving the early alarm and cold for.

Pink sky in the morning - Beautiful

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Misty River Sunrise - 8th Feb

Waking up earlier than normal on this particular Friday morning had its advantages, pulling back the curtains I was greeted to a stunning frosty vista across the water meadows. The sun had just started to move from behind the horizon so I quickly dressed, grabbed my camera gear and tripod and literally legged it out across the river bridges to the middle of the water meadows.

It appeared I timed it just right as the pinky orange pastel haze started to give way to the deep fiery glow of the rising Sun. The mist that covered the water meadows and nearby river only adding to the atmospherics.

Having rushed out of the house I literally only had my camera and tripod, so quickly positioned it on the river bank and started snapping away. It was nice to just use the camera settings and take some natural images, no Polarising or ND Grad filters at hand.

As I headed home back to get ready for work, I had to try for a picture of a Mute Swan pair swimming through the river mist. A truly awesome sunrise, well worth braving the cold frosty morning for and well worth missing out on an extra 45 minutes kip.

Looking Eastward

One of the Carriers

River reflections

Misty Mute Swans

PS. When processing these images all I have done is slightly boost the contrast. So you can see how vivid the scene before me was. :-)

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