One Last Evening Walking
That sounds like a bit of an ominous title, but since full time working from home became a thing for our studio, I've been able to regularly enjoy evening walks in the local countryside during the working week. However, the clocks go forward this weekend here in the UK for archaic reasons, meaning it'll either be going dark or actually be dark by the time I've finished work for the next few months which rules out heading up onto the moors for a few hours after work until the evenings start to get longer again next year.
So, for my final evening walk of the year, I decided to return to the old favourite of White Coppice to Great Hill and after carrying more than an extra stone's worth of kit for the last few walks, I decided to go minimal in terms of kit, just taking a camera body, single lens and what other bits and pieces I might need (such as lens cloths, filters and head torch) that would fit in my pockets. Mind you, minimal in this case ended up being the Nikon Z7 and 24-70 f/2.8S, which is not the lightest lens, but it's markedly better for IQ than anything else I own for that system and as a kit, this did feel light as a feather compared to what I've been lugging around for the past few weeks. So much so, that I surprised myself and managed to walk from White Coppice to Great Hill in just over an hour (including many photographic stops), which is not much slower than my pre-heart issues fitness. Carrying the big Fuji kit up little mountains over the past few weeks has clearly had some benefit!
As I drove to White Coppice, it looked like it was going to be a pleasant evening, with broken clouds on the horizon and bright autumnal colours all around, but by the time I'd arrived at the cricket ground it had clouded over, sucking all of the intensity and much of the colour out of the world around me and apart from a few breaks, this is pretty much how it remained for the rest of the walk.
All images taken handheld with the Nikon Z7 + 24-70 f/2.8S lens. Processed from individual raw files in Capture One Pro 23. Although I brought my filter kit with me, it remained in my pocket for the entire walk as it was a bit dull and I didn't feel anything would have particularly benefitted from using any of them, not even the CPL.
1. Many Shades Of Autumn
This plucky little tree, clings precariously to the sheer rock wall overhanging Black Brook and always catches my eye. At this point in time, it looks like it's sporting all the colours of autumn from green through yellow to rusty brown.