Take a Winter Sunshine Stroll to Recharge Your Batteries

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With life being so full on these days sometimes you just have to switch off and recharge your batteries. My favourite way of recharging is going for a walk with my camera to see what I can spot.  Today was one of those days when the winter sun was shining, so wrapping up warm I grabbed the camera bag and headed out into the Vale of Belvoir for a couple of hours of photography.


Phragmites (Common Reed) - Fujifilm X100


The low sun was producing some strong shadows and I decided to use this to my advantage and concentrate on subjects that would suit strong back lighting.

First stop was the Phragmites, or Common Reed, that were growing by the side of the Grantham Canal and with the strong sun through the stalks they provided good subject matter.

Phragmites (Common Reed) - Nikon D700 / 80-200 f2.8

Phragmites (Common Reed) - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Phragmites (Common Reed) - Nikon D700 / 80-200 f2.8

Phragmites (Common Reed) - Nikon D700 / 60mm f2.8 micro

Phragmites (Common Reed) - Fujifilm X100

The canal was frozen in places where the sun hadn't quite managed to reach and there were several swans feathers stuck in the ice.

Mute Swan feather stuck in the ice - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan feather stuck in the ice - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500


There were also several feathers in the hedge, which were dew covered and provided a good subject for the macro lens of the Fuji X100 and the 60mm f2.8 micro on the Nikon D700.

Mute Swan feather - Fujifilm X100

Mute Swan feather - Nikon D700 / 60mm f2.8 micro

Walking a few miles further along the canal we found several Mute Swans on the water.  The strong lighting, coupled with the white plumage, provided some great contrasting images with the swans standing out from the dark background of the canal bank.

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Mute Swan - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

The walk back to the car also provided me with the opportunity to get some landscape images of the Grantham Canal.

Grantham Canal - Fujifilm X100

Winter tree - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

Grantham Canal - Fujifilm X100

Grantham Canal - Fujifilm X100

As well as grabbing some further shots of the flora and fauna


Rose Hips - Fujifilm X100

Buzzard - Nikon D700 / Sigma 50-500

I was certainly ready to head back to the office and face my computer screen after fully recharging my batteries.


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