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Tales of a South Downs fox... and other ramblings

Variable Light... or a Typical English Summer's Day

Saturday, 2. August 2008, 23:50:08

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Being obsessed about the weather is a common enough trait in England, but sometimes I think being English and into photography takes the obsession to new levels. It's not only whether it is hot or cold (I don't really mind which), or wet or dry (I prefer dry), but whether the light is good or poor (I hate poor light. Period).

Today it was wet all morning (bad), and misty (double bad); but it brightened up in the afternoon (good) and on the way back from the shops we headed over to the Downs. The light was excellent when I took this shot of a marbled white in among the grass.


It was still quite good a short while later when I took this.


But within a bare couple of minutes, the sun had vanished and we were facing this.


Which is more or less when I saw this.


Only to get home to find this.


Camera note: all shots taken with the EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens.

Fox of the DayPhotography on a grey day

Comments

Mark Jones 3. August 2008, 04:12

Yeah the weather is awful when it does that, especially when iam at Heathrow or Gatwick as then the photos look like dark sillhouettes of aircraft instead of the colours with sunlight on and the photo gets rejected for poor light!:no: Homer: Doh!

Hopefully we get at least a few more sunny weeks of the rest of the Summer this year.

Darko 3. August 2008, 04:55

Is that apple tree in a last photograph?
Too hot here, 34C yesterday, they said we have some hot winds from northern Africa blowing for about a week now, soon we can expect over 37C. And, according to my experience, it will be finished with a big thunderstorm and wind :eyes: It usually does;

Adele 3. August 2008, 09:20

I wondered about going out yesterday, and then was glad I hadn't when the clear skies suddenly mutated into heavy rain :eyes: Though by the sounds of things, you had worse weather than I did. Nice find re: the marbled white.

Cynthia 3. August 2008, 18:00

Each photo is wonderful, including the grey sky. However, I have to note the picture of the path and also the beautiful lavender. They are so lovely!

Words 3. August 2008, 21:18

Mark, we can but hope for some sunshine. Wet and windy again today, though a chance of some sun tomorrow (but more rain forecast for later in the week). Not much a summer all in all. :frown:

Words 3. August 2008, 21:20

Darko, yes those are apples! I can appreciate it being too hot, but if we shared our weather with your weather the temperature would be about right. We'd probably get a lot of rain though.

Words 3. August 2008, 21:24

Adele, we get quite a number of marbled whites in the local fields, but they tend to settle in the middle of the vegetation rather than on the fringes which means shots like that (manual focus) are the order of the day.

Words 3. August 2008, 21:27

Cynthia, I liked the tower pointing into the sky. My version of the old RKO signature. The flowers in the final shot are hyssop (looks a bit like lavender, but doesn't have too much of a scent).

José Torres 3. August 2008, 23:52

Last photo is my favourit! :hat: Beautiful! :smile::smile:

Words 4. August 2008, 06:46

ZT, thanks!

José Torres 4. August 2008, 10:49

:cheers:

Lois 4. August 2008, 11:55

My favorite is the second one, like a beautiful water color! My big problem is light and humidity - too much of both. My outdoor pictures all have a blue cast due to the humidity and hard shadows from the strong sun.

Words 4. August 2008, 17:26

Lois, yes considering the conditions is something I'd never much thought about before. The best times of day are early or late (assuming sufficient light), as the shdaows aren't as harsh. Mainly though, like mad dogs and all Englishmen, I go out in the midday sun.

Lois 4. August 2008, 20:12

You are so right, the best times are early or late.

José Torres 4. August 2008, 22:06

:wink::wink:

Micheál Seosamh 8. August 2008, 19:23

The (only) good thing about weather like this is that if you don't like it you only have to wait five minutes and it changes to something different. :wink:

Words 8. August 2008, 19:29

Mickeyjoe, how true!

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