My Favourite Time Of The Year

Autumn is by far my most favourite time of the year. For one, the weather here in Ireland is always milder this time of the year (Summer was a complete wash out this year), but, photographically speaking I think it offers the most varied and interesting range of colours and sights. I love the browns and reds as the leaves turn and fall. I love the patterns of fallen leaves and the rich texture they make. Also, there's something about the light here in Ireland too that changes during the autumn months. It becomes less harsh, warmer and softer.

The upshot of all this is I was out taking my first set of Autumn pictures this year. It was more of a "getting your feet wet" kind of approach as I was just back from a long trip away, and I was having some confidence issues. Also, I'm still getting used to the D700 and it's many many many options. Anyway, here's a random collection of shots from my shoot. Enjoy

Ah, the obligatory fallen leaf shot

This was taken in Stephen's Green (A Park in the City Centre for those not familiar with Dublin). The swan was swimming through the fallen leaves and the reflections and colour of the water and leaves created this beautiful stark contrast with the white of the swan. This looks amazing large too. I'm really impressed with the subtle tonality of the D700 and my Sigma lens. This was captured at ISO800 too and there's not a trace of noise in the image.

The pigeons were everywhere and large groups would gather picking fallen bread from generous pedestrians who were feeding them.

Lots and lots of pigeons!

I've taken dozens of variations of this shot and every time I get a different picture.

This last one was in the garden of tis beautiful old gate lodge that sits at the entrance to the Iveagh Gardens, at the back of the National Concert Hall in Dublin. It's a beautiful park and what's great about it is that it's relatively unknown, so it's usually fairly quiet.

More to come….