"What I like about this shot are the smooth lines of the bench and that atmosphere of solitude; a place to sit and just watch the world go by as those colourful leaves fall down. Can you almost hear the breeze in those treetops?"
It's that time of year when every photographer dreams of capturing the beautiful autumn colours of the season - but it's really not that easy!
For a few weeks now, I have ventured out to local places that I thought might offer some decent opportunities, but each and every time, it didn't work out. Either the leaves were still green, or the environment contained unwelcome distractions that didn't make for a nice picture.
Finally last Sunday, I came across some much better colours than when I previously visited this area (a park known as the Malieveld, near The Hague city centre). From here, you get a wonderful perspective of the city skyline (which you've seen in some of my other photos here on the website and also on my social media!). In fact, can see one of those in my most recent Instagram post right now.
After taking the obvious skyline shots, I started to take a few of the lines of trees in the park. Naturally, people get in the way 😀 but with perseverance, you eventually get the shots you're after! It was a pretty cold afternoon, and with all the COVID issues, my hands are rather sore right now; the result of using hand gel in cold weather! It's rather hard to take pictures with gloves on, so inevitably they had to stay off.
Despite my hands, I stuck around, trying a variety of shots. I really was at the point where I felt it was time to head home when I decided to try the shot you see above. Using my 50mm prime lens, I really wanted to get some pictures with a shallow depth of field to them. What I like about this shot are the smooth lines of the bench and that atmosphere of solitude; a place to sit and just watch the world go by as those colourful leaves fall down. Can you almost hear the breeze in those treetops?
Just at that moment, it suddenly started to rain...and then it poured! It came down so hard that it wasn't even possible to get my camera back into the bag! Instead, I hid it under my coat (thanks goodness it is weatherproof!). It felt like an age before I made it to the tram stop, dripping wet!
Back in my neighbourhood, the rain had stopped, and I strolled up to a favourite coffee shop of mine to get a nice hot cappuccino to take back home with me. Time to warm up...and check out the pictures (once I was dry, that is!)
I've added this picture to my Woodlands and Countryside gallery - check it out there if you'd like a print or download 😀