Sunday 27 November 2011

Shades of Autumn - Finale

Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge

I've loved doing the whole Shade of Autumn challenge, it's been great fun.  The reason this post wasn't ready on Friday was that I was taking part in Photobox's 24 Hour Live challenge (http://www.facebook.com/PhotoboxUK?sk=wall) .  There were 24 challenges with 24 prizes, one each hour on the hour and you only had one hour to complete and upload them, so no time for any fancy camera work, just imagination and lateral thinking. Some of the entries were hilarious!  A few people managed all 24 but I went to bed :O)  (Photobox is my favourite photo processing company, and they do very nice photo gifts too).  Anyway, I digress!

For the finale I didn't know whether the photos were meant to be favourites out of the ones we'd used for the various colour changes or completely new ones.  Anyway, because I have a plethora (great word!) of autumn photos it seemed a shame not to use some different ones.  The first three of the shots were  taken in the Cotswolds and the other four in Leicestershire.

Autumn in the Arboretum
Autumn in the Arboretum...
Leaves on the statue of the Buddha...

The Church at Moreton in the Marsh...

Misty Morning...
One of the things I love about the autumn is the mists, 
I like the sense of mystery and melancholy they can add to a scene.
I was therefore very grateful to wake up to fog (and on a weekend too!) and  
was out of the door with my camera before David or cats were awake.
 They're rubbish.

No I didn't place the leaf on the wall, it was just there, waiting for me.
I really like the simplicity of this, along with the contrasting textures and tones.

Gravestones and fallen leaves.  How symbolic can you get?
I was kneeling down taking this when a policewoman
came around the corner and nearly tripped over me.
She didn't seem surprised and gave me a cheery 'Good Morning!'  
I'm guessing she must see a lot of strange things happening in graveyards.

Am loving the cobwebs and that hint of colour on the leaves.


This morning I am off to take photos of a charity fun run where about 1000 people will be running through the streets of Lutterworth all dressed as Santa.  Not sure how I'm going to recognise my friend Helen amongst that lot.  Hmmm!

15 comments:

karen said...

Beautiful photos! The cobweb lamppost is really neat!

Tezzie said...

Stunning...simply stunning. Your misty one is sheer perfection, as is your church, leafy wall, and the lamp post is such a great find!

Laloofah said...

The Photobox challenge sounds like fun, I need to check that out. Did you win any prizes?

I am SO GLAD you decided to use previously unshared photos for this post, because otherwise we would have missed out on some truly fantastic shots! As I scrolled down the page I kept thinking, "Oooh, that one's my favorite... no, THAT one's my favorite... oh, wait - I really love THAT one... oh for crying out loud, they're ALL perfect!" :-) But okay, since you insist (lol), my absolute favorites are the church (the lighting in that is just magical), the lone leaf (which looks gilded!), and the lamppost festooned (another great word!) with misty cobwebs. But I think the whole of this post is greater than the sum of its parts, because the entire mood of it is wonderful, particularly for an Autumn finale. Maybe we're macabre (though I prefer to think we're more broodingly romantic in a Cathy & Heathcliff on the moors kind of way), but fallen leaves, gravestones, old mossy stone buildings, mists and cobwebs just really appeal to me, too. I really, REALLY love this post!

I also love your story about the cop in the graveyard, and it always makes me guffaw when you (or Charlie!) refer to your family members as "rubbish." LOL

Can't wait to see the running Santas! We watched a mass-participation run in the park Thanksgiving morning and since the jogging hoard ran by our cottage 4 times, I got a good look - but no photos. The only ones that were dressed in something other than running attire were three or four people - including one grizzled guy - dressed as nuns. They were carrying signs promoting a local play, and were the only ones remotely photo-worthy! The rest were... say it with me now... RUBBISH! *cackle*

Barbara said...

Thank you. The park near to where I work is full of those lamp posts which is lucky for me and my camera :O)

Laloofah: You are kindness itself as always. Had a MAJOR crisis at the Santa Run, my camera seized up and refused to work so only got a few photos (it was lucky I had my old Canon 400D in my bag or I'd have got even less than I did). I thought it was going to have to be sent to Canon as it just wouldn't do anything. Then I got home and David yelled at me as he thought I'd been mistreating it (ha!), and it was all hideous. Anyway, after he'd got over himself and me and Charlie had yelled at him, he gave the camera a strategic slap (at which point I almost fainted), and it started working again!. Will keep fingers crossed that it carries on being ok and doesn't do it again. My nerves can't take it. The thought of being without my 7D... well, it just doesn't bear thinking about.

I like the idea of those runners dressed as Nuns - LOL! But as you say, the others showed a distinct lack of imagination! Definitely rubbish.

By the way, I told Charlie about the canine Santa hat and he's since been sporting a green ribbon on his collar!

Barbara said...

Forgot to say... Yes the 24 hour challenge was brilliant. I don't think I won anything but it was such fun it doesn't matter. For example one of the categories was London Tube Station names, so I chose Bakerloo and stuck a bag of flour on top of the toilet for the photo! Class eh?!?

satakieli said...

Oh these are beautiful Barbara! I adore the leaves on the Buddha Statue collage!

We have had so much fun hosting the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge and it has been an absolute pleasure to have you taking part, thank you so much!

http://www.bumblesandlight.com

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

Beautiful shots Barbara and my favourite has to be that foggy morning one......just perfect.

I enjoyed the update in your comments......... I hope your 7d behaves from now on as I'm a 7d owner aswell and I would panic if that happened to mine........ never mind what the hubby would say!

Unknown said...

what a beautiful series you have created!

Cedar said...

All of these are just lovely! The lines with the gravestones are fantastic and the light post takes me back in time! My favorite is the tree in the mists...beautiful!

Gina Kleinworth said...

WOW- those are STUNNING! And your photo challenge sounds like it was really fun.

Ellen Whyte said...

One day I hope to take pics as good as yours.

Boo-Bah AKA Iris said...

Your pictures are gorgeous. I love the colors of Autumn. You are such a good photographer!

Laloofah said...

Whoa, that was serious camera trauma! I'm glad that you had a backup camera with you, that Charlie stuck up for you, that David's camera slap worked (oy!), and hope it never happens again either! You may remember that my camera (which is infinitely less costly and complicated than yours) did the same thing last Thanksgiving when I was trying to photograph our vegan get-together. Ended up taking the battery out and putting it back in per the trouble-shooting guide, and it's worked like a charm ever since. I wonder if David's slap accomplished something similar?

That Charlie, love his fashion statement for the holidays and am confident we'll get to see him in all his green-beribboned glory on this blog soon. :-)

"Bakerloo" -- lol! How Pythonesque of you! I still need to go check that out!

M said...

These are amazing! I love the trees and you are lucky to have such surroundings. Very beautiful!

PS. I think your cats are very handsome <3
Well except for the ladies, Very elegant they are!

Kristi {at} Live and Love...Out Loud said...

Barbara, your photography is amazing! I'm so glad that you shared it with us during the Shades of Autumn Photo Challenge. I really enjoyed stopping by each week to see your lovely photos. :)

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