More light than is strictly necessary

With five minutes to spare between visiting the bank and the supermarket I stopped off at the sandplant for the first time in over a month. My how the heatwave had changed it. It was dry, dusty and decidedly parched. Although it was only ten thirty it was baking hot and the sun was burning my skin and eyes. Not the recommended time of day for outdoor photography. However the quality of the light, and the dryness, lent a desert-like ambience to the place.

I made use of the strong, flat light to flatten the pictures. Deliberately making the lack of texture revealing shadow a feature, with the brightness enhancing the heat of the day. Although  I had started out including the clear blue sky to make plants stand out I forced myself to exclude an horizon in a further effort to flatten the pictures -and to avoid repetition having made plenty of such pictures on previous visits.

The only lens I had with me was a 50mm, which I have come to find too tight for much of the photography I do these days. I should have dug out the 35mm which has become my 'standard' focal length. But I made do with what I had to hand.

Despite the heat five minutes soon became twenty as I began to notice places where areas of uniform vegetation made repeating patterns, and found another way of looking at individual plants. By then time was pressing and I had to leave. A return is likely to be imminent. Quite why the sandplant gets me thinking I really can't explain. Maybe it's the limitations it imposes which force me to think of ways to come up with new ways of looking and seeing.

More pics

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