Walking in a Winter Wonderland ...

The evenings are now drawing in and my favourite pastime of coming home from work and taking the camera with my while I walk along the river has now stopped until the spring.

I find myself scratching my head about what am I going to do with my photography over the next few dark, damp months.

This year rather than only taking the camera out at Christmas and if we have those beautiful, clear, crisp winter days I have resolved to be more proactive – but what?

The first step was a few weeks ago at the camera club when the meeting was a long exposure practical session around the Mop Fair that was in town – over a hundred “experiment” images taken on the night… pleased it was all digital as not many were usable!

But what to do for the rest of the winter?

• There will have to be more long exposure images – the camera club competition subject in Jan! But in what form? Light painting, light trails, landscapes in low light or even astrophotography/star trails? To be honest I haven’t finally decided but I have always fancied trying the lit wire wool being spun around in a balloon whisk – typing that it sounds really dangerous, but the results are spectacular, like a giant Catherine wheel! If I do it, I will need at least one willing volunteer ... I’ll let you know how it goes!

• Still life and use of flash – not something I have really tried to any extent and I’m definitely not able to use the flash with any competence so to be able to play about with light on something static (and not end up with a bored wife/model!) can only be a plus.

But it doesn’t have to be all behind the camera – it could be in front of a screen!

• Process the images from over the summer – killing two birds with one stone this one! I have a lot of images I have taken this year – mainly from being very fortunate and having had the opportunity to travel to some beautiful locations and they need to be properly processed and filed

• See which social media outlets work for me to both reach people with my images and get inspiration for my photography. Currently I am using 500px and Instagram – but which should I stick with?

So don’t pack that camera away until 2019