Aimless Wandering (in Sutton Park)

I read an article  in Amateur Photographer yesterday by Mark Littlejohn, who won the Take-a-View Landscape Photographer of the Year in 2014.  He advocates the 'aimless wander' a walk without preconceptions of the images you will capture.  I must admit to have been photograph magazined out in recent years.  They tend to repeat the same articles each year and the only thing that differs is reviews of new equipment.  It was by chance that I picked it up in the supermarket, drawn by the title 'Reinvent your landscapes' on the front cover.  As many of us suffer from 'photographer's block' I thought it might offer some suggestions to reinvigorate my imagery.

Yes, I am struggling big time at the moment.  The recent joy of photography in the USA aside, I have struggled to maintain the pleasure and passion for photography in recent months, falling into the trap of regurgitating similar scenes, rather than trying something different.  Blip has become more of a chore and with the lack of news on any rescue plan, don't be surprised if I don't continue here for too much longer.

Anyway, that's not for now.  I took an aimless wander through Sutton Park about an hour after sunrise, later than usual for me.  Mist was still present and the sun had strengthened.  I tried a few different things; using a wide aperture to amplify the effect of the remaining mist; multiple exposures - one in focus the other completely out of focus to give a glow to the subject; isolating small parts of the scene.  I have to say I had a thorough enjoyable couple of hours.  I've added a few other images this time, mainly because I have 51 left to use before the end of the year, but also just to give a feel of the variety of shots I found.  The ponies in one image were introduced to help manage vegetation in the park a few years ago.  I was interested to read that the herd represents 1% of all of the pure bred Exmoor ponies in the world.