There is something about Bushy Park that keeps drawing me back. No two visits are ever quite the same, and at this time of year the park seems to change almost from one morning to the next.
I arrived early for sunrise, when the park was still quiet and the first light was beginning to creep through the trees. September is starting to make its presence felt. The greens of summer are slowly giving way to warmer autumn tones, the mornings are cooler, and the low light creates long shadows and catches the mist hanging over the landscape.
These are the mornings I particularly love for photography. I rarely go with a fixed idea of what I want to photograph. Instead, I wander and see what the light gives me — a group of swans on the water, deer moving through the early morning landscape, or simply the way the rising sun catches a tree or a patch of grass.
Having somewhere like Bushy Park close enough to return to regularly is a wonderful photographic opportunity. Photographing the same place again and again makes me notice the smaller changes: the direction of the light, the colour of the trees, the wildlife and the gradual shift from one season to another.
This morning was another of those occasions when getting up before sunrise was well worth it.
Here are a few photographs from my morning in Bushy Park as summer begins to slip into autumn.
