Lancaster’s Crook O’ Lune is a beautiful place at any time of year, but I caught it today peaking with it’s Autumn display of colour.

Colourful bank of the Lune near Caton.

It’s something really satisfying when a photo you’ve taken spends no more than a minute or two in Photoshop, for the sake of small tweaks to contrast and exposure. I particularly liked the contrast created by the dark wooded bank on the other side of the river as a backdrop highlighting the sunny edge of autumn at it’s best.

Still water reflects well.

 

 

If you’ve anything to reflect in a landscape photo, till water is what you need. I waited for the ducks to swim into the foreground as the ripples give added interest and a bit of movement to my second shot.

The two old railway bridges at the Crook O’ Lune (thank heavens they weren’t knocked down after the line closed) are a decorative feature in the low afternoon sunlight. The woods in the distance are a lovely burst of colour. Beware taking this photo as you need to stand on the very busy and quite narrow adjacent road bridge.

 

What I needed was a bride & groom in some of these shots to create a perfect wedding portrait photo. Fortunately Melisa and Shawn were on hand having just had their wedding blessing nearby. Watch this space!

One of the pair of old railway bridges near Caton.

The Crook O’ Lune’s east bridge over the river is in the best spot.

Zooming through the trees.

Bridges are often a rewarding features to have in a landscape photo and if they are especially aesthetic with it, then even better. This is the more easterly of the two bridges and is in a better position for a photo, not least because you can access it easily from the neighbouring road bridge and because the backdrop is attractive too. Getting it empty of people is more of a challenge, unless you are posing a photo of your family on it of course!

The variety of Autumn colour is shown off well in this shot when I switched to my long lens. It’s an explosion of colour that once again has benefited very little from post photography digital manipulation. Good honest photography is always my preference over any photo that has been ‘Photoshopped to death’! That said, Photoshop software and the likes is wonderful for ‘rescuing’ an underexposed image or adding a touch of soft focus etc.

The Lune riverbank in fine colour.

I hope you have enjoyed my latest Photographer’s Ramblings, celebrating the joys of being outdoors in Autumn on a sunny day. Enjoy!