Whatever happened to the summer?
Month eight already? This year is zooming past sooo quickly. I have already noticed the night drawing in around 9 pm now. And summer is coming to an end. I no longer hear the dawn chorus and the swifts and their offspring appear to have gone back to Africa. And here in the Marches it has been unseasonally grey for weeks. The odd summer day breaks through, but I crave for more sunlight to get me through the winter.
The challenge asks you to change the time of day; perhaps have a go at night photography; play with your camera settings. I have decided to show some of my monthly location in black and white. Not just any black and white, but a grainy film mode on my new camera. I went out for a nature walk around the castle in the golden hour, just before the sun set. Fancy coming with me?
First have a look at those funny trees I showed you in January, the pollarded limes (Linden). Pollarding is a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common in Europe since medieval times and is practised today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined height. Wikipedia
Date: August 12 2015
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: (23°C during the day, warm and calm in the evening)
Time: 19:30 – 20:30 PM
The wild flowers have grown tall and some are almost over. The Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) that dominates the castle slope are full of fluffy seed-heads. A successful coloniser this flower is known as ‘Bombweed’ in the south of England due to its increasing spread as a result of the clearing of bombed sites during both wars. Ragwort is still in flower, but the thistles are now in seed.
The sun begins to disappear behind the hills casting golden shadows.
Finally a look around Castle Square where the outdoor market is held several times a week and draws in the crowds from the countryside and even further away.
Addendum: this month was the annual Perseid meteor shower which I was able to watch from my bedroom window at 2 am. The shower coincided with a new moon for the first time since 2007, creating a darkened sky. I saw six shooting stars within 10 minutes, a sight I haven’t seen since 1998 on an Australian beach!
The Cardinal has decided to have a photo project going throughout 2015 – a blogging event, a monthly photo challenge. Find a location near your home, take somewhere between 5-20 photos and post them in a gallery in your blog. Continue to do this every month. The idea is to capture all the changes: the seasons, the weather, different times of the day, some night photography perhaps?
TRAVEL WORDS 
Those trees are looking really splendid. Do they have to be pollarded every year? Is it possible to photos of shooting stars? I think I’ve only ever seen two. I love your golden sunlight images. Hope you get a nice long ‘Indian summer’ to make up for the grey days. 🙂
I’m not sure they are pollarded every year, maybe every second year? I will try and photograph them if they do it this autumn. You can photograph shooting stars but you’d need a very fast setting and a tripod. There were some excellent images on the BBC website. And I agree, the golden light is delightful to see.
I love that dappled sunshine on the tree trunk, and the closeups of seed pods.
I’m trying to figure out B&W on my new camera (or are you making them B&W through an app?).
I loved the seed pods too – though I was a little surprised to find them this month! September maybe. The B&W on my camera is under the art settings, you may find it under scene if you have that on the dial. I have played with a few interesting settings, but I’m struggling to find the basics!
The light on those trees is wonderful Jude, very golden and glowing. Don’t the lindens look fab in leaf, but just silly without? Lucky you getting to see the Perseids. I live close to town, so I would have to drive out into the countryside at some awful hour to have any hope, and its been too rainy for days 😦
I’m not liking the days getting shorter either, boohoo moan and grumble!
I was lazy, I should have got up and gone down to the river to see the shooting stars, but I had a good view from the window. Wednesday night was gloriously clear, we were lucky.
We were not able to see the Perseid meteor shower because of the cloudy weather we have here at the moment. I am so looking forward to our summer!
Nice photos but my eye was caught by the benches – what a generous offering for a change! They are too often too few and far between.
it is a very busy market and lots of people come in by buses which are very infrequent so I think a lot of people sit here eating their sandwiches or an ice-cream and waiting for the bus home.
Nice visual!!
The lime trees are looking lovely now!
They are in their full dress 🙂