click photo to enlargeThe day I took this photograph - 8th November - Green Park in London belied its name: "Brown Park" would have been more apposite. Each year I am taken aback by the lateness of the date that trees completely lose their leaves. You'd think that at my age I'd have it hard-wired into me. But no, I still find myself taking "autumn shots" when I expect it to look like winter.
The micro-climate of a metropolitan city like London is partly responsible for trees keeping their leaves longer than in the open country. The southerly latitude, relative to the rest of the UK, is another factor. When I dropped into the city from Lincolnshire it was immediately obvious that London's trees were more verdant. Today I could see that most of the deciduous trees in my garden and around my house have lost most of their leaves - the willows excepted. But, when I walked through the churchyard one of the beeches still had a low skirt of golden leaves, and the odd cherry was still resolutely clinging on to fragments of its deep orange covering. We've had the first of the autumn gales, and more are expected later this week. Perhaps after they have blown themselves out I'll find myself photographing the skeletons of trees that I expect in the second half of November.
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
