In search of autumn

I seem to have an ongoing battle with autumn. Every year I eagerly await it's misty mornings, the blaze of colour and the first crisp frosts... mouth watering stuff for any landscape photographer.  Unless of course you are on your way to work, witnessing those gorgeous misty sunrises from behind the wheel, watching the rising sun backlight the trees looming out of the mist as you drive to work knowing you haven't enough time to stop. Obviously I don't work everyday so plans are made in earnest for the weekend, alarms set for the crack of dawn looking forward to making the most of the autumn colour, only to wake up and find a grey sky of low level bland cloud has decided to settle in for the weekend with only the odd shower to liven things up.

Every year I seem to find myself in the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time and my quest to capture the perfect autumn image is thwarted. If however you find yourself in the same boat as me don't despair, my back up plan in these situations is to fit the 70-200mm or 50mm lens and go in search of details, where overcast weather becomes a positive, the clouds acting like a big softbox to give you nice even lighting.

However I can't blame it all on the weather, even if I was confronted with a stunning autumnal vista, turning that into a good photo isn't always easy, woods are messy places and trying to find an uncluttered composition to find some order amongst the natural chaos can be a struggle... so if I ever find that perfect autumnal scene I'll let you know how I get on!