February 2021 – Photography Update

Posted On March 7, 2021

Another month, another batch of photos! February might have been shorter in length but with the upturn in weather was great for getting out and about.

The weekly commute continues to be cheery as ever.

With the days growing longer I’m lucky enough to be able to watch the sun set on my way home most days.

With February being the back end of winter, the first signs of spring are starting to edge in. The leaves aren’t yet starting to grow but the first flowers are starting to grow. Crocuses and snowdrops are some of the first to spring up.

The first flowers were not quite ready to open early in the month.

Most trees still remain without leaves for a few weeks longer.

Over the past month I have started to experiment a bit more with some of the settings on my camera. My favourite new setting is the “one point colour” mode, which always you to select one colour, and every other colour is made black and white. It creates some really interesting contrasts.

Orange was a stand out, with the focus popping out of the image and drawing you in.

The effect of wood against a monotone background was quite striking.

The two modes side by side. The green almost pops less in the one colour mode.

The emergence of the rare and elusive sunshine has also allowed me to get some much better nature shots than in previous months. Hopefully as the spring progresses, the fresh leaves and the return of colour will enable me to get out and about more ahead of the summer.

A wood pigeon basking in the evening glow.

The extra sun really enhances the layering of the feathers.

There was a period during the month where the clouds returned, and the grey returned. Even through these gloomy times I felt it was important to get out, and decided to check out some more of the local area to see what I could discover.

This stark tree is the lone tree standing, giving off a rather gothic aura in the barren environment.

A slightly brighter day didn’t make this boggy field any less bleak, especially with all the rainfall filling the rivers to the brim.

Flitting amongst the treeless branches are tonnes of small birds. Waiting for one to sit still for you can be frustrating on the best of days.

Even on these days the sun manages to find a way through, more and more as of late.

sun beams breaking through clouds and branches to wildly different effects.

The end of this month however really was the return of colour with the first spring flowers finally opening up in the late sunshine. Apart from the lower chance of snow, which is only really a yearly event where I am from anyway, the first flowers are a welcome sight. The summer is not far away, this year being more significant than any other!

A collection of crocus’ in each stage of development, before unveiling it’s full form

A single patch of early sprouting daffodils on the riverside. On a damp day the water droplets settled on all surfaces of the flowerhead.

As February was coming to an end, it left with one final shot on the last day. I am looking forward to march when hopefully spring resumes it’s assault on the country and the leaves start to add some welcome green to the scene.