Super Clear

I did some damp and chilling chores around the garden and man did my fingers get cold. The last leaves gathered, the pond cleared, more wood brought into the house.

The sun came out and on a tea break I noticed it shining into the living room at a time it never did before. Cutting down that tree has made such a difference to our winter sun.

Then a walk in brilliant clear light. I could see the buildings of Dunkirk clearly way over the North Sea. And the far southern horizon where the ships disappear and the Varne lightship in between.

I was as usual fiddling around with different controls on the camera. But I found it very had to choose so had to go back and delete 'extras' elsewhere to include some today. (You wonder why the extras are limited, really).

So the main shot is rosebay willow herb with the picture setting on 'landscape' which seems to intensify vividness which worked here. I was reminded of textiles and those jewel like leaves in the background.

Then I photo of the seeds of one of the UK's native iris - something foetidissima - sometimes called the beef or meat plant for the remarkably pungent smell of its crushed foliage. It grows freely around here and in the garden and these seeds are a beautiful sight at this time of year.

Finally some ships and the Varne lightship. I processed the sky separately - you can see the poor definition of the selection edges. I'm trying to capture that stillness of the sea and the boats that seem to rest on the surface like models on a dispatcher's grid (?) (like in the films about Battle of Britain).