Turneresque sunset

I've hardly been in today! This morning I took Chris to pick up a parcel and then we went to Sainsbury's - mostly for food shopping but we also managed to get a few more Christmas presents. I also bought a new beard trimmer for Chris for his birthday, so he should look well-groomed for Christmas.

We managed to get away before the crowds built up, and then I went out with Alex (and Rosie) to do his bird survey of The Boardwalks, which had been deferred because of the floods. The water had dropped sufficiently that we could walk along the river bank, although it was very muddy, with occasional pools of shallow water. The river was very high, making progress quite precarious.The birds were quite elusive, though we got good views of a charm of goldfinches feeding on alder cones.

Once we'd finished the survey I grabbed a late lunch and then took Chris and Lizzy (and Rosie again) to Ferry Meadows for a bit of fresh air. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and the sky just became more and more beautiful as we walked, morphing through gold to shades of pink and purple and ending up with blood red streaks. I took a lot of photographs, a mix of traditional ones and more abstract images using in-camera movement.

My final image is a compilation of a straightforward sunset with trees and floodwater, layered with three motion shots of the same trees to give a complex effect, which I thought was somewhat reminiscent of a Turner painting! No green...