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Up early on a clear and very cold, frosty morning. Scrape the frost off the car and, in the darkness, get into the main road’s already busy traffic – in which the urge to get to the workstation asap turns everyone – I mean, you know, ordinary, mature, otherwise common sensical people – into wannabe racing drivers. This is the bit I dislike most about such early morning sorties, barrelling down a main road in the darkness, with a lemming, cliffbound, almost touching my rear bumper, and other lemmings coming at me with blazing headlights and a far, far too optimistic opinion of what constitutes a safe overtaking distance, into the face of oncoming traffic, in the dark.
But, mercifully, I’m soon at the turn, breathing a sigh of relief and driving carefully down a fairly narrow, country lane. On the other hand, I’ve certainly not left the race track behind, as those coming into Bristol from the countryside to work in the early mornings can drive even faster than in the denser traffic on the main roads, but at least these drivers are more used to the narrow lanes and, at least for the most part, mercifully aware that it really is best to slow down when the gap between cars travelling in opposite directions is only a matter of a few inches.
And then distinctly greater solace: I reached the turn off into the little village of Stanton Drew, and the few cars coming at me are moving/driving more slowly still. I drove through the village, got to the car park beyond the pub and – it was still dark! Over enthusiastic I may be, but even I could see that, as a photographer, there was little point in going out into the darkness! And I was parked below a small rise, another part of the car park, that would give a view of the eastern horizon when dawn got its thing going. I sat, huddled for warmth, in the car.
And then that magical time, the eastern sky started to faintly lighten, and I was out of the car, pulling on Wellington boots, and muffling myself in layers of warm clothing. I walked up to look at the horizon, quite quickly lost all feeling in my frozen feet – and found not one but two beginnings. For, as well as the dawn, across a field from me, the occupants of a large house were also readying to meet the day: several windows were ablaze with warm, welcoming light.
And so to this scene. The first colours of sunrise bathe the sky while below, in the still dark countryside, the house wakes up.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further,
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm. The scene was dark. I used the spot meter to take an exposure reading from the house’s illuminated windows but, even at 12,800 ISO, I only managed 1/150th at f4.8. Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Stanton Drew, in the Chew Valley south of Bristol; 14 Dec 2018.
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