Autumn Nights

The clocks have officially gone back now and I am now in the period of a year that I just loathe. Working full time I now find myself going to work in darkness and coming home in darkness. Where I work has the smallest windows at the far end of the office so I now find myself working and not seeing any natural daylight for the next six months, depriving myself of any healthy vitamin D that the sun has on offer, thus increasing the chances of picking up coughs and colds I would normally have shaken off within a day or two. With this annual and reoccurring period of depression I'm sure my doctors knowledge and self diagnosis via Google! I've convinced myself I do have a mild case and suffer from S.A.D.

Whilst I will moan about lack of daylight, colder wetter and windier days which affects all public transport, hindering my journey too and from work in London and North Kent, as a photographer its actually damn right rude of me to even complain. The chances of using my camera more often increases as a whole new variety of images are now right before me. Local woods and fields and now covered in a sheet of leaves varying from an eye catching brown, red's and yellow colours. The sun shining through branches you can see the suns rays more and create some nice silhouettes. The darker mornings and evenings you can see the calm and peacefulness of our area as lights from a variety of road transportation, buildings and low flying aeroplanes landing and taking off from city airport now become illuminated. Tower Bridge, London Bridge the London Eye, all of these facilities have been available to view all year round but during Spring and summer months they just don't look the same or even the slightest bit appealing. Once British summer time ends and that clock goes backward the door is wide open as more opportunities are there on offer for the keen photographer. It's not just the leaves but as soon as the local council clears them away.... or more likely the wind blows and does the councils job we have another period to look forward too or dread depending of your point of view. The hustle, bustle and panic shopping of  "Christmas"... and the switching on of Christmas lights from a celebrity or might even be a z-list celebrity, depending on your point of view.

Well.... this may not even take place this year as I've recently received a letter that my local council ( I wont grass them up naming and shaming, but it's not hard to work out who?) are considering turning off street lights between midnight and 5am in an attempt to save money! (Good grief what next!!) What next?? Well, what better excuse to save more money by not covering our shopping centre's in expensive Christmas lights? We'll just have to watch this space but in the meantime while councils do pay out for this tradition. Christmas lights again are a joy to see for young children and families and you'll always find groups of photographers venturing down Oxford Street and Regent Street at all hours of the day to see John Lewis, Debenhams, Selfridges, even Harvey Nics and Harrods have gone all out to remind us its Christmas and have done so over the years with an amazing display of lights whish is worth the effort to see. Although I've seen these displays time and time again, im honestly not bored in seeing the following years displays even look forward to it too. Don't forget about Bluewater either with those gigantic reindeers they seem to manage to squeeze onto roundabouts when entering the overcrowded car parks?

Although temperatures drop which plays havoc to my heating bills, daylight hours are reduced and my transport system fails. I probably do have more reasons to enjoy this time of year than I actually realised.........