It’s not the end of December but it’s the end of my photography for this month as I’m isolating due to a positive Covid test. Luckily I’m not unwell at all but it’s been a strange Christmas holiday this year.
December is often a cheerless month and this year was no exception. Mostly dark and sunless with no sparkling days of hard frost and snow. Black and white images sometimes work better on dull days and I’ve done a wee bit of experimentation this month with monochrome. Berries also seem to be a theme this month.
After a dull day, it looked as if the weather was about to change so I headed down to the park. Unfortunately, the better weather didn't really materialise but I managed to get a shot of these skeletal birches against the clearing sky just before the clouds rolled in again.
There now seems to be a sensible policy of leaving fallen and felled trees to decompose naturally, with all the benefits that brings to insect life in the park. I tried to highlight the texture of the bark and splinters here by increasing the contrast of the monochrome image.
The last snowberry on the bush seemed a wee bit forlorn.
At last a sunny day. I really liked the vibrancy of these red berries against the dark background.
More red berries. I was amazed to find a few bramble berries still on the bush. Nature never gives up.
