Welcome

Welcome to the first instalment of a year long photographic record of Milton Country Park. 

Hall's Pond 25 February 2015

Milton Country Park
Milton Country Park is situated three miles north of Cambridge.  It is a 95 acre site of old gravel workings.  Besides the disused gravel pits, the park offers wetlands, woods and more open meadows.  For more details on the park visit http://www.miltoncountrypark.org/.


Origins of my Project
I have lived just 15 minutes walk from the park since its creation in 1993.  Having acquired a labrador puppy last summer, I looked for a project in which I could mix exercising the dog with photography.  The country park seemed to offer the perfect opportunity.

However, the immediate trigger for the project was a discussion at Milton Photographic Club  on the subject of finding colour in the local landscape in a drab February.  In the following days, I went searching for colour in the country park, and found that on a sunny day there was plenty of colour around in the form of the near complimentary blue and yellow as shown in the image of Hall's Pond at the top of this post.  In fact, the more I looked the more I found.

From this, I realised there was a great deal more to see in the park than I had previously appreciated.  Hence, the project was born to photograph the park for a year to capture the changing seasons.



First Images

Todd's Pit February 24 2015

The park in late February, early March  still retains an autumnal feel.   The trees are bare, and the reed beds and other vegetation are overwhelmingly yellow/brown with little or no sign of new growth.  However, the reeds glow golden on a sunny day, constrasting with the deep blue of the sky reflected in the water. This image of one of the inlets off Todd's Pit is very much an autumnal scene and could have been taken any time in a three month period. 

The blue / orange pairing is found in abundance around the pits, even extending to some of the fishing platforms.   

Jetty 24 February 2015

However, as the picture below shows that not everything is blue and yellow! Away from the water, the moss on the fallen logs is a
particularly bright green, which in this image is contrasted strongly with last year's ivy leaves.

Ivy and Moss 23 March 2015

Lessons Learnt
In the first fortnight of this project, I have learnt two lessons.

Firstly, I like taking photographs on a sunny day.  I know this is an deeply unfashionable view for a photographer, but the sun makes me feel good.  And, if I feel good, I take better photographs.

Secondly, a whole lot of advantages accrue from photographing just 15 minutes from home in a place with which you are thoroughly familiar.  If you miss a shot one day, then the chances are you will be able to go back the next day and do a lot better.  The difficulty is learning to appreciate, and hence want to photograph, the very familiar.  So far in the country park, I am finding plenty of new subjects.  Perhaps, I never really looked before. 

NEXT: BLOSSOM