And it goes without saying that each Autumn is different, this Autumn, the Autumn of 2024 has been perhaps rather short, sharp and quick in many ways - but it has also been surprising, with various arts and colours being truly spectacular, but also by being able to capture the colours and elements of Autumn from a unique perspective using a Drone, and in this new section called "The Seasonal Review." I take a look at some of my favourite photos, and in this case I take a look at Autumn, and some of the stories behind why these photos are my favourite that I have taken.
Situated just a short distance away from the town centre of Ilkeston in Derbyshire is one of those places that to me is more than likely classed as the following,
And that of course is Ilkeston Victoria Park, a small and yet delightful park with a quirky history, and yet no matter what season it is, colour can be found - that though has changed recently though with the opulent flower beds that used to have colour, and plants, no longer having plants within them, a sad sight to see that is down to budgets, and yet come on Erewash Borough Council, please for 2025 at least put flowers back in the flower beds, as there is a lot to be said about colour. But this time around on this visit in September 2024, I was looking for signs of Autumn, and whilst I have photographed the colours of Autumn from ground level at Ilkeston Victoria Park, this time around I wanted to do something slightly different, the beautiful Bandstand I was thinking would make a nice focal point, and with that I sent the drone up.
What was I going to come across? Well from above I could see a lot of green, okay that is to be expected for September, but amongst the green of the trees, I could also see the encroaching Autumnal elements beginning to circle around the bandstand. But sadly, I missed the full work of Autumn colours, and I guess that I will have to try again next year in 2025 to capture the same photo with a lot more opulent and delightful artistic works of Autumn colours.
"When Nature Is The Artist." Ah, a good sunset, as photographers there is perhaps nothing more than capturing a glorious sunset, but what about if you notice the sky changing but can not see the full sunset? Well thankfully this one evening I had noticed the sky beginning to change, I had moments, literally and with that I decided to send the drone up to capture the sunset, for when I got to around about 400ft I ended up taking this photo, the sky was doing something magical, and here is a scene in which Nature definitely was being the artist, was the artist and the sky and colours, well they were just magical to see and witness from
"The Colour Wall of Seasonal Change." Again another photo from Shipley Country Park, I had already captured one photo of the foliage of the upper part of some trees with the drone, careful flying of course! But another composition had stood out and I needed to capture it, and it was this very photo, for some reason I just loved the abstract elements to this photo, the green colour giving way slowly and transitioning from summer colours to the artworks of Autumn, and amongst the greens of course, hints of delightful Autumn photos, for it was just completely magical to see to say the least.
"An Autumn Painting Begins." Drones and Trees - perhaps
"not the best of combinations to say the least." But it was in September of 2024 that I had been to Shipley Country Park, in Derbyshire hoping to capture the encroaching colours and arts of Autumn. For I had already taken the drone slightly higher up to capture the views of Shipley Hill/(Horespool Hill) from above, but when I bought the drone back down, I noticed something abstract, something beautiful and that was in the foliage of the trees, just above me and I knew that I had to capture it - usually I would not have been able to capture a photo like this before but because of
"The Tripod In The Sky." And a little bit of very delicate flying and positioning of the drone, well in the end I had managed to compose this photo, the greens of summer, just slowly beginning to break slightly, and the painted elements of Autumnal Colours, slowly beginning to creep in, abstract yes, but I had also captured the finer more delicate arts of Autumn just beginning to take place.
"The beauty of chance." I had captured some perhaps abstract photos of the tree line with the drone at Shipley Country Park, however just across an area of open parkland. ahead of me I could see a glorious red tree, and with no telephoto lens, carefully at a relatively low altitude - I flew the drone a short distance away from me, across this small area of open parkland, and what I had just seen simply spoke the word, "Autumn." And sure enough it was! Perhaps this was my first scene of Autumn that I had ever captured with a drone. And needless to say that I loved the red colour against the green and orange colours, for this really was a delightful first encounter of Autumn of 2024.
"The Autumn Light, A Perfect Flight." There is something truly magical about Autumn, yes the colours are one thing, but even if Autumn is slightly Hybrid, the light during the season of Autumn is just something else, and it was on October the 2nd 2024 that I just had to visit the historic 15th century Greasley Church in Nottinghamshire, the light was just something to behold, and I was wanting to capture Greasley Church with the light casting on the front of it, I sent the drone up, not too high and in front of me ahead of me was just a glorious light, casting on Greasley Church, making it look that little bit more magical, and what a sight it was to behold, for sometimes with drone flying you get some meh conditions where the light is not working as it should be, but on this occasion, the light was just magical and a perfect flight was also what had happened.
"That Autumn Fire." There is always something spectacular about Acer plants, no idea what that is, but I was at a friend of mines, whom happens to have an Acer in their garden - for it was in complete full bloom, with a truly glorious and opulent shade of red! And me, well I had to capture it, the only thing is that
"complex and low flying was needed to capture it." But before long I had managed to fly the drone relatively low and steady, before finally finding the composition that I wanted, and then all I had to do was take the photograph, yes it is in the 16x9 Ration, but I just loved the abstract beauty, the arts of the layers of colour and the Autumnal tones, which was just something else to behold, for maybe the deep opulent reds is why I decided to call this photo
"That Autumn Fire." "Colour Changes around The Bottle Kiln." West Hallam in Derbyshire is one of those places that you could just pass through without realising its curious and interesting history. And located within West Hallam is the popular Bottle Kiln, a delightful café can be found here serving delicious food and drink, and along with that two delightful shops - yet many years ago things would have looked very different, for this was at one time West Hallam Pottery, and had links to the Newdigate Pottery Family. But in the Spring and Summer the garden here at The Bottle Kiln is lush, and yet in the Autumn that changes with layers of arts, the same art created by nature which of course are the delightful and beautiful colours of Autumn, and from above The Bottle Kiln, you can get a completely different perspective of this beautiful building along with the colours within the Japanese Inspired Water Garden.
"Arts of the Autumnal Garden." Autumn is all about art, for it is very much a season of art, as is Spring and yes, I had got permission to fly in and around the Japanese Inspired Water Garden at The Bottle Kiln, in West Hallam, and I seemed intrigued, I could see the Autumnal colours from down on the ground, but what were they going to look like from above? When I sent the drone up, not that high and not too low either, I looked down on the arts of this glorious garden with its opulent layers of colour, providing a calming and soothing space - but the colours of Autumn as seen from a completely different perspective and element, well that was just something else to behold, and yes I may have captured the colours of Autumn this time around - but I also wonder what this glorious Japanese Inspired Water Garden, at The Bottle Kiln, will look like in the spring?
"Autumn Symphony, Colours Glow." Another photo from The Bottle Kiln in West Hallam, another complex photo that I had in mind and yet impossible to get with a DSLR or any kind of lenses that you may have. In a corner of The Bottle Kiln's Japanese Inspired Water Garden, I could not help but notice the colours of Autumn, a tree in artistic forms and to achieve what I had in mind, well I had to carefully fly the drone slowly upwards and towards the tree in question, not ideal but experimentation is the key! And this is what I had managed to capture, a symphony of Autumnal colours in full glow, it was just magical to see and yes, even now I think that this might just be one of my favourite photographs of October 2024! Yes, you may think that a Drone is just for capturing landscapes, but with careful flight, it is possible to capture some truly stunning abstract photos, and in the Autumn well the possibilities are truly endless.
"Autumn Stepping Stones." I had been to The Bottle Kiln in West Hallam, Derbyshire, a delightful place, a café that serves delicious food, coffee as well and a location that has two delightful shops, both of which sell quirky and unusual items that you do not find on the high street. But it is also a place that has a delightful almost hidden garden, a tranquil Japanese Inspired Water Garden that throughout each season comes alive with colour and arts, and in the Autumn well it really does change into a painted work of art, and after capturing some photos of the Autumnal colours, well I noticed a deep red Acer, and flying low and slow I hovered the drone above the Acer, and captured this rather unique and interesting abstract photos that to me looked like Stepping Stones, in a certain strange way.
"The Abstract, The Beauty, Contrasts of Autumn Fallen." October, a month of colour, a month of beauty, a month of surprises and contrasts to say the least. For I had decided to capture a photo from above and I had sent the drone up to capture a view, a vista even and yet when I bought the drone back down, I noticed in the corner of the garden something abstract, yes Autumnal leaves on the lawn, and one of them had a delightful colour to it, against the green of the lawn - some complex low flying later and this is what I had managed to capture, no idea what made me capture this rather abstract photo other than,
"Perhaps I was thinking outside the box."
But what I had seen was the opportunity to create abstract art from nature - and of course nature itself is probably the greatest of the artists ever known, just that the artist of nature, well it is often ignored by so many people these days whom seem to be in such a rush, who really should slow down and observe the beauty that can be found all around them.
"Orange Twists, a seeping light." October 2024, you certainly did create something magical, even if it was rather short, sharp and quick! But on this particular day I had been out with a friend of mine to Sherwood Forest, and wow, it was like an art gallery that nature had produced, curated and created, for it was, but on the way back - a trip to Moorgreen was on the cards, and after a short drive past Beauvale Priory and the tea rooms, I had arrived at another section of woodlands, here I could see something rather chaotic in front of me, and decided to send the drone up, yes I was going to get some top down views of the woodlands at Moorgreen and I did, but there was something just below the tree level, branches and leaves of colour, and with some careful flying I had managed to capture this photo, abstract yes, beautiful yes, and artistic, for it was more akin to sculpture, the sculpture of the trees, along with a painting and that painted element of course being the beautiful colours of the leaves, unfortunately though what did not help on this day, was a lack of light, but did that matter for this photograph? Certainly not!
Just how many times do we take notice of cloudscapes or indeed the sky? Perhaps not that much and yet the sky, well it is full of complex artworks, for the sky is where nature has a complex and interesting way of creating works of art, the light and the clouds working in conjunction with each other, and it was a late afternoon in November of 2024 that I noticed something outside, which was the sky was changing colour, the low sun creating an almost pin/purple hue and well I just had moments to send the drone up, was I going to loose the light, was I going to miss out on the chance to capture the glorious beauty and arts of the sky, what nature was creating and painting? For that was going through the mind - but finally I managed to send the drone up, and what was I greeted with, well that was perhaps the most beautiful sunset that I think I have ever seen, a true purple rush with glorious purple hues, giving way to elements of pink, orange, yellow and of course the blue of the sky, and again though this is probably one of my favourite photos of 2024 that I have ever taken!
"Finding the Autumn Gold, a glow below." Yet again another visit to Shipley Country Park, and yet again the hunt for Autumnal Colours was continuing, and yes seemingly Autumn had progressed, and where better to capture some of the Autumn colours than the top of Shipley Hill/(Horsepool Hill.) And when I launched the drone, I could see some incredibly opulent colours - which made this part of Shipley Country Park, look like a work of art, glorious opulent colours and yet ahead of me I could see a glorious golden tree - I just had a vision in the back of the mind and when I hovered the drone over the top of the tree and looked down I was in complete amazement, for I had found the Autumn Gold, and it looked spectacular, for nature this time had created a work of art, and yes abstract elements the photo has, but I just loved it, the gold, the grass surrounding the tree and flanking Autumnal colours making this scene something different.
"Golden, Autumn, Along the Banks." Moorgreen Reservoir is one of those places that always has a certain
"something else, something different about it." The woodlands that flank the side of the Reservoir itself I have walked through in many various seasons throughout many years, ever since I was young - and walking at ground level, through the woodlands well I have always come across works of art, but I did have in mind a little while ago to see what it would look like from a more unique perspective. Thankfully it was one afternoon in November of 2024 that I had free, that I decided to head down to Moorgreen Reservoir, to where the gatehouse/lodge is located and to try something of an experiment, I did not know if it was even going to work, but thankfully the light was on my side, along with the calm weather conditions, and with some careful flight and a careful launch I was able to take the drone up high enough to be able to capture the delightful and beautiful colours of Autumn down below, for here the golden colours of Autumn could be seen and it was just magical, and to see this glorious Reservoir from a different angle, well that was something else as well. But I wanted some more photographs, and below is another photograph of Moorgreen Reservoir that I had managed to capture.
"Autumn and The Reservoir." The light was just perfect, the sky blue, crisp as well and yet the day before had been something akin to,
But wow, what a difference a day makes, and this is a photo that I just loved, thankfully it was safe to send the drone up to its limited and controlled legal height of 400ft, and when I had the notification to say that I was at altitude, I just had to capture this photo showing the beauty and serenity of Moorgreen Reservoir and the Autumnal Colours, the landscape of gently rolling hills, and yet the ironic thing is that despite the Reservoir looking incredibly serene down below, well not too far away the sounds and noise of traffic could be heard along the road, just a short distance away.
"The Chapel, The November Autumn Glow." Kimberley, a town in Nottinghamshire that when you begin to scratch beneath the metaphorical surface, really does have quite a unique and perhaps quirky history to it, and perched just above the town is the aptly named,
"The Chapel on The Hill."
A small chapel that now is used for weddings or funerals, and whilst I am not religious, I just love the architecture of buildings, and that is probably why I have always enjoyed capturing The Chapel on The Hill, in various conditions it can appear magical, haunting and ethereal, and yet I had also seen some fantastic drone photos from another fantastic photographer, Mat Sirrel - okay I was probably somewhat inspired to capture The Chapel on The Hill, and this time when I had arrived, I could see the sky just changing, I had moments to send the drone up into the air, and when I did, I managed to capture this photo, the Autumn Colours still in bloom looking opulent and the landscape of Kimberley, and the light from the afternoon Autumnal sun, creating something that little bit more magical and magnificent, artwork on this occasion was being created right in front of me.
"Light, Arts, Shades, The Chapel down Below, the glorious Opulent Glow." I had just finished capturing the photo that can be seen above when I could also see the sky doing something different, and immediately the sky lit up into a hue of pink/purple/orange, for I was actually looking at a painting, but down below I could see the light creating various arts and shades as it was casting against The Chapel on The Hill, and I took the drone high up to 400ft, and below me well I was looking at magic, the magic of Autumnal colours looking opulent providing a delightful and calming, soothing ethereal contrast with the structure of The Chapel on The Hill - just down below, glistening in the soft afternoon November light, for this was perhaps some of the best conditions that I had flown in so far, and to see the landscape and the light transform over such a short period of time, well that was magical as well.
"Golden Glow, of The Chapel on The Hill." High or Low? For the fantastic thing with Drone Photography, is that it really is easy to change perspectives and get a totally different composition or view within moments, and for the final photograph of The Chapel on The Hill, I had decided to reduce the altitude of the drone slightly, and what I could see was something truly magical, the golden glow of the light - casting beautifully against this unique Chapel, making it look ethereal, for was I looking at a work of art? Yes I was , the art of Architecture and of course the art of nature creating a truly spectacular scene, combined of course with the opulent Autumn colours of the tops of the flanking trees that just made this visit to The Chapel on The Hill, that little bit more special and magical. And yet even now I am wondering just how beautiful this scene will look next year in Spring of 2025, when the glorious Blossoms finally arrive - although for now I guess I shall just have to wait for that.
"Swirls of Autumn delights." Here I was at a new location, I had an afternoon free and well, what to do? Lunch with someone I know - tick, and with some prior research the perfect place for lunch was
The Teahouse at Carr Bank Park, something of a little gem of a park located just a short distance away from the town centre of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, but before lunch, a walk around this glorious park, me I was also looking to see if there was any Autumn colours, and yes, Autumn Colours were still clinging on - but in the middle of this glorious park, a delightful bandstand, and nearby the bandstand a tree with opulent oranges, I knew that I had to capture perhaps what would be the last of the Autumn colours, and before long I decided to send the drone up, finally I pointed the camera directly down and what I had come across was something abstract, nature creating the glorious colours and yet elements of humans, in the creation of the park and the bandstand and of course the footpaths, but for some reason I was also taken with the almost swirling elements of the footpaths leading away from the Bandstand, thus creating a work of art. And yes, this is another favourite photo of mine for some reason.
"The Town of Eastwood, A heavy sky and Snow creates something that little bit more artistic." Tuesday the 19th of November 2024, and well what can be said? Yes for a number of days before the 19th the Met Office had been putting a weather warning out for significant snowfall and it was mid morning time that I decided that I wanted to see what the landscape looked like from above, what suburbia looked like from above - and whilst it had finished snowing I decided to send the drone up to capture the landscape, needless to say that from above, it seemed a little moody, yet beautiful, the dark, deep and grey heavy skies making for something dramatic and down below - a landscape and suburbia completely transformed, but as I checked the forecast, I could see that the weather for the 20th of November 2024, well sunshine was forecasted and was that going to make any difference?
"Lines, Clear and Crisp, below the Arts of Snow." Wednesday the 20th of November had arrived, the snow had stopped and yet the sky was clear, again I was intrigued and hold on, meteorological Autumn, was that now put to one side, was this now Winter that had arrived? Well perhaps it was now a period of time called,
A period of time that happens when snowfall transforms the landscape at the very end of Autumn, making it look as if Winter has arrived - despite it being meteorological Autumn still. And without any clouds in the sky, I had to send the drone up again, and from above - a serene view is what could be seen, yes clear and crisp and below the artwork of snow that had transformed suburbia and the landscape down below, and again it was nothing short of artwork.
"Autumn and Winter a Glow." What to do on a cold, crisp and icy afternoon? For that was the big question - Autumn still clinging on, and the answer to the question, well that was to take a short and delightful walk around Shipley Hill/(Horsepool Hill) located at Shipley Country Park, and before the walk, well a delightful coffee in the new café which has opened at Old Derby Lodge, and is now called
"Barefeet Lodge Tearooms." After being fuelled up on Coffee and a delicious Rocky Road, it was then time to head out for a short and delightful walk around the perimeter of Shipley Hill/(Horsepool Hill.) And walking around I could also see the clinging elements of Autumn just making scenes on the ground along with the snow that little bit more beautiful. The light I could also see was beginning to fade away slightly, creating a glow, the low sunshine that the end of November is famed for, but when I had arrived back to Old Derby Lodge, I just had to send the drone up to capture the view, I had moments before the light was going to be lost for the rest of the afternoon/evening and this is what I had captured, the Autumn and Winter, a glorious glow and below the colours of Autumn just about remaining, but being lit up and glowing by the setting sun, a truly magical scene to see.
Another day of just perfect light - the snowfall still on the ground, and a thought was in the mind, that thought of course was to take a visit to Greasley Church, a place that earlier in the Autumn I had flown the drone at, looking for hints of Autumn Colours - but in the back of the mind I had also conjured up a scene that I had in mind, that scene was of Greasley Church, and the snow on the landscape, the church itself in the centre of the frame, and with that I decided to head to Greasley Church, the main road thankfully was clear, the car park at the side of the church, surprisingly that was also clear to some extent; however to launch the drone I had to think slightly outside the box - but moments later after solving the problem of launching the drone, I had managed to position it at such an altitude that would allow me to capture the serene beauty of Greasley Church, along with a glorious and serene scene in front of me, the sun beginning to set just slightly behind and well I had already got the perfect composition in mind, I ended up taking the photo, and this is what I was greeted with, Greasley Church and of course the magical and glorious snowy landscape, for this was just something else to behold, and again this is also one of my favourite photos from this season of Autumn, a season in which I have learnt how to document the colour and surprises that it can bring with us, via a more unusual perspective, via of course a drone. But as we say goodbye to meteorological Autumn - I begin to wonder what surprises meteorological Winter will have in store? Who knows.........
