Last week was different.  There was a brilliant sunset the week before, and the weather (as you may have noticed) has barely changed, it has merely become  hotter.  So, with James suffering from a cold that I accidentally (honest) gave him, I was at leisure to stop on the way back.  With hindsight I should have taken a larger camera, but there is always next week.

Has the picture turned out as I had hoped?  Using the idea of the picture being able to reflect the mood at the time, then I think it does.  The foreground could be a little better exposed, perhaps a little more fill light is in order, but I like the colours, the reflection of the sky in the canal, the sweeping curve of the path and the position of the narrowboat on the left.  The sunset is even in the top third of the picture!

The settings used by the camera (Canon S90) were 1/100secs at f/4.0, ISO 80 and 6mm.

The light is not great when you have a limited compact, but I didn’t have a tripod either, so my D-SLR would not have helped anyway.

The thing that caught my eye was the reflection of the clouds in the water and their apricot colour.  It added a warmth to the scene that tried to balance the cold of the snow and ice.  I thought about adding a little fill light in Lightroom in order to give a bit more definition to the foreground and remove some of the black, but, I like the contrasts and the darkness of the light.  (Can you have darkness of light?  Probably not, but you know what I mean.)  It is not a photo that would win any prizes, but I like it, it gives me a sense of the place.  There was a certain stillness that comes after the working day on most industrial estates, once the hustle and bustle of people driving home has gone, which was enhanced by the dulling effect of the snow.

As mentioned, it was taken using my Canon Ixus, set at ISO200 (there is absolutely no point going above as the pictures are of pants quality), and it chose f/2.8, the light on the water and the snow combining to allow 1/400 secs shutter speed.