In the summer, Mud Bay Park in Surrey is pretty much a ‘plain Jane’ kind of park.. It’s flat and open, has one man made path, and follows a rocky, muddy shoreline on one side, with a marshy, migratory bird habitat area on the other. The standout feature is probably the old Burlington Northern train trestle at the east end, linking the north side of the bay with the south, near Crescent Beach. A few trains a day keeps things interesting.

I went there to take some photographs anyway. I knew there had to be something that keeps me going back, so I slowed down and spent some time exploring.

When something caught my eye, even for a second or two, I tried to figure out what it was and how I could turn it into an interesting photo (at least interesting to me). In processing, I tried what I learned in Vision and Voice (see my last post) to show what I saw or felt as I took each photograph. It’s harder than it looks, and I’ve got lots to learn, but it was fun.

With this photo of berries and flowers, I was walking along an open path, looking at the vegetation that had overgrown an old fence. At one angle,  even under the plant’s canopy, the bright colours stood out against all the dead, brown grass everywhere else. What attracted me was the variety of life out there that’s hidden, unnoticed until someone slows down to take a look.

Actually, when I noticed them, I was just about to put the camera away, while I headed back to the car. If I’d done that, I would have stopped looking and missed the shot. Note to self: you won’t get the shot if your camera is in your bag while you’re rushing off to the next great location 😉

If I continue working on the image, I’ll probably darken the background a bit, brighten up the berries and flowers, and increase their vibrancy a little. That might draw the eye to the colours more. But for now, I’m happy with it.

There are more shots from the day on Flicker.