Broken symmetry

Before Covid 19 and a change in role within the organisation I work for, I used to travel across the Fens by rail to Cambridge quite often; I miss that journey!  I do like the open landscapes and the big skies of that part of the country.  I was actually born in a Fenland town in Lincolnshire (long story, I wasn’t supposed to be…), so I guess there’s an inbuilt sense of home for me in the Fens.

My favourite part of the journey to Cambridge is the couple of minutes that it takes to cross the Ouse Washes, especially on the outbound journey as you look northwards into Norfolk.  The hydrology of the Washes is interesting; in the summer water is pumped off them and cattle graze there, unlike the surrounding areas where they’re pumping water onto the land for irrigation, and in winter water is pumped onto them while they’re pumping water away from the farmland.  The cattle are replaced by wintering birds – the Washes are famous for the thousands of Whooper swans that arrive from Iceland to overwinter, and in recent years there have even been cranes on the surrounding land!  I was absolutely thrilled when I saw them for the first time (and still really pleased every time since)!  It’s always fun to see the astonishment of fellow passengers who don’t know the area when they see the miles and miles of water either side of the train.

One of the things I love about the Ouse Washes is that in winter, particularly, the light changes every time you see them.  On a still day, the surface is a mirror, and on a windy day you could be looking at a seascape.  When I took this photo, you can almost see the cloudscape reflected; it’s a broken symmetry.  I’ve learned enough physics for that to amuse me even if the photo does break the rules of composition!

Speaking of the photo, one thing I’ve learned through this project is that my palette tends to silvers, blues and golds, largely because those are our local colours.  This was a phone photo, by the way; my phone (currently a Samsung A23) tends to be my main camera simply because it’s always with me. At photo 33 I’m a third of the way through the 100 photos, looking at what works from the ones I’ve taken previously and looking to improve my photography in the time the project takes.

#100Photos #33