the most wonderful time of the year...

...is almost upon us.

No, not "then", but the autumn.  For many years now autumn has been my favourite season for photography.  Maybe less so now with my switch to more macro and nature subjects, but I still love the autumn, nonetheless.

Am I being premature with my excitement though?  After all, it is still only August.  Well, for some people, autumn begins on 1st September.  I'm not quite in that camp though and for me it begins on the 21st, the second time of the year that we have equal amounts of daylight and nighttime.  

Only this time around the days will be getting shorter and the nights longer.

Now, I used to really dislike it when this happened.  I lived for the longer days and more time spent out on my bicycle.  But not anymore.  I'm usually tucked up in bed by 7pm at the latest as my back starts to become unbearably painful around then.  And the darker evenings mean I'm not quite so guilt ridden at spoiling my family's day.

I most look forward to the photography now though.  Hopefully our local woodland will be a riot of oranges, yellows and reds as the leaves turn; in turn giving off a display to rival any fireworks.

Anyway, why I do I now feel so "autumnal"?  Well, after tidying my desk I found a box in the bottom of one of the drawers containing all sorts of autumnabilia (it's a word now!).  And I took a picture of it to get me in the mood.