I know many of us are eagerly awaiting the autumn with its promise of beautiful colours and I, like many, have been scouting for the best opportunities when it comes. What I have learned this year through observation is that this colour creeps up on us, it transitions away from the summer greens, and that the various plants and trees do so at different times and speeds.

This shot is of two opposing banks of a trench in the woods, one usually in full daylight the other not so. I have tried to show this transition away from summer towards the autumn. There is a diagonal running top right to bottom left - below this line is still in summer garb; above the diagonal is definitely autumn with its yellowing of birch leaves and the reddish brown of the ferns. One has light and colour, the other side darker with a preponderance of yellows, reds and browns. Nature has given us a calendar if only we observe and learn its meanings.