We shared the brief but magic sun. By the first leaves of autumn you were gone… Not until the rain has touched my face. Not until the first leaves fell from space. Not until that moment did I see. I never realised what you meant to me…..The Fureys
I’ve had a plan for a while now that I wanted to do the four seasons in a series of images. I’d already done a spring setting which showed the lovely Kirsty sitting in a bath full of spring flowers with a corrugated iron backdrop called Wash Away the Day. Where I live in the Blue Mountains, the trees are starting to produce the most magnificent colours with the beginning of Autumn so I was inspired to do the next image in the series which is Autumn.
So on Tuesday, I went out to the beautiful Collit’s Inn with my gorgeous model Rachael and my assistant extraordinaire, Kirsty. The back of my little car was filled with camera equipment, candles, candle holders, ivy vines which had been painted gold and a myriad of other Autumn foliage. We stopped at Blackheath on the way and gathered a few garbage bags full of fallen autumn leaves along the side of the road. As I mentioned, the Blue Mountains is turning the most amazing colours at the moment. The trees are a kaleidoscope of colour and the paths are carpeted in fallen leaves, so it was easy to pick up huge amounts of leaves without even being able to see where they were taken from.
Arriving at Collit’s Inn, we set about using the beautiful rustic bathtub that sits in their garden as a bench. With Rachael sitting in the bath, we proceeded to cover her in the leaves and other foliage. My mystical creative muse must also have been happy with the process as in the midst of a miserable day, the sun came out just as we started to set up which meant my lovely model wasn’t a mass of goosebumps from the cold.
After taking the necessary photos, everyone was still happy to keep going so I handed Rachael a red lace dress that I had put in the car, just in case. I mean, why just do one theme when you have a model there and ready to go? The red dress fitted beautifully so we went out in search of the local cemetery.
There was someone there when we arrived, so instead of disturbing someone visiting their loved ones, we moved on to another nearby cemetery. I have the utmost respect for cemeteries and understand what special places they are, not just to the family and friends of those who had passed but also as a source of history.
We ended up at Hartley Cemetery which is a lovely peaceful resting place and has many very old graves. I’ve often called in there and taken a walk around the graves, reading about the people buried there. We did a few photos there, one of which I posted yesterday, called Earthbound. Just as we were heading to the car, the skies opened and the rain started. We were definitely looked after by the weather Gods.
So here is the second in the Seasons in the Bath series, The First Leaves of Autumn. I was a bit worried about trying to do something that could happily stand next to Wash Away the Day, as that image is one that I am the proudest of. I have to say, I’m pretty chuffed with the way this has turned out. It was definitely what I had in mind. Now to start preparing for Winter..
