mud

2014 moments #4

/ mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

I would like to share my 10 most memorable photographs of the year over the coming days with you. These are shots that I am particularly proud of, while each evokes a sense of place and meaning from 2014.

Content without water

CONTENT WITHOUT WATER

A cluster of boats appear to lie stranded on the mud on the Thames waterfront at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. It’s a blazing, high key shot taken on an autumn day when the sun veered between hiding behind clouds and blasting through them. This scene is a souvenir of an enjoyable trip outside London and the joys of my home county.

Gallery entrance

Estuary Essex

/ mikeosbornphoto / 13 Comments

WH Osborne

This is about an Essex town that sits at the wide open mouth of the River Thames before it flows into the North Sea.

Leigh-on-Sea is just half-an-hour on the train from London, taking you from the urban might of the City through the desolate yet beautiful countryside lining the river’s estuary.

The older part of Leigh sits astride the waterfront, and is full of charm and wonder. When the tide is out, boats sit helplessly on the silt and there is a hint of heavy industry across the river in Kent, while on this side the cockle sheds prevail.

It’s easy to be absorbed into this landscape as the sun comes and goes, heralding different textures and colours. Lunch was a hearty plate of rock eel and chips, evoking warm childhood memories of my home county by the water.

The Photo Shop

Click first image to launch the gallery

Sailing club

Gold on mud

/ mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

The sun was lowering and the tide out on an evening by Maldon’s River Blackwater in Essex. The waterway is notoriously muddy at low tide, and the town is famous for its annual mud race – a messy and sticky event.

But there were very few people around on this occasion, and I was able to walk down the ramp from the bank to take this shot. Just a couple of birds sit calm by the distant water, while the sunlight catches golden flecks across the layers of mud. A combination of factors to make a beautiful sight.

See also:

Stripped sky

Riverside gem