Hamble River

This photo was taken on another of our jaunts along the River Hamble nr Southampton. Facing north along the path which leads from the car park Warsash to Universal Marina (you can see the boat masts in the top right corner of the picture)... from about the midway point along the path this photo was taken using the short end of my Canon 100-400L lens.

This isn't a lens that you would typically choose to shoot landscapes with but at this focal length it does a good job of compressing the perspective whilst still retaining a satisfactory level of sharpness. Photomatix Pro was employed again the expand the colour palette, followed by my usual workflow to achieve the painterly effect you see above.

Not that there is anything wrong with clear blue skies, but I do prefer to shoot landscapes with broken clouds, and luckily the sky had quite a bit of texture on this September day. Because of this I could achieve a good exposure without the need for bracketing (f/10 1/400sec iso 100) thereby reducing the amount of post processing required, although the greens and yellows were boosted slightly before being run through Photomatix.

In the winter months the River Hamble appears serene; an icy time-capsule encasing wrecks and concealing a fascinating maritime history, but as you walk along the shoreline, the river's secret emerges as an abundance of wildlife comes into view. If you walk from Warsash to Universal Marina, you'll be amazed at the variety of wildlife you'll come across. Boasting mudflats, saltmarshes, woodlands and meadows – the River Hamble is as varied in wildlife as it is in stunning views.

This walk is walk number 9 on Fareham Borough Council's list of self guided walks - more information can be found HERE