The days before Christmas are a time of waiting and getting ready. It is a strange time this year and the weather is not helping the mood much either. Whilst the rain has left the ground waterlogged, it has led to some lovely puddles lying around. These provide excellent reflections when I am out and about with my camera. This series of photographs are from my visit to Umberslade Park. There is a dramatic tree lined drive that provides varied opportunities for pictures. It was very wet and there were some rather large puddles which led to some good reflections in the water.

It is possible to get some nice symmetrical views with the trees lined up down into a hollow. There is a bridge where the Stratford upon Avon train line sits. It is possible with timing to frame the picture so that there are people standing underneath the bridge, whilst looking down into the hollow.

My recent upgrade of the Dxo Nik processing software allows me to play with Silver Efex Pro. Therefore many of these photographs have been processed into black and white which fits the sombre weather of the day. The walk is nice and easy as you can park at the Tanworth in Arden village entrance and then walk down towards the bridge then onto the Children’s farm. After passing the farm, I walked straight up the hill to the fringes of the Umberslade Park.

This part I had not discovered before and there are two pillars which are possible remnants of gates. From here there are good views of the Warwickshire countryside from the elevated part of the park.

Walking back, I decided to vary the pictures by using my Lensball. It worked well in all the puddles and gave some interesting views. Hope you enjoy the pictures and I will return when the leaves are back on the trees. I suspect it will also be a good place to visit when there is fog and mist around.