Moving from Autumn into winter, the mornings and evenings have become much darker, and daylight hours are precious. At first light, I have often been woken up by the glorious sound of honking Geese flying over my house, on their way out from the Nature Reserve.
This month saw the anniversary of the end of WW1 and Remembrance weekend. On Saturday 10th November I woke up early, looked out of my bedroom window and decide whether to venture out for sunrise or not. It was somewhat grey and a little misty. The mist grabbed my attention though, as although it was grey, there was still some hope that the sun may peep through at some point. So I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera bag, and headed straight out.
I decided to head west of the town for a change, and try and get some shots of the Abbey surround by mist. I parked up and had a very brisk walk up the hill, to get to the best view point from a bit higher up. Sadly, still no sun, but the lingering mist over the lower farmland and woods, made for a few atmospheric photos. I then made my way back down and passed the Memorial Park, where I noticed a little mist was still hovering towards the back of the park. I wanted to grab a few shots of the War Horse and Trooper statue whilst I was there and with its crocheted remembrance poppies. And having a little mist would add something a little different, as it gave a soft and hazy back drop for the statue. ...But little did I know then, that 24 hours later, the photo would be published in the Sunday Telegraph, on Remembrance Sunday, and having also gone viral across Facebook the evening of the 10th (and throughout the following week too). I think it was because of the hazy backdrop, it added a lot of atmosphere to the scene, and just happened to be on Remembrance weekend so made it quite a moving image. I was very fortunate, as just happened to have been in the right place, at the right time, to capture the image.
That weekend turned out to be quite overwhelming, as not only did my first calendars I have ever produced, turn up, but people started requesting prints of the War Horse. Before going ahead I checked with the council (as the photo was taken on their land) and I also checked with Amy Goodman, being the artist and creator of the statue. Luckily, Amy was delighted that my photo of her statue had been enjoyed by so many across the UK, as well as abroad. It made for a lovely tribute on a very important weekend, but also gave my start in pursuing photography as a part-time career a little boost, as well as giving Amy Goodman some further (and well deserved) recognition too. It was a delight to meet Amy that following week and we attended a Remembrance concert at the Abbey. Then on another weekend I went along to see Amy's studio at Projects Workshop, where she is working on her next exciting projects.
It seems appropriate to have the photo of 'Romsey War Horse and Trooper' as the photo to represent the month of November.
