Capturing the moment

I'd been sitting reading through `The Mindful Photographer' by Sophie Howarth in the afternoon and  as I glanced  the side of me I was immediately taken by the sunlight on the shelves at the side of the fireplace (not very tidy I know).  I think I'd been reading a section of the book that was about responding to the moment, so as my camera was still out I took a couple of shots. I often spot reflections of the lamp on my bedroom wall  in a morning and have thought in the past that I could probably do a mini-series. 

I'd also been out with my camera a couple of times during the day.  In the morning to collect record shots of the different Acer plants that have now turned red, even one of the ones that was yellow through the summer.  I think I'd seen someone else's version and it reminded me that if I was going to do it, it had to be now, before all the leaves had gone.

In the afternoon I needed to take a letter round to a neighbour - we almost have a shared address, so things go wrong, though in this case it actually had my address on it.  So while I was out I thought I'd have a walk in Ayton Wood, which backs onto the village.  Sometimes I've been able to focus on intimate landscapes (close-ups) while walking there, but it's defeating me at the moment.  Mainly I think because the understory (and some of the trees) are dead.  Probably a mix of the very dry summer and the fact that a small flock of sheep have access to it are responsible.  I think instead of detail I opted for capturing the mood of the places using soft and in some cases out of focus images (though in my panel I've included a few acer from my garden to provide a bit of colour contrast.)

I'm still attempting to sort out boxes of paperwork that I've dumped at various times  (nearly there) and to prick up on various things I've let drift, so I've not had much space in my head for thinking more creatively about my photography.