Sometimes all you need is a slice of simplicity and a Heron.

Simplicity? What exactly is that other than just a part of utopia that I have found during lockdown, but it was last Thursday when I decided to revisit a location that I had not been to in quite some time. Located on the site of an old colliery - just outside of Nottingham is the aptly named “Colliers Wood” which is a green oasis shadowed on one side by “new industrial” buildings that to some way dominate a small section of the western skyline. However though this small but perfectly formed green oasis is one of those places that is truly a gem and whilst it is easy to walk around on marked well constructed paths it is also a place where the smaller and simpler things often go unnoticed - slow down though and it is not hard to come across interesting photogenic things here, wildlife, landscapes and the various flowers makes it truly delightful to capture some interesting things.

I was originally not going to take the tripod for me this time around and try to shoot handheld photography, although that soon changed when I decided,

“Maybe it would be a good idea to take the tripod, I never know something interesting to photograph might be hiding amongst this oasis of green and the tripod will more than likely help me to achieve the shot.”

Needless to say I am quite pleased that I did manage to take the trusty tripod with me. One of the interesting things about Colliers Wood, is the many surprises it contains, even when you least expect a surprise, one is right in front of you - arriving at Colliers Wood, it was time to go through the gate, the metal clunk could be heard shortly after walking through the gate and I walked towards the main lake; along a pathway which lead me to a small section of what could be best described as a very small section of lakeside beach; okay so maybe it is not a beach but the water in front of me had some gentle ripples on it, I got the tripod out and captured the following two photographs,

Floating Island - (Black and White).

Floating Island - (Colour).

After capturing those two photographs it was now onwards and upwards, but I had just had to pause yet again, I turned around and the view over the lake with the big skies was just something else to behold, again the sheer simplicity of this scene was akin to pure magic.

Lakeside Simplicity.

Then something that I had seen when I had arrived but did not capture because of the angles and the position, this time I was closer to it, and that was a Heron, not wanting to disturb it, I set up the tripod, mounted the camera and waited for the perfect moment.

The waiting game.

Needless to say that I was more than happy with the end result, this majestic bird standing on a post overlooking the lake at Colliers Wood, deciding on what was for its late afternoon dinner, a fish perhaps or something else? Majestically stood this Heron was something else to see and to capture it needed patience, but in the end it did pay off. But sometimes in life all you need is simplicity and a Heron within life and that is all that matters. The simplicity of the skies, the weather and the unexpected are the finer things in life that maybe we should all cherish as we ease from lockdown and find ourselves living in this strange new normal.