The Quiet LightAugust, close to home.
Hall Place is only about ten minutes from home. Over a few days in August I kept returning with my camera, drawn by the colour of the flowers and all the life moving around them. I didn’t set out with a list of photographs to make. I went to see what would catch my eye.
Each visit gave me something different. There were more bees than I’d expected, a few butterflies, and finally something I’d never seen before. These are some of the small things that made me stop that summer.
Flowers
I’m always drawn to the colour of flowers, but I want to find my own way of photographing them rather than make a picture I feel I’ve already seen. On these visits it was the layers of colour and the little shifts of light that kept pulling me closer.
Among the bees
There were so many of them that at one point I felt as though I was walking amongst the bees. They ignored me completely, which suited us both. They were busy getting on with being bees; I was happy just to watch and try to keep up with my camera.
A few butterflies
I didn’t see as many butterflies as I usually do, although I wasn’t exactly out counting them. It was lovely to catch these two when they settled. They gave me a moment to slow down and look properly before they were gone again.
The unexpected visitor
This was the surprise. Something moved past the flowers so quickly that at first I wondered whether it was a tiny bird. I’d never seen a hummingbird hawk-moth before, let alone photographed one. When I looked it up at home, the name made perfect sense: it hovered and moved like a hummingbird. These aren’t perfect photographs, but I’m proud I managed to catch it at all.
A place close to home can still show me something I’ve never seen before.
The Quiet Light / August 2026