Footpath Closed

I've mentioned quite a bit recently that I now have a new lens (Sigma 10-20mm) and tripod for my photographic gear, and this weekend gave me my first opportunity to try them out. I really did feel like a pro landscape photographer wandering around The New Forest with a huge tripod and wide angle lens, it was great fun. I'm a bit comme ci comme ca about some of the images. I thought they would be sharper than they were, some of them are really quite soft but I will work at sharpening them and learning more about the lens in future.

This picture was taken at one of the most southern parts of The New Forest - Barton-on-sea. The daylight was shrinking quite fast at this point and I'd looked for ages to find a path down to the sea, which I eventually did. My aim was to get a picture of the sea, with the foreground being one of those wooden stump fences going out to sea. However, my path to that was blocked by this unsubtle hint not to go any further. I did obey and did not go any further but that was really because the rocks beyond this point (and next to the sea) would have made it extremely difficult to take a shot with the new tripod I was lugging round. A flash of inspiration came to my head when I decided to make this obstruction part of my foreground instead, though I accept it has become the dominant part of the picture. Nevertheless, this is the first of what I'm sure will be many, many pictures to come from my new wide angle lens.