These are two images taken from precisely the same point with the same camera at the same time on the same day.  The only difference between the two is that I have rotated the polarizing filter on the front of the lens through 90 degrees.  This has blocked the reflected light from the sky and allowed the camera to see to the bottom of the stream bed.  The band in the top picture is a stick on the far bank which has cut out the light from the sky so the bottom can be seen.  The sides have been swamped by the reflection.
Some people keep a skylight or other filter on the front of their lens to protect it from damage.  I have a polarizing filter on the front of mine.  This enables me to control the quality of the light and allows a stronger, more saturated, image and enhances the sky. 
When photographing water it gives me the chance to play around with the reflections to achieve the final result I want to achieve.  It does reduce the light by about half a stop but if it is that critical I can always remove it. 

Memories

Any photograph has a back story known to the photographer and others involved.  The place, the time, the company, the weather, the atmosphere, what happened prior to the photograph, or subsequent to the image being captured are all part of this backstory. 
When the photographer or those involved view that image the whole gamut of events surrounding the photograph come flooding back.  I can look at a photograph and sometimes even remember what we were talking about before or after its capture. 
Thus we delight in seeing our old photos.  Memories we might have forgotten can be jolted and relived by viewing a photo with a strong backstory. 
These three images will hopefully bring back in the future the feel and delight of not only the day and walk in the Chee Valley but the whole holiday I spent with these four lovely women.  The house we stayed in, the laughs we had, the other walks, cycle rides, visits and meals we packed into the week will all jump forward in my mind. 
I will even remember the moment of panic I felt as I thought I was about to fall off one of the steping stones!
When people lose their mobile phone or camera and are heartbroken over the loss of the images on it I always feel sad but a bit annoyed that they haven't backed them up.  I was always taught whether it was a photograph, a document, a piece of music ar anything that the rule was Save Early, Save Often.
The number of Word documents I have lost half way through and had to retype is really annoying. Personally I back up to my computer, and then to two portable hard drives in different parts of the house.  But then I am a bit obsessive over such things but remember, hard drives fail, houses catch fire and computers are lost or stolen. 

Always remember

Always remember
I was in Hull on the Friday to get a fix of City of Culture when we went to the Hull Minster to look at the newly paved square and reflecting pools.  My pictures were poor as it was near midday, there was too much light for decent relections, I had not got a polarising filter with me and too many people were around.  On the Monday I was in Hull again in the evening mainly to photograph the old town and waterfront.  I did remember the Minster and went back as the sun was setting and there was no-one around to take a series of rflecting images of which this is one. 

When to HDR

Sometimes a technique comes along which proves to be controversial and like Marmite splits the photographic opinion straight down the middle. 
Back in the day solarization was such a technique which in a club competition would get you a 20 or a 9 depending on the personal taste of the judge.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) is a way of processing a number of images to produce a final photograph with a much increased exposure range so there is more detail in the shadow areas so it doesn't block out and more detail in the highlight area so it doesn't burn out.  It does however produce an result which looks hyper real and therefore to some seems false. 
So when should you bring HDR out of the bag?  In my opinion it takes a brave photographer to try HDR on a pastoral landscape. It just jars too much for me.  The gritty feel of HDR needs a gritty subject. 
I tend to restrict it to scenes of urban decay, industrial grime or high contrast. 
When I was walking beside the Humber today past the old wooden wharves by the Albert Dock I felt that this was ideal for HDR.  Here are a couple of images.  What do you think?

Eschew perfection

Unlike the opinion of many photographers (and photographic judges or commentators) it is not always necessary to just capture images of perfect specimens.  Imperfect can be just as valid as an ideal if handled correctly.   The above two images (taken within minutes of each other on a sunny/cloudy day) illustrate how a mood can be set in post production to amplify the characteristics of the photo. 
The top image of the "past its best" honeysuckle taken under clouds has been subjected to a colour balance in the blue side of the colour wheel.  Along with a slight desaturation this has produced a "cold" image which highlights the state of the flower. 
The lower picture taken in full sun has had the red / yellow enhanced an the saturation boosted to give a mood of cheer and warmth.
By simple manipulation mood can be set. 
Always remember that emotion plays a large part in how an image is seen and assesed.  Always aim your post production to enhance the mood you want to present.

The unexpected

Sometimes you end up with something totally unexpected. 
I was visiting Filey Brigg with my brother in law who was looking at the rocks.  It was a wild day with a strong nithering northerly blowing.  There was lots of foam blown onto the Brigg which I tried to photograph with little success. 
On the way back from the point I noticed Scarborough Castle in the misty distance with heavy surf breaking on the rocks.  With a bit of positioning on the slippery rocks, I got to a spot with an interesting foreground and waited for the biggest waves. I took an exposure reading of the whitest part of the first wave using spot exposure and locked it.  This prevented over exposure and "whiteout" of the wave.  Detail here was a necessity.
I was then free to take a number of shots of various waves as they burst upon the rocks.  This was the best image for position and size of wave relative to the castle and overall composition. 
It is always thrilling to get an unexpected image which has excellent potential to develop into a competition class photograph. 

We had an evening at Sherburn airfield last week.  They very kindly let us have free run of the place.  But what to take?  Aircraft are useful to get about but lack inherent beauty so you have to get into your photographic mindspace and work on the image.  You have to pre-see the end image and try to work out how to get there from where you are now.  Some of it is using the camera and light available to get the bare bones and then use photoshop (other image manipulation software is available) to build the flesh to come up with the final product. 
Here are three different finished photos I got from the 200 I shot.