Summer might be ending, but exploring doesn’t have to
There is something about this time of year that can make it feel as though our opportunities to get outside and discover things are starting to disappear
The days are getting shorter, the evenings are drawing in, the summer flowers are beginning to fade and there is definitely a change in the air
But that doesn’t mean the things worth seeing have disappeared
Far from it
We went out for a walk this morning and, as we wandered along the paths, I was reminded yet again that you don’t necessarily need to set out with a particular target in mind to find something interesting
In fact, none of the things in these photographs were found because we had gone looking specifically for them
They were simply things we noticed
A little bit of movement here, something unusual there, a flash of colour, a shape that didn’t quite look like it belonged among the leaves
And once you start looking, there really is an amazing amount going on around us
There are flowers carrying on blooming in gardens, parks and wild spaces
There are birds going about their everyday business, including cheeky robins that seem more than happy to investigate whether you might have something tasty to offer
And then there are the fungi
The appearance of the first mushrooms and toadstools is one of those little reminders that the seasons are changing
Walk through a woodland and you might find something growing from a fallen branch, pushing through the leaf litter or appearing almost overnight beside the path
You don’t have to know exactly what everything is either
Sometimes it is enough simply to notice it
That is probably one of the biggest things I have learnt from my daily photography challenge
You don’t always need to be somewhere spectacular
You don’t need to have planned a special wildlife walk
You don’t need to know what you are going to photograph before you set off
You just need to look
And if you are thinking that this can’t possibly be true, perhaps I can offer a little bit of evidence
I now have three books filled with examples of things I have spotted and photographed during the challenge
Three years of going out and finding something different to photograph every single day
And there is a fourth year already waiting for me to work on
With my ongoing challenge, that now means 1500+ photographs of things that caught my eye
Not all of them are spectacular
Some are tiny
Some are easily overlooked
Some are things that I walked past countless times before finally noticing them
But every one of them has a story
And that is really what this whole project has become about for me
Looking at the world around us a little differently
Taking the time to stop
Looking closer
And discovering what is there
The changing seasons simply change what is waiting to be discovered
The late flowers will give way to autumn colour
The insects will gradually become fewer, but there will still be plenty to spot
The fungi will start appearing in greater numbers
Birds will become easier to see as the leaves begin to fall
And the landscape itself will keep changing around us
You don’t need to travel miles to find it either
It might be in your garden
It might be in the local park
It might be along a footpath you have walked hundreds of times before
Or it might be hiding underneath a leaf, just waiting for someone to notice it
So why not get outside and have a look?
Slow down a little
Look around
You never know what you might find
And if you need a little inspiration, my three books of the Daily Photo Challenge are available to buy
They are packed with photographs of the things I have spotted along the way, showing just how much there is to discover when you make a point of looking
And there is an added bonus
Every penny from the sale of the books goes to two charities that mean a great deal to me
So you get a little inspiration for your own exploring, while helping two wonderful causes at the same time
Perhaps summer is ending
But the exploring certainly isn’t
There is always something else to see