‘As winter drew on, the sun was setting much further over to the west. My original sunset field was no longer the place to stand to get the pictures of the sun going down. A longer walk was now needed in order to be in the ideal spot and this new place had the added interest of a few trees’
When David and I lived for all those years in the Ryburn Valley in Yorkshire, we had views, stunning views, but never one of a sunset or sunrise because of the steep valley sides. Instead, I looked forward to visiting the west coast in Cornwall and Wales each year to take some sunset photos over the sea. Then we moved late last summer to Lincolnshire and wow, this county is not short of big skies. We are on the western edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds A.O.N.B and there are hills in the sunrise direction, but not so to the west; it is flat, very flat.
It didn’t take me too long to find a field to stand in, just a short walk from the house, where I could take advantage of the wide open spaces to watch the sun going down. It soon became apparent that some of the photos had a story to go with them. So if you like interesting skies please read on…
Below is my very first sky photo, taken a short while after we had moved into the house, been on holiday, unpacked and got settled in. My camera had broken due to some communication problem between its inner workings and the rear screen, so I wasn’t able to see what was going on, but I struggled on with it; a new Nikonwas in the pipeline for Christmas.
This is an evening in October 2024, looking across a rather large field. The city of Lincoln is around eighteen miles away and the small blip on the horizon, centre-photo, is the cathedral.
October 2024
The next photo was taken from the same field shortly before sunset. The picture of the sun itself isn’t great as it was still too high in the sky to capture its full circle in detail. I was still faffing about with the faulty Nikon too. What is interesting about this photo are the vapour trails on the left of the frame, these are from the Red Arrows who are based at R.A.F. Waddington. They are often around, practicing their loops, but this is the only time I’ve seen them in the evening.
November 2024
I’m going to include here a picture of the Red Arrows, well, three of them taken on a trip to the R.A.F. Waddington viewing area. I was so shocked that the photo came out as well as it did; they had come out of nowhere so fast that I was in panic mode when I pressed the shutter. I honestly expected just a blurred mess but I ended up in total with three not so bad photos of seven planes in all taking off. This is one of them…
Back to the skies, and as winter set in and the days got noticeably shorter, the sky and the sunsets became ever more dramatic. The below photo was taken on a freezing cold evening from the edge of what was becoming known as ‘the sunset field’. Most evenings there was only me and a few pheasants out braving the increasingly cold weather.
December 2024
With the dawn of the New Year, the evenings got colder, much colder and sometimes it was an effort to leave the warmth of the house, walk up the lane and stand with camera fingers going numb in the cold, waiting for the sun to go down. Clear nights, I soon discovered, did not provide the best of sunset photos, but one or two did showcase the beautiful Lincolnshire skies to perfection. I now had a brand new fully functioning camera which was a great benefit.
January 2025
As winter drew on, the sun was setting much further over to the west. My original sunset field was no longer the place to stand to get the pictures of the sun going down. A longer walk was now needed in order to be in the ideal spot and this new place had the added interest of a few trees. I think that of all the hundreds of photos I’d taken so far, the February one below has got to be one of my favourites. It was taken on the 28th February, the last day of meteorological winter and spring was just around the corner.
February 28, 2025
So here we are at last at the beginning of meteorological springand the days and evenings were starting to warm, ever so slightly. Yet again I had to change my field to one a little further away still, but only a ten minute walk. By now, some of the dog owners in the village had got used to seeing me over the recent months, trudging off with my camera bag over my shoulder whilst they were out walking their dogs. Many times I received a cheery wave and greeted with the comment “out to capture the sunset?” to which I replied “yes, again…”
Early March 2025
Several people who have seen the above photo commented that it could have been taken in Africa although I assured them that it wasn’t. David and I went to Africa once many years ago, got bitten to bits and decided never to go back. Anyway back to Lincolnshire and the final photo from the county of the big skies. This one was taken on the evening of the spring equinox, the first ‘proper’ day of spring.
March 20, 2025
This is the first photo taken in over five months where a thick coat, gloves and a scarf were, for once, not needed. Things were getting warmer, the days were getting longer, the clocks were about to spring forward, flowers were appearing in the garden and the leaf buds were growing on the trees.
During the spring and summer months the sun sets behind a large area of woodland, with the skies not as dramatic and the sunsets not so glorious, but the skies of Lincolnshire are still big.
We have come full circle now and find ourselves back in October but a year further on. The warm, dry spring and summer of 2025 have gone by all too quickly. I shall be back out over the autumn and winter of 2025-26 with my camera to see what spectacular sights Mother Nature has to offer this time around. Hopefully I will be able to share the photos next year.
Thankyou for reading. I think the frozen fingers were worth the effort, I hope you do too…
Writing & Images – Ruth Craine, Autumn 2025
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