12 Days of Gladness: April

April 2012: taken through a car window, but a realistic picture of Britain!

It was tough to choose just one photo to represent April because it was a month of contrasts. I spent the first half of it in London, running around Television Centre/Center working on a consumer news show and living the TV dream. By the time I finished my stint at the BBC I had received word on my visa interview date and could start to plan my move to the USA.

In the second half of the month, I visited friends way up in the Outer Hebrides. They drove me around the Isles of Harris and Lewis while I took snaps through the car windows. I thought this one looked quintessentially British enough to represent a month of coast to coast travel!

As I was born near London and have plenty of family there, it's a city I know very well. I feel very at home whenever I'm there. London is a huge contrast to the silent expanse of the remote Scottish islands, although both regions are steeped in history.

This is not my favorite photo from my trip, these are.

Photo geekery: Sitting in the back of a car and tumbling through the Islands of Scotland was a super fun challenge. I constantly had to adjust the camera settings and snap as quickly as possible before we turned a corner and reached another photo opp. Clouds moved in/out and changed the lighting all the time. Because I was on the move I took photos at a really high shutter speed to cut down on blur.  I upped the saturation in this photo to enhance the red and orange. I also brightened it a bit so you can see right into the abandoned house.