Swans lead the way

 

Although the numbers do vary somewhat, one thing you can usually count on when strolling alongside the canal are swans and the odd duck having been along here from the mid 80's armed with initially the 35mm compact and my trusty Minolta XD7 single lens reflex camera with its 300mm lens, tweaking the focus in real time.

Of course in some ways it's easier now, modern autofocusing systems are more accurate but until you actually engage the camera's focusing system the view is very much out of focus where if I was focusing by hand I'd roughly set it to something fairly close to the subject  and adjust later!

September usually sees a gradual falling off of absolute traffic but is rewarded by softer, less contrasty light which makes for better photographs especially towards the middle of the day.