Over the past few years I’ve felt that January and early February can be some of the most depressing days. Having had the euphoria of Christmas and then having to face what seems the long slog through to Easter is made all the worse by the short dark days of the early part of the year. This got me to thinking about how long the days actually are and more importantly how slowly they seem to get longer.

It came as quite a surprise that since Christmas the actual day length (i.e. from sun rise to sun set) in this part of the world (The Midlands) has increased by over half an hour! Even more surprising, the bulk of this is at the end of the day with a later sunset. I’m sure there must be good astronomical reasons for this but just knowing that the days are lengthening at this rate is a great psychological boost making Spring seem just a short time away. In addition, on clear days the sunsets can be quite spectacular and enhanced, at the moment, with the crisp, white ground covering of snow. For the photographers amongst us it’s got to be a fantastic time to get “perfect winter sunset” shot. Now where did I put my box Brownie...