A prolongued Autumn

This Autumn offered some lovely, if fleeting, colours but it will not go down as one of the greats. Weather patterns were too on-off with early turnings for species such a birch with oak and beech taking over 6 weeks longer to turn meaning there was not a full abundance of colour at any point. Winds meant colours that were there were often blown away on mass. Within this scenario though there were some interesting pastiches of colour to shoot. The woodland above was the widest scene with extensive colour that I shot (that was worth sharing).

Afternoon light through Autumn ash.

A month after taking the shots above the beech finally turned - but not for long before the winds rendered them bare in a few days.

Bare ash backed by beech in full colour

Morning light n the woods

An oak that I have photographed a lot in the past had good winter crop colour coming through in the field to add to the scene. Rare raking light in the afternoon gave depth and made the colours pop. This was about a week later than the beech and the last of the trees to turn.

Full orange-gold-bronze field oak.

Back to the Erme estuary

I had another great trip to South Devon in September with glorious weather and lots of bird photography. I also had great conditions on a couple of days for some drone shots and was happy with both morning and evening shots of the estuary. The two below are from the morning.

Looking south down the estuary

Looking North with Dartmoor in the background

As usual I spent a lot of time watching the tide and light change on two main scenes - down to the sea and across to Efford. Classic scenes - a version of each is below…

For the second year there was an absence of large numbers of Canada Geese. Presumably they are feeding elsewhere and have shifted residence. However there were more of other birds and it would be speculation on my part to assume they had increased with less competition and territory hogging from the geese.

A wonderful Osprey that hunted up and down the estuary for a few days.

Part of a wonderful flock of 20-30 Curlews that fed up and down the flats.

Most of my wildlife photographs tend to be wider shots including the environment around - it is so lovely that it adds to the scene. I like including elements of the estuary in these, telling more of a story and I can shoot them from a greater distance so disturb the birds less.

Herons and egrets are staples of the estuary.

A lovely pair of curlew on the vegetated mudflats at low tide

The Oystercatchers were a noisy rabble as always, but a welcome rabble. Here they are about to leave as the tide rises around them.

The resident pair of swans cruising in the evening leaving a light trail behind them.

Some of the Canada geese moving out after a morning feed

Heather in the New Forest

I have, in the last couple of months, been browsing instagram after a couple of years away. Since I’ve been back there have been a few phases of UK imagery with heather a common theme currently. And why not? Looks great and it can be twinned with strong subjects – rock formations in Yorkshire / Dartmoor / Peak District or hearty trees - though frequently there only seems to be a spindly birch available as subject / background interest.

Anyway at the beginning of August I went down to the New Forest for a reccy and, whilst too early for good heather, I did find a new potential image close to an area I already know and have shot. I went back in late August for a lovely dawn shoot with a few images in my head that I wanted to shoot with a view to making some new cards and prints. First off was the new location – for the rising sun. I am Pleased with this and I think a cropped version may make a good card.

Dawn through the copse

Then back to the location I have shot before which involves, not a spindly birch but a handsome Scots Pine. I wanted the slightly elevated viewpoint of a drone and noone was around so I was happy to fly and the scene looked great.

Scots pine in the full heather bloom

I have also been after a ‘New Forest Pony in the Heather’ image. A pair was feeding a hundred yards away so (you can see the white dots in the drone photo) and, having fortunately packed my 100-400, I was able to get some shots I was pleased with and I think will also make a good card.

New Forest pony in the heather - nowt much more summer than that!

The final image I wanted was a lovely green fern in the heather. There were plenty of ferns around but finding the right shape, without brown tinges, in the right light was proving elusive and the images were looking bland. I then came across ‘Heather in a fern in heather’. I like it. Finally I found a particularly fine bush and took a simple shot of pure heather. Not a card (too detailed and busy) but an interesting natural pattern.

Heather in the fern in heather

Pure heather

What do I sell?

I have just finished an Open Studios event which ran for 10 days and was very successful. One question I was asked a lot there and am also asked online, is the differences between the different options I offer for printing and framing so I thought a blog to which I can refer people would be sensible – I can go into more detail than is acceptable in the gallery section.

In a nutshell I offer a wide range of products including prints, panels and frames – all of which are described and pictured in detail below. It is worth noting that I print / manufacture orders on demand so delivery times are therefore 2 weeks for rolled prints and 3-4 weeks for panels / frames. I have detailed my most popular products but if you have a favourite style or finish I can likely offer it – including canvases and acrylics – so please ask. I do have some products in stock that I offer at exhibitions so if you need something fast please ask for my current stock.

• Prints – generally rolled – for your own framing.

• Panels – frameless presentations, with prints bonded to an aluminium panel

• Tray Frames – a photographic wrap framed in an open tray frame

• Aluminium Prints – super high definition image printed directly onto a thin sheet of aluminium.

Prices vary depending on the image but I have included guides below for popular sizes of 24”x12” (panoramic format) and 24”x16” (standard format).

Prints - I tend to have these printed onto satin photographic (silver halide) paper. They last well and are very high quality. Because these will be framed, the satin finish removes additional reflections you would get behind the glass from gloss paper (though depending on your choice of glass, reflections will still be present as with any glazed frame). I print these with a border and this border is included in the size description – so this is an overall size, not the mount window size. I recommend waiting until you have the print before ordering a mount and frame. Price guide for 20”x14” is £145 and for 20”x10” is £115, plus delivery. I can offer a wide range of frame mouldings should you want the photograph ready to hang. Mounting and framing roughly doubles the price.

20”x10” print mounted and framed in oak effect frame.

Panels – frameless presentations, with prints bonded to an aluminium / PVC panel to give a rigid, durable display; enhanced with either satin or gloss UV protective coat; I will normally advise which is more appropriate for the image but the choice is yours. These panels have an aluminium hanging frame to set the panel away from the wall and enhance the floating effect. Price guide 24”x16” is £325 and for 24”x12” is £265 for satin finish with gloss +10%, plus delivery.

Aluminium panel - here with gloss finish

Aluminium panel with gloss finish

Aluminum panel with lustre finish

Tray framed presentations – tray frames (of the kind offered by painters for canvases) surround a deep photographic wrap. Normally these have a satin finish to complement the style of frames but I can have panels made with a gloss finish. I can also offer tray framed canvases and acrylic prints. Price guide for satin (gloss +10%) 24”x16” is £345 and for 24”x12” is £295, plus delivery.

Tray framed print wrap / panel - walnut frame

Tray framed canvas print - dark wood

Aluminium prints – these offer the highest definition print and are printed directly onto a thin sheet of aluminium in a complex heat-treated dye sublimation process. The effect offer a great depth to images so suits photographs that offer this characteristic – including woodlands, seascapes and cityscapes. Price guide for 24”x16” high gloss is £445 and for 24”x12” is £375, plus delivery.

Printed directly onto aluminium with a high gloss finsih

Venice Pt 1 - A favourite scene

My first visit to Venice was amazing. I will not wax lyrical here but simply say that city lived up to its reputations with scenes to shoot at almost every turn of foot or propeller. I did leave with a favourite location / viewpoint from this trip - in part because it is simply classic Venice and also because it was so close to where I was staying so saw it a lot at different times of day - the view East from Academia Bridge. The shot above is with the faintest sunset colour at dusk.

An early morning offered some mist.

A scene that could have been almost the same 200 years ago.

Warm, muted, dusty afternoon light enhances the scene.

Lovely balance of ambient and artificial light at dusk

I will edit and post more from Venice but this scene deserved its own post. I will be printing a selection of images as limited editions launching in August at the Open Studios event in Broughton and then online.

A weekend in Scotland

I had never been to Scotland in proper Winter conditions so Dusty’s suggestion to head up in late Feb to visit the West coast and stay in a bothy for a couple of nights seemed like a good chance to see snow on the hills. Naturally it was not to be this clearcut. The forecast ebbed and flowed in the week before until we set off in dreary conditions with more grey skies forecast and warmer weather continuing to melt the snow. However the first 24 hrs turned into a massive lesson / reminder in putting yourself out there because if weather in Scotland is anything, it’s changeable and if you are not there you can’t take photos.

The mountains that form the South East ridge from Glen Etive and the Glencoe ski resort

As we headed past Loch Lomond the clouds lowered and drifted around the hills with almost no wind - so importantly some lovely calm conditions on the Loch giving some near perfect reflections- pretty unusual in my experience.

Low clouds drift around the hills of Loch Lomond

We stopped for some photos here - nothing that will make a portfolio but a good start to the trip. We wanted to keep going to get to Glencoe before dark. Which we just managed - stopping on the A82 at dusk at the classic viewpoint at Loch Ba bridge. Normally I like to wander a bit here but it was getting really dark so there was little time - I had to work really quickly, dashing along the road avoiding traffic and was still upping the ISO with 30 sec exposures…

As darkness fell the low clouds / fog started drifting around the mountain - I think looking towards Stob Ghabhar. The darkness and enforced long exposure meant some eery results of swirling cloud here and in the last, slightly adjusted, image.

The following morning we got up for dawn light in Glencoe. Fortunately dawn is not terribly early in February so the lack of early light was not as crushing as it would have been with a painfully early start. However again as we were giving up we had a few minutes of light and cloud so rushed back to the view over the Lagagarbh Cottage, backed by the Buachaille Etive Mor. This was at about 09.30.

The Lagagarbh Cottage (infamous white house of the Glen) sheltered in the lee of the Buachaille

My final shot here is something of a composite. I took the photos of the eagle and stag on this trip - but on our way out of the bothy a few hours drive away. We had a great couple of days there and whilst the photography was not amazing - mainly some winter trees - as we left on the boat we were watched by the stag on the top of a ridge and given a fly-by from the eagle. Where else to put them than in the swirling cloud…

30 sec exposure for the clouds. Not so much for the eagle!

Februaries' unseens

As with Januaries in the last blog, I have been through the last few years’ of image to find those that have not previously been released / included in blogs. Whilst there are not perhaps any full on portfolio images there are some lovely moments of light.

A lovely specimen in the New Forest from 2019

For a few years February was a time to head to mountains for some skiing - and of course photography on the side. Another blog will cover a trip in 2023 where I concentrated more on photography.

A slightly abstract detail of the mountainside.

The 17th February is on average the coldest day of the year so unsurprisingly a lot of February images reflect this.

Pretty brutal ice on the branches - way beyond frost. 2020. A classic scene of beech holding onto leaves with winter mist adding atmosphere to the woodland. Also 2020.

A frozen puddle on a morning dog walk; soon enough it’ll be just t-shirt and shorts…

Cannot review February without a frosty scene on the River Test. This was in 2023.

A bit of colour from catkins - often out by the end of Feb. This was in 2019.

Januaries - 'new' images

I have many shoots from the past - including whole trips - that I have not properly edited so my resolution this year is to review and edit images from shoots that have thus far been neglected.

Frosty sunrise at the Bunny Bridge 2019 - five years ago. Can’t believe I haven’t done anything with this.

So much of photography for me is the act of being out photographing while the editing element is more screen time which I don’t love. Hence the neglect. But when I was thinking of locations to visit this year, I frequently came back to the point that I have shot the location before but not edited the shots. So now I am spending time reviewing shoots from corresponding months in previous years and will share these ‘new’ images in blogs. So here are the January contenders.

A couple of weeks later in 2019 up to London, this was shot from the viewing platform on the Tate Modern

I have covered 2020-22 fairly well in previous blogs. I started consistent blogs in 2020 - and these are well worth looking through ;) - so most of the ‘revisited’ years will be 2018-2020. Which is quite awhile ago now. London probably doesn’t even look like this now. Closer to home in 2020 I shot, on a cold, frosty morning, some details - cold early shots in the frost, warmer sun kissed leaves still tinged with frost later.

Also in 202 I had a stop on Dartmoor on the way back from a work trip to Cornwall. There was some snow, which we have seen very little of in the last few years, so I made a beeline for the highest ground on my way home - Higher Tor near Belstone, just off the A30. There was clearly not much snow but it had settled nicely on the track marking the route through the medley of colours and textures.

The final shots were all taken in 2022. This first one I have just sent for printing. Taken on the same trip as the beach huts in this blog - https://www.carpelumen.co.uk/new-blog/2022/1/27/new-year-new-shoots - it was taken on the shoreline at Mudeford, proving what a bounteous day that was. The next shot of the huts was taken from the sea-side and lacks the oomph of the shots in the previous blog but is still a nice composition to revisit. As is the final shot of the rolling Dorset hills near Shaftesbury.

Scotland

It seems like a while ago that I retuned to Scotland for a photography and walking trip. Well it was, in fact – about 5 months but I have now had a chance to review images. Yes, I have been busy with much else; partly taking up a role with an event photography company which keeps me pretty busy but also, as you will see in another blog, developing my greetings card business and reaching the final of the Henries. The Henries, you say. What are they? Well they are the foremost awards within the greetings card industry. Voted for by retailers. So it feels good to get to the final.

Any way Scotland. Another bounty of images, starting on the first night. I was travelling again with Ian - Smeds. He has taken a walk up the Devil’s Staircase on a separate trip with Darina and thought it had potential for an evening shoot. Which it did. Both at last light – above – and in the glooming of the darkness, below – where the Buachaille Etive Mor is bathed in lovely reflected light.

The following morning we walked up the hills opposite the Three Sisters at the lower end of the glen. I have always found it tricky to shoot the sisters and this occasion was no different – particularly with the featureless blue sky we were offered. Lovely for feeling the sun on your face, not so good for photography. I did get a lovely shot of rock though. And the compulsory image of backlit birch. I am often drawn to the colours and textures of Scotland. Whilst there may not be demand for a whole book on the subject, I have included a few in this blog.

We then moved slightly north to shoot Ben Nevis – another tricky-to-shoot large lump of rock. We gave in to the famous view from the beach near Corpach - home to the incredibly impressive nine lock Neptune’s staircase at the start of the Caledonian canal. Here there is a ship wreck to give foreground interest on Caol beach. Some of the best views involved getting wet to enable reflections in the calm waters.

The seaweed also needed a shot – both in the water and caked with salt, as did the detail of the decaying boat.

We were meeting friends in Torridon for a couple of days walking so had to get going the next day. We did stop at the infamous Eileen Donan Castle really to scope out views for future shoots. Middle of the day lighting meant this was never going to fully deliver but I did find some new angles.

Frankly it’s pretty exhausting on a trip like this when even downtime between dawn and dusk shoots is spent travelling and finding angles for future images. The rest of the trip yielded a few images – evenings in Torridon and another reccy in Glencoe during lunch on the way home. The image of the Buachaille with the river is definitely one to return to - probably in dawn light.

New year, new locations.

I made a resolution to photograph more new places this year. Whilst it is often necessary to revisit places to get the best from them, I felt I needed to add locations to the list to expand my portfolio. And also because it’s great simply visiting new places. For my first trip I went to Portland Bill to shoot the lighthouse.

Lighthouses are, by the nature of their positioning, tricky to photograph. Normally on rocky outcrops / promontories, there is a risk of images being unbalanced (not to mention the photographer!) with a land-heavy side leading the eye into open water and away. The tides also need to coincide with dawn/dusk lighting which is in turn heavily affected in its direction by the time of year. I was pleased with the images I got - the dusk one above with the setting sun glowing brightly behind the headland keeping the eye in the lighthouse zone (the eye is drawn to the brightest part of the image). I also scouted other angles and viewpoints such as the one below for a return in the future with different light and tides.

An angle that needs better conditions - of both water and light, but one to return to.

It has not been hard to think of locations - I have a list of many many places to visit. My second destination was Hengistbury Head and the famous Mudeford spit / beachhuts. I had somehow never been here but off season in the winter seems the perfect time. A glorious sunny afternoon led me dithering my way to the huts as I shot a lot of crashing sea images with different compositions and exposure times.

Hengistbury beach

When I go somewhere new, coming away with good shots is a bonus and portfolio shots is a complete result. I spent a couple of hours walking the length of the huts on both sides. The seaward side images wait to be shot properly on another day - dawn in early summer I suspect with (hopefully) low warm light on the huts and dunes. However the nature of the location is such that the harbour side is sheltered and on this day, with no wind I got super lucky. The sun was unhindered to its lowest point giving golden warmth to the scene.

Mudeford beach huts shot from the harbour side

However my favourite shots were taken after the sun had set. Light reflected off the clear blue sky, the water was calm and the reflections perfect.

Mudeford Beach Huts at dusk

I’m not sure exactly when dusk ends and might begins but it was around the time of this last shot. It was taken 45 mins after sunset and, having shot this, it was on with the headtorch for the walk back to the carpark.

Mudeford Beach huts after dusk

My last location this month was Shaftesbury, made TV famous by a 1970s Hovis bread advert shot on Gold Hill. I have wanted some good traditional Wessex architecture in my portfolio (who doesn’t?) so this seemed a good choice. I could see from the map that the road ran South West so an early afternoon low winter sun should rake up the street. Which it did. A parked car slightly hindered my composition but I think if I lived on the hill I would probably do worse than leave a car outside.

Gold Hill aka Hovis Hill. On a greetings card soon?

The Big Autumn blog

A few weeks have passed since my final Autumn shoot and I have had time to relax again and stop looking for light every hour or two wondering if I should be somewhere shooting the colour. In the end I went out a dozen times and ended up with a satisfying haul of images. A first edit has led to the 20 images here (I have called it the big blog for a reason) but more work is needed on some of the trickier images so more will make their way into the portfolio over time.

Autumn was fairly late and seemed very drawn out this year - I only shot in the south of England but these images are from a 5 week period. With the exception of the first image above they are in order of when they were shot.

As ever the passing of time has helped me to rationalise the results and look at the images more subjectively. I do have a favourite - the birch at the top. I had spotted this scene a couple of years ago and returned to find it looking at its Autumn peak with some glorious dawn light. However I do think several are worthy of inclusion into my portfolio. Although I’m not certain that everyone shares my passion for arboreal detail. I like shooting images that are ‘all tree’ - so that the texture and colour really comes out with no distraction from the sky or ground.

The New Forest is always productive hunting ground and I like the birch with their phased Autumnal turnings. They start with a green, yellow and orange tutti-frutti selection (as seen above and below) and end with a thinned veil of golden delicate leaves contrasting with stark silver grey trunks. They often support an understory of bracken which, with its similar turning tendencies, can match the green and yellow of the trees. The shot below shows this well.

I cannot go through Autumn without taking some shots of the bracken in its various guises.

Part of the birch copse I frequent in the New Forest

An exposed early turning tree near the River Test at dawn

Early morning in a misty beech wood

After a couple of trips to the New Forest, primarily for the birch which tends to turn first, I turned my sights closer to home and the beech that we have on the chalk downs locally.

The beech is very much between the birch and the oak - as it is when it comes to springtime leafing. It is possible unsurpassed by its array of yellow and golds and the fact that some trees will turn much earlier than others in its immediate surroundings. Mist helps the colours to stand out more.

I caught the Broughton beech avenue at just the right time - plenty of colour, varied along the route to enhance the depth of the image and leading the viewer along the track, through the scene. This is another scene I have to visit every year.

The stark cold blue-silver of bare branches contrasts with the orange of remaining leaves.

I took a trip to Virginia Water and the tree lined lakes. It was not great weather - dull and overcast but it was my first visit there so it was good to get an idea and understanding of the potential. And there were some good scenes despite the light. This first one is almost the reverse of the one above it. Lots of yellow, punctuated by a single bare branch.

Being next to a lake I had to bring it in - here a matt grey backdrop for the tree branches. It was not a day for amazing reflections - that tends to need sunlight to enhance the contrast more.

My final shoot of Autumn was down in the New Forest in the Rhinefeld area. This is a pretty sheltered area so turns late. Autumn had not been the sunniest on record so I went down on a sunny afternoon for max contrast and backlighting. Which I got. Possibly too much? In the forest the sun effectively sets very early because direct light is blocked by the trees so these were shot from 1pm until 4pm. A good end to the season with all of the following images shot that afternoon.

A fine equine

In the grand plan equine photography was supposed to start in 2022, but it is early out of the gates. When Debs Barlow won the auction for the photography I had donated as a charity prize at the village ball, she asked me to photograph her fine horse Sam. I have photographed wild(ish) ponies in the New Forest quite a bit but only in their natural settings - which feature on a few cards. But equine portraiture calls for a new range of skills and tricks.

First shots were taken in the stable

We were lucky with the weather- a poor forecast turned into a sunny couple of hours with the low sun offering some lovely light. Sam posed nicely in the brook (for about 60 secs) where he was beautifully backlit. Ears should traditionally point forwards for equine portraits and whilst I took many where they are, I do love the expression Sam has here. Perhaps not perfect, but it's all in the expression...

We then took a walk into the paddock. More backlighting (which I love to work with in both landscapes and portraits) and some lovely portraits and full length shots.

We even managed to get some shots of Rudy playing in the leaves as well. All in all a successful shoot with some lovely images.

Dog Blog One

I say dog blog one hoping there will be more because I am launching another branch of photography - dog portraiture. This will be a joint venture with Ian Smithers - who has an undeniable love of dogs - and will be coming down to Broughton to run days of dog portraiture with me.

We shot some tests in the summer and were very happy with the results - I was technical director, Ian shot and processed the photos. Given the success, we will be offering sessions on various days where we will have around 6 sittings of an hour each. We will get to know the dog and let it relax in the studio area, shoot some portraits and then review them with the owners while the dog takes a breather. We can then take some more shots - either still in the studio area or out in the field depending on the weather.

The first session will be on the 16th October. Each session will cost £100 which includes the photography and post-production of a selection of images, with digital files provided which will allow printing up to A5. We will be offering a wide range of frames and panels priced from £50. Please get in touch if you would like a place.

A new farm...

A recent shoot was on a farm where the house is going to be let out as a holiday property and the owners wanted some images of the estate for their websites. Is is a great mix of fields and woods and I spent a few hours roaming in the summer sunshine.

Although the farm is only in the next village, the chalk gives way to clay so oak come back into play and there are some lovely specimens on the farm. My evening was topped by a wonderful sighting of a young fox who was sufficiently inquisitive to let me get a number of shots.

It wasn’t just the fox I came across - deer both herding and singular caught my eye. Not sure the farmer would be delighted with the scene above though.

What this scene needs is a horse under the canopy.

I am looking forward to returning when there is a slightly more Autumnal feeling - I have a few scenes in mind that will benefit.

The River Test

A recent commission was to photograph of new-to-me stretch of the Test in Fullerton. A few visits were topped by an evening shoot brightening from a dull start as the sun broke through thinning clouds.

Is is not often that I am able to find new locations on the Test to photograph. With the bulk of the waters under private / club ownership, permissions to photograph are cherished. A main reason being that the best times of year to photograph clash with the paying fishermen.

The calm waters that evening led to lovely reflections of both riverside trees and the clouds. The river is generally hard to photograph from the banks - the bridges often give the best viewpoints. At this beat though the curve of the river enables lovely shape and leading lines.

I like both the light-popping images and the one below taken just after the sun had dropped behind the cloud again. A wider view captures the green of the scene in its summer-green glory.

A scene I hope to re-visit at the end of the season for early Autumn colour…

The South Downs

At the beginning of June I was asked to photograph Old Lewes Racecourse , various parts of which have recently been bought back together under the stewardship of James Oliver. He is trying to maintain some areas for horses, offer space for walkers to rest and rewild others. It is a beautiful area with farmland in the middle and the South Downs Way running through it. And the kind of commission I relish.

There is a wonderful mix of grazing/paddocks, woodland and wild. And the picturesque, reconstructed Ashcombe Mill in view on the downs.

The evening light was looking subdued until about 15mins before the sunset when a small gap in the clouds allowed the golden light to pop and a manic few minutes ensued.

The Dawn was early but glorious. Fortunately I was staying with Oli on site so only had to tumble out of the house into the landscape. Before the sun was up there was a clear calm to the morning and as the sun rose a fog rolled through the valley for a while before burning off.

Back to the Forest

With May getting everything going I wanted to get back to the New Forest to capture those fresh greens. I returned to the area I found last September to see how it is in Spring. Quite nice ;)

The fresh green given structure by the pine.

The scene I shot last Autumn (see here) was not inspiring me but close by is this bridge. I had not got a shot last year so was pleased with this.

The fresh beech creates a really green hue / cast to the whole understory. It can be a bit much but I do like what it represents in terms of Spring-Summer.

Another scene that I had failed to do justice to last year was that with the pair of Giant Sequoias at Rhinefeld. I was much happier with this version which I think shows their dominance of scale amongst their companions.

I rarely go to the forest without taking a few shots of the horses. They were out in force this time. So here’s one to finish on...

The Bluebell blog

Bluebells are one of those subjects that seemed cliched but are pretty irresistible. They are a great signifier of seasons and frankly pretty amazing - hence the popularity. A challenge to photograph though.

The classic image is sun breaking through mist in a fresh beech wood with a perfect carpet of flowers. The ultimate shot evaded me this year but I got close and was happy with the results over a couple of shoots. I am lucky in that one of the UK’s finest bluebell woods - Micheldever - is only 30 mins away.

The first shoot - all the pics above - was on 7th May when normally beech is out. Not this year. Though a week of warmth later and the difference was noticeable. Paths through the woods make perfect leading lines but it’s important to catch a few details in the scenes as well such as the ferns breaking through.

Dawn deer in Richmond Park

For those who receive my newsletter, I mentioned at the end of April that I had just been to Richmond Park again to photograph the deer. It was a pretty early start, leaving home at 4.15am to meet Ian at the gates of the park at 5.30am to be inside for dawn. Which fortunately delivered some light although we had hoped for some mist which did not appear.

There were a lot of deer and importantly we managed to find them pretty quickly and make use of the good light. Although there were a couple of good sized herds, the best images were those where individuals were isolated and did not have other deer encroaching in the frame.

This one, at the edge of some woods fed for a while allowing quite a few good shots. The velvety antlers starting to form for the new season. This shot below was probably my favourite. I managed to combine light, a good pose, foreground grasses and background trees - all pretty cleanly.

The same deer as above and in the same place but turned around for a very different image.

Even at the end of April the light was becoming pretty harsh by 7am -just over an hour after first light. Shooting out of the woods became very contrasty so it was better to stick in the woods. Although on the way back to the car we came across a herd with a lot of jackdaws grooming them which were worth shooting. Sometimes 3 or 4 jackdaws on a deer - some of whom were more tolerating of the guests than others; the ying of having winter coat groomed away with the yang of annoying birds pecking at you.

This larger stag looks like he’s missing the dramatically large set of antlers.

I was quite jealous of the deer - at this time I could have used a couple of jackdaws on my lockdown mop.

Au revoir to winter

After a comparatively chilly but very dry March-April, it has been a slow spring this year for trees but it is now happening. A bit like the roadmap to normality. Comparing images to last year’s (albeit ludicrously warm) spring, the leaves are probably a couple of weeks behind. However blossom has been out, early leafers are moving forward and there are the tell-tale tinges of change in many of the later-leafing trees. So a fitting time to review images showing winter to spring progress. What better place to start than my favourite oak.

The oak in its naked glory

Winter has the advantage of showing off the structure of the trees with no leaves to hide behind. The form is the ‘tell’ of a good specimen, like having good bones. This oak passes. Carrying on the oak theme, but this time an oak wood. When not much seems to be worth photgraphing at eye level, look up and look down. These trees are all about sharing the space.

Looking up with afternoon sun lighting the branches

A great winter tree is the willow. They are really orange through winter and then go slightly yellow as the leaves are forming before they take on their silver green coats.

Willows in winter colour

Finally though the blossom arrives. Cherry are often amongst the earliest. And a welcome splash of colour.

Pink and black (not snooker tactics) - blossom in the tree lines

The leaves emerging almost luminescent in the light