Frithsden Woods

At last some sun – but Oh Boy was it cold! The frost was only clearing in the direct sunlight; everywhere else retained its rime, but at least if I took a tripod, I could shoot at normal rather than extended ISOs with the Canon 5D MkII. So I set off for Markyate and the general direction of the Ashridge Forest. I drove slowly glancing around for meaningful images to capture.

At the top of Berkhampsted I took the signposted route to Frithsden, and found myself alongside the golf course, I took a few shots there using a tripod, but it was not really what I sought, so I drove on and caught sight of some deer very close to the road and seemingly quite settled, so before I left the car I set the camera back to a high ISO and fast shutter speed then set off. This time without the tripod. Once within range, I kept walking parallel to the small group of stags, just edging slowly closer, shooting whenever I was clear of some of the intervening branches.

Eventually they decided to move away so I returned to the car and drove back towards Caddington, by now the sun was low on the horizon and the mist had a golden glow, so I stopped to take a few distant landscapes. I also spotted a squirrel high in the branches of a tree with a carrot, but he seemed happy to remain half hidden and quite still right at the top, so took my shots and headed for home.