Ashridge Forest – Autumn Sunshine

My trip in sunshine to Ashridge to visit the Author of the ‘Photoshop for Photographers’ books meant that after delivering the last item, the images for a personal Ad at the end of the book, I took along my camera in the hope of capturing some of the surrounding scenery in the fickle sunshine and billowing clouds. I was rewarded by the mixture of colours that herald the onset of autumn, and the occasional light showers meant the obvious possibility of rainbows.

At every clearing that sported an area for the parking of cars, already had its measure of takers, and many of those could be seen unloading their cargo of dogs to give them some exercise in the woods and moorland. I soon found a spot which offered at least some photo opportunities, so grabbed the camera and locked the car to take a few shots.  The opportunity turned out to be limited, so I drove on a little further and was rewarded with better views within the woods, and figures in the landscape, and to round off, I managed to capture a rainbow. This trip was therapeutic as the last fortnight was devoted entirely to reading the entire output of the next tome, covering the several additional features of this powerful piece of software, that has been a mainstay of my career for both the taking of pictures and their manipulation in retouching and montage. I purposely spent the minimum of time with Martin as he still had some more work to do as the deadline was Friday; I was luckier, in that my task was now almost over, hence why I relished the chance to get out from a darkened room in front of a computer and be driving in the country, and with the bonus of possibly taking pictures.

An Early Morning with Martin Evening

I had not met up with Martin for quite a time and with his living close to some world-renowned Bluebell Woods, we decided that despite it being slightly too early for the best of them, it was a day we were both free, so I drove to his place and we set off to Dockey Wood.

Out taking pictures in the low morning sun gave us an opportunity to catch up and indulge in an activity which gave us both pleasure. These woods have now been fenced off to help preserve them from the public entering all along the roadside, so now there is a designated entry gate and within the woods, branches have been laid to form ‘hedges’ to try to keep the public to the paths and so lessen the flowers from being trampled thoughtlessly.

Initially we stayed close to the right hand edge of the woods, so we had the the low slanting morning sun streaming in and forming stripes from the shadows of the trees. Martin took several different viewpoints whereas I at this stage kept close to the same spot as I was experimenting with using the long telephoto lens to try to compress the distance and in transferring my gear from my car to his had left the ideal head behind and was suffering somewhat to get the best stability. The reality was that I should have opted for a shorter focal length lens!

We returned to the car after a while and headed to a different location, and I used my 24-70mm to capture some gnarled tree trunks which gave me far more fun with searching for shapes that my imagination found as animals, and that occupied me for quite a time, before we moved to yet another location – this time with some very wispy almost floating young green leaves set against a stand of tall tree trunks. sadly by this time the sun was hidden making it difficult to capture in the very flat lighting.

We then stopped for a lunch break at the Visitor Centre before heading back. It was an excellent way to spend some time together since we last met up at the Photography Show at the NEC. It’ll be interesting to see whether viewers of the gallery can spot the ‘animals’ I saw in the gnarled shapes of the tree trunks! I found a horse, an elephant with Snoopy on his shoulders, a lizard, a camel, a ram and an old lady in a green scarf, holding hands with a young girl with blonde hair! Sorry – no prizes!

A walk Amongst Ashridge's Bluebells

Even though I instinctively knew that the rain of the last few days would mean that the bluebells of Ashridge would not be their best because they had been due to bloom at the onset of the rain, I made a point of getting up early as there was a good chance of early morning Sunday sun, and the Spanish Grand Prix was destined to be recorded by my computer.

As I arrived in the small designated parking area there were only a few cars already present, and absolutely no one anywhere to be seen. The sun was still slanting strongly from the edges of the wood, casting long shadows across the golden leaves of the numerous paths, and blobs of dappled sunlight across the bluebell patches. Once within the woods, I spotted a couple of others of a like mind, but either of more willpower, or lesser distance to travel, for they were other photographers whose tripods were already up, and were fully concentrated in the shooting process. I wanted some low level shots so had brought along a groundsheet, and I was very pleased at my forethought, as the ground in the pathways was often very soggy.

My preconceptions of the state of the flowers was regrettably very accurate, as the flower heads were small, often already dying, and definitely not at their best. They were also less abundant than in past years, but nevertheless the whole expansive area still manages to exude a charm that is hard to ignore. Looking up however I was sad to see that several of the trees showed signs of having died and shed their bark to leave bright dead, white wood to gleam in the bright sunlight. I hope this is not a sign of another devastating disease is to be visited upon our trees.

None of the images I managed to capture were outstanding, but I hope they provide a varied view of this seasonal event; it was certainly an excellent way to spend the early part of a Sunday morning, and it was pleasant to exchange a few words with others there to enjoy the scene. By the time I left, the woods were alive to the shouts of young children, and it was hard to take shots without other photographers in critical positions within one’s own pictures. And the car park was now full!

Ashridge – Late Autumn Colour

There is still to be found new growth amidst all the yellow and gold of the passing season’s leaves, and I chose to brave the cold wind and mist to capture some of it in a drive from Pitstone Hill to Ashridge Forest.

I also spent some quiet time watching a bird feeder from as close as I could get with the only lens I had at the time, without stopping them from feeding, I managed to just about capture them at a high ISO, and enlarging and lightening them afterwards!

I had set off from Pitstone Hill to Aldbury then into Ashridge Forest where I stood rooted to the spot close to the holly bush as the light became poorer and I got colder, but my stillness won the birds over and they flew in to feed, mainly blue tits but also a nuthatch, the holly leaves and berries in the background gave a seasonal feel.