Being outdoors and outside in the autumn and winter might seem slightly counterintuitive to being outside during the spring and summer, but it is both the autumn and winter time when you can truly escape. Of course during this secondary lockdown that we are all faced with, that ends on the 2nd of December, thankfully allows us to go outdoors, something that beforehand was overlooked, just getting outside is crucial for out mental health and a nice walk can help our minds relax, especially when we are faced with constant,
Lies, lies and damn statistics.
That somehow keeps on getting updated and published by the government. Anyway away from the mysterious and ugly world of politics which is corrupt to the core, back to the post at hand. Woodland photography.
For autumn is perhaps one of the most glorious seasons of all, along with winter and whilst most people prefer spring and summer along with warmer weather, there has to be something said for cooler weather - when there is not a lot of people around, just getting out and about is so much nicer as places seem less crowded, meaning you can actually go for a walk without coming across crowds of people, something which is sheer bliss. Thankfully the UK offers some fantastic places for being outdoors and to have a nice walk; but some of the best places for walking and exploring are woodlands. Just being surrounded by trees no matter what time of the year it is, has a certain magical charm.
Okay so woodlands in the spring and summer can be fantastic and bluebells within the spring show the first major signs of life that occur just when nature itself is slowly beginning to awaken itself after the deep sleep that begins in late autumn and winter.
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| Escaping with the Bluebells |
An image that I captured at the beginning of Lockdown, bluebells in a wood at Shipley park, seems a long time ago and it is. Now we are in November and the months have just flown by, as a photographer lockdown has made me appreciate the seasons even more than I usually would do and that is something that I quite like, actually seeing the seasons changing and documenting them.
I can imagine a lot of landscape photographers this year have taken the time to appreciate the finer things in life, slowing down and capturing the seasonal change and making time for that, in a time when our lives have been on pause, we have come to notice things more, compared to when things were normal when we missed things because of a certain rush that we were all caught up in - for that is when we ignored the smaller things and hardly paid attention to the seasons.
Now though we are within the season of autumn, the nights are beginning to arrive earlier and the hours within the days are shorter, but as a landscape photographer I shall simply say “do not let shorter days put you off, for both autumn and winter really are the best times to get out”, of anything autumn and winter really are the best times to get out and about for photography, and everything is so much more minimal, it is that element of minimal that means that photographic scenes are easier to compose, you really do not have to over challenge yourself in photography as some of the best images are those that are often the most simplistic.
Thankfully autumn provides us with some amazing scenes of colour, a display of reds, oranges, yellows within the leaves on the trees and some of the best places to explore are woodlands - yes get out there with whatever camera you might have and head for your local woodland, or forest as well and just take time to walk within your local woodland or forest, for starters it is fantastic for mental health and seconds, you get to escape all the doom and gloom of the news and repetitive media that is trying to rule our lives at the moment but is failing.
Just walking through woodlands is pure escapism, but for any photographer it is an easel on the senses; quite literally. Especially within the autumn and winter months as you get to see something of a transition occurring - the leaves and the colours of them provide any photographer the chance to get creative, for it is all about these key points when taking woodland photography.
- Think outside the box - Traditional woodland photography seems to be rather “simplistic” and there is nothing at all wrong with that at all, sometimes simplistic shots can be the best. However a woodland provides the photographer with a lot of room to experiment and thinking outside the box can provide the best photographic results.
So why not if you are carrying out woodland photography after it has rained, used any surface water, puddles to your advantage, lower the camera that you are using towards a puddle and shoot the reflection of the trees, as you can see from the following Image, it really can make a difference when you use water to your advantage.
Try looking up, all too often within woodland photography, we are looking in front all the time or around us and below at the ground, all too often a lot of photographers do not look up, and that is perhaps the most secretive part of any woodland, the canopy, so why not place your camera next to a tree, whilst stood underneath that tree and take a photograph looking up towards the canopy of the trees - again this provides a different perspective of woodlands and allows people to see angle that would always be hidden
Try shooting in Black and White - Colours always add a little something to woodland photography, but woodland photography also works equally well, when you switch over to Black and White. It might seem counterproductive but woodland photography really does lend itself to Black and White photography and can bring out hidden details that you otherwise might not see in an image that has been captured in colour. Also in post production when editing, make some adjustments to your black and white image, does it work better being slightly darker or lighter?
Shapes - Woodland photography lends itself to shapes. Shapes in the undergrowth, the shames of the fallen leaves on the ground along with the shapes of the trees and textures. Try using these shapes and textures to your advantage and you are sure to come up with that perfect interesting composition.
Leaves on the ground - Trees do provide interesting compositions, but look at the undergrowth as well, it is here that you are bound to come across something interesting, and one of the most interesting subjects to shoot in a woodland are leaves, so get low with that camera and you are sure to come across something interesting, a unique leaf shape of different shades of a certain colour. Again mushrooms with undergrowth also provide another interesting subject to shoot, during your exploration of woodland.
Be prepared to travel - No woodland is the same, if you can not get what you are looking for in your local woodland that you are used to, why not travel a little further and explore. Maybe here you will find that award winning shot.
Editing and post production - One thing that you should always do is edit. A photograph straight from a camera looks rather dull and bland, so spend your time editing them within post production. Try different settings and in Lightroom play about with the sliders to bring out shades of a certain colour or to strengthen a certain area of your photograph, do not be afraid to over edit then work backwards to a place that you are comfortable with. For anyone using a Smartphone, then you can get some amazing woodland photography and apps such as Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed can provide some amazing ways to edit your woodland photos whilst on the move. *Again Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed are both available for IOS and Android devices*.
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