In search of bluebells, for they are slightly late this year!

“If one year is full of sun and warmth, the year after it will be one that brings a mixed bag with it of contrasts.”

For that sentiment is true, last year things were slightly tropical and the warmth was on our side. 2020 was a stark contrast meteorologically compared to 2021 - although last year the natural carpet that nature provides for us was already out, this year however it has turned up rather late. Yes I am talking about one of the prettiest sights of all, a signal that summer is just around the corner and perhaps this could be one of the most photogenic scenes you could ever wish to capture as a photographer and they are Bluebells, one of the nations most loved plants with a magical dreamlike colour that has inspired many over the years.

However this year they are slightly late and that of course is down to the rather strange weather that we have been having. Remember that snow in April? And on the note of odd weather, snow has fallen in Scotland this month, barmy or what? Either way a walk that I was on last week provided me with some interesting scenes and whilst last year I had captured the following,

Escaping with the Bluebells - a photo that I took last April (2020), of a magical display of colour within the woodland at Shipley Park. This year however (2021) The Bluebells are late.

And here I was, back at the same country park (Shipley Park), where last year (April) of 2020 I had captured nature and her natural carpet, this year though things have been different and in my mind was the following,

“Will there be any of these delightful enigmatic flowers to capture in their raw beauty”

For I had arrived and started the walk from Mapperley Reservoir - a quaint and peaceful body of water that is soothing and calming, thus provides the hiker or the walker with an ever changing view and the angler with a plentiful stock of fish and a charm of quietness, but I was not here for the water, I was here for the Bluebells and a short walk up Shipley Lane, a gentle incline lead me to the woods where hopefully I would surely find this carpet from mother nature that would greet me. At first glance my heart sort of sank, “where are the bluebells?” Surely by now the woods should have been covered with them; but that soon changed.

The carpet of nature.

Whilst I was expecting a whole carpet of Bluebells, at Shipley Park, they were scattered around in various spots, which made things a little more interesting. But, that did not matter as I was amongst the most delightful woodland, one that offered many other photographic opportunities as well for the eye and the lens. Somehow throughout the various lockdown(s) that have occurred here within the UK, I have come to really appreciate walks in the woodland and they offer more than just a place to escape from the world - they offer sanctuary and art.

So often when walking through a woodland it seems like we forget things, at the moment art galleries remain closed because of the pandemic; but in reality we do not need to visit an art gallery for art, just walking around Shipley Park, on the Bluebell search I noticed a lot of art, right in front of my eyes and whilst it might not have been a painting by one of the greats - this art was instead free to enjoy and created by nature. Shapes, patterns and light conditions all made up for the symphonic explosion of textures and patterns that I encountered. Having photographed the first 2021 photo of the Bluebells I just had to continue this magical walk and had to take in the various artworks that nature had provided for me in an eloquent way.

But amongst the eloquent way I discovered more shapes and more textures, colours that screamed out “this is all part of a changing landscape, a picture show or a cinema show, eventually though you will find more bluebells, but that will be a surprise.” Just walking around the woodlands at the top of Shipley Park, I was taken away at how pretty it was, even though in the autumn it looked pretty, but now somehow the air seemed so alive and a little fresher.

Woodland dance amongst the Bluebells. 

The stump of nature - (Colour).

The stump of nature - (Black and White).

Down to the gate.

The perfect frame,

Sitting in the frame,

Within the moments.

Art in nature - (colour).

Art in nature - (Black and White).

Surviving in green surroundings.

Down the spring avenue.

What is interesting is how the woodland provides art for us, and the shapes within the trees are like living sculptures, always changing with the seasons and always providing something different each time we visit them (or any other landscape location), I suppose that nature is one big tapestry and each brushstroke is represented through shapes, textures, flowers and wildlife.

Then another opportunity to get closer to the Bluebells, for I had found some more of these delightful flowers!

Hello from a Bluebell - (Colour).

The enchanted floor.

A blue burst - (Colour).

Hello from a Bluebell - (Colour and Black and White).

A blue burst - (Colour and Black and White).

It is just the colour and the intricacy of them that I love, magical, mystical and if you get things right they are just asking to be photographed; whilst the Bluebells this year might be late, for my searching for them paid off in the end, all it needed was a bit of patience and time, a time to walk and explore the surroundings that they grow in, do that in a woodland where at first glance there are not many Bluebells and you are sure to eventually find them hiding, playing hide and seek with humans. 

I was made up, for I had managed to capture the first Bluebells of 2021, late they may be but they did not disappoint. Neither did the next thing, the weather had started to change and dark clouds meant I had to go down to the shore of Mapperley Reservoir and it is here that I managed to capture the following dramatic skies.

Blue serene.

Mapperley moods.

Looking back on my “search for Bluebells” I realized that the Bluebells remained a small part of what I had primarily set out to photograph, instead I was walking through the largest art gallery within existence, and best of all it did not cost a thing, but that in itself is one of the best things about exploration and landscape photography, you get to discover a world of art as provided by nature every time you open the front door, for that is the wider world and one that we should all cherish. Instead of destroying it for HS2 and ruining the world we live in, we should take more care of it, for it provides us with art, sanctuary and a place to gather our thoughts whilst we escape from a world governed by doom mongering scientists. But things are starting to get better and whilst things have been strange this past year with the pandemic, I for one am looking forward to seeing what is on the other side. A chance to explore more. I’ll take that for sure!