A-now-famous poppy field.
A couple of years ago, Dave and I went out for an evenings photography to a hidden field of Seinfoin in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside (photo below). We had the field to ourselves and neither of us had seen any other images of the scene. A little secret for us to keep and monitor over the years. Last year a return to the field found it fallow with just grass growing there.
THAT field with a crop of Seinfoin. Taken just after a storm two years ago.
This year I hadn’t even thought about the field until a call from an excited Dave (he was in full Labrador puppy mode!) informing me that the field was full of poppys! We arranged to head over on the Monday evening and after a half mile walk we came across a scene of absolute perfection. The field spans a small valley with a copse of trees at the end which makes for a good focal point. Just before sunset you get long shadows that darken one slope while the other is lit up by the golden hour light. The image above is nice but dont look too closely as its about as sharp as a marble. It always vexed me that I was unable to get a decent image of one of the best scenes I’ve ever seen. I am still not quite sure where I messed up on this particualr evening but it was time for me to rectify this and get a better image. Dave pushed down the side of the field (more on this move later) while I stayed high up on the corner. The light wasn’t playing ball with lots of thick low cloud hanging above the dazzling display of red flowers. When we parked the car up there was quite the cool breeze but this very quickly disappered leaving a very still evening. I was beginning to think the cloud would stick and we wouldnt get that special light we were craving. Dave did keep informing me that there was a gap on the horizon and lo about 15 minutes before sunset we caught a break and the golden light from the setting sun broke through, painting the poppys with a beautiful soft light. I snapped away, getting a couple of compositions and then just like that the light was gone. I was exhilerated though as looking at the back of my camera I had managed to capture the mood and the scene perfectly………until I saw Daves composition. Because he had moved further down the field he had managed to get the crossing V’s of the slopes in a much more eye pleasing position. It was subtle but highly effective.
My favourite image from the Monday session.
I decided at that point I was going to return and pinch Dave’s comp (sorry Dave!). We both posted a couple of images when we got back and were both inundated with messages asking where the field was! I couldnt reveal its location as it wasn’t mine to give but from hearing from another photographer, my image on Instagram was screenshotted and put into a group on Facebook where its location was discovered. When I returned on Wednesday there were 17 other photographers there and by the end of last week I think over a hundred have photographed it. On the one hand I am genuinely pleased so many people got to experience this incredible view and get some really excellent images of it. On the other hand….this was mine and Daves secret spot lol. It is what it is though and it was really nice to meet a lot of photographers on Wednesday that i’ve followed for a while on SM and made some new friends too.
Anyways back to Wednesday. I rocked up a bit earlier as we missed some seemingly good light on Monday as we arrived so I wanted to make sure I was on site to capture any this time. As it turned out I needn’t have bothered as the best light came just after nine pm and even though the clouds were not quite as good as Monday the poppy field was lit perfectly. And with the improved composition (sorry Dave!), I captured one of my favourite images of the the year!
The light was extraordinary and those shadows….ooof!
I went home a happy boy and after loading them onto the mac i was over the moon that this time they were sharp! What a scene. I do wonder if the farmer is a photographer as they have an uncannily good eye for putting in a crop that improves the scene. Now, I wonder if we can get them to put lavender in for next year.