Photographing Autumn in two days

I always imagine when I begin my annual two week holiday at the end of October that I will kiss the cats, tickle the missus’ ears, hoist the camera bag over one shoulder and disappear into the woods, to emerge a fortnight later, loaded with images, ticks and bits of broken twigs in my not considerable hair. Sadly this is never how it works out and various factors including weather, jobs around the home, weather and more seriuously a very personal family matter put paid to those ambitions. I am not complaining by any means, this is the whole reason why I book this time off as I know very well that life gets in the way.

Last week I headed to Wales to meet up with family and had a lovely time, tinged with sadness. I managed to get a short trip over to Porthcawl in but the waves there were not a patch on previous visits and I left feeling quite down. By the start of the second week I had barely stepped into a wood and the frustration was building. The weather reports for the coming week were not looking good either with high winds being the biggest problem. It looked like this autumn was going to be a bust photographically speaking. But fear not dear reader as things are about to pick up!

On Sunday I decided to head to Savernake. Clear blue skies and bright sunny conditions were forecast so I decdied to treat the trip as a scout only, wandering around a section of the forest I had previously not visited. Upon arrival I was greeted by an over excuberant golden retriever called Billy who had the biggest smile on his face as he erupted from his owners car and nearly bowled me over in his excitement to see a person. A brief chat with his owner and a ruffling of ears later I was headed inot the forest armed with my camera and a large amount of long golden hair over my legs! I hoped my missus’ wouldnt get the wrong idea!

My trusty tripod had also decided at this point to lose a screw and had gained a very wobbly leg so I left that in the car, relying on high ISO to get me mny shots this morning. The walk was pleasant enough and I found some lovely scenes to revist but the colours were not quite there yet in the forest and the light very quickly became harsh and too contrasty to do anything with. Still, it had whetted my appetite for further wanders into the autumn woodlands.

When I returned home, checking for any lingering golden hairs before going inside I took a look at the weather reports for the rest of the week. I noticed on Wednesday there was a small chance for mist at a woodland I frequent on Dartmoor and decided to try it. My body on the other hand was conspiring against me and the night before I had a rough night with a badly swollen left knee. I got up early but fell asleep again on the sofa and awoke too late to head down to Dartmoor. Drat! Instead I swallowed down a couple of Ibuprofen, pulled up my big boy pants and limped over to Fonthill lake in Wiltshire, a regular haunt for me. Upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised to see autumn was in full flow here with stunning colours in the woods surrounding the lake. I hastily worked my way along one side of the lake that has public access, shooting across to the other side and capturing some qwuite glorious autumnal colours.

The fall colours in full swing and reflecting nicely on the dark waters of the lake.

Probably my favourite image of the year!

I also managed to capture my favourite image of the year when I stumbled upon this tree that had fallen into the lake. The lake levels had dropped revealing the bones of the tree poking from the black waters. I managed somehow to get down to a low level with the composition that allowed me to include the colours from the opposite bank reflecting on the waters. My knee was screaming blue murder at me but the pain was worth it for this image!

I spent a very happy couple of hours hobbling round the lake and returned home a happy bunny. But things were going to get even better the next day!

Dave had been over to a wood we had visited back in January and had excitedley rung me to tell me how insane the colours were looking there right now. It looked from the weather reports that I only had the next day as a window of oppurtunity to head there myself so packed the gear and recharded the batteries ready for another early rise the next day.

After filling the car up with fuel the following morning for the near two hour drive to the wood I noticed their was some lovely colour in the sky and after a brief and very vocal argument with myself that was surely being observed on the cameras by the staff member at the station I decided to divert over to Lonely Joe and see If I could capture a shot in the short space of time I had negotiated with myself!

A worthwile diversion in the end!

I eventually arrived just after 8am at the wood and knew my time here wouldnt be long as high winds were moving in at 9……it took me ten minutes just to leave the car park as I found at least three compositions within 20 yards of the car! My gast was well and truly flabbered by the extraordinary colours I was witnessing around me. Golden yellow birch leaves intermingled with the dark green needles of the Scots pines. Beech leaves that varied from a pale green to a vibrant orange and bracken that varied from a dark rust to a pale yellow. It was simply breathtaking!

This looks like it should be in the Caledonians not North Somerset

I spent a good two hours in these incredible woods and if the wind hadnt arrived to spoil the fun I expect I would have spent the entire day in there. Compositions were tricky to come by as the woods are quite tightly packed and messy with lots of gaps revealing the sky, but thats the kind of challenge I enjoy! It amazes me why these woods dont appear online more as I rarely if ever see anything from here on the IG. It feels completely different to all the other woodlands in my area with a unique vibe.

I left feeling very happy but wondering how I was going to get the hair off my legs from the red retriever I had met!

I have added some more images of the woods to my latest images portfolio if you want to see more of this stunning woodland.

I also now have a Youtube channel up and running and have uploade several videos in the past few weeks link to that is here

Thanks for reading.

Toodles!