The importance of not giving in.

The forecast for last weekend had once again teased me with a chance of thunderstorms and lightning on the Sunday. Well, like a well used blow up lady I was once again let down by the weather goods and said storms did not materialise. However a glimmer of hope was on the horizon as they had also forecast the prospect of fog on the Monday morning. I charged everything up, made sure SD cards were placed within cameras and not left on desks and hustled myself off to bed early ready for a 4am alarm call.

After beating the alarm so as not to disturb my partner nor the cat which between them took up 7/8ths of the bed (the cat 4/8ths of that!) I stumbled downstairs and took a peek through the blinds in the living room window expecting to see……well not a lot hopefully! But the softly muttered curses soon started flowing when I could see quite clearly off to the horizon of the Blackmore vale. Dammit, I wish I could be as bad at my job as meteorologists and keep it! I stuck the kettle on, emptied the bladder and lit a cigarette in my mind…..4/8ths is half isnt it?

So, I slurped down my hot coffee and decided, bugger it, I was going to get out and find that damn fog if it took me all day. I slung the Shimoda over one shoulder, stamped (quietly, so as not to disturb the still snoring neighbours) down to the car and headed off in my quest to seek out the elusive grey stuff. The light of dawn was strarting to creep over the landscape and my first port of call was going to be a wood about ten miles from me. However, on the way over I noticed that low cloud was shrouding the top of the hills over North Dorset and decided to investigate. A thirty minute drive later and having rallied it up Zig Zag hill (I cant help myself, bite me!) I was in among the fog and feeling a lot happier about the day ahead. A wood opposite a place called Larmer tree was my first target but just before I got there the fog cleared and you could once again see for miles! This left me only one other wood I could try in the area, Compton Abbas. Now, I have visited this wood a couple of times in the past and really am not a fan of it. It has very few if any characterful trees and is very messy to boot. But beggars cant be choosers as they say so I headed over to a parking spot, booted up and with a harrumph and a grumble headed into the green stuff.

Trees, lots of straight, boring trees!

I decided to treat this as a test session. If you look at most of my woodland photography I am mainly making the big trees the star of the show and rightly so. However as I have previously written this wood lacks anything like that so it was all about using my eyes to pick out the little scenes among the chaos of the undergrowth and the tightly packed beech trees. The fog, as it does, was massively assisting me in creating some mood and a real sense of depth and it wasnt long before my brain attuned to what I was after and I started to discover the hidden compositions among the mundane.

Really liked this Beech as he stood out from those around him.

I was getting some nice images and had made my way quite a bit into the woods when loolking behind me I saw the fog was starting to get lit up by the Sun. Its always a top tip of mine to keep looking behind you whenever you are in a wood as all sorts of scenes appear once you move past them! I quickly set up the camera as light was filtering through the mist but like a Labour manifesto it quickly vanished into the ether and the golden light was once again grey murk. I liked the composition though and decided to wait to see if the light would return and about ten minutes later it did and I got this scene below.

The soft golden light of the sun backlinghting the scene beautifully!

I continued to wander, my brain working overtime to find the scenes. I nearly trod in a dead Hare that glared up at me from the undergrowth from beyond this realm. Slightly unnerved I moved away, using an old hunters raised platform nearby for another image.

I dont often include human elements in my woodland images but this one I liked

Eventually the fog started to disperse and I headed back up to the car, happy and wondering if the cat had woken up yet, bed stealing bastard that he is. A quick review on the back of the camera and my happiness was further extended. It seems this crap little wood did have some nice scenes among it after all and it was purely a skill issue that I hadnt seen them before. I guess each wood has its own vibe and its simply a matter of attuning your brain to it to get the best results. On my home I had a quick phone call from Dave who had some epic light rays where he had been and was now on his way to work. Good to know someone else got to enjoy the conditions.

The cat was waiting by his food bowl when I got home……I am really not sure who owns who in this relationship!

Toodles

My favourite image from the session!