Oganising the Chaos issue 2

Welcome back to Organising the chaos I have made the decision for the moment to have this as a blog online. That said it may change in the future.

By now autumn has passed and christmas has come and gone in a flash. The decorations have come down and the tree too.

Its crazy how it all just races past us in a blink of an eye.

Its time to sit back with a cuppa and browse through issue two of Organising the chaos.

Januarys frost

Today was a frosty one but it was dry and cold with no breeze. I love these conditions and can be ideal for winter photography. The frost as it settles on the braken and leaves reveals so much detail it really is beautiful. Im telling you it was still and silent out there and cold to the bone. There was just me and a couple of deer out there.

The frost had settled on some of the trees that had been brought down by our recent storms here in the uk.

I managed to come away with a couple of images i am happy with. It was just so good to be out.

cold to the bone

at this point i was ready for a pot of steaming tea

My approach to woodland photography

How I approach my photography is a somewhat slow and planned pace. I scout areas around the Forest of Dean on my walks or if I see an area whilst driving through I will make a mental note of that and come back to that area for a look around. Saying that I have found a great deal of wonderful woodlands whilst just out and about exploring and walking with my dog or when out with my family. I have lived in the Forest of Dean for a long time now and have spent many years hiking through with my dogs and enjoying its relaxing enjoyable sounds and seasons. I spent a large amount of time years ago watching and following the wildlife we have here. Days watching boar and deer, hours spent in the depths of the forest. It truely is a unique place to live and I feel very privileged to be here.

what am i looking for when finding compositions?

Im looking for the shape of the landscape and the type of trees and the form of the branches and trunks as they play a big part in my compositions. The deciduous trees change colour through the season and the forest floor will be very different than one of a wooded area of coniferous trees. This all comes into play. Rocky banks and quarries also valleys, the opposite side of a steep valley hides the distracting sky. But above all of that at the top of the list is the feel of the area the energy of the woodland and wildlife and its gifting healing properties.

As you can see there is a great deal of background work in my photography. Taking into account where the possition of the sun going to be at a particular time of day? How is the forest going to look in a couple of months when the season has changed? As I have said feeling plays a major part in my photography as without feeling,connection and emotion to the area the rest of the preparation is meaningless.

I will go into depth with my camera settings and equipment another time as i want to keep this short today. I dont have a great deal of equipment as it needs to be light but also I just dont need it. Keep it simple.

If you have made it this far down the blog then thank you and stay tuned for further issues with introductions of other photographers and updates on my progress.

Until next time thanks for taking time to read hope you enjoyed it.