Foxcovert & Watchwood (October 2024)

Early autumn studies in the Foxcovert Nature Reserve and its neighbouring Watchwood Plantation... 

Watchwood Plantation (March 2023)

As is often the case, one visit to a location for photography leads to another. In this instance, the first woodland photography of the year, see my previous post, prompted a quick follow up in the nearby Watchwood Plantation. 

When I arrived, I found a large part of the plantation had been cut down over the winter. A notice informed that the trees had been cleared and would be used for biofuel purposes. 

The resulting landscape was very different to my last visit to this location, which I attempted to document in the following set of images:

Moving passed the cleared area, I focused on more abstract elements in the wood. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this type of photography and how it demands close attention. 

I remember my first ever visit to this location, not long after I started photography (many years ago), thinking there was nothing much to photograph. Those were the days when I gave more priority to the results than the activity. Now, I am happy enough to engage with the location and let the results take care of themselves…

Return to Woodland Photography (September 2021)

Autumn has to be my favourite season for woodland photography and it is, of course, all about light and colour. Instinctively as the calendar crosses into September I start to search out the venues that I might have avoided over the summer, put off by the overwhelming greenness. 

The first of these locations was the Foxcovert Nature Reserve and its neighbouring Watchwood. In truth I didn’t expect to find much seasonal change…it was far too early, but photography is good at abstracting, selecting only those things the photographer wants to show. In this case, the results gives an impression that the season was far more advanced than it actually was…for example, I spotted one particularly colourful sweet chestnut tree high in the canopy: