7-August 24 – Woodland Photography – Cowleaze Wood

We gathered at Cowleaze, a small woodland perched in the Chiltern Hills between Stokenchurch and Lewknor. On our arrival, the sun was shining through the canopy and falling on smaller younger trees and highlighting their branches and leaves.  With the light as it was, we thought we were in for a good day.  Sadly though, that was not to be. Within 20 minutes of arriving the sun disappeared and we were left with cloudy, dull skies.

Poor light is not always a bad thing in photographing woodlands, but the sad thing was the forest floor was covered in debris from fallen trees and rotting branches, which I know the naturalists say is a good thing and benefits the environment in so many ways, but it’s not good on the eye and spoils much of what we as photographers would say is a good composition.

Not to be outdone, we set about looking for interesting vistas that would be good to photograph on another day when the light might be better. Like many photographic projects, scouting the area and observing potential view points for the future is very often key to getting the perfect shot. So, with that done and just a few images from the group as a record of the day, we departed the woods leaving only our footprints.