NDPS landscape members met for a one day workshop in Suffolk with pro photographer Ruth Grindrod.
Meeting at 06:45, we made our way to the first of four locations, Captain’s Wood where we spent a few hours exploring the wood while Ruth walked around giving each of us lots of advice.
Walking around just using your smartphone was one useful piece of advice. As readers of this blog may know, I struggle in general with composition particularly the more creative choices that need to be explored.
Despite Ruth suggesting different size frames and closer more abstract shots, I found the penny didn’t drop for me and I ended up looking for sun rays and dominant trees. I must push myself though moving forward to see the smaller subjects and pick out some microscapes.
I paced ahead of the group and took some shots of a specific tree I liked the look of, then I retraced back to find some other scenes. It was an enjoyable few hours wandering around seeing what caught the eye, and bumping into other members to chat and share thoughts of the location.
I felt I hadn’t got much, the tree below with a sunburst possibly my best capture, with a shot of a fern with some nice light shining through the next one and a classic big tree with autumnal colours.
Next up was Staverton Thick’s, described as an ancient woodland due to its old trees. This was an interesting wood which appeared smaller but easy to lose your bearings.
Once again, I decided to pace somewhere away from the main group and was very pleased to find a scene where the sun’s rays were shining though the trees onto the ferns.
Below is one shot I’ve posted online. I’m saving my best one for a later date…
I spent quite a while taking some shots of a piece of broken glass on a tree stump which had a nice glow of sunlight shining through it. I was unsure about the depth of field for this and I’ve got some multiple shots taken with my camera’s focus step feature with the intention of seeing if a focus stack will be worthwhile. I’m not sure about this at all.
Our third location was Old Hollesley Common. This was a quick stop for lunch and a quick look at the silver birch laden wood and vast open Heath. Apparently, this location in heather season is better than Dunwich. I didn’t find much here and my two picks are below:
Last but by no means least was the famous Shingle Street. My wife and I had been here just over a year ago on a long weekend trip to Suffolk and just before that dreaded third lockdown. On that visit, I had stuck to the classic view of the white cottages from the shingled pool of water just in front of them.
This time round, many of us started on the shoreline and caught the waves coming in to the shingle. It’s always very interesting to see where folks gravitate towards when on these trips, making you realise the breadth of creative thinking within the group.
Following those arty shots at the shoreline, many of us then moved up to nearer the cottages saw a few more shots.
The surprise of the day was catching some shots at sunset and during blue hour too. The sky gave us a lovely orange the pink and purple colours and was a great end to the day.
Finishing up approx 6pm, I got back totally knackered but satisfied that this had been a fantastic day of photography with like-minded chaps.
Onwards and upwards…