Welcome to my first Photolog, "what is that?" you might ask, well its a space for me to share my photography and stories with you. Social media has changed so much in the few years. for me its become a rat race to finish with the most likes, shares and even comments to keep up with fellow peers. it was becoming a chore and for me photography isn't any of that. my website was a place for me to share my photography without any of that stress and tension. so here it is! a fortnightly photolog, featuring old trips and new, with stories, poetry and some words about the locations I've been too. It will be an evolving space, so expect many changes over time. but ultimately it's about photography all in one place.
So welcome to my world of photography!
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I want to take more photos this year, and at the time of writing this blog I've not even taken one, including my phone camera. Now don't fear, i say with confidence, it's just a creative slump. other things in my life have taken a importance. My health for one has had to improve. four months in and i'm feeling great! a mix of weight training and walking for cardio has done me wonders. it's not been easy but i'm definitely on the up rather than down. Christmas and new year are now over, and with that brings new projects and continued old ones, which im looking forward to pushing ahead with. However, I do have alot of things to juggle, I'm a full time carer for my wife, so I dont get to travel far like most of my photography peers do, so im limited on time and location.
Where's my first location? well I'm probably going to visit an old favourite vert wood, Laughton woods as it's known to locals, I've probably photographed 3%. It's a big place, and due to its naturally low lying land, it's very boggy in places, some areas can be cut off. There is Deer in the woodland which, as you can imagine, are illusive, but I had the privilege of stalking them a few years back and its was a great experience.
I'm going to keep this first blog short as I dont want to take up too much of your time reading. So, below I've included a few images from the aforementioned woodland. The following photos were taken at different times over a few years.
Laughton Wood (vert wood)
I was stalking for at least 3 hours, following signs like scat and fur deposits near trees. then there he was, wind was coming towards me, so he was aware of me but couldn't quite smell me. he stayed there for a few minutes, glad he stayed for a photo.
5 years ago - where has that time gone? taken in November, with some Autumnal colour in the woodland, lovely orange ferns carpeting the floor. it had been raining solid for a few days, and if I remember right, the local area had flooding problems. i had come from barcombe mills which had had heavy flooding.
There are two parts to the forest, which is dissected by a lane called vert lane, hence the original naming of the area. on the opposing side there is a central road, an old byway of sorts, not really up on the details. anyway, this tree sits in all of it's curling glory. I also loved the cross hatching of the branches in the back ground with a subtle softening of a local mist, something just said take a photo.
One of my favourite photos of 2022! everything felt right, the composition, the light - the only thing sad about this day was to the left of the image was thick forest with an abundance of pines and birch that i'd walked through several times. within a month they had all been cut for logging. it was so quiet with out bird song. I'll find the location again and see if the trees have grown.
Below are a few more images i've taken at Vert woods over various times over a couple of years.
Thanks for stopping by, i hope you have enjoyed this little mews, next photolog is in 2 weeks times see you then.