Monk’s Wood this Time

It seems I am making regular rounds to my 3 local woodlands. Each has a unique character and rather than being repetitive I find new areas to explore afresh in some and comfort in the familiar places of ones I know better. Of course these woodlands change all the time, with the seasons, the weather. If one looks carefully enough and is sensitive to subtleties there is change all around. 

This morning it is Monk’s Wood. Growing up a a hillside on determinedly clay soil it is markedly different from the he two fen woodlands of Holme and Woodwalton. These latter two are pancake flat being in the drained marshes of the fens. They are also relatively new. 

The silver birches of Holme would not have turned up until after the draining of the fens as they prefer well drained soil. The nearby area of Whittlesey is the last of the fenlands to be drained so the forest is perhaps 150 years old. 

Woodwalton Fen was purchased by Charles Rothschild in 1910 as a nature reserve. I am not sure the state of it then but a map from the 1860’s shows it to be a section of drained fenland much like the surrounding area. It is still laced with the drainage canals which are maintained as part of the reserve. 

Monk’s Wood by contrast is what one might properly call an ancient woodland though that term probably implies more than is true about the place. It is shown in medieval maps and so has been known for some time. It has to be said that few of the trees seem that old but woodlands were for centuries places where locals took resources like game and timber. 

This morning I am up early again and arrive before sunrise. The dark blue globe of the heavens is above me with Venus shining in the east and the orange to blue gradient on the horizon. There was promise of fog this morning when I let home but little sign of it here. It is freezing again but not much colder than that. 

With my gear packed I head through the gate with headlamp lighting the way. Slick mud carpets the track though it will get worse as the winter rains arrive. I choose a less muddy track and head up a slight incline. Since I was through here last time it looks barren. Joyous clusters of yellow field maple leaves are now bare twigs. I begin to wonder if I have made a mistake. Winter looks like it has firmly arrived. 

At the end of the path I veer right onto one of the many wide avenues that cross-cross this forest. I am heading for one of a few hay meadows in Monk’s Wood. I reach the gate there and am greeted with open blue sky and a meadow rimmed with colorful trees. Some smaller varieties are dotted in the middle as well. In addition to silver birch there are my new find aspen. They are turning a saturate yellow. 

Again I am not really sure how to approach this place. There is lots of color but compositions don’t leap to mind. The sun will be up soon and I feel the pressure to find the scene to plant my flag onto. 

There is  this lone silver birch standing in the middle of the meadow. I have attempted to photographic before but more as what I would call a tree portrait.  This is it in summer.

I decided another take. They have mown meandering paths in the meadow grass as part of the management plan. I tried to incorporate this visual feature with the tree trunk and lower branch’s in view. My aim was to have the draping leaves intersect the horizon and screen part of the sky with colorful trees in the background to extend the palette. I opted for Velvia 50 at f8 (210mm) first at 1 second and another later at 1/2 second. There was a bank of cloud on the horizon and I was trying for the best light so I took the earlier one with more blue-magenta colors and waited for the sun to supply warmer light. Unfortunately there was. Light intermittent breeze and this made wait past peak color. Velvia is quite good at picking out subtle color so hopefully the film choice will make it work. 

Image Review

These images are good but they fall down in a few areas that ultimately leads to disappointment. The first image taken earlier has the nice morning sky colors. This image also has a better exposure as the sky was dimmer. The second image is underexposed in all but the sky as I was trying to compress the much brighter sky though looking at the raw scans the second image is slightly underexposed compare to the first. The composition is petty good but wonder if it could be better if I could avoid the foreground branch breaking the tree-line of the back ground or perhaps have more of them under the tree-line so it is more intentional. The depth of field does a good job of visual separation. I think the background tree on the right should have been fully in frame. Finally the worse sin is lack of focus in the upper portion of the image. It is clear this was my near focus point but I wasn't aware of it. This makes the whole image a disaster. 

First image (f8 1" 210mm Fuji Velvia 50)

Second image (f8 1/2" 210mm Fuji Velvia 50)

Attempted rescue crop of first image

Next I am taken by some young aspen trees just beyond the fence line. I fear this will be another ‘wall of aspen’ like the one I took in Woodwalton Fen. Again I setup with my 210mm lens. I waited an awfully longtime as my goal was to have the sun shining directly on the aspen from over my left shoulder. I would shoot chrome again (Astia) and I reasoned the leaves would be as bright as any of the blue sky leaking through the the canopy beyond. As luck would have it a large tree on the eastern edge of meadow meant this group of small aspens got the light much later than ones on either side. I settled in for the wait by sipping hot coffee and munching granola bars. 

Finally I got my image at f22 1 second. Not being the middle of the pasture the breeze was nonexistent. 

Image Review

Technically a good image. I was right that the leaves would be bright enough to keep up with the sky as the light blue leaks through. A good range of shadow detail and the image is all in focus. I find myself seduced by the color and it seems to blind me to form and purpose in my compositions. I have revisited this meadow and the glow from the trees excites me yet I struggle to find many good works. 

Wall of aspen (Fuji Astia 100 4x5)

I stalked the meadow looking for other compositions with the sun coming up it was possible to see how different parts would be illuminated. I looked back at the first tree I photographed and from a greater distance I could see how to frame the silver birch and aspen behind it. It really called out for a long lens but eh longest I have is 210mm which isn’t really very long at all on large format. 

I walked closer and kept checking the composition. In order to fill the whole 4x5 area I would have to be very close and scale of the two trees with respect to each other would have changed putting more emphasis on the foreground tree. It then occurred to me that a 6x6 square crop might rescue this idea. I put my framing guide on the ground glass I moved back until I had all of the  foreground tree in frame. I made the rest of my adjustment and checked the focus carefully. I added my graduated ND filter to cut the sky brightness. Now I put in my rollfilm holder. This one lets me adjust the image from  6x12 down to 6x4.5 . I set it for 6x6. I metered the scene for the Velvia 50 film. 

I took two images on Velvia 50 with the GND filter at f16 1 second (210mm). That was the end of that roll. Loaded a fresh roll of Fuji Provia 100 film. I made 3 6x6 images  1) w/ND at f22 1 second, 2) w/o GND f32 1/2 second (this I believe to be the wrong exposure) 3) w/o GND f32 1/4 second. The scene was pretty tight in terms of dynamic range so the GND filter may not be needed. Strong light on the foreground and morning skies. 

Image Review

The two images are very much the same though the second image is somewhat lighter in exposure. I used the graduated ND (GND) filter to good use to compress the sky so that the nice magenta tones Velvia can produce are present. I like the composition and the light cast across the grass of the meadow. 

The two latter images are taken on Provia 100. This first with a GND (Graduated Neutral Density filter) the second without. It shows first importance of getting the exposure right in-camera. Despite determined manipulations in Photoshop the second image lacks detail in the sky and results in a muddy image. The other observation is from difference in color palettes between Velvia and Provia. Provia has a cleaner straightforward palette where Velvia brings out rich purples and magentas from the sky. 

Two trees Velvia 50 6x6 with GND

Two trees Velvia 50 6x6 with GND

Two trees Provia 100 6x6 f22 1" with GND

Two trees Provia 100 6x6 f22 1" without GND

I next went to the far eastern edge of the meadow and contemplated a wider shot of the meadow. This may be more documentary than artistic I am not sure. The morning had that magical feel of solitude an beauty that can intoxicate me into thinking a great image is in every direction. I was aware of the feeling but setup anyway. I would take 2 images at 6x12 with the roll film holder using the Provia film. I chose my 150mm lens for a wider angle. The first image with the graduated GND filter at what I think must be 1/2 second at f32 (though I am not entirely sure the shutter might have been 1 second which would be overexposed). The second I didn’t use the GND filter and exposed at f32 1/8th second. 

Image Review

This first image was indeed overexposed with the wrong shutter speed (1/2" vs 1/4", one stop) as I thought at the time. I noticed when I set up for the non-GND version. Fortunately the sky brightness was contain in the range of Provia. I love the way Provia's blues show up in the sky. This gives a real sense of the wonderful color of that morning. 

East Field Meadow Panorama 150m 6x12 without GND f32 1/8"

I spent the rest of the morning walking different paths around the wood. I took note of how many aspen were dotted around the place; a species of tree I had not noticed at all before this fall. The sections of ash have seen all the leaves stripped but he high  winds of this week. In these areas was a harbinger of what the whole forest would look like in a few weeks time. The cold blue sky radiates brightly on to the forest floor the tangled fingers of the ash reach up to the heavens. 

The oak hold onto their eaves much more tightly but are generous enough that in many areas the paths are carpeted with oak leaves though the canopies are still thick with leaf. 

I get back to the car and while repacking my equipment I notice I have lost my cable release. I decide, rather confidently, I could find it if I retrace my steps. I spend another hour retracing most of my route scanning the trails and trailsides but to no avail. 

What a wonderful morning this has been.