Woodwalton Fen Late October (Updated with new photos)

Woodwalton has been on my mind lately. Like some neglected responsibility it creeps into my subconscious. I had not visited there for many months. So yesterday I went for about an hour around sunset. I brought my Mamiya 645 mostly to see what was happening with fall color. 

I ended up taking a few photos but it was quite windy and with the dying light my Ektar 100 was pretty useless except for some mediocre sunset photos. The roll of Ilford 3200 I am shooting at 1600 as an experiment faired a little better but hunting for color with black and white film is well, crazy. 

Pond: Woodwalton Fen (Mamiya 645 Pro 150mm f3.5 handheld Ilford Delta 3200)

Still I had the reserve to myself and enjoyed the walk around the place. I discovered there is a grove of quaking aspen trees (Populus tremula) there. Where I grew up in Flagstaff the San Francisco Peaks had large groves of a related aspen also called quaking aspen but a different species (Populus tremuloides) which means 'trembles like Populus tremula' (the European cousin). The version here has leaves that are very similar and shake and roar in the wind in the same way. When walking near forests of them in the US it was easy to mistake them for the sound of running water. 

The bark is a light gray color while the North American version has a chalk white bark much closer to the silver birch. The North American variety is a favorite subject of landscape photographers. I have a print from a photo my brother made which he photographed on the San Francisco Peaks with a Wista 4x5 large format camera in the 1980s. It was a gift to our grandmother so one he was obviously proud of. I inherited it when my grandmother passed away.

San Francisco Peaks Aspen (Glenn Morse)

So I left as the area in the dark with at least one idea in mind. The Aspen were nicely yellow but were also green in some areas so it was clear the leaves had not completely turned yet. None-the-less I decided I would return in the morning as there was no rain in the forecast until the afternoon. 

The Next Day

I arrived the next morning just before sunrise. There were gusts of wind but they seemed manageably infrequent when I left the house. I walked out to the aspens, setup and waited for the light. I sipped hot coffee and munched on some breakfast bars. There was more wind than anticipated but I was there and so I would try. It meant the light was crucial so I waited until I got the full sun on the leaves. The full sun however was attenuated by some thin cloud drifting over the eastern sky. I used my 210mm lens to capture a slice of the aspen with the reeds in front on Fuji Astia 100. The reeds in front made a depth of field challenge so limited how wide open the lens could be. Eventually the sunlight brightened enough that highlights were Ev 13 on my spot meter. So I made an exposure at f16 1/15 second after a long patient wait for an intercession in the wind. There was inevitably some movement however. I would have preferred to be stopped down more but was worried the shutter speed was already too slow at 1/15th. We shall see in a week. 

Image Review

Technically the image turned out well. The exposure and focus are good. The depth of field keeps the reeds in the foreground and trees behind in focus. I timed the wind well and there is little noticeable motion in the image. Trouble is the reeds get lost in the riot of complexity and color of the aspen leaves. And given this was meant to give some extra depth and interest to the image it just doesn't work. I was too could up in capturing the color to notice I had not simplified the image enough. It just becomes a wall of yellow. 

Reeds and Aspen (Fuji Astia 100)

At one early point I came upon this nice scene of browning oak leaves lit by a shaft of sunlight over a bend in the ditch with reflections in the water. In the background is Rothschild's bungalow. I struggled again with the wind on this one (you would have thought I would have learned by now); finally getting setup then a large cloud covered the sun taking away much of the appeal. Again my 210mm lens but this time I wanted a short depth of field not wanting to feature the building much and taken at enough distance the important elements of the image should still be in focus with a little tilt and swing adjustments. I took two images one with less than ideal light and the other when some sun briefly returned. I hurriedly loaded a second film holder. (I fear I may have not loaded it correctly and my have light leaks!)  The first was Ev 10 f5.6 1/8th and the second Ev 11 f5.6 1/16th. Fingers crossed again on these. 

Image Review

My fears of light leaks were not warranted however one image was blurry in the top branch so I opted not to show it. The one below catches most of the mood I hoped for. The depth of field keeps the eye focus on the glow of the leaves in the center of the image. The framing of the image by the branches mostly works but getting more of the tree trunk in on the left would have helped I think. At first I didn't like the blurred water but it now works for me. Not seen is a little bend in the canal just in front of the foreground. I neglected to include this and so the scene isn't quite what I was after. A longer lens or moving back slightly would have fixed the image better. I am not confident with composing images upside down!  

Rothchild's Bungalow (Fuji Astia 100)

Further on along another canal I found a silver birch and some small yellow leaves jutting out from the base near the dark (black) water. I composed and focused the image but determined that this section of straight cleared vegetation would just funnel the wind so that I could never expect the leaves to stay still. Time to move on.

I joked to myself that I should stick to photographing tree trunks and big ones at that so hard was it to find a subject that would hold still in the wind gusts. I explored a freshly mowed field and around a corner discovered this great old dead tree covered in bright orange lichen. Laughing at how prophetic my words were, I setup again with my 210mm lens and this time used the Velvia 50 in my SINAR Zoom roll film holder. I made two images one 6x9 f8 1/2" Ev 10 2/3. The next 6x6 at f11 1". I had to factor in 1/3 stop bellows correction.  I have higher hopes of these images! 

Image Review

The wind didn't turn out to be a problem with these :). Both are sharp and perfectly exposed. I like the unusual color and fine textures. 

Lichen cover tree (Fuji Velvia 50 6x9)

Lichen cover tree (Fuji Velvia 50 6x6)

It was clear the wind picked up as the sun rose so I wrote off getting any more photos and returned to scouting the area. I explored many new areas. I found another grove of Aspen, a nice sweeping tree but the wind and light means I will have to wait for another day for those images. 

I arrived at the car 4 hours later tired and sore but feeling a calm and peace. I sent the film away to be processed so I should see results next week. 

Day 3

I went back again a couple of days later, this time in the afternoon. The wind had been blowing most of the day with bands of rain. By this afternoon it seemed to let up. I have been enjoying the photography this fall so much I was aching to go out. I had the chance to escape a few hours before sunset. I had some hope of improving conditions regarding the light as I drove west the clouds opened up more and there were patches of blue. Perhaps some good light around sunset to help. 

There were only a couple of cars parked outside the reserve and I quickly prepped my gear and walked-in briskly. First to visit the aspens again. On the way I passed a silver birch on the water’s edge but could not find a composition where the reeds did not interfere. 

I passed the bungalow again and looked at the scene I photographed the day before and in the flat light nothing about it appealed now. This work is dependent on fickle and ephemeral conditions. 

Finally I got to the aspen grove. Fewer leaves and the wind hopeless there. They are at the edge of a clearing with a lot of ‘reach’ for the wind to gain speed. I quickly moved on making my way back to the silver birch on the edge of the canal. This time a more promising opportunity from a different angle.

I used my tripod legs to sweep some reeds aside and setup for a portrait shot on Astia transparency film. I was attracted to the color of the leaves and their reflection in the shallow black water. I then waited for the wind to pause. And I waited and waited. A birder walked by and we had a short chat before he strolled on down the path. I waited and waited and finally decided the wind here was not going to improve. 

I packed up and walked down the path past my two leaves scene front he day before fully aware the wind would not be any better now. I was walking briskly retracing my journey of the day before. To rescue anything of the evening I needed to find my way into deeper forest, someplace more sheltered from the wind. 

I finally found myself in the deeper forest and the the wind stopped completely. The water in the canals was like glass for the first time in days. I thought perhaps the wind has quit now and so I reversed course. Back to those first two locations along the black water canal. I arrived there hot and in a hurry. The evenings was unseasonably warm and I brought too heavy a jacket. Alas the wind had returned though not as strong. I was pretty committed now so I setup on the two leaves scene and waited. I really need the sun to come out. I was at f8 at 1/2 second. How much easier if I could shoot at 1/15th of a second. But I managed to find a moment I had a reasonable expectation of being OK. 

Image Review

This worked out well. The wind didn’t ruin the image. The two small leaves stand out like I wanted over the black water. Just a hint of reflected tree trunk. I like the Astia film for these fall colors. It reproduces the yellows and greens well. The whites are very clean. The whole composition is very minimal given the subject. White tree trunks, black water and green grass. 

Two Leaves (Astia 100 210mm)

The sun is getting lower behind the thick gray clouds. I move over to the other silver birch scene and setup and wait. Now I am trying for 1 second exposure with many more leaves and branches in play. Patience is the challenge here. Waiting seeing hearing feeling each breath or gust of wind. Watch the leaves dance and settle then another puff and the leaves are a flutter again or the grass sways. It is actually relaxing to focus and tune to the wind and it invisible movements. Eventually I find my moment and hope I have something to show for it.

Image Review

The wind cooperated pretty well here. There is some leaf motion in the upper left quadrant however. The group of the leaves on the lower right, water and tree trunk are in good focus. The black water balances with the lighter tree and leaves. I am not completely happy with this balance. I however do like how the black water lends luminosity to the rich color. 

Canal-side Birch (Astia 100 210mm)

I pack up and walk back to the car. The sun will set behind the thick gray clouds as I drive home. I approach the care and a family are fishing on the bank for Great Raveley Drain. The parents each have a line in and their young son is excitedly running around the place. As I pack up my gear in the car I hear the buzz of the drag on the reel and watch the mother fight a fish to shore as her husband helps land it with a net. The young boy runs to the water’s edge, the father hoists the fish up for them all to see before releasing it. 

Time for me to drive home.