Holme Fen, Birchwood Photography October 2020

Well, this is my first Blog post.

Ever.

I've been wanting to shoot a Birchwood for sometime but, despite the Chiltern Hill's being well stocked with woodland, most of it is Beechwood. Now don't get me wrong the beeches are beautiful; full of vibrant greens in spring and rich colours in autumn. And there are birches here too, but I wanted that wall of birch trees effect

A quick Google image search led me to www.elliothook.co.uk where I found his, very excellent, images of Holme Fen near Peterborough. Not only the largest birch woodland in the south of England but, importantly, within easy travel (approx. 90 mins) for a day's shooting. Also worth noting, Holme Fen is the lowest point in the UK with much of it below sea level.

So a plan was hatched to visit on Sunday (25th Oct '20). One of my sons was going to accompany me - he's suffering from boredom during lockdown. Usually I prefer to shoot alone but in this case, with the travel, it would be nice to have company.

One thing to watch if you visit. Turning off the main road to Holme Fen - the road is terrible! I mean really terrible. Maybe because it's below sea level but the road seems to have suffered all manner of cracks and subsidence. Prepare for your car to 'bottom out'!

Once parked up (free, yay!) we spent a few hours exploring the woods.

Conditions were quite dreary and the lighting rather flat but some soft lighting can suit woodland photography. Arriving early afternoon meant no chance of mist but we did get some occasional directional lighting through the odd breaks in the cloud.

Overall, it's a superb location for woodland photography and I will certainly visit again. I suspect there will be good photographic opportunities in winter, spring and autumn and I shall certainly visit again.

I managed a few images, with my favourites being the ones shown

Alan