On Saturday I had a rare hour to get out for a walk. Typically, as I got into the car it started to heave it down but having had the experience of shooting in the rain in Uffmoor Woods earlier in the Autumn I knew there would be a good amount of cover so I didn’t worry too much about my camera being exposed to the elements. The Nikon Z7 and my Nikkor F Mount 24-70mm lens have been like workhorses since I got the new body and I cannot fault their ability to rise to every chance I’ve given them.

I knew that getting any type of images I’d be happy with would be hard work given the conditions but there was no chance I was leaving the house without my camera because I know that would be the time that something incredible comes up.

Just like my last post I’m opening with my first succesful shot in Uffmore woods, a landscape image! At this point in the walk rain had fallen on the sensor above my viewfinder which switches between that and the monitor screen and meant that I couldn’t view anything on the screen, not even the menu to try and set to monitor only… so I took this as best I could and waited until my camera came back to life properly. It took me a while to settle on how to edit this because the sky is so blown out and while the day was dull and raining it hadn’t reached its full mistiness, so I settled on keeping the dreariness of how it was shot and edited the contrast.

I don’t know why but I enjoy this shot and the edit translates across the two images nicely. It really does show how dark and atmospheric the day was and I enjoy that both images lead you deeper into the woods. By this point I realised I was going to have to boost my ISO to get any where near the shutter speed I’d need to get a sharp image.

I really liked the shape of this tree so tried to get a moody shot to make look as weird as it was to see in real life. My ISO is still steadily climbing to 1000 here. I also like how the yellow leaves are scattered around to give texture. I’m not sure I like the edit on this as the blacks are just a bit too soft but I think the highlights are fun.

When I was initially sorting through my frames I discounted this straightaway, but after I found an edit I thought reflected the day well I was happy with how this came out. I like the shape of the stream, the interest of the fallen branch breaking it up and the frozen ripple. You can see just how muddy it was throughout the woods and I was lucky not to sink into the water whilst taking this.

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t include any detailed shots so here’s a couple of trees I really liked. The birch had split open down the middle, still holding on to some of the bark and covered in moss. Again, I wish I’d had the time to removed the orange leaf but I was still being rained on at this point. On the second image the orange leaf actually works to add more interest. My ISO is still rising to 1250 at this point but the Z7 holds up really well with limited noise. I’m still struggling to want to get out of f2.8, though.

Like my leaf shot in my last post I absolutely love the crispness of the raindrops on this image. This blade of grass jumped out at me as I was walking past and I love the soft curve from bottom to top corners. The leaf behind also gives a contrasting colour to help the grass stand out.

Every Tuesday when I have my morning walk the weather is usually dull and clear, and typically when I’m at work we get the amazing fog and mist. I’ve been wanting to capture something in the fog this year and typically it started rolling in just as I was running out of time in the woods. I was so happy to capture this though; from the sharpness of the raindrops on the branches to the soft mist coming in to soften the background, I just really love this shot. It was such a quick capture too as I wanted to get at least one frame before I had to leave so this was taken from the car park.

Overall I’m really happy with these captures, and although they’re a little more processed than my normal editing style they really reflect the kind of day I had. The weather was dull but ended with good promise, and I can see this is an area where I want to explore more of the lanes, especially if I can catch it when the mist and fog are heavy.

Braving the Rain and Mud, and an Exercise in Editing

A Sunday Scoot Around Haden Hill Park

Exploring Changes in Uffmoor Woods