Best Photographs of Spring 2013

This is a showcase of my finest spring images, taken over the course of one week in Cowdray Forest, St. Leonard's Forest, Friston Forest, Abbots Wood and Camber Sands. Many thanks, once again, to Alex Lawrence for lending me the Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS USM lens, without which, many of the following images would never have existed. A crate of real ale is heading in the direction of his fridge.

I took the first image in Cowdray Forest, on the High Weald. I caught the attention of a curious Roe buck when he heard my camera shutter. Since I did not exhibit any alarming behaviour, the deer had few reservations about coming over to investigate. I prefer to visit woodlands with few human visitors; the natural curiosity of Roe deer comes to the fore, when the only humans they encounter are quiet people, out to enjoy the peace of the countryside.

Bluebells are easy to photograph, but difficult to photograph well. These spring flowers carpet forests in northwestern Europe during spring. They are so overwhelmingly beautiful, that photographers can lose sight of the artistic elements required to translate a visually stunning scene into a great image. I took great care in capturing the first, on the High Weald, near Balcombe and the second in Nate Wood, near Polegate. Only through skill and experience can one be carried along by euphoria and simultaneously capture great bluebell photographs. I saw Roe deer again in St. Leonard's Forest. They were quite at ease with observing me, from the apparent safety of the trees. Uncoiling ferns, seen here in Cowdray Forest, are an elegant reminder of how nature can mimic design. Ferns inspired the late Karl Blossfeldt to create timeless black and white prints.

Camber Sands, on the East Sussex/Kent border is a 55 mile journey from where I live. The landscape consists of soft, fine grained sand and Marram grass. At times, Camber Sands resembles the surface of Mars, especially when sand is whipped up and carried along by high winds. By the end of a rather cold and blustery Friday evening, I had a coating of sand all over my skin and clothes. An anonymous donor left several pound coins on the dunes, which were put to good use in Rye, feeding a windswept photographer with a bag of chips and a pint of beer.

      





        

Showdown in St. Leonard's Forest

I had toyed with the idea of having a lazy Sunday indoors. The weather forecast was uninspiring; I hadn't slept very well. I was soon to discover I had made the right decision. St. Leonard's Forest is situated to the east of Horsham and marks the westernmost extent of the High Weald Forest Ridge. Set in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the forest is comprised of mainly coniferous trees, although there are birches, mature beeches and grand oaks, which are mostly found in the southern end. Two very pretty streams called Inholms Gill and Sheepwash Gill flow across exposed Wealden Ironstone and merge into a lovely pond adjacent to Roosthole Hill. I was surprised by the low numbers of Fallow deer in comparison to Roe deer. Fallow deer seemed confined to the periphery of St. Leonard's Forest. 

Late in the evening, I spotted a pair of Roe deer along a glade at the foot of Race Hill. Provided I kept my distance, the buck and doe were content with my presence. Eventually, I had to move on, as sunset drew nearer. The deer walked into the trees and stood over me. Apart from at the Willoughby Fields, I have never encountered Roe deer as tolerant and curious as this pair. Both sexes are shedding their thick winter coats and the bucks can be seen rubbing their antlers on low hanging branches to remove the velvet. Soon, the light and airy woodland floor will darken, as the trees go into leaf. Bluebells are just beginning to flower; in two weeks, the forest will be a palette of blue and light green hues.

Despite the effort required to reach St. Leonard's Forest, the novelty will not wear off in a hurry. Getting there required a train up to Three Bridges and another to Horsham. I walked all the way from Horsham town centre, across open countryside and along narrow wooded lanes. If the deer are prepared to pose for shots like these, bring it on.

Carry On Grazing

Many people in Sussex would agree that last summer was cool and wet. It was certainly wet, but 'cool' was only applicable to the coast. Inland parts of Sussex enjoyed much higher temperatures, reaching the high 20s and early 30s on several days. Mosquitoes and midges thrived in the warm, humid conditions. Ferns grew to tropical proportions — I am 6'3" and the ferns growing along Crawley Lane stood at twice my height. Sussex is a county of varied micro-climates; the sea and the South Downs keeps Brighton and Hove much cooler than Crawley, some 20 miles inland. Indeed, when I visited the Willoughby Fields on Thursday evening, the mercury rose to 21°C, a full 7 degrees warmer than in Brighton. If you like heat (I absolutely love it), don't head to Brighton beach. Pack your picnic basket and go inland, where you could enjoy temperatures hotter than an average summer day in New York City.

Inland is where I headed on Tuesday. After a long and miserable winter, it was joyful to feel the warm air on my face, even after sunset, as I sat outside the Half Moon Inn, Balcombe, with a pint of Harveys Sussex Best Bitter. Bluebells are just starting to flower in nearby woodland. Earlier, a sizeable herd of Fallow deer appeared out of nowhere. Sadly, they were too quick for me — a dozen pairs of ears and eyes is more than enough to detect the presence of even the most seasoned of wildlife photographers. I had much greater success at the Willoughby Fields, Crawley. Roe deer, unlike Fallow, look first and run second, giving me enough time to fire off several shots. The deer were so relaxed on Thursday, that they simply looked up briefly and carried on grazing. I thoroughly enjoyed my trips to the Sussex Weald. Next up are the bluebells and I'll be spending a whole week photographing the burgeoning colour during early May.

Goodnight Winter

Goodnight frosty mornings and severe weather warnings. Goodnight mud and flash floods. Goodnight snow and turbulent flows. Goodnight rain; come again soon. Goodnight ice and goodnight cold air. Goodnight, winter everywhere.

Winter's Return

Just days after I returned from H&M, clutching a bag of T-shirts for the spring, winter made a brief, but cruel return to England. Temperatures dipped to -2.4°C, as a slow-moving band of snow tracked across the Channel from northern France, depositing powdery, dry snow over the south-east.  I was lucky enough to be driven very ably by Alex Lawrence in a Range Rover, to Abbots Wood.

Alex brought along some L series telephoto lenses for training on deer and birds. Wildlife photography is about patience, tolerance of uncertainty and being in the right place at the right time. Walking ahead of me, Alex spotted a robin on a tree branch; the bird obligingly posed for reasons completely unrelated to our needs as photographers. It was great fun walking around the forest in snowy conditions and good company too. I certainly wouldn't have made it to Abbots Wood without 4x4 transport.

On our return journey to Brighton, we saw plenty of accidents, abandoned cars, people having rages and familiar locations smothered with impeccably beautiful snow. Of note, was the number of stranded BMW cars on the by-pass. Rear wheel drive cars perform very badly in snow. My advice, if you drive a BMW, is to work from home during snowy weather. The alternative is one of many hours, stranded in remote places, gesturing at traffic, using words beginning with C, which rhyme with James Blunt.

And Now for Something Completely Different...

Here is Birling Gap, Beachy Head and Brighton seafront. And not a starling in sight! Just a the odd seagull.

Ocean of Knowledge

Seen from atop Beachy Head, a lone vessel sails through sunbeams on the English Channel. This image and three others taken by me, appear on www.oneresearch.co.uk - the website of a clinical research company, based at the Sussex Innovation Centre, a complex of businesses situated on the University of Sussex campus. The site is attractive, easy to navigate and showcases local places of interest. I am pleased that the web designer chose to give my photographs full prominence, making the site memorable and attractive to potential customers. I wish One Research Ltd every success in the future.

I hope you have fun naming the locations. I've given you a head start with Beachy Head. All four images have been shown before. Can you guess where?

Brighton's Amazing Starling Murmurations

Each winter afternoon, before sunset, starlings gather in giant groups, known as murmurations. This is a survival strategy. Forty thousand pairs of eyes seek out predators and keep the group safe. Flying around for twenty minutes increases body temperature; as the starlings roost underneath Brighton Pier, their collective body heat keeps the group warm overnight. The murmuration flight pattern results in a hierarchy of roosting perches. Dominant males get the warmest, most sheltered central locations, while juvenile males and all females have to sleep in the draughtiest, coldest spots near to the perimeter. Starlings first began gathering around the Palace Pier and the West Pier after the Great Storm of 1987, when 16 million trees across southern England were destroyed. Wintering starlings remain in the Brighton area until early March, when they return to continental Europe. In February, the best time and location to view the starling murmurations, is on Brighton Pier, from 16:15 onwards.

Brighton Beach in the dead of winter

As a squally January blizzard gripped the city, I took a cold and uncomfortable walk across ½ mile of pebbles to photograph Brighton's ruined West Pier. Temperatures fell to -1ºC and a strong breeze on Brighton seafront created a wind chill factor of -10ºC. I'd been waiting for something interesting to happen, before getting my camera out for the first time in 2013. Cold and austere weather conditions are my speciality. Sometimes, there is no other way to create distinctive interpretations of well-photographed landmarks. 

Photos of the Year 2012

I will remember 2012, as the year in which I became a true wildlife and landscape photographer. I've wanted to specialise in these fields since the age of 18; for want of the correct equipment and knowledge of wild animal behaviour, I dared not call myself a specialist photographer. Equally, 2012 saw my interest in photography become a social activity. Among others, it was nice getting to know Alex Lawrence, Andy Bertram and Finn Hopson, after bumping into them at various locations around Sussex. I would like to thank Alex, in particular, for his kindness, in lending me the Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS USM and the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM MKII for months at a time. The optical quality and focus accuracy of these lenses is second-to-none. Using them has been the turning point of my career; since everything counts in large amounts, I will now save for a super-telephoto prime lens of my own.

If 2012 was the year of wildlife photography and social activity, it was also the year of getting noticed. My photo of starlings over Brighton seafront was featured in the Flickr blog, attracting enough views to populate Hove. The graph on the wall, tells the story of it all. Brighton graphic design firm, Harrison & Co. used another one of my starling photos on the front cover of Brighton's conference guide. During the summer, Total Photoshop Magazine interviewed me, about my landscape photography. In the run-up to the London 2012 Festival, the Artichoke Trust used my image of the Seven Sisters to advertise Peace Camp 2012 at Cuckmere Haven. I was rather tickled, when I saw my photo on the dashboard of a taxi, while being driven to start my autumn holiday in West Dean. My work appears in the Brighton and Hove Calendar 2013, which is on sale inside Churchill Square (stall on left aisle). Prints are also available to buy. Whoever keeps surreptitiously placing prints of the Clock Tower at the front of the rack, it isn't me, honest.

It was a great privilege to hear Alex Lawrence tell me that my wildlife photographs are good enough for submission to Magnum Photos. Alex has been a professional for nearly a decade and knows the difference between a good photo and a work of art. I will consider his suggestion carefully, not least because Magnum Photos doesn't appear to have any wildlife portfolios. If my photographs don't turn out to be good enough for Magnum Photos, they are certainly good enough to steal, as several incidents this year have sadly proven. I am quite happy for social network users to share my work, provided they leave a back-link and attribute copyright to my name, but there is no excuse for an individual or business to purloin someone else's work and pass it off as their own, whether for vanity or commercial purposes. If you didn't press the shutter release button, you are not the copyright owner. Please respect that.

I would like to thank my Flickr contacts for their kind comments and encouragement. Without them, eleven of my photos would never have met some unknown algorithmic criteria, triggering a robotic command to include them in Explore, among 499 other images of dissimilar quality, at various intervals throughout 2012. May the accidental distribution of my work through intercontinental fibre-optic cables proceed until at least the next foretold apocalypse.

Finally, before I reach for the port and Stilton, I must thank my mother for the holiday birthday present back in October. I enjoyed some beautiful autumn scenery and had the luxury of staying in a renovated medieval flint barn for a whole week. Credit must also go to the very friendly staff at a Touch of India. I wouldn't have recovered from my long days out in the countryside, without their expertly cooked vegetable Vindaloo and Phall curries. Chin chin and Merry Christmas!