Alan Mackenzie Photography

I've been fixated with a beautifully appointed rustic gate on the South Downs for several years now. An adjacent tree casts deep shadows, as dapples of evening sunlight appear over the aged wood. You can open it up and walk down the hill to be greeted with the most wonderful view of the South Downs. In summer, the meadow is teeming with butterflies and orchids. It's a wonderful place to go and relax after a hard day's graft.  The farmer drove up the field to say hello and asked if I was a student. I thanked him for assuming I must be young enough to be at university. Guesses of my age are often woefully out, ranging from a child reckoning I was 9, to a couple of chaps hazarding 48 and 57 respectively. No wonder Specsavers has an annual turnover of £1.7 billion. I'll settle for 21, if that opens gates for me socially.  I took the 2nd picture back in May using my 500mm lens and revisited the site over 9 evenings this month. The 3rd image has an extremely shallow ...

Somewhere in West Sussex is an enchanting meadow, concealed from sight and unchanged for centuries. Early morning or late evening walkers are almost guaranteed to see elegant little Roe deer grazing in the fields. I've been visiting this wonderful place for several years and I always take time off to see the deer in early summer. It would be unfortunate if this yearly activity was placed at risk in any way, as Roe can only tolerate a limited amount of attention from interested parties. In my younger, naive days, I openly advertised the location on the web, which has had long-term consequences. Ultimately, these sensitive animals could be repelled from the site and no-one wants that to happen. I've worked relentlessly hard during my time off to produce this work. Being a wildlife photographer without a car requires a lot of effort, good fitness and plenty of patience. The meadow hosts a variety of pests, including deer ticks, mosquitoes, horseflies and midges. My equipment ...

I have two main plans for wildlife photography this summer. Between now and mid-June, I will be photographing Roe deer. Throughout July, butterflies and moths will be my main focus. I've been visiting a Roe deer site in Sussex since 2011. It's a very special location, featuring the presence of buttercups, orchids and other wild flowers, which is something of a rarity in our heavily cultivated Isles. If I could meet my younger self, I would shake him for his breathtaking naivety in sharing the name and location to 7 billion people, but as I don't currently own a DeLorean, a flux capacitor and a case of stolen plutonium, it would be unfortunate if my evening visits to this sensitive site clashed with the activities of anyone with a similar interest in Roe deer. I visited the site earlier this week and spotted a pregnant doe grazing in a field. She was quite content to have me nearby, as I sat very still and didn't try anything impulsive. Display the wrong behaviou...

I first discovered this Sussex bluebell woodland on a hot May afternoon back in 2012. I found myself very taken by the small-scale intimacy and intricacy of the woodland landscape, with its valleys, meandering streams and winding paths. I had only just begun taking landscape photos in 2012, so I lacked the skill to portray the location as it should.  I take landscape shots from an elevated vantage point and use a polariser filter to eliminate reflections in foliage. A soft ND grad filter is useful when one part of a scene is much brighter than the others. Side lighting is very effective for creating good, long shadows, while preserving colour in the flowers, as the wrong lighting direction can easily wash out the blues. For close-up shots, I get on the ground and use either a macro or super-telephoto lens. Sometimes a lens hood is not enough to stop glare from the sun, so I use an umbrella to block it out. The valley location means the woodland only receives direct sunlight ...

After a cold end to the winter, the United Kingdom enjoyed a warm spell in mid-April. I walked the South Downs on April 10th and everything looked tired and worn out. Just a week later, the trees and plants had burst into life. Nature wastes little time. We ate dinner in the garden last weekend, but I'm now drinking soup again and turning the heating on. Quite a few of my recent jaunts have been enlivened by hail, rain and howling westerly winds, which isn't always a bad thing, as unsettled weather is accompanied by clear visibility and great lighting. Here are photos from the South Downs, the woodlands of West Sussex and Wakehurst Place. I'll be spending the whole of next week photographing bluebell woodlands around Sussex, so please follow me on Facebook and Flickr for updates. I tend to get so absorbed in what I'm doing, I forget to eat on time, so I will buy some takeaway curries and freeze them for those late night returns from the countryside. ...

I've been visiting a heavily wooded area on the High Weald, in West Sussex for several years. Centuries ago, the area was a single forest, but over time, the land has been divided into smaller woodlands, each owned by different people. Fortunately, I've been given unrestricted access throughout the year by the landowners. The woodlands are very rich in animal and plant life. Much more so than any wooded area on the South Downs. Acidic soils seem to support a greater variety of trees, plants and fungi. In turn, the land can support more animal species. I feel very privileged to enjoy access to pr ivately owned forests, as I can produce unique imagery and keep it that way. I would have to travel much further afield, to the New Forest to enjoy woodlands on the same parity. As someone who relies on trains and buses to get about, this would be rather difficult. The photographs on this page amount to 18 visits or 120 hours work. I must have visited around 50 times in total, coun...