THE WOODS OF THE MENDIP HILLS
The Autumn 2024 Talk Walk Talk theme was ‘Woodland’. The opening on-line talk was by Paul Mitchell FRPS.
This zine includes images from ten of the eleven photographers that attended the Woods of the Mendip Hills event on the 15th of October.
Left to right they were; Derek Britton, Helen Sheppard, Neil Purcell, Roger Harvey, Geoff Hughes, Steve Hartley, Fintan Healy, Liz Bugg, John Scott, Chris Bellamy and Jaqueline Mitchell. Jaqueline asked for her images not to be included in this zine.
The group spent the morning in the Nether Wood on the Blackmoor Reserve near Charterhouse. Following a pub lunch at the Castle of Comfort, the group explored Stockhill Woods, to the East of Priddy.
The images were reviewed and discussed at the follow-up meeting held at RPS House in Bristol on 29th of October. Lots of useful comments and advice were shared. Two images were selected to represent the Woods of the Mendip Hills:
1st choice: Woodland Lane by Roger Harvey (opposite top)
2nd choice: Autumn Abstract by Helen Sheppard ARPS (opposite)
I believe that one of the best woodland views you can find is a row of mature Beech Trees. On this occasion the autumn light was perfect, both with direction and intensity, creating pleasing shadows.
As everything had fallen into place, I must have spent an hour or so taking images and trying different compositions. I do believe that these images are the best woodland pictures I have achieved.
Later in Photoshop, little work was needed, with slight improvements being undertaken by using the Dodging, Burning and Saturation controls.
Woodland Lane (above)
Beech Trees (opposite)
Roger Harvey
I do not normally take landscape photos, so attending these Talk Walk Talk events certainly took me out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed the day out.
I thought I would go for a creative approach for the two images I submitted. The multi-exposure with intentional camera movement technique, was done in camera, adds a unique, abstract quality to landscapes.
For my second image I used a 90mm macro lens.
Artisitic Trees (opposite)
Dew Drops (below)
Liz Bugg ARPS
Woodland fungi are fascinating organisms that play a vital role in the forest ecosystems.
They support tree growth and overall forest health, making fungi essential to woodland life.
Their incredible variety of shapes and colours offering a glimpse into the hidden, dynamic world beneath the forest floor.
Two plus one (opposite)
Fungi on tree (above)
Geoff Hughes MA ARPS
Fire in the Woods (above)
The grasses at Blackmoor Reserve had brilliant yellows and reds as if on fire and excited my senses of the location. This picture is an in-camera double exposure to capture the feeling of these colours (in ICM) as a background to the trees taken in a different direction from the same spot.
Beech Avenue (opposite)
An IR (infra red) image taken on an iPhone simplifying the view of the Beech avenue at Blackmoor Reserve, and givIng a lightness to the overall feel of the scene. A slight pink hue introduced to the colour balance of the image softens it further.
Derek Britton LRPS
I've struggled with Woodland photography for a number ofyears. Never really able to see "the wood for the trees" as it were. What I actually see as I'm walking through the Woods are a series of fleeting impressions that change and merge together as the light and composition changes depending on where I'm looking at the time.
I started to experiment with ICM (intentional camera movement) earlier this year and have been gradually developing a technique that, with the help of post processing, combines a traditional still photograph with an ICM variant. This seems to better reflect the impressions I see and feel in the moment.
On a Golden Autumn Day (below)
Catching the Light (opposite)
John Scott
I chose one image from each of the two locations we visited on the day, as I wanted my images to have a flavour of the two sites, both of which offered quite different opportunities for photography.
It was a splendid day out with a friendly bunch of photographers and brilliantly organised by Steve Hartley. Roll on the next one!
‘Muscle Beech’ (opposite) really speaks for itself and was taken in Blackmoor Nature Reserve.
‘On the Run’ (opposite) was in the dense undergrowth of Stockhill Woods and appealed to me because of the contrast between the irregular, fallen branches of the deciduous trees in the foreground and the rigid, straight conifers in the background. It seemed to me that the foreground branches resembled legs running out of the forest, trying to get away from the rigid conformity of the pine trees.
The composition struck me as a perfect metaphor for the dualities of life, of calm and chaos, of rigidity and flexibility, and the tensions between those two aspects of life that we all have to deal with.
Neil Purcell MA LRPS
I greatly enjoyed being part of this (my third) Talk Walk Talk project.
We were blessed with reasonable weather and our walks in two woods offered up many photographic opportunities.
My two images are about light in woodland:
The glade (below) - picking out afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees and lighting the paths into the glade; and
Bright young thing (opposite) - the oak sapling glowing in the foreground simply glows and really stands out in front of the taller darker trees in the background.
Fintan Healy
A very enjoyable talk, walk and ‘take’ in the woods. I used both my camera and phone to take images to help create the sense of wonder and connection with nature.
‘Autumn Abstract’ (opposite) was a blend of three photos to invoke movement and mystery.
I used two photos for the image entitled ‘In the Woods’ (below) to help capture the essence of Blackmoor Reserve.
Helen Sheppard ARPS
A thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening experience on my first outing with the RPS; the Mendips Woodland Talk Walk Talk.
Sleeping Amongst Giants (below)
The Three Musketeers (opposite)
Chris Bellamy
I have spent many hours wandering the Mendip Hills and always enjoy being in the different woodlands. Some are truly ancient, others more modern, but they can all provide scenes of natural beauty. Autumn was not fully developed on the day of the TWT walk but there were still splashes of colour to be found. The diversity of the images made by the group in a single day is a true delight.
Bracken Flow (below)
Just One Leaf (opposite)
Steve Hartley LRPS
The RPS Talk-Walk-Talk project is run by the Digital Imaging Group in conjunction with the Landscape Group.
The idea is that participants attend a talk by an expert in a particular type of photography (e.g. Coastal, Urban, Woodland, Parks & Gardens, etc).
Small groups then attend a walk with a local guide to practice that type of photography.
The small groups then meet again to talk about their images and select one to represent their walk.
More information can be found here:
https://talkwalktalk.org/ Zine compiled by Steve Hartley LRPS