TALK-WALK-TALK Woodlands

TALK-WALK-TALK (T-W-T) is a project run jointly by RPS Landscape and Digital Imaging groups. The theme for September to November 2024 was Woodlands.

On 23 September 2024 a talk ‘Woodland Ways' was given by Paul Mitchell, ifyou were unable to attend the talk on the night, a recording was provided 48 hours later. Walks were then held during the month of October, either in organised groups or individually. With final talk sessions being held in the first two weeks of November 2024.

This time around, 4 members of the Benelux chapter took part in the Woodlands project, each doing an individual walk.

The photographers who took part are:

Katherine Maguire ARPS

Anne Oehlen

Madeleine Lenagh

Each photographer will tell you their experience of taking part in T-W-T Woodlands.

Katherine Maguire ARPS

Het Amsterdamsebos:- Katherine Maguire ARPS

I did a number of walks in the “Het Amsterdamsebos”, located to the southwest of Amsterdam. It was easy for me to reach by public transport. It was designed in the 1930s to be a cross between a great park and forest that provides Amsterdammers with a place where they could enjoy nature, recreation, and sport. It is made up of woodlands, open fields, waterways, horse trails, footpaths and cycle paths.

During Paul’s talk, he suggested that you needed to go underneath the canopy and walk among the trees. This was something that I was unable to do because doing so would risk a fine as it against the house rules. So all my photographs had to be taken from the either the cycle or footpaths. Even by doing 3 walks I was only able to cover about 1/5 of the total area.

Another thing I got from that talk was to avoid having the sky in the images and to get close as possible to the trees. The forest lies below sea level. I am not normally a landscape photographer but I enjoyed doing my woodlands walks and will return to the forest to photograph some of the parts that I did not cover this time round.

During the final talk, the 3 images from each photographer were discussed and we voted which of their images should go through to the next round. With 9 photographers being involved in the talk, with had to vote for our 1st and 2nd choice. When all the votes where counted we had the 2 images that would be included in the T-W-T Woodlands eZine.

There will also be an international eZine with all the photos from the international members that took part.

Experiencing TWT Woodlands:- Madeleine Lenagh

This was my first time participating in a Talk-Walk-Talk event. I had signed up because the theme, photographing woodlands, has always felt challenging to me. So I was pleasantly surprised during Paul’s first talk to discover that my previous attempts to photograph in the woods weren’t as clumsy and chaotic as I thought they were. I went away feeling a lot more self-confident than before.

We international participants were invited to either go out alone or form walking groups with nearby RPS members. I prefer photographing alone as it helps me focus upon what calls to me in the landscape. And I can go spontaneously, when the conditions feel right.

I went out to the woods several times during the space of the project, each time to a different location (The area around Haarlem is rich in woodland estates) and in different weather/light conditions (early morning sun, drizzling rain, and heavy fog).

I was happy with quite a few of the images I ended up with and it was difficult to choose between them. And I’m pleased with the feedback I got at the end and grateful that one of my images was chosen to send into the final publication of the project.

Dreaming the forest :- Astrid Preisz

As an international member with no other members nearby, it's not always easy for me to take part in RPS challenges and projects. So, when I read about the woodlands project, I was thrilled that there was a work-around that gave me the opportunity to be a part of it.

I love forests. I struggle with forest photography.

I have often gone to my favourite forests only to return frustrated and without images that reflect my enjoyment of being out there. I desperately needed a change of perspective.

From the very first Zoom session with Paul Mitchell, I realised that I had probably put too much pressure on myself. Unlike my other photography, where I usually go into the landscape with a very open mind and a lot of playfulness, I seemed to be carrying a huge mountain of expectations in my backpack when I went into the forest. I couldn't see the forest for the trees.

As it happened, I had signed up for a weeklong "Contemplative Photography Retreat" with John Barclay and Alister Benn in the Scottish Cairngorms, which fell right between the introductory session and the final session of the international group. What a wonderful opportunity for me to explore the forest in its most beautiful autumn dress.

During mywanders I was finally able to let go of my preconceptions and let myself be found by impressions, compositions and different moods. I think it was the first time I really was able to combine the joy of simply being in the forest with making images that really spoke to me.

Talk-Walk-Talk Woodlands:- Anne Oehlen

One of the things I took away from the inspiring talk about woodland photography by Paul Mitchell, was the advice to take a tripod and a polarising filter with you when photographing in the woods. So, I tried the first time I went into the woods, but unfortunately, I came back without usable images and with a protesting back.

I chose to go to the nearby patch of woodland, which is within 10 minutes walking distance from home. It is not the most beautiful and exciting forest, but I could go back there as often as I liked.

So, I went back several times (without tripod to be honest). The first time the weather was dull and grey, and, in the end, I decided to try some ICM and branches against the sky.

The second time it was slightly foggy, so I was hoping for lots of beautiful images, but it still proved very difficult to find a composition that worked. Still there was one image with lots of felled trees between rows of beeches that intrigued me as it seemed to confront the trees with how they most likely would end up too.

The last time I went into the forest it was sunny, which can be difficult when photographing in the woods. I loved the branches lighting up in the forest where the sun caressed them. I tried to capture that effect with a low-key image where the branches created a kind of calligraphy against the dark background.

Today, November 12, we had our final talk where we met on Zoom and looked at each other’s images, which were beautiful and also surprisingly different. Only one image could go forward to be published in the Woodland zine, so that was a tough choice, which we made in two voting rounds.

Later it turned out we could send in three images per participant, which was corrected after the meeting.

It was great fun participating in the project, even ifwe could not participate in an organised walk, as those were all in the UK. But, as someone in the group said, going alone has its advantages too. You can focus fully on your photography.