Being at home at this time of year and looking out of the window at yet another rainy day it is very easy to give up on the great outdoors. However, it is very rare for it to rain everyday. There is some great soft winter light which can reveal all of the hidden features of a winter woodland. Fog can bring a feeling of mystery. Snow and frost paints a whole new world.

In part one of this blog I’ll show you a sunny December day in Swithland Wood in Leicestershire. I’ll take a look at what is exposed in the trees when all of the folliage has gone from the branches.

Swithand Wood is a mature wood being remnant of the ancient Charnwood Forest. It is a site of special scientific interest because of its many and varied species. Here we have a group of Scots Pine which don’t make a particularly interesting image. This is due to their immense height with a relatively small canopy perched on top.

Getting right underneath one of these tall pines with a wide angle lens produces a far more interesting view. The effect compresses the height and the image captures both the essential features and the surrounding tree top environment.

Moving to another part of the wood reveals how the tree canopy looks once all of the leaves have fallen. This view was achieved by laying on the floor looking directly up and making use of a 16mm wide angle lens. This view is how I imagine the roots would look if all of the soil was removed. It is also interesting to see how the trees compete for every inch of sky to gain access to the life giving sunlight.

One of my favourite trees to photograph is the Silver Birch. I like the light produced by the bright bark which contrasts wonderfully with the dark layers underneath. This combination leads to a very pleasing and varied contrast. This view shows how much the trees compete for the light and results in very tall growth when the surrounding trees are close togther. As with the previous image this image was captured very close to the base of the tree.

Here are two more examples illustrating both the tree texture and canopy.

This image shows how there is a great interdependance between the species. It does look like the Ivy is attempting to strangle the tree. However, this is not the case as the Ivy needs the host to suceed in order to thrive.

To finish here is a youngish oak which still has hold of its leaves in December. The golden leaves make for a beautifull colour contrast with the blue sky behind.