What follows is a compilation of the best locations visited and landscape photography during April 2023.

April free time

The following post is quite long due to not working during April 2023. Consequently more time to get outdoors when the conditions looked good. If working many of these trips and photos would not have been possible.

Blackcap to Ditchling

The first photo walk of April 2023 was a strenuous hike from the foot of Blackcap on the south downs west to the dew pond past Ditchling beacon.

Was more looking for a good sunset composition maybe featuring a mature leafless tree.

At Ditchling dew pond realised would look a lot better at dawn with a colourful sky reflecting in the pool of water. Added to my to-do list.

Brede High Woods

Come April and the beginning of spring its time to make a return to high weald woodland to check out any blooming wild flowers. Took a walk to Brede high woods to an area with some mature Beech trees.

Some bluebells are beginning to come through. Probably a few weeks before the bluebells peak in Brede High Woods. This year has been cold and wet so probably they will peak late April.

Woodland Compositions

There are only a few places within a given woodland where the composition is not busy and chaotic even though you may have a thick carpet of bluebells. Sometimes you have to do a lot of walking and scouting within a woodland to find those diamonds in the rough. Its subjective but for me a strong woodland composition contains orderly mature trees usually Beech trees with good separation on both sides of a footpath that acts as a leading line taking you through the frame. The woodland flowers like bluebells usually play a supporting role with the trees and path through them being the main subject. The thicker the woodland flowers in such a location the better. The best light within woodland comes in low from the side during golden hour, highlighting the tree trunks with streaks of light and shadow on the ground. This is one time we want clear skies to guarantee the sunshine, the sky does not get included in the composition. Of course mist adds to the composition which would usually imply dawn as would a stag looking at you on the path 🙂

Woodland Settings

These woodland compositions usually require a medium telephoto lens and focal length around 70mm. If there are thick beds of flowers this will compress them making them look thicker. Problem is a small focus range with a high focal length, with the subject maybe beginning just a few metres away. A small aperture will help like F16. Another trick is to zoom out like to 40-50mm to get more focus range and then crop post processing. But more likely if front to back sharpness required will need to focus stack. Ideally there will be little to no wind so not have to worry about shutter speed. If the branches and flowers are moving makes it much harder to focus stack. If the dynamic range of the scene is high likely will have to bracket as well. Zooming in may also require you to shoot a panoramic too.

Thought Post Processing

So shooting woodland is both complex in finding orderly compositions within all the chaos and also in terms of technical settings required.

I write these passages up not because I believe I can teach but because it consolidates what I experienced and learned. Its a form of post processing and maybe might just be useful to someone else too. As they say…

Read to learn about the world, Write to learn about yourself

Ditchling Dew Pond Dawn

A few days after scouting out Ditchling dew pond in the evening light the weather looked almost perfect for a dawn shoot. Was not going to miss my chance to get a cracking shot but required a 4AM rise.

The sky hit its peak at around 6AM lasted a few minutes before fading. Only just made it, its still quite a hike from the Ditchling beacon carpark down to the dew pond. You really need to be setup 30 minutes before dawn happens. Even though found a location and subject not always clear where the best composition is without a lot of experimentation and moving around. Which you don’t really have time for when those colours only last a few minutes. But one of my best landscape photos to date, well worth getting out of bed for. Better than the visualisation. Shot of the month could be shot of the year.

Beachy Head Lighthouse Sunset

Next for something different some April seascape long exposures at low tide sunset with a return to Beachy Head lighthouse. Love this location that you can access at low tide via Cows Gap.

The tide was going out and within a few minutes can shift a few metres. Nice sunburst effect using a small aperture of F16 as the sun set behind the cliffs given the time of year.

Long Exposure Settings

Was using a 10 stop ND filter to get a few minutes exposure time. As it gets darker you want to reduce the density of the filter from say 10 down to 6 or 3 stops of light. Initially got the exposure settings without a filter. Then use an app like Photopills to get the equivalent time with a 10 stop or 6 stop filter applied. Usually you will have to use Bulb mode on your camera if the time is greater than 30 seconds. You can set the time within the camera or use a shutter release and use a timer on your phone. Like the tide, with exposure times greater than a minute or so the light will change during the exposure so at dusk may want to lengthen, For a DLSR want to cover the viewfinder, if not got a purpose made cover just use cut out duct tape. With the light and shadow had to bracket else sky would have been over exposed. You can change the bracket sequence in camera and best to shoot the faster first(Exposed for the highlights) in these type of compositions.

Some clouds passed over during one long exposure giving some nice motion blur to the sky as well as the water.

As I was leaving Beachy Head lighthouse and the tide still receding noticed a washed up anchor that thought would add foreground interest within the long exposure. This would have looked so much better with the motion blur of the receding tide. This enough made me return to this same location the next day, but poor light and could not find the anchor. Nothing to show for it. We don’t win them all. Having some failure among the successes helps rebalance your outlook.

Vinehall Forest High Weald

Being April and springtime decided to return to another old woodland haunt that of Vinehall Forest on the high weald in East Sussex. As with most woodland there are a only a few spots within the chaos of Vinehall forest that provide a worthy composition. I checked one of these locations out which is an area of beech woodland. Too early for the bluebells but the wood anemones were out in force.

Finding the above composition was a classic case of walking along and the need to ‘look behind you’ . You can miss many compositions if you dont look behind you when out enjoying a walk. Its a nice piece of order in the woodland, no criss crossing branches and saplings. strong vertical lines and the path creates a strong leading line through the composition. Could do with some better light so the plan was to return during sunrise maybe sunset.

Did return to shoot the same woodland composition a few days later with a fellow local landscape photographer but just after sunrise clouds set in so did not get the anticipated light. This was a case of the weather apps being wrong, was suppose to be clear skies. Its important with these type of compositions to get the flora in its peak. Felt the wood anemones were now beginning to fade, to make way for the bluebells maybe.

Storm Noa Newhaven Lighthouse

April 2023 was proving a varied month. mid week and storm Noa would be hitting the east Sussex coast. High tide would occur late afternoon when the winds were at their most powerful. A great subject to photograph during storms is the seawall and lighthouse at Newhaven.

The weather forecast was a mixture of sunshine and rain. Was hoping for a rainbow but not happen. Managed to find a few sheltered spots to shoot from using a tripod set low to the ground. What really makes a difference here is using the 100-400mm lens. Being far away but being able to zoom in close. A high shutter speed was used trying to freeze the action around 1000/1 sec, even still there is some motion blur in the crashing waves. The best shots were when the sun popped out. Very little colour in the image so conversion to black and white enhances the contrast. One problem was the best waves totally hid the lighthouse. Would be better to shoot from the east beach but then the storm would need to coincide with dawn to get the light.

Knelle Wood low weald

The best landscape photos are usually achieved by revisiting locations many times under different light and seasons. I love exploring new locations too so given April and springtime was looking for some new woodland locations on OS Maps. Knelle wood on the low weald close to the border of Kent and East Sussex looked promising and not too far away for a scout.

A good walk, carpets of wood anemones but any strong compositions were thin on the ground which is often the case with woodland. There are always positives to take away, the exercise, the practice and a location scouted.

Stamner Park Brighton

Had been doing some research online on some April bluebells woodlands in East Sussex and Stamner park near Brighton was listed. Have visited Stamner park before being the other side of Ditchling road, but not really cover the woodland back then being summer.

Stamner park does have an area of ancient woodland in the form of mostly mature beech trees. The trunks of the trees are quite orderly with good separation. The bluebells though were thin on the ground, just scattered small patches. Not cover it all though, worth a return visit, think the best time would be evening golden hour. A misty morning would be good too.

Did a full circuit around Stamner park checking out some other patches of woodland. There are some fantastic views east over the south downs landscape. When the sky is full of white cumulus clouds and patches of blue sky this is one time when shooting in the middle of day is productive. This time of year the landscape is fresh and vibrant and the sky casts pools of light and shadow adding lots of interest.

Guestling Wood High Weald

I only discovered Guestling wood last summer and there was some information boards about it being thick with bluebells and wood anemones during April and springtime. So made a mental note to return in spring 2023.

A good walk around Guestling wood on the high weald, some potential compositions with better light. But an alternative when compositions are hard to find is to get into the detail with the telephoto lens and shoot intimate.

Hamstreet woods Kent

As with Guestling wood had visited Hamstreet woods in Kent before but late autumn. It also had signs up on entry about the dazzling bluebell and woodland flowers in April and springtime. Decided to make a return to Hamstreet woods in April 2023 to check it out.

Another good late afternoon walk around Hamstreet woods. Again strong compositions were hard to isolate amongst all the busy woodland scenes. Technically the telephoto shots are better due to focus stacking but still getting that spring woodland bluebell shot that am satisfied with is proving elusive.

The Vachery Ashdown Forest

Was researching online any bluebell woodlands in the area covered by Ashdown Forest. A location known as The Vachery came up, this was new to me so decided to visit one morning.

Not really find any bluebells in The Vachery but did find some waterfalls that made a good subject to photograph.

There is a natural spring and the waterfalls were landscaped in the early 20th century by the owner then. Its a lovely area to walk around and photograph. Quite a find. With photographing waterfalls to keep some texture in the water want a shutter speed of around 1/4 second. When shooting on a tripod, like full control so switch from aperture priority to manual mode.

Broadstone Warren Ashdown Forest

Another area of of 9.5 square miles of Ashdown forest that have not visited before is Broadstone Warren. As I was in the area thought I would check it out.

On arrival right next to the carpark at Broadstone Warren was greeted with some fantastic views east over the high weald and beyond. A park bench added much needed foreground interest, lots of interest in the sky with a display of cumulus clouds.

Inside the woodland of Broadstone warren are some of the most ancient trees and woodland of Ashdown forest. I not really find any bluebells but signs of banks and earth works that would have been created by the Normans when it was used to enclose deer’s for hunting. I not explore too much was tired now. Makes a big difference where you start your walk and where you end it. The perception of Ashdown forest is its a big open heathland but around the edges are some thick ancient woodland well worth exploring in April and springtime.

Mountfield Bluebells High Weald

Not working you get out a lot more when the weather is fair, especially during April and springtime. So it was one late April afternoon decided to scout out more woodland around Mountfield on the high weald in East Sussex.

The plan was to hike right round Darwell reservoir from Mountfield scouting out all the woodland during April and springtime. Although visited these locations before not at certain times of the year and day. Not half mile into the walk and was making detours into April bluebell woodland. Although covered in bluebells woodland compositions are hard to find. With some foreground interest adding depth and visual flow needed to focus stack to get everything in focus front to back. Again using a tripod switch to manual mode from aperture priority. else with focus stacking will re-meter when re-focusing.

Later in the evening the clouds moved in hiding the light else the above composition could have come out better. Both are a bit busy in the background. Ideally want mature trees well separated. Its occurring to me a good photograph needs at least 3 or 4 elements to produce a strong composition not least good light. A bed of bluebells, a leading line is not enough. The April bluebell composition hunt continues..

Burwash Bluebells High Weald

Bluebell fever running high, still hunting that elusive shot and they are only here for a short while during April and springtime. I don’t just want to keep returning to the same locations where have shot bluebells before, even though you can discover new compositions. While not working can get out a lot more during the week and cover more high weald woodland.

Burwash on the high weald has some beautiful countryside, gently rolling hills and patches of ancient woodland. I had never been to Burwash in spring or sunset so thought it would be good to scout. A good walk all around the woodland but not much in the way of bluebells found. So have eliminated the Burwash woodland for bluebell springtime photography, at least with bluebells unlike poppies they return in the same place. One composition that noticed as began the hike were some bluebells growing on the hillside, so returned here on the way back. 24mm end of the 24-70mm lens, got down low with the tripod, eliminating dead space in the midground, no wind, focus stacked.

Again the weather forecast was completely wrong was supposed to be clear but mostly thick clouds. On the drive home near Brightling pulled over to check out some impressive April rapeseed fields looking east. Could be good for sunrise.

Robertsbridge Bluebell Woodland

Returned to a woodland on the high weald near Robertsbridge I first scouted end of May back in 2022. Returned there for some autumn photography back in November. These ancient woodlands being both good in springtime and autumn. In the back of my mind I had visualised one patch of woodland near Robertsbridge would likely be very good for bluebells, time to find out. Its quite a hike and totally isolated, what I love about the high weald woodland, beautiful tranquil landscapes and you are unlikely to meet many other people on the footpaths.

Lots of bluebells in said wood, lots of chaos too. Then within the chaos saw some order in the form of a distance tree tunnel. We talk of compositional skills but this first took some observation skills and a lot of walking. Tripod fully extended using the 70-200mm lens with polariser and focus stacked. This woodland composition would look a lot better during golden hour and sunset with the light coming in low from the left. One too return too for better light. Another essential element for a good landscape photograph is patience. Waiting for the light.

End of April

That wraps up April, due to not working got outdoors a lot more and feel better for it. A lot of variety but woodlands is the place to be during springtime. Should be going on a road trip in May up north.

Check out the best landscape photography 2023 gallery

Check out the East Sussex landscape photography gallery

Check out the Kent landscape photography gallery