April Photo Walking

I did a lot of landscape photography walks during April around the east of England, including the counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.  What follows is a compilation of compositions from all the places I visited during April, some good some not so good with a few lessons learnt.

Catch Up

Throughout April I was getting out on landscape photography walks up to 3 days a week in the east England counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.   Not just for photography but for the exercise and need to be outdoors.  Consequently getting behind with the blog. So this compilation post is an attempt to catch up. Also, many of the photo walks during April did not produce enough good compositions to merit their own post.

Dancers End, Chiltern Hills

The first photo walk of April was at Dancers End Nature Reserve, heading deeper into the Chiltern Hills and across the border into Buckinghamshire.   It was a dull afternoon and good compositions were hard to find.

The above landscape photo taken at Dancers End is typical of the Chiltern Hills.  low undulating and quite heavily wooded.  Bluebells were beginning to bub within the forests and wild kites were flying above.  It was this photo walk I decided I needed to change back to my 18mm to 200mm lens.

St Albans

When I am in a new county like Hertfordshire, come the weekend and the weather is dull and overcast then I like to visit a new town or city.  This weekend it was going to be St Albans.

No photo walk to St Albans would be complete without a visit to the Cathedral.  Or a visit to the nearby Roman town of Verulamium.

Compositions were hard to capture that day around St Albans, more due to trying include and exclude at the same time.  Street photography should capture the essence of the city you visit so that it is recognisable.

Hitch wood Forest

It was another dull overcast April morning in Hertfordshire with some fog.  I decided some forest photography might be appropriate, so took a visit to nearby Hitch wood Forest.

I found Hitch wood on google maps explore, then followed some footpaths using OS Maps online.  Its an old forest, a bit too early for bluebells in full bloom.  But feels a lot wilder and remote than nearby Heartwood forest.

Peter’s Green, Lee Valley

An April afternoon walk from Peter’s Green in Bedfordshire along the upper Lea valley and finishing off at Someries castle just on the outskirts of Luton.  Another day of dull light and good compositions were hard to find.

The rapeseed was in full bloom for this time of April which would colour compliment a blue sky if there had been one.

At Someries castle I was handholding but bracketed the shots then merged HDR in Lightroom post processing.

Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire

For a change, it was a beautiful spring April morning when I visited Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire.  Not to sure what to expect as I began this photo walk following the Hertfordshire way out of the town onto Berkhamsted common, where with the good light many compositions opened up.

Handholding the camera and using the telescopic end of my lens to get intimate landscape photography shots.  When grand vistas are lacking, this is the way to go with your landscape photography – intimate.

The weather turned dull later as I made my way back to Berkhamsted along the grand union canal.

Ardeley Beane Valley

This April photo walk from the pretty little Hertfordshire village of Ardeley was a lot closer to my temporary home in Stevenage.  Started well, with some beautiful morning April sunlight on the church and village green, but could have arrived earlier, as always with the days get longer.

I got the idea for this photo walk out of the Pathfinders Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire book series.  Ardeley is also featured in the AA 50 walks of Hertfordshire.

I find these guides good for getting ideas of where there might be some good landscape photography.  But tend to fine tune the walks then using Ordnance survey maps online. Was still handholding my camera, but when light is difficult it is best to bracket your shots then merge later in Lightroom.

Hertford and Ware

It was a beautiful Easter bank holiday day when I chose to walk from Hertford to Ware along the river Lea.  Not an early start, lots of people about and just using my compact.

Around the Hertfordshire towns, compositions were hard to find due to all the distractions.  But could not resist the blossom trees with Hertford castle in the background.

A pleasant walk along the banks of the river Lea from Hertford back to Ware.  Throughout April surely is a time to be out photographing Blossom.

Ampthill Park Greensand Ridge

Arrived around 7AM at Ampthill Park and parking is free.  Lovely April morning mist and felt quite cool.  Quite a few dog walkers around but snatched some shots of Ampthill park handholding my DLSR.

I really should have been using my tripod in Ampthill park just to slow down, but the light was changing fast and the mist and dew evaporating before my eyes.  Throughout the photo walk I was having to get in tight to get a composition and exclude distractions.

Its a nice walk along the greensand ridge and you can be alone, but its over developed here.  There is a golf course, holiday park and driving circuit to name a few.

Combe Hill, Chilterns

Managed to drag myself out of bed at 5am for my first visit to Combe Hill the highest point on the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire and overlooking Chequers.

As soon as I was on my doorstep realised I had left it too late for an April setting moon and should have checked the moon calendar on Photopills.  I pulled over into a layby to catch the moon setting above.  Knowing I was too late once again.

Nice views stretching out across Oxfordshire on top of Combe Hill but would have looked better out there with the setting moon.  To the bottom left is Chequers the prime minister of UK countryside residence.

Around the Chiltern Hills and the counties of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire there are a lot of red kites flying above.  After my walk over Dancers Ledge I had changed to my 200mm lens to try to capture some of these wild birds.  And above I think I nailed it.  I was on shutter priority, wide open aperture, spot metering and rapid fire.  The above red kite photograph is 1 out of 20 exposures that came out sharp and in focus.

Ashwell, Hertfordshire

It was a hot hazy morning more akin to summer than late spring the day I chose to walk from Ashwell in north east Hertfordshire.  The most striking composition was of Ashwell church on the skyline from Newham hill.

Good compositions were hard to find around Ashwell that day not least because of the light and haze.  To compensate I challenged myself technically and shot my first panorama of the Hertfordshire countryside.

The  main point about panoramas is can zoom in to like 100mm and then take an effective wide angle shot by then taking a series of shots with an approximate 30 percent overlap between each.  put in full manual mode so the exposure and focus does not change between in each shot.  Best shot on a level tripod panning the head.

Another area and church of interest is the nearby Caldecote, the residents of which were wiped out during the plague.

Therfield, Hertfordshire

On the map Therfield in north Hertfordshire looked interesting as included chalk downland.  I started the April photo walk from Therfield heath which has largely given way to a golf course.  Further along though I managed to find a good composition of the heath-land that included some foreground interest in the form of cowslip plants.  The dog walker in the mid ground with the red coat on was intentionally included and provided a focal point to anchor the eye.

I had left my tripod in the car so was using handholding settings.  Towards the village of Therfield I followed the ancient Icknield way and the Hertfordshire way on the way back to the heath.

For late April it was mostly a cloudy overcast day with the odd spell of dramatic lighting.  I was trying to capture a typical Hertfordshire countryside landscape photo which has huge open expanses.

Stansted Abbotts, Hertfordshire

The last walk of April was a long one around the east Hertfordshire countryside of Stanstead Abbotts.  I took the walk out of the AA Hertfordshire walking guide with the promise of good views.

The morning started nice with plenty of sunshine, as common though in this east England county compositions were not plentiful and needed to get more intimate.

Even if that meant laying down in the grass and the dandelions to get a different perspective.  As the day progressed the weather changed and the sun disappeared behind thick clouds.

April Compositions

So thats it for April landscape photography around east England mostly Hertfordshire and a few trips into the Chiltern hills and the counties of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.  I had changed my lens from a 15-85mm to a 18-200mm as needed to get more intimate.  I was also mostly hand holding my camera and improving my technique in these areas.  My ideas about compositions were maturing, considering things like balance, visual weight, complimentary colours and leading lines to name a few.