Due to the Covid-19 virus lockdown, Landscape photography and hiking during April was restricted. But living near the coast in East Sussex and the high weald, some interesting locations to visit were not far away for my daily exercise.

Beckley Woods, East Sussex

Probably a bit further than I should travel, took a visit to Beckley Woods on the High Weald in East Sussex. The car parks were shut but managed to find some parking along the lane. During lockdown I was more interested in scouting out some locations closer to home and just taking my Canon compact camera.

What was immediately apparent was the carpet of Wood anemone on the forest floor in Beckley Woods. I was not going to miss spring time in the ancient woodlands of the High Weald because of some damn virus that was for sure. As a Landscape Photographer been self isolating for years now.

Kent Street, East Sussex

From my doorstep there is some interesting woodland, oast houses etc and took a walk around Kent Street in East Sussex.

I wanted to take in small woodlands on the lookout for spring flowers. The above photo of the high weald captures the landscape nicely. I like the two crows in flight in the top left. Its difficult to get an outstanding landscape photo over the high weald due to the low undulating hills and woodland, no sweeping vistas, but I keep searching.

Pett Level Beach Moon Rise

That time of the month again when we have a full moon rising around the time that the sun is setting so headed to Pett Level Beach to attempt to photograph the moon rising again. Low tide also occurs at the time of full moon so hoping to get some foreground interest and reflections.

Got there early and in the meantime set about photographing what I could of the golden hour on the beach. You cant really capture the sun setting from this vantage point as is behind the beach. Blue hour is good though as shot the month before in March. Using Photopills on this day the moon would rise shortly after blue hour which was leaving it a bit late as too dark. Should have really got there the day before where the supermoon rose during the golden hour.

We were just about to pack up when the April supermoon appeared on the horizon. Just focused on the high contrast moon and managed to captured some orange reflections in the water of the low tide. You cant do a long exposure of the moon as its moving all the time, up, anything over a second and will lose its shape. To be honest I was fumbling around in the dark without a headlamp and trying out various settings. Very challenging lighting conditions is moon photography.

Cliff End Moonset, Sunrise

We returned to Pett Level beach the next morning this time to attempt to capture the moon setting behind Cliff End, the sun rising out to sea and then the low sun of Golden Hour lighting up the face of Cliff End. I visualised in my imagination all 3 occurring together, but that was not really the reality. Once the sun rose the moon faded. Once the cliff face lit up, the sun was too bright and the moon gone completely. Still this is experience.

This would also all occur during low tide. There is a lot more foreground interest on the beach in front of the cliffs including remains of an ancient forest. But still I was hunting around for a good composition.

Turned around to capture the sun rising, just went with the composition whatever was in front of me. Had I been ready with remote release attached would have caught the silhouette of 3 seagulls flying in front of the rising sun.

What remained was the golden hour and photographing the face of Cliff End before calling it a morning. The sun rose at 6:15 AM and was parked up at 6AM. I can get anxiety about setting an alarm, the sudden interruption in the early morning. What helps is on my android phone is setting a calming tune, low and gradually increasing volume for the alarm. Great morning out though, felt good to be alive.

Marline Valley Bluebells

What I really wanted to get out of photography during April were spring woodland flowers including Bluebells. There is lots of ancient woodland in east Sussex all over the High Weald. I researched online Bluebells east Sussex and happened on the Sussex wildlife trust website.

Amazingly close to me, walking distance was listed the woodland of the Marline Valley. Its amazing what you overlook directly under your nose until your forced to. A beautiful piece of ancient woodland, but is close to factories, housing estate and roads, so called ‘development’ which really is destruction.

Flatropers Wood Beckley

Another woodland area for bluebells recommended by the Sussex Wildlife Trust not far away from me was Flatropers wood near Beckley.

This woodland is large and quite remote, I had a good walk around following the footpaths on OS Maps. Would require many repeat visits to capture the best the woodland has to offer. The day was dull and overcast, which is suppose to be best for capturing woodland flowers avoiding high contrast and specular highlights.

Alexandra Park Hastings

Another place to try nearby was the urban Victorian Alexandra Park in Hastings town. Its a good 5 mile walk from the beginning of the park to the end and back. It sits within a valley and gets more remote as you head north and includes waterfalls at the far end.

Another great spectacle during spring are the pink blossom trees. On a beautiful day in spring Alexandra Park starts to get busy with visitors especially during lockdown, best to get their early morning, plenty of free parking nearby.

Telham Hill Woodland

Checking the footpaths on OS Maps, there was a lot of countryside and small woodlands near to Tellham in east Sussex, not far from where I live. So one morning decided to check them out and was pleasantly surprised.

At the foot of Telham hill was some private woodland just off the footpath and it was enchanting. So lush and green with a carpet of wild Garlic and a sprinkling of Blue violet blubells.

Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul

Whatever is on your mind, it will dissolve walking in such beautiful ancient woodland. We had a very wet autumn and winter almost 6 months of non stop rain. Late March into April was then the driest and warmest on record. Apparently this has what has given rise to such abundant growth in our woodlands. Now these small woodlands off the beaten track are not managed by any trusts or their websites. Have to get out an explore.

Harolds Manor, Crowhurst

Due to the lockdown, took another local walk with my compact camera starting from Telham making my way to the church at Crowhurst in east Sussex.

Next to the ancient church in Crowhurst, basically in someones backgarden are the remains of a manor house. Crowhurst was ransacked and destroyed by the invading Normans in 1066 because it was King Harolds manor. In the churchyard in Crowhurst is a Yew tree over a 1000 years old, it witnessed it all. The place is stooped in history and I think it undersells itself.

Whatlington East Sussex

The last walk of April was in the evening around the countryside and woodlands of Whatlington in East Sussex. Desperately needed to get out for some exercise if nothing else but would scout the area with my compact camera. I love exploring new places over revisiting the same location.

As the sun was setting, there was a few moments when a clump of bluebells were in the suns spotlight through the trees. Sun spotlights make a photograph more interesting, captivating as the onlooker knows the moment was only brief.

End of April

So that was my experience out walking mostly with my compact camera so as not to draw unnecessary attention to myself during the lockdown period. You are allowed to drive somewhere to take in your daily exercise. I should be back at work now if the past is anything to go by. But due to the lockdown obviously hiring new staff is temporarily suspended. Local is fine, lots of interesting places to discover right under your nose. But miss driving off somewhere, roadtrips and need to earn some money again. Want to buy new camera equipment, a campervan etc.

Time on our hands

During the lockdown I have invested in some books on Photoshop as want to master editing with masks. Lockdown and not working is a good time to develop your photo editing skills. Hoping things return to normality soon and let lockdown be a lesson for when we get bored with normality.