Into October 2017 and some of the best Landscape Photographs I took around the south east of England including the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

October

The month of October and the days are getting shorter and the air cooler as winter approaches.  This can be the most colourful month of the year as deciduous foliage changes its hue.

Loxwood, Sussex

The first landscape photography walk of October began with a visit to sleepy Loxwood in Sussex.  Beautiful clear warm sunny day that you can sometimes get in October but often occurs in the week so helps not being stuck in an office.

This landscape photo of Loxwood is significant because it was one of the first times I was practising hyper-focal distance to maximise depth of field and sharpness by focusing on the decaying farm gate.  You only really need to use smaller apertures like F8 and above when there are nearby objects that need to be in focus as well as to infinity.

A nice 5 mile walk around Loxwood, what puts the place on the map is its old forgotten canal which for leisure purposes is now being restored to its former glory.

Baynards, Surrey

I took this walk out of the AA’s Surrey walking guide, what puts Baynards on the map is its old railway station and line, made famous by the TV series the railway children.  I remember from my childhood my older sisters being glued to the box.

At an aperture of F/5 obviously a handheld shot, nothing in the foreground to keep in focus, just focus on the old railway station.  The surrounding countryside did not lend itself much in favour to landscape photography which is often the case when using just a walking guide.  There was some nice views but to much empty space either in the sky ‘cloudless’ or on the ground, just farm fields.  Very few photographs taken that day around Baynards in Surrey, but enjoyed the 5 mile walk.

East Lavant, Sussex

With promises of great coastal and downland views from East Lavant in West Sussex I actually got up early for this walk and arrived at sunrise at the Trundle.  Come October the days are getting shorter so sunrise is not so early.

I could not shoot into the sun rising but got some good landscape shots of the west sussex countryside around east lavant with the sun at a 90% angle.  Still quite a bit of empty space in the cloudless sky.  I actually took alot of photos here that not turn out well due to over polarisation.  Too much reliance on filters really, but lighting condition like this dont last long.

Interesting cloud formations in the sky later on in the morning else again too much empty space in the sky.  Using one or two filters in front of your lens can soften the sharpness of the final image.  Its important to meter the lightest and darkest points of the frame to determine if a filter is really necessary.

Hydon Heath, Surrey

Surrey is quite a built up area being close to the M25 and just south of London, but with the north downs there are amazing places where one can escape to the countryside and feel like your miles away from anywhere or anyone.   Hydon Heath in Surrey has a monument to Octavia Hill who founded the National Trust so today you can escape the inner city and enjoy the peace and tranquility of places like Hydon Heath.

Following the greensand way I poked my head through some bushes to capture this image of some sheep grazing in a field including some black sheep.  This image surprising has done quite well on Shutterstock.  From the tree line to the left you can see the Autumn colours starting to come through for early October.

Headley Heath, Surrey

I was picking my days to head out, when the sun was shining, but today around Headley Heath in Surrey it was mostly cloudy with is fine in woodland which Headley heath mostly is today.

I took very few Landscape photographs that day, although this made a nice photo with the house as the focal point and the autumn colors sprouting through the surrounding trees.

Penshurst, Kent

Time to return to Kent and the leafy parkland of Penshurst.  On the way a distinct red sun was rising through the early morning mist towards the end of October, unfortunately I could not stop to capture it.

The morning mist was still present as I began my walk around Penshurst.  I ran across a private field under a tree to capture the above image of Penshurst Place one of Englands finest medieval houses.  This landscape photo has done well for me on both Shutterstock and Alamy, although technically the sky is disappointing, but when it comes to stock photography empty spaces like this is where companies can put their own logos etc.

Cissbury and Chanctonbury Ring, West Sussex

These hills on the south downs were recommended by friends rather than being listed in any of my walking guides.  Just goes to show these walking guides only scratch the surface of great walks around south east England.

Views from the top of Chanctonbury ring were a little hazy but those late October hues are bursting through with the cedar tree in the foreground.  Due to the high contrast and large dynamic range I shot this landscape photo using HDR.

Heading back I got on top of Cissbury ring with great views east over the south downs with the cliffs of the seven sisters in the far background just visible.  Using a shutter speed of 1/5 sec was just enough to blur the motion of the walkers which creates a nice effect and gives scale.

Pease Pottage, West Sussex

On my doorstep is the countryside of Pease Pottage in West Sussex. I got up early one morning to catch the dawn sunrise.

I was handholding in low light conditions like this using f/8 to get some depth of field.  It not hurt to push the ISO up to 200 in conditions like this as you would also under expose, remember your shutter speed needs to be greater than your focal length when handholding.  Im using image stabilisation too but generally a faster shutter speed is going to give you a sharper image.  Overall it would have been better to have setup with my tripod and not worried about any of these parameters.

From a different angle there was a stag and doe in the field, Ideally they would have been in the foreground of this sunrise shot focusing on the antlers.  This area of Pease Pottage Parish lane is always under the threat of development, I dont know how much longer these views will last.

Ardingly Reservoir, West Sussex

From catching the sunrise at Pease Pottage I continued onto Ardingly Reservoir in West Sussex.  The hike around Ardingly Reservoir was the first walk I took from IFootPath as not far from my home at the time.

That wraps up my hiking and landscape photography for the month of October in 2016.  Looking back I think October is a great month to get out and about with your camera.