For a weekend away, chose to visit the Surrey Hills on the North Downs. Would be staying for the night in a hotel at the foot of Box Hill. What follows is a compilation of some landscape photography on the Surrey Hill in the middle of summertime July.
Visiting the Surrey Hills
I used to frequent the Surrey Hills and North downs a lot when I first got into landscape photography. Back then I lived on the border of Surrey in West Sussex. The Surrey Hills are not a million miles from where I now live in East Sussex. But enjoy a weekend away and a change of scenery. Plus it gives you a possible 3 chances to catch the best light.
Ranmore Common
From studying OS Maps, chose to start off at Ranmore Common aka Denbies Hillside in the heart of the Surrey Hills. Not visited Ranmore common before but looked good on the map indicating a good viewpoint. Being summertime and the middle of July sunrise was too early to catch despite rising about 3:30 am.
It was going to be a hot summers day on the Surrey Hills. The start of a week long heatwave had begun. For many landscape photographers summertime is season they would prefer to hibernate due to the harsh light, long days and heat. At least sunlight was guaranteed but the sky was featureless and a little washed out. The long grass of Ranmore common was catching the low golden light of the morning.
Wild Marjoram on the Surrey Hills
Being July noticed some clumps of wild Marjoram growing on the Surrey Hills. I have an affinity with wild Marjoram as its my family name. So like to include it in a landscape photograph if I can. Last time I captured some wild Marjoram was on the South Downs in West Sussex.
Had to focus stack the above photo in order to get the Marjoram in focus plus the hills in the background. I could not use the focus stack tool in Photoshop to automatically blend the images, had to do it manually. There was a slight breeze and the long grass was moving. Should compare this process with trying to take one using the hyperfocal distance.
Again would have been better with some low directional light catching the top of the Marjoram, as a little dark in the foreground. But flora makes a good foreground subject.
Retrospective Photography
Maybe should have got lower and closer to the wild Marjoram to give more dominance and visual weight. After all it is the main focal point with the Surrey Hills in the background a supporting act. You learn more retrospectively post processing your landscape photos than you do taking them. But the purple flowers of the Marjoram give a good splash of complimentary colour to the green of the Surrey Hills landscape. A larger clump of lilac and purple would have been better too, but got to go with what we have in front of us at the time.
Towards Polesden Lacey
After capturing the remainder of the best morning light on Ranmore common, chose to head north towards the Polesden Lacey estate. Nice cool walk through ancient woodland but not much to photograph. Ranmore common has a lot more to offer the landscape photographer.
There was some large open common ground the other side of Polesden Lacey where managed to capture a marbled white butterfly on some more wild Marjoram. Should have changed lenses here to the 70-200mm, the above photo is heavily cropped using the telephoto end of the 24-70mm.
Too Hot
It was now getting too hot on the Surrey Hills, so headed into Dorking for some breakfast and then checked into my hotel to rest up for the afternoon. Landscape photography requires a lot of effort and energy and good to be able to rest up somewhere and take some shelter from the heat.
Bury Hill and Box Hill Sunset
Headed out that evening and checked out Milton Heath and Bury Hill. But could not get the sunset angle right. There is an interesting temple on top of Bury Hill and some nice viewpoints of the church steeple of Dorking, but not what I had in mind. Hillside woodland would block the setting sun.
Problem with summertime is the position of where the sun sets. Being on the north downs it seems the best viewpoints are facing south. Perhaps landscape photography on the Surrey Hills would be better during the winter when the sun sets more to the south. Bury Hill had potential but not get my camera out, just took a few snaps with my mobile which you can check out here.
After Bury Hill headed back to Box Hill. Lots of people about on the main hill and the sun was out of view to the north west. Did find a new viewpoint along The Whites which faced north west. Again lots of people about and the light was not good as the land was thrown into complete shadow. Failed to capture a good sunset landscape photo from the Surrey Hills but scouted a lot of ground.
Leith Hill Sunrise
The plan for the next morning on the Surrey Hills was a sunrise from Leith Hill including the skyline of the city of London. Using Photopills I had miscalculated where the sun would rise from the top of Leith Hill. Again position wrong too far to the south east when facing north and blocked by woodland, the viewpoint is not 360 degrees.
Was using my new Canon 100-400mm F4 II at the 400mm end to capture above image. Not much happing to the north so again the best views are facing south. But great views dont always make good photographs.
Tried a few panoramas or telephoto wide angle shots to try and get some more impact. But maybe the detail is just too far away, the morning mist and spotlight of sun add some interest. There is a lot of detail down there but no distinctive shapes. Looks a lot better full size rather than on a small screen.
The more interesting shots were more intimate with recognisable elements and detail. Just find the light and shoot whats in it. Should have spent more time just observing and working the area. The hills of the North Downs are quite heavily wooded and not so many good viewpoints.
A powerful telephoto lens like a 100-400mm does give you options for some images when there are not many.
Surrey Hills, Good Times
Good time had on the Surrey Hills, got me out of my comfort zone for a day or two. Would much prefer a campervan rather than staying in a hotel with the occasional wild camp to make those summer sunrises more attainable. I nearly not get out of bed for this sunrise on top of Leith Hill. What helps is having a Jetboil, coffee sachets and all day breakfast to enjoy on the hillside and think more about landscape photography rather than your stomach. Sure I shall return to the Surrey Hills to try again and do better.