I was scratching for new places to visit around Purbeck in Dorset.  After my trip to Wareham I noticed on the map Wareham Forest nearby that looked interesting and worth exploring with my camera.

Wareham Forest Map

Studying OS Maps online there were plenty of free parking along the main Bere road through Wareham forest.   I parked up at Cold Harbour.

The main path would take me to Woolbarrow fort along the Wareham forest way.  I would then follow the Hardy way back towards the car park.  An online map with GPS is essential when walking through forests as paths criss cross all over the place and its easy to get lost.

The Wareham Forest Way

It was a beautiful sunny morning in Wareham forest.  The days before had been very wintry and there was still snow on the ground giving some extra interest.  Initially compositions were hard to come by until I reached Woolbarrow fort.

You would never know the hill was once a fort, but the summit does command some far-reaching views all around Wareham forest.

The sky was brilliant blue, not as early in the day as I would have preferred but the winter sun was low in sky really highlighting the long thin trunks of the pine trees.

Photographing forests on bright sunny days

I would say it is not true that forests are best photographed only on cloudy days.  Maybe thats true under the canopies of the trees but not on the open heath-land.

Wareham forest also has heaths like the nearby New Forest.  Wareham forest has a better distribution of trees than the new forest.

Switching between Compact and DLSR

I was still switching between using my DLSR and compact camera. This causes a lot of extra time post processing in light room and storage. There was no good reason why I could not just always use my DLSR, not always with the tripod, just handholding.  Handholding the DLSR in live view though is not ideal, so dont get the benefit of the histogram and exposing correctly.

Along the Hardy Way

As the morning progressed there were quite a few other walkers about.  Some possible compositions were ruined by telegraph poles running through Wareham forest.

Along the Hardy way I got off the beaten track and managed to find some forest compositions that included the snow in the foreground.

Polarisation and wide angle lens

I was using my new Lee Polariser with my DLSR for many of these woodland photography shots.   I was keeping the sun at around a 45 degree angle which gives the best polarisation.
When using the Lee Polariser with the Lee Foundation kit you will also require an ring adaptor that attaches to the filter holder. 

Shooting wide angle with a polariser can leave dark patches on a clear blue sky, you really should pull back a bit.  But I was getting the colour saturation on the green pines to really pop.

Another effect of using a polariser is that it can reduce the light by up to 2 stops.  It can darken the lighter parts of the image and lighten the darker part thus reducing the dynamic range.

The best forest composition

It really was a beautiful day to be walking in Wareham forest in Dorset. As the day progressed the snow slowly melted away.  So peaceful and tranquil. Towards the end of the walk, I got my favourite composition shot with my compact camera once again.

I like the way the fence post is pointing in towards the scene providing a focal point and a place for the eye to rest before exploring the rest of the scene. The contrasting colours of the ferns, the pines and the sky.   The leading line of the melting snow in the bottom right corner.  And not least the white fluffy clouds just hanging in the deep rich blue sky.

My final shot was exposing for the highlights with the low sun light streaming through the tall pines.  Such a tranquil and calm day.  If you are in a  bad mood then a walk through Wareham forest is the cure.

Such a Perfect day

Making it back to the car park there was a pub not far away called the silent woman Inn.  On a winters day with snow on the ground it was just nice to sit in the beer garden with the sun on your face drinking a pint of ale.