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Dorset Landscape Photography
Opium Poppies





A number of fields across Hampshire & Dorset are being set aside for farmers to grow Opium Poppies as the medical institutions in this country are short of pain killers. A report on the latest copy of Farmers Weekly makes interesting reading, as well as providing some great shots for all of us who love poppies.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Wimborne Poppies





After the sunrise shoot up in Hampshire, I spent the rest of the day running round Wiltshire & Dorset checking out other poppy fields I knew about and finding new ones...

This one was seen across the fields near Wimborne and took some finding by car/walking, but once there it proved a good field, edged in tall barley ears, inter-mingled with thistles which were being polonated by bees.

It was a lovely location for poppies and the barley and thistles provided extra subjects too. I hope you enjoy the shots...

Hampshire Landscape Photography
Poppies 3




Having found that this poppy field was only 10 minutes from a good friends house, I spent the night with them (thanks Chris & Julia) and headed back to the field for sunrise.

A mix of clouds covered most of the sky and for a while it looked like rain was on its way, but at sunrise, the clouds on the horizon allowed the sun through for a few minutes.

The rain didn't hold off for long and I drove around the local villages looking for more subjects to shoot .... mists, rainbows, wheat .... too much to choose from. Here are a small selection from the downpour.

Hampshire Landscape Photography
Poppies 2





A second visit to the same poppy field up in Hampshire to shoot sunset across the field. As I arrived the field was looking great with diffused sunlight behind me and broken clouds across the field, made it look wonderful.

The sunset didn't happen as the clouds on the horizon thickened as time went by, but the earlier shots were worth the trip.

Dorset Landscape Photography
To Hell and Back





Or to the Hell Stone to be more precise.

As the sun set tonight well into the Northwest, the clouds began to glow, forming a fitting cover for the Hell Stone and with the sun forcing its way through the rocks, this was definitely 'The Fires of Hell'.

From local information ....

The Hell Stone, also known as the "Stone of the Dead", can be found on Portesham Hill, about a mile or so from the Hardy monument. It's quite an impressive 'dolmen' which was constructed around 6 thousand years ago. It probably looked a little different then than it does today as unfortunately it collapsed, and was later 'restored' in 1866 and possibly not in its original shape or position.

Local superstition and folklore has it that the Hell Stone was thrown at Portesham Hill by the devil from Portland, but in fact it was created during Neolithic times and was probably a burial chamber, which at the time of construction, would have been covered in earth and smaller stones to form a barrow.

It is the only known 'complete' Dolmen in Dorset and consists in its present form of nine upright stones topped with a single capstone around 10ft in length. Inside is a small chamber big enough to squeeze 2 or 3 people. Even though the Hell Stone is Dorset's only complete Dolmen it's quite hard to find and is not signposted on any of the local paths.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Sunset from Portesham Hill





As the evening looked like it might present a great sunset tonight, I went off in search of a new viewpoint, up on the hills near the Hardy monument, over looking Abbotsbury and the hills and valleys of the area. The hill behind Portesham provided the spot.

A wild flower meadow provided the foreground interest and although its currently surrounded by wire fences and barbed wire so I couldn't get as close as I would have liked, the foxgloves provide some subtle colour.

The sun is setting between Pilsden Pen and Lewesdon Hill.

Hampshire Landscape Photography
Poppies





Its been a busy few days over the last week, as I've been out to visit a number of poppy fields across Wiltshire, Dorset and Hampshire.

Living in West Dorset, it was a good 1 1/2 hour trip up to Salisbury Plain, on the lookout and searching for poppy fields. It took about 4 hours to locate this one, by which time I was ready to give up for the day and try again another time. My 'spotter' saw these through the hedge of the road and we dived into an industrial complex and found the field lying just behind the units. The 7-8 hours spent finding this field made it all the more worthwhile.

This was the first reasonable field I came across, with a good carpet of poppies showing and in good condition having recently flowered. The lighting was quite good too with a few clouds in the sky and the sun behind some high level cloud, offering diffused lighting across the field.

More to follow on the three counties poppy hunt...

Dorset Photography
Abbotsbury Swannery update



A quick run into Abbotsbury Swannery this week to see how the cygnets are progressing and to see the new arrivals. They are already well into the season now, with over 75% of the nesting birds producing baby swans. It was also feeding time as I arrived, so a group shot was inevitable.

A few young ones caught my eye this trip,so here's a few more cute shots of the cygnets...

Dorset Landscape Photography
First poppies of Spring





As I was driving up to a lunch appointment this week, I passed by a field, with a handful of poppies out already. Judges at my local camera club are always going on about shooting things in "three's" and that a bit of red always helps a picture. I don't necessarily agree with them on either point, but here goes...

Dorset Landscape Photography
Sunset over West Bay



As the sun was setting this evening over West Dorset, the clouds began to break up and the sun started to shine through. It looked promising, so I headed over to West Bay to try and catch a panorama of West Bay with the sun setting behind the cliffs of Golden Cap and Thorncombe Beacon.

As I got there and climbed up the very steep East Cliff ... made worse by carrying all my equipment up with me ... the clouds to the West started to disappear. After a few shots I decided to head back down to the harbour, as the clouds over to the East were still there and beginning to light up with the last glows of the setting sun.

By the time I had got over to the harbour and setup, the light was starting to go, and just had time to catch one decent shot, with the dusky pinks and blues reflected across the still waters of the harbour.

Dorset Photography
Abbotsbury Swannery





The first trip this year down to the Swannery in Abbotsbury as the Cygnets have started hatching. About 6 nesting birds have hatched their young so far with a lot more about to pop their heads out of their egg-shells.

The group down at Abbotsbury tourism seem to think the locals and visitors are un-educated as all their signs in the local area state "Baby Swans". They obviously think we don't know what a Cygnet is!

It was a chance to play with the newly acquired 2x converter, which inconjunction with my 300mm Sigma zoom lens allowed me to get up close and personal with the Cygnets from a safe distance from Mum & Dad. For the techies out there, my Nikon D90 uses a crop sensor, so the effective focal length is 300 x 2 x 1.5 = 900mm, which in real terms meant I was about 10-12ft away and still filled the frame with these little cute, furry, cygnets.

Anyway, time for a few cute shots.

Its a great afternoon out and the group down there do a wonderful job of looking after the nesting birds, so if you get the chance, get down there and see them for yourselves.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Sunset over Portland Bill & Pulpit Rock





A windy end to a lovely day as I drove down to Portland Bill late afternoon to see what was happening with the light, clouds etc. I was entertainng a friend showing them around my part of West Dorset and as a keen fellow photographer, they were interested to see the Bill and the rocks.

We decided it was worth the weait until sunset, so after a good walk round we went back down to Portland and had dinner in the Cove ... well worth a visit, both for the food and the great views of the rugged cliffs across the end of Portland and up Chesil Bank in the other direction.

Back to the Bill for sunset and the winds were picking up. With a falling tide I was hoping to get down onto the ledges infront of Pulpit Rock to get a lower perspective, but with the waves crashing in, I had to save that for another day.

One of the great things about the Bill is that after clambering over a few rocks, you get another great view to choose and shoot. The lighthouse and stone were looking great against the glowing sky and with the near-full moon shinging brightly, it was a wonderful view.






The light was wonderful and as I setup a few shots my friend perched on the rocks and enjoyed the beautiful sunset. A great end to a fun day in West Dorset.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Sunset over Tulk's Hill





After missing out on an amazing sunset last night due to a cocktail evening with friends, the clouds were looking promising over Bridport tonight, so I headed off to a number of higher hilltop locations to see what the view was offering.

I ended up at Abbotsbury Castle but then headed across the road to Tulk's Hill, a little known NT site on the Coast Rd inbetween Burton Bradstock & Abbotsbury.

I arrived just a few minutes late to capture the sunlight lighting up the island of Portland as the sun set below a bank of cloud across the horizon, but the clouds across the bay and over West Dorset begin to glow as the sun sets deeper.

The view from the top along the Jurassic Coast towards Burton, Golden Cap & Lyme Regis was wonderful tonight. A clear night at last, after the hazy evenings of late.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Sunset over West Bay





A wonderful evening as the sun set tonight. A beautiful blue sky over Dorset, with a few white fluffy clouds left in the sky as the temperature drops.

I headed off to West Bay about an hour before sunset, to catch the last of the side light on the cliffs, before the sun moved round further North and the cliff face goes into shadow.

Blue skies, an almost empty beach, a few fluffy clouds and the golden light of sunset .... what an evening !!

Dorset Landscape Photography
Minterne House Gardens



With the advent of Spring, the flowers at Minterne are in full swing, with the Rhododendrons and Azaleas in particular looking great.

The Minterne Valley was landscaped in the manner of Capability Brown in the 18th Century. The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes, waterfalls and streams. They contain an unique collection of Himalayan Rhododendrons and Azaleas, with Spring bulbs, Cherries, Maples and many fine and rare trees.

The gardens were awash with colour and it was a bright Sunday afternoon with a wonderful blue sky full of white fluffy clouds.... a really lovely spring day.
The gardens are not only full of glorious colours and wonderful plants and trees, but there is also a wide range of textures, contours and other details to watch out for.

There are many more pictures than normal in this post, so I hope you enjoy the shots and maybe go along and visit yourselves.
http://www.minterne.co.uk/mjs/

The Hankerchief Tree:







Some great patterns & textures:

Dorset Landscape Photography
Secret Bluebell Woods





After visitng so many bluebell woods this year and seeing many of them trampled down by visitors (many of whom Im sure were fellow photographers), it was a real pleasure to find a 'private wood' where the bells are growing tall and strong, the woodland floor is clean from debris from coppice'ing and the light diffused by the canopy above... what a lovely combination.

I visited at sunrise, but the sun was diffused by not only the clouds in the sky, but by the canopy of the woodland too, which had filled in strongly, so I had some lovely diffused lighting to help out too.

The carpet of flowers stretched off into the distance across the woodland floor and although they were not the thickest carpet Ive seen this year, the fact that this wood was unspoilt by human visitors more than made up for it. I was very privaledged to see this.

Patches of wild garlic broke up the blue carpet is a number of places and animal tracks made little pathways across the forest floor too, all adding something to the ambience of this magical woodland.

Wiltshire Landscape Photography
West Woods, Marlborough





I went off to Marlborough this week to see the much acclaimed West Woods, said to be the best bluebell woods in the UK, certainly in the South. Having wandered around all day, I have to agree.

There may be a lot of debris left on the forest floor from Forestry Commission coppice'ing, but the bluebells are amazing, very extensive and a wonderful shade of blue.

I spent the day with Ross Hoddinott, Mark Bauer and a few other photographers and together we explored the woods; it was a fun day so thanks to Mark & Ross.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from the day.

One of the first areas I visited, I named 'The Cathedral'. After all of the Royal Wedding news of late, the avenue of tall beech trees formed a nave with a blue carpet, rather than a red one, and the canopy forms a wonderful arched-roof similar to that in a cathedral, hence the nickname. All we needed was a bridge & groom ... Will & Kate where are you?





The lighting across the wood was very dappled. The canopy had filled in earlier this year, causing areas to be highlighted, like this fern, growing up amongst the bells.





As the sun set lower in the sky, there were a few areas where it could break through the canopy and get some sunbeams going on across the bells, but even here they were subdued due to the thickness of the trees and woods.





And for fun .... another abstract image from the day. The light was hitting the trunks of the trees, lighting them up, which lent itself to a more abstract style of picture.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Bluebell Woods : Hooke Woods





What a difference a day makes! Or three in this case.

A downpour of rain and a very bright morning makes the bluebells over at Hooke look completely different to the other day. The rain has flattenend the bells today making them look thin on the ground and rather flat .... and the high contrast light made it difficult to capture the scene and I used blended of exposures to capture this one.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Piddle Valley Rape





After a day spent in amongst the bluebells of both Hooke and Batcombe, it was good to get out of the woods, back into the sunshine and up on the downs.

As I drove back towards Dorchester across the tops, looking down across the Piddle Valley, a storm has just passed over, leaving a whole area of clouds across the skies, some still looking rather stormy and some not.

Across the valley there is a lot of rape this year, with yellow fields heading off into the distance, and the contrast of the clouds, blue skies, yellow rape and a lone green tree stood out as I drove past.

Not my usual style of photograph, but it was such an image as went by, it had to be captured.

Dorset Landscape Photography
Bluebell Woods





An early morning visit to the woods just north of Bridport this morning, with a group from our local camera club, to capture the morning light on the bells.

Although the morning was relatively clear, the level of canopy that has filled in over the past few days means that there is little 'streaming' light coming through into the woods. However, there were some lovely highlghts and patchy'ness across the bells which made for a great trip.

Its wonderful to go and visit these woods at this time of year. Everyone has their own favourites, but its simply wonderful to be amongst the woods, with the carpet of bluebells stretching off into the distance along with the fragrance of the bells. It truly fills your senses.









And finally, just a bit of some and something a little different ...