Winter Light

Glade in the mist

As the seasons change, autumn brings not just a change in colour, but also a change in the quality of the light. Summer light is bright and harsh, and the golden hour is either very early in the day or very late. As winter approaches it changes completely – now the sun is low all the time, with long shadows and a wonderful pastel, watery quality. The golden hour is at a civilised hour. The weather is interesting too – storms, clouds racing across the sky, and by way of contrast, perfectly still mornings and evenings with frost on the grass and mist rising in the river valley.

Don’t get me wrong – I love all the seasons, including summer – but winter light is probably the most photogenic.

These are just a few shots of the woods in winter light – low light through the trees, mist, stormy skies and mist rising at sunset. Perfect!

Mist rising at sunset

Mist through the trees

Storm approaching

Ray of light with stormy sky behind

Mist through the trees

Mist and golden trees

Main path in the mist

Mystical Winter Light

Mystical Light and Frosty Path

As a photographer, I am always interested in light.  So it might seem strange that I love the winter, because it tends to be dark and grim, at least in the UK.  However the quality of light at this time of year can be absolutely magical.  We all know of the golden hour near sunset and sunrise, when the light is warmer and more gentle, lighting subjects from a low angle.

Angled Shadows

However in winter in the UK, the light is always coming from a low angle because the sun never gets very high in the sky – and while it may not have the intoxicating warmth of a summer evening, it does have a lovely gentle and watery quality that simply isn’t available at any other time of year.

As well as a low angle and gentle watery quality, winter light is also enhanced by the cold weather bringing mist, frost and occasional snow.  The other day I was privileged to walk round the woods at just the right time of day.  There had been a very heavy overnight frost which was melting in the sunshine, adding water vapour and mist to the sense of wonder.  There was also mist rising from the ponds and canal and settling in the flood plain where the woods are situated.

Sun on the boundary

So we have the wonderful quality and angle of the light, frost, mist and the wonderful bonus of the trees without leaves.  The form of the trees can be clearly seen at this time of year too.  In summer, all is lost in the confusion of leaves, but right now, you can see every detail, every shape.  The shadows also have much more form than in summer.  The combination of light and form is quite intoxicating.  The beauty gives me a squeezy feeling in my stomach.

Winter light in the plantation

I took a series of landscape shots as I walked round, trying to capture that squeezy feeling – the mystical beauty of mist, light and trees.  You don’t get the mystical winter light every day, but when you do, it can take your breath away.

Frost Mist Trees and Shadows

Winter colour in the plantation

Evening Light

Betty’s Wood on Misty Evening

Betty’s Wood on Misty Evening

Another great thing about spring is the light changes both direction and quality in the evening.  The watery winter light is giving way to a much warmer spring light, and the angle is changing, which means that the light on our paths, across Betty’s Wood, and out of the woods is also changing, giving a new perspective on the landscape.  In particular, the woods are now illuminated from the north west at dusk, and that makes it possible to take some lovely pictures in the glade and along our main path.

Trees and fields across the road from the woods

Trees and fields across the road from the woods

Reedmace

Barbed wire fence in evening light

Ditch at Dusk

January Gloom and More Sunsets

Peachy Sky

Some fantastic weather has led to breathtaking skies across the fields from the woods – both wonderful sunsets and amazing conjunctions of cloud and light. The view may seem the same, but it is forever changing, and the same subject can yield very different images. We’ve been really lucky to be there in the early evenings and witness this wonderful natural beauty.  This is a collection of images taken of the same subject – the hills and trees opposite the woods – but in different light, and with different moods.  I could photograph these trees forever!  The first set of sunsets were taken from the entrance to the woods, and the fields opposite us.  The second set were taken from the boundary within the woods, showing the trees from slightly different perspective, as a shower cleared to let the light show over the horizon.

Peachy Sky

Turning Pink

Golden Sunset

Sunshine and Showers

Sunshine and Showers

Sunshine and Showers

Sunshine and Showers

Evening Light

Betty’s Wood in Evening light

There is something really special about evening light in the late autumn.  The trees are in their rich colours, but still have their leaves.  The light is warm, but is starting to have that watery quality that appears during the winter.  When the sky is clear and the weather is cold, there is something luminous and beautiful about the scenery that is not seen at any other time of year.

In Betty’s Wood, we have a lot of young trees starting to really grow up and strut their stuff.  Three years ago, they were just little 60cm whips.  Today some are over 2 metres tall, and as well as beautiful autumn colours, they are also producing fruit and berries for the birds, and catkins for spring pollen.  The lush pond vegetation is dying back, and the still cold air provides perfect reflections in the evening light.

Here are a few pictures of our beautiful woods in the autumn evening light, taken over the last couple of weeks.

Sunset over Betty’s Wood Ponds

Sunset over Betty’s Wood Ponds

 

Sunset over Betty’s Wood Ponds

Teasel at Sunset

Golden birch leaves

Betty’s Wood in Evening Light