With some interesting clouds forming yesterday evening I decided to head out for a trip around the South Downs near Arlington in the hope of capturing some oilseed photographs. I was out for a couple of hours driving the lanes, parking up, walking around and then jumping back into the car and I came away with nothing to show for it. It was like a case of photographer's block hit me and none of the views seemed to work. I had a few ideas for shots in mind and at all but one location I didn't even unpack the camera. I think I need to head further afield to try some new locations to give me a fresh perspective.

I ended the trip by climbing Windover hill in hope of capturing a sunset behind Firle Beacon. As the time wore on I realised that it was looking far to hazy and not likely to produce what I wanted to capture so I bailed and returned home. In hindsight I wish I'd waited the extra 30 minutes to see what developed but looking out the window at home there was very little colour in the sky and the clouds had blown through leaving little interest in the sky. I'm planning to try that spot again as I think it has potential but I'll head out later in the evening to give me less waiting around.

I have uploaded some of the photographs from our recent visit to Arlington Bluebell walk to the Woodland Gallery.

Arlington Bluebells

A visit to Arlington Bluebell Walk has been on my to do list for a couple of years but somehow I always miss my chance. Yesterday we (my partner Rhiannon, my mother and I) took advantage of the wonderful afternoon weather to at last make a trip to this walk. I've never been before and once on the walk I was amazed by the shear number of flowers on show. The walk is well routed and offers plenty of nice angles into the woods with a carpet of blue. The strong afternoon light was perfect as my aim was to capture the dappled light on the flowers to add some extra dynamics to the scene.

Bluebell Carpet

I worked purely with the 17-40mm lens on a tripod as we took the main walk and extra white walk up and around the lagoon. Shooting on a tripod allowed me to work in AV mode at F/16 for a decent depth of field and I also chose to bracket my shots by plus and minus one stop to ensure I could capture the darker areas and bright patches equally.

I've had a quick review of this shots this morning and am quite pleased. I'll spend the next few days picking out the main keepers before getting them online.

If you fancy a nice woodland walk I highly recommend a visit to the Arlington Bluebell Walk. I'd get there as soon as possible to make the most of the bluebells before they expire for the year. Some were beginning to droop this weekend so I don't think there's much time remaining.