Woodland Photography at Upper Moor Woodland | Ashover | Matlock | Peak District National Park
Is that something moving ahead? Heading into the mist at Upper Moor Woodland near Matlock in the Peak District National Park
About a year and a half ago I saw a photograph posted online in a photography group. Taken in a small woodland near Matlock in the Peak District National Park; the image had been taken during the day in late spring/early summer, but even in midday sunlight, still had something mythical about it.
Instantly I was stuck with the location. I could envisage mist, some dappled side light, and the possibility of a shadowy figure heading towards me. I’ve got a lot to thank that photographer for - unfortunately I have no idea of his/her name - as I instantly decided that I had to visit this place and create the shot that I could see in my minds eye.
‘Red’ The barbed wire that adorned the wall at one end of the 'woodland ‘corridor’ proved to be a distraction. This shot taken at a much lower height both to remove as much of the barb as possible and to give focus onto the beautiful moss covering the slab of rock
Fast forward 18 months and I finally ventured over towards Matlock. Coming from Manchester, this is about as long a journey as it gets for me in the Peak District National Park. And, on a dark pre-dawn morning with some light rain and very misty conditions along unlit windy roads, it made for quite the journey!
I had an idea of where to park on the B5057 (you can find it with reference 5FM3+9H7 Matlock on Google Maps | use co-ordinates 53.1834019, -1.5460699 | or search kennels.everybody.shiver on What Three Words) and finally arrived to find the small lay-by empty of cars (something that wouldn’t be the case when I left!).
I got myself ready for the ‘hike’ ahead and with the heavy lump of gear, water, waterproofs, snack bar tripods etc mounted onto my back, I set off on the hike to get on location……..and arrived two minutes later! I really thought I would have to hunt around for the stretch of woodland I wanted but it really was just over the road, through a gate and past a power mast…..easy!
It was still dark so I set off to have a little explore and see what else was luring in the dark misty woods, turned out not much more really. But that one stretch would suit me just fine. The first of many other photographers turned up about 30 minutes after I arrived, and we had a bit of a chat about photography, as you do, before I set about finding the composition that I wanted for the final photograph.
One of the compositions I tried before settling on the final shot, I was trying to find a shot with the wall on the left of the composition…..but it just didn’t feel right for what I envisaged.
I took a couple of test shots at either end of the woodland corridor along which the old wall ran and trees towered over creating an almost circular archway. There were a fair few distractions along the path, part of the wall had fell, barbed wire had been added to sections of the wall to name just a couple and so I found myself back towards my starting point, looking down into the mist.
I had found a section without any parts of the wall tumbling and, with some small rocks on the ground, I had interest along the pathway. Whilst I would have preferred the wall to come into the frame from the left of the composition, it worked just as well on the right side. Everything led to where my ‘fantasy shot’ would have it’s point of interest.
The mist created some interesting challenges as the diffused highlights peaked through the trees. The shadows contrasting to stretch the dynamic range to the full extremes of the histogram. But with composition lined up and exposure challenges overcome, I waited as more photographers were now heading along the pathway (taking a shot or two as they went of course) for several minutes until I had a clear shot then click. the ‘on location’ part of the shot was done. Now a quick trip to the photoshop to finish it off.
‘Fantasy Forest’. Whilst I would absolutely have loved a deer from nearby Chatsworth to come out of the mist in reality, that’s not necessary for a ‘fantasy’ photograph.
All this and it was still only just past 9am. As I headed back to the car, I passed at least 7 other photographers and two more cars pulled onto grass verges along the road as I headed back to the lay-by, which was now full. It’s always nice to finish before the crowds arrive, so a pat on the back for me….and a coffee to celebrate a good mornings work. I finished off the morning with a trip by Magpie Mine and Monsal Head, a while since I had been to either, before the drive back in much easier conditions.
It’s rare that I create composites. But on this occasion I knew from the start that would be the case. Chatsworth Estate is nearby and so it was possible that a random deer may have happened into the woodland although highly unlikely. And that is itself the fantasy part of the shot by definition, so changing a minimal amount of pixels in a photograph was no biggie. Plus, I had the perfect deer shot to do it with - one that I had photographed earlier in the year at Dunham Massey deer sanctuary in Greater Manchester.
And so, after initial processing in Lightroom, I moved the image through into photoshop to add the final touch. An image 18 months in the making was finally finished. Fantasy Forest indeed.
You can see more from Fantasy Forest in the Peak District National Park by clicking the link and watching how I captured the shot over on the Let’s Click Photography YouTube channel: Let’s Click Photography on You Tube