Slow

Exploring Slow Photography in London’s Ancient Woods.

The other day I went exploring some local woods.

I had spent the weekend stuck at home with a cold and wanted to get out for a few hours of fresh air to clear my head.

Coldfall Wood

The wood I chose to visit is Coldfall Wood in north London. It is a remnant of a larger ancient woodland. There have been trees here since prehistoric times. Other parts of the ancient woodland nearby include Highgate and Queens Woods.

Coldfall Wood, like the other remnants, is tucked away between suburban housing; the busy North Circular Road is not far away either; and overhead planes stack up waiting to land at London’s airports. It is not the quietest of places!

Slowing down

But once you step through the gates into forest you can start to leave the world outside behind, and slow down.

That was what I try to do when I enter any woodland, and I use my camera to help me. I wanted to find one small space of the wood, a few square metres, and then explore it in depth, spending time looking at it from all angles. Perhaps I will stop using my eyes and feel the object instead. Maybe I will simply listen to the sound of the wood.

Then I will lift the camera.

The old tree

The fallen tree is embraced

This time I discovered a fallen tree. It had lain there for some time; its bark had long since worn away and the inner layers were exposed, almost like muscles and sinews.

My plan was to take time, get in close to explore the tree and the space around it. I noted its surroundings; a younger tree appeared to be growing out of the space it had vacated. I liked how some of the roots of the living tree ran above the ground, seeming to embrace the older tree.

I was also drawn to the tiny quantity of leaves that had fallen into a small hollow at the base of the old tree, adding a touch of bright autumn colour.

Now I looked closer at the sinews of the dead tree.

As I came in closer I noticed something else; tiny mushrooms growing between them. To my fanciful mind these looked like small sailing ships riding the waves or tiny dwellings running up a mountainside.

Ships at sail or mountainside villages

Slow photography

For the next couple of hours, lost in the wood and oblivious to the world beyond I continued my slow, deep photography.

For every image I carefully composed the image, setting the camera up on the tripod. I have written about the joys of tripods before. I used a low ISO to get the sharpest images possible and I went for a longer shutter speed to compensate – dead trees don’t move!

Practicing slow photography is one way to become more in connection with your surroundings. You start to notice small details you might not have seen. Your photography can become more engaging. Most importantly it is a great way to take a deep breath and a step back from your regular life.

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Next time you take your camera out, slow down and see what happens.

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The spirit of the tree

After a while I had to leave although I was reluctant to do so. Just before I packed up though I looked at the ancient tree one more time and realised that I was being watched. Perhaps the spirit of the tree itself!

The spirit of the tree