Parks of London – Jennie Meadows MA Photography

AGM62 Bushy Park 16 October 2020

With the words ‘take more photographs’ ringing in my ears, it was back to the park. My intention was to take shots of the trees with the sunlight shining through the Autumn colours. However, I was thwarted by the clouds and a grey sky. As a result, I resorted to focusing on observations and sub-conscious feelings.

My first stop was Chestnut Avenue.

I then stopped to take some further images through the Split tree:

Instead of heading to Woodland Gardens, I then took a detour to a copse that I only explored recently.

This is how it looks from the inside (smartphone shot).

I was using my 24mm-70mm lens at this stage and took some initial shots at 53mm.

I then set the lens at 70mm.

I then had an idea. What would it look it if I stood in the middle of the copse and took a series of images on the ’round’. I took two sets of these in two different locations using the 70mm lens setting.

Set 1

Set 2

I then walked towards Woodland Gardens, but before entering I took a couple of shots of these trees

According to the Royal Parks’ website, Bushy Park is one of the best sites in London for mistletoe. This parasitic plant is rare or absent in the the other Royal Parks and it grows very well on Limes and Hawthorns.

Woodland Gardens – Pheasantry Plantation

After a flask of hot tea and some ginger biscuits, I contemplated the park while sitting in this location.

I made some notes:

Bushy Park:

Logical, but not logical
Boundary – straight lines and curves
Lines of trees
Circles of trees
Plantations – SSSI (Special Sites of Scientific Interest)
Taking shots ‘in the round’ – what happens when images are in line?
B&W vs. Colour
Leaves vs. Branches
Space in between

After this meditation, I continued my walk through the gardens.

Nothing particularly exciting, but nice to capture the Autumn colours.

Woodland Gardens – The Waterhouse Plantation

I then visited The Waterhouse Plantation. On entering, I took shot of the map, which gives further details of the different areas of the plantation.

This is a smartphone shot of the area I focused on. I changed the lens to the 85mm as I wanted to try a different perspective.

While looking up, I noticed one tree that stood out from the surrounding ones.

I then captured some of the Autumn leaves close up on a lower tree.

The next two captures that caught my eye.

My next stop was the Hornbeam Avenue, another of my favourite spots. I then took three sequences ‘on the round’.

Hornbeam ‘On The Round’ Set 1

Hornbeam ‘On The Round’ Set 2

Hornbeam ‘On The Round’ Set 3

After processing the images, I created a few Black & White conversions. The originals are on the left, B&W on the right:

Chestnut Avenue

Split Tree

Autumn Leaves – The Waterhouse Plantation

References:

Rhs.org.uk. 2020. Mistletoe. [online] Available at: <https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=134> [Accessed 18 October 2020].

The Royal Parks. 2020. Trees. [online] Available at: <https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/bushy-park/things-to-see-and-do/flora-and-fauna/trees> [Accessed 18 October 2020].

AGM60 Bushy Park 3 May 2020

After my trip to the park on 29 April, I decided to try a different area in the park on Sunday 3 May. The location I chose to visit was between Hampton Wick Gate and Teddington Gate. I had to get to Hampton Wick that day in order to return a parcel so I thought it a good way to combine both tasks. My plan was to walk via the street to this destination then return through the park.

Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at the parcel drop off point, I had missed the cut-off time. This meant I had to carry an additional item with me, so it would make it slightly more awkward to manage my equipment. I had recently sourced and bought a suitable backpack that would make it easier and much more comfortable to walk with and carry my camera. Having to hold this bag was a small, but a significant issue that would have to be worked around. There was also the potential for me to put it down while I was taking photos and totally forgetting about it.

There were two other challenges on this day. Firstly, the light was very dull and flat. Secondly, despite the dreary conditions, the park was very busy, This meant taking the initial base and horizon line shot without people was almost impossible. I also wasn’t able to use the four-angle sets of shots that I tried on 29 April. Nevertheless, it was worth continuing with my plan to see what results could be achieved.

One major aspect was changing the image ratio from 2:3 to 16:9. This was to see how it changed the composition. As this project was like to be shown digitally, I thought it would be interesting to use a screen ratio instead of what I normally use.

These are the results:

Tree 1 – 3 May 2020

Tree 1a – 3 May 2020

Tree 2 – 3 May 2020

Tree 3 – 3 May 2020

Looking at these after processing, I realised that I Tree 2 and Tree 3 above were of the same tree, but two different sets of shots. One aspect of which to take note.

This is how the four complete images look side-by-side: