One

ONE WEEK PER SEASON
ONE LOCATION
ONE HOUR
ONE LENS

Many assume that by being a professional nature photographer I get to spend all day outdoors. If only that were true! Instead, at least half a day every day is sat in front of the computer doing all those tasks that running a business entails. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. I get to see some wonderful places and through my workshops meet incredibly interesting people. As a result of my time spent in the office, regardless of my schedule, most days I attempt to get out and stroll around my local woodland. It’s a very special place to me as it was here that I ‘cut my teeth’ as a nature photographer more than 30 years ago and where, for the last 28, I have held the voluntary position of assistant warden. In late June of 2016, a busy week in the office lay ahead with an impending week-long trip to Italy, and I knew that upon my return, there would be countless tasks to deal with. So, I thought I would set myself this project which would give me the extra incentive of returning to nature every day prior to my departure. I have always enjoyed projects, no matter how large or small, for they are a powerful means of focussing on a specific task, as it can be all too easy to wander and return with nothing in particular. I wanted to travel light, but more than that, to use the absolute bare minimum of equipment; to get back to basics. I left my tripod, numerous other lenses and filters at home, dusted off my age-old 50mm lens, attached the strap to the camera, and disappeared into the beckoning wood for just one hour per day, for one week. 

As you can see from the introduction, my intention was to only do the seven days in summer, but such was my enjoyment of carrying out this mini-project that I decided to continue and cover the remaining three seasons. It would give welcome relief from administrative tasks and an opportunity to reconnect with a place that holds so many heartfelt memories.  

Equipment note
As you will have gathered from the introduction, the minimum of equipment was used and consisted of just an aged Nikon 50mm f/1.8 manual focus 'pancake' lens attached to a Nikon D810. The lens, originally, came with a film camera that I had purchased in the mid-80s and had remained in a box in the office for close on 20 years. Back then, this was the kit lens as opposed to the 18-55mm that you find come with cameras today. The only other item I carried around with me was a set of extension tubes since the lens' minimum focus was only around a metre. All were taken without a tripod (I wanted to be as free as possible) and a myriad of settings were employed. 

This project resulted in a small book which I am very pleased to say sold out. Recently, I have been thinking about producing a second, fine print edition. 

You can read all about the background and the book's production on my Blog, and on YouTube, there's a rather nice (even if I say so myself) audio-visual slide show which takes you through the seasons accompanied by some very soothing 'transport you to the forest' music.