The Chilterns In Infrared

In addi­tion to the beau­ti­ful vis­tas there are many woods that togeth­er pro­vide a won­der­ful can­vas for Infra-Red pho­tog­ra­phy and, whether this is you first for­ay into the amaz­ing world of infra-red, or you already have some expe­ri­ence, this work­shop pro­vides the ide­al oppor­tu­ni­ty to devel­op your skills. 

With just over 20% of the Chilterns being cov­ered in wood­land it is one of the most heav­i­ly wood­ed areas in Eng­land and with many of the woods sit­ting atop the chalk escarp­ment that runs across 4 coun­ties, we will be able to cap­ture both inti­mate and enchant­i­ng infra-red wood­land images whilst nev­er being more than a few min­utes away from wider views across the hills.

We will vis­it Coombe Hill locat­ed near to the ham­let of Dun­smore. The major­i­ty of the hill (an area of 106 acres) once formed part of the Che­quers Estate but is now owned by the Nation­al Trust. At 850 feet above sea lev­el, it sits on one of the high­est and most strik­ing spurs of the Chilterns, com­mand­ing a wide view of the Vale of Aylesbury. 

Here there are both inti­mate wood­land scenes and wider views of the sur­round­ing land­scape and, if we are lucky, the mist might roll in and pro­vide us with some very dif­fer­ent pho­to­graph­ic opportunities.

We will stop at Iving­hoe Bea­con, the start­ing point for the Ridge­way long dis­tance path, and enjoy the views across the chalk downs towards Dun­sta­ble and beyond. Near­by we may drop into Dock­ey Wood and the near­by Ashridge estate with its exten­sive wood­lands, both pro­vid­ing bound­less infra-red opportunities.

Fur­ther along the escarp­ment we will spend some time on the Ick­nield Way, an ancient track­way that runs from Wilt­shire to Nor­folk, and pop into the woods beside the Aston Rowant Nation­al Nature Reserve.

As well as vis­it­ing wood­lands and vis­tas we will also make time to vis­it the fas­ci­nat­ing Site of Spe­cial Sci­en­tif­ic Inter­est (SSSI) at Stoke Com­mon, one of the largest remain­ing areas of heath­land in the Buckinghamshire.

Through­out the work­shop your leader, Mark Lawrence, will be on hand to offer one-to-one tuition on loca­tion to help you get the most from your time togeth­er. Back at our com­fort­able hotel base there will be time for image reviews and edit­ing with each par­tic­i­pant going home with at least one image print­ed on A2 paper. 

In addi­tion to being an expe­ri­enced infra-red pho­tog­ra­ph­er, Mark is based on the edge of the Chilterns and knows the area well, so will be able to make sure you get the most from this workshop.

The loca­tions we will vis­it are all with­in a few min­utes of our cho­sen park­ing spots, although if you wish to explore a lit­tle fur­ther afield you will be wel­come to do so.