Coppull Hall Wood
After skimming the edge of Coppull Hall Wood during last weekend's walk, I decided to go back on Monday evening and have a proper look around. Rather than walking through Drybones Wood from Birkacre, I instead approached from the other side, skirting Coppull Hall before dropping down into the woods. This evening was particularly hot and stuffy, even more so in the woods and the midges were having a field day, so it wasn't the best of conditions to be out in, although, considering it's chucked it down ever since this week, perhaps it wasn't that bad after all.
The woods themselves were dark and oppressive, densely overgrown and generally very unwelcoming, making me feel a bit uncomfortable, so I didn't hang around for too long before finding my way out and heading back to the car. It's funny how a woodland can sometimes give off a sense of hostility, I've felt it in a few places and this was one of them (plantation woodlands often give off a similar vibe I find).
For this walk, I'd decided to break out the Z8 + 24-70 f/2.8S. It was too hot to be messing around carrying a tripod, so these are all handheld. The sky was bright blue with a low angled sun, so in spite of the dense woodland, there were lots of hotspots as the sun pierced the canopy here and there, which was not ideal.
Fields of Green
The OS map said there was a path across this field and it appeared sufficient other people had thought the same due to the line of trampled plants that accurately followed the line on the map. I bet the farmer just loves that.
Reach For The Skies
The trunk of this tree had a fascinating sinewy nature, like the bark had been peeled back to reveal the structure underneath. I could have done without the tree on the far right intruding into the frame, but wouldn't want to crop it out as it would upset the balance of the image. Probably a candidate for generative fill if it ever comes to any of the tools I use, but for now it would mean spending 30 minutes in Affinity painting it out with the infill tool.
Mystical Woods
So, given my overall uncomfortable feeling while wandering around these woods, I was surprised that this image came out so peaceful and almost mystical looking once I got my hands on it in Capture One. Just a footnote, this is the same tree as seen in the previous image, just from the other side.
No Through Route
The paths through this woods were often rough and difficult to traverse, with this one being no different. I do feel there's a great picture to be had here, but this isn't it. I like the different lighting and detail on the two vine covered trees on the right, plus the fallen tree is interesting, but the overall composition is a bit sucky. Still, I think it has some merit, so I've included it here.
Giant Slug Trails
Slugs leaving trails this wide would probably have you leg off if they could catch you. Fortunately this isn't the work of nature gone made, just some sort of sheeting to keep the birds away from the seeds, although, judging from the rustling regularly heard beneath it as I walked along the edge of the field, some wildlife (presumably field mice) was clearly having a ball beneath it.
Afraid Of The Light
At the lower edge of the field in the previous shot was another strip of woodland that I wanted to explore, but again, that feeling of dread made me just as keen to get out of there once I was in. I also found it exceptionally hard to navigate inside this woods. What paths there were, were extremely steep and slippery, making moving safely around the interior challenging to say the least and, although it held a solid lock, my Garmin decided it no longer wanted to reliably tell me which direction I was going in. It was odd and I ended up retracing my steps and getting out of there as quickly as I could.
This tree was on the edge of the woods adjacent to the field and seemed to be cowering in the shadows.
