Starting Point For Assignment 3.

 I've still got alot of work to do on my 2nd assignment but I've reach the point where I feel I need to look at a different subject for a while so I can then return to it with hopefully a fresher view on what I've done so far and what needs to be add. So what I thought I'd do was start putting together some of the photos I've taken for my next assignment looking at the theme of conserving our Woodlands. Woodland/Forest which ever you call them are some of the wildest places left in this ever growing urbanized country we call home, for the majority of us they tend to be in easy reaching distance and I know myself that these areas help me to relax and get away from the pressures of everyday life. Alot of people I know feel the same but why do we value these areas so much, I'm sure I saw an article somewhere (and I may have mentioned it before) that said that getting out into the woods helps us reconnect with nature while at the same time feeding that part of our brains that still holds the natural instincts to hunt and gather our ancestors had back in pre-history. Its hard to image the whole country being one vast woodland when you look today and see what is really left but even many of these areas are beginning to feel the pressure of our modern lifestyles so its even more vital then ever to protect what remains.

After some consideration I decided I wanted to approach the subject in a similar way to how I've started looking at Wetlands. By this I mean that I want to show not just the good side for example all the great wildlife and the beautiful woodland scenery but also the damage being done so as to create a full pick of how things stand. When I think about it this is kind of a problem with the project 2020 Vision which I've used to get some creative ideas, it only really focus's on the beautiful landscapes and wildlife that we have without touching on the damage that we've already done. In my own work my many aim is to avoid it ending up like this because I want it to be a very open account of how these landscape stand in today's world.

Below are photos I've taken which I think give me a strong starting point which I can build on show why Woodland environments need conserving and the work being done in this area to achieve this.

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/22

Expo- 50secs

ISO- 200

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 18mm

  Tech. Details

F-stops- f/10

Expo- 320secs

ISO- 500

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 18mm

 Tech. Details

F-stops- f/5

Expo- 500secs

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 100mm

Tech. Details

F-stops- f/5

Expo- 400secs

ISO- 2000

Expo Bias- 0 steps

Focal Length- 100mm

This first collection of photos really focuses on the bad side of whats going on out there with huge areas of woodland being strip and cut then sold to many different areas from construction to furniture. Alot of this is pine plantations that had been plant post 1945, still it has an effect with the amount of damaged caused to the local environment with loss of habitat to many species. One of my main disagreements with how this process takes place is the use of heavy machinery to clear these areas as quickly and efficiently as possible but most times when the work is finished the destruction is even more clear. Replanting is generally the aim in these areas but when you take the first photo above you tell me how you'd go about replanting in this area?

On the brighter side the last two photos show stacks of Silver Birch cleared from a local ancient Oak woodland so that new oak could be planted to replace alot of the trees taken out which again had been planted in the late 40s because of its speed of growth. With this done it's altered the ecology of the woodlands because now the oaks don't have to compete with there much faster growing neighbors giving the younger trees much more of a chance to reach maturity.  

Although I've found looking and working on my Wetland section interesting and rewarding at the same time I think I'm going to enjoy this section even more because it lets me get right down to the bones of an area really close to my heart. 

Follow @shaunjohnson12