Essex/Hertfordshire landscape locations?

AliceinWonderland

AliceinWonderland

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Alice Molloy
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Best places for landscape photography in Essex/Hertfordshire?

Total newbie here - with a canon 4000D
 
There's no prescription for where to go - true photography is about cultivating your own alertness. Learn to see light, and learn how the camera records it, to find where the limits are and how to manage things. Learn by doing, and look at loads of other people's stuff as well with an enquiring mind.
 
Outdoors is a good place to start learning to see light photographically and to go with the flow.

When you tangle with indoor shooting, light management can get more tricky - outdoor daylight seen through windows is usually far brighter than the room light and is liable to bleach out, which can be ugly ...

Cameras these days have a dizzying number of settings, but at least they're there to choose from. Aperture priority is the exposure mode to go for, unless you want to photograph things that are whizzing about.

If you shoot 'raw' files instead of 'jpgs', you'll have much more control over the results, using Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom (or something else). This has a crucial bearing on how highlights and shadows come out. But it involves time in front of a screen ...
 
Thank you. I have been shooting today on AV mode :)

I'm looking to upload them onto my Mac as I use photoshop but I'm outstanded that my "Kit" didnt include a USB cable?!
 
Most cameras are slow at USB upload compared to a real card reader (plus you use battery power whilst doing it) - even a £5 card reader is worth it in my experience.

Surely you have another USB lead from something else?
 
I've looked everywhere and not the one needed ... typically. I have done it via wifi upload now. Will invest in a card reader.

Will be uploading my 1st ever photos shortly. :D
 

5D3_0552_1500 by
David Williams, on Flickr

This is the M25/M1 junction just north of Watford, look on Google Maps and you'll be able to work out where it is :)

David
 
You have a massive variety of places to explore from the Thames, up the Lee Valley, out to the Coast, Epping Forest (especially in autumn) and some tranquil landscapes and river scapes away from the crowds, as well as historic buildings, villages and structures.

Should keep you busy for months or years!
 
Constable country (Dedham, etc) is an obvious choice. But it's all rather flat here, so 'epic' landscapes are harder to find.

Mrs Goldtop comes from Austria and cannot believe how flat the landscape is hereabouts. She thinks it's boring, but it's just different, with different positives - see, for example, Turner's skies for inspiration.
 
The Chilterns are pretty good for woodland, Epping Forest is somewhere else that comes to mind for that too. There's also Constable country as mentioned above. What do you enjoy shooting most? Wide views, coast, woods? I think it's best to go where you feel inspired and you don't really need to visit well-known areas, finding your own places is more important
 
SFTPhotography said:
If it were me I'd book a Ferry and drive to the Alps, Dolomites or Pyrenees. I couldn't hack it there - sorry
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No doubt it's a tough place but there are places nearer to Essex than those! There are a few Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounding Essex, not the Alps but should still offer plenty of opportunities, just depends what the OP is drawn to
 
Scirocco_09 said:
No doubt it's a tough place but there are places nearer to Essex than those! There are a few Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty surrounding Essex, not the Alps but should still offer plenty of opportunities, just depends what the OP is drawn to
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They’re not that great though - England really is just a place to drive through to get to France :) :)
 
SFTPhotography said:
They’re not that great though - England really is just a place to drive through to get to France :) :)
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The Essex coast is surprisingly photogenic, you just have to work a bit harder for a composition in this part of the world. Granted I wouldn't drive from Scotland to shoot it but there's something to be said for photographing what is on your doorstep.
 
justinminns said:
The Essex coast is surprisingly photogenic, you just have to work a bit harder for a composition in this part of the world. Granted I wouldn't drive from Scotland to shoot it but there's something to be said for photographing what is on your doorstep.
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But plenty would drive Essex to Scotland to shoot Scotland, and it’s well worth driving from Scotland to shoot France ;) - a day in the car gets you to Chamonix or the Pyrenees and opens your eyes to scenes that someone shooting in England couldn’t even dream of...

There’s a lot to be said IMHO for not shooting what’s on your door step and exploring new and interesting places.
 
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SFTPhotography said:
They’re not that great though - England really is just a place to drive through to get to France :) :)
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What an absolute insult to England and the magnificent countryside we have. I don't shoot landscape but plenty do and are more than satisfied with what England and the rest of the UK have to offer. France also has magnificent scenery but it doesn't have sole ownership.
 
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Yup. when you've got the sweeping majesty of the Thames estuary, with Canvey Island twinkling like a jewel in the distance, the Rhone Valley is a poor alternative.

That said, IMHO, Essex is best seen from your rearview mirror.

(An Essex boy writes.)
 
goldtop said:
Yup. when you've got the sweeping majesty of the Thames estuary, with Canvey Island twinkling like a jewel in the distance, the Rhone Valley is a poor alternative.

That said, IMHO, Essex is best seen from your rearview mirror.

(An Essex boy writes.)
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The insult was about all of England. I have travelled extensively in France and it's not all magnificent. Paris for example has good and bad parts, parts so bad they would rival parts of London. The holiday campsites on the West coast of France are nothing to write home about either.
As I said there are great parts in France, but wouldnt the Lake District hold it's own?
 
SFTPhotography said:
But plenty would drive Essex to Scotland to shoot Scotland, and it’s well worth driving from Scotland to shoot France ;) - a day in the car gets you to Chamonix or the Pyrenees and opens your eyes to scenes that someone shooting in England couldn’t even dream of...

There’s a lot to be said IMHO for not shooting what’s on your door step and exploring new and interesting places.
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I absolutely agree about exploring new places (I do quite a lot of it myself) but you can't do it all the time. I find photographing my local area a completely different thing. You can explore more often, seeing the changes through the seasons and getting to know the places much more intimately, finding new angles and building up a body of work. Visiting somewhere for a week or two you just don't have that sort of time.

Personally I think the UK has some world class locations, if I didn't live here it would be on my list ;)
 
justinminns said:
Personally I think the UK has some world class locations, if I didn't live here it would be on my list ;)
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Interesting. I respectfully disagree and I can tell you if I was based in the Alps or Pyrenees I’d not set foot in this second rate god forsaken boring wet miserable little island to take pictures.

As the highlands are in my back yard aye - but I’d be kidding myself if I thought I’d visit here to take pictures if I lived elsewhere. I’m glad people do - it’s a good source of income for me but I do ask myself why would they bother? Perhaps because we are a prosperous nation but UK (and I do include Scotland in this) is vastly overrated. All IMHO
 
Well aren't we a grumpy lot on this forum today!
 
Brian G said:
Well aren't we a grumpy lot on this forum today!
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I’ve not even dropped in the “boring little pictures” phrase yet that everyone loves so much on here [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

OP - spend a bit on yourself. The tunnel is nearby. Train to the Alps or drive down. Be inspired by something special or take some “boring little pictures” in your back yard. Your choice.

There - I got it in...
 
SFTPhotography said:
Interesting. I respectfully disagree and I can tell you if I was based in the Alps or Pyrenees I’d not set foot in this second rate god forsaken boring wet miserable little island to take pictures.

As the highlands are in my back yard aye - but I’d be kidding myself if I thought I’d visit here to take pictures if I lived elsewhere. I’m glad people do - it’s a good source of income for me but I do ask myself why would they bother? Perhaps because we are a prosperous nation but UK (and I do include Scotland in this) is vastly overrated. All IMHO
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Steve your Alps and Pyrenees pictures are far less appealing than your Scotland ones, no doubt spectacular in person but they're mainly unengaging images, sorry. Just visiting incredible mountain areas doesn't guarantee great images and you can't be bothered to climb your local hills to find new views! The UK is an amazing place for landscape photography, we have varied terrain in a relatively small area and it must be pretty disheartening as a new photographer being told to go to another country which really is appalling advice. The OP may not be inspired by the Alps but prefer her backyard... Justin's own book shows what beautiful pictures are to be had in East Anglia if you make the effort.
 
Hopefully some of the above is a wind-up. If you are bored with the UK fine, but for most people there is enough beautiful scenery to last a lifetime, even in Essex and Herts.
 
Troll. Can't be arsed to respond anymore.
 
justyn_c_uk said:
Grayson Perry’s A House for Essex (can’t remember if it’s accessible)
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There is a footpath that goes right alongside the edge of the garden, so reasonably accessible. I prefer the view from near Wrabness church bu you need a LONG lens for that.
IMO the views across the stour from Wrabness are better than the House for Essex too.

Plenty of interest along the coast, but less of the drama available in the far north or far west...
 
Scirocco_09 said:
Steve your Alps and Pyrenees pictures are far less appealing than your Scotland ones, no doubt spectacular in person but they're mainly unengaging images, sorry. .
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Not to me they are not. I’d sooner stop shooting local and just do these places than do more UK shooting. I don’t think you’ll like my 2020 plans at all ;) however I am incredibly excited for what France and Spain have in store for me.

I wonder if you find them less engaging due to a lack of familiarity. The idea that the U.K. can offer more engaging scenes than the alps and Pyrenees is quite frankly laughable in my view to be honest.

These places are only a day in the car or train away and will open the eyes of a novice photographer and inspire their soul. As @LongLensPhotography put it on another thread god did not make all landscapes equal.
 
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Dude! You've over-played your hand. :) I was only (half) joking about Essex, above.

The OH is Austrian and we visit the Alps often. Plus: Croatia, Tuscany, SoFrance, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Cuba, Japan. We've done 10,000s of miles of road trips. They all have their own charms in terms of landscape, but dismissing the equal attraction of the UK's dales, moors, highlands and islands, downs, coasts, cwms, tarns and vales is a bit daft.

But (serious point), if the UK fails to inspire you to find good photos, then you are definitely doing the right thing by going somewhere else. This is art, and if we were all moved by the same thing, it'd be a dull world.
 
Everyone to their own but I think we are very lucky in the UK to have so many varied landscapes within such a small area.

For example, the rolling hills of the Chilterns to the remoteness of the Fisherfield Forest. No where is more than about 70 miles from the sea with all the variety of coastlines - sea lochs, spectacular cliffs and stacks, beaches to rival anywhere and huge skies.

Dave
 
AliceinWonderland said:
Likening some of the suggestions thank you!
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Glad you're still here, Alice. Some of the posts above aren't particularly welcoming.

Essex is hard, because there isn't the obvious drama, but it is a beautiful rural county, with some big skies and a very long coastline, and one that still can offer much to the keen-eyed. Sometimes you have to think small. So easy to lug around all the dramatic mountain hotspots, and not so challenging to take a good photograph, though I have to say that were I a mountain photographer I would be looking for the sublime rather than the picturesque.
 
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