A taste of Paradise in Wharfe and Oxenber Woods

I first heard of Oxenber and Wharfe Woods a couple of years ago when training some clients on Lightroom and Photoshop. They described it as the best bluebell wood they had seen and I had every intention of visiting last year. For various reasons, that never happened and so the middle of May 2012 marked my first visit. I wasn't sure of the best route up to the woods and took what I thought might be a good shortcut - it certainly was a direct route but extremely steep and not good for the hamstrings with a heavy pack on my back! The woods are mainly ash, hazel and hawthorn and are interspersed with areas of limestone pavement. A huge variety of plantlife thrives here and it's not hard to see why it's an Area of Special Scientific Interest.

As I wandered along the path towards the top of the woods, I was rewarded with some very welcome evening sunshine. It really was like walking through paradise - one of those moments when you feel very lucky to do what you do and to live where you live! The bluebells were not quite at their peak but I was amazed at how many other Springtime flowers were also on show - orchids, wood anenomies, wood sorrel, primrose, primula, aquilegia... to name a few.

As a location, it's perhaps not immediately and obviously photogenic - it was a while before I began to see any images and on this, my first visit, I really only scratched the surface. I suspect a series of images will be required, really to do justice to such beautiful woodland pastures. However, there's no doubt it is a wonderfully rewarding place to visit and photograph and one I look forward to getting to know.

This was my best image from the couple of hours I spent there. I love the backlighting from the evening sun, helping to define the intricate shapes of the overlapping trees. Flare was a bit of a challenge, but I keep a piece of cardboard in my bag for such occasions and was just able to shield the lens sufficiently.