M y latest weekend away was spent in a lovely little cottage just outside Chepstow. It was originally planned as a weekend in a cottage in Wales, but due to a double booking we relocated over the border into neighbouring England.
We were staying quite close to the Forest of Dean so I thought I would use the opportunity to get some photography done and maybe a little drone flight or two. I wanted to fly over the trees with the camera facing directly down. I thought the colours of the trees were at the moment would look amazing from above.
The first day we were there, it was absolutely hammering it down which meant no drone flight would be taking place. Not to worry, we’re we’re heading off to the forest to walk the sculpture trail so still plenty of opportunities for some photos.
The thick trees definitely provided some shelter from the rain, but it still managed to seep through and give us all a good soaking. Well, me mainly as I don’t actually own a waterproof.
One thing I couldn’t get over whilst we were walking around the forest was the colour of the trees. I knew they were going to be full of beautiful autumn colours, but I didn’t realise they would be as spectacular as they were.
There were so many colours all mixing with each other. Greens, yellows, browns, reds, it was so beautiful to just look up and instantly have all the different colours fill the scene.
The ground was just as colourful as the trees themselves. A thick carpet of fallen leaves covered the ground everywhere. It was a bit of a shame that the weather had made them all damp and soggy. I do love a crunchy leaf under my feet on a country walk.
As the evening started to draw in, the whole forest darkened and became quite eerie in places. Long roads and paths stretched far into the distance as far as the eye could see and grew darker and darker as they went.
The next day the weather had completely changed. The rain clouds had all disappeared and we were left with a beautiful blue sky, autumn sun shining down. The air was really still as well, a light breeze here and there, but mainly nice and still. Perfect conditions for a drone flight.
Unfortunately the location was not. We were heading up to Symonds Yat, one of the most popular places in the Forest of Dean, a ‘must do’ according to my father. Beautiful sunny Sunday at one of the best places in the area = too many people to legally fly. I brought the drone along with me just in case but unfortunately it stayed on the ground the whole time.
We walked up to viewpoint and sat in the sun eating our picnic. We then went and had a look at the view that made this place so popular. It was easy to see why. What a spectacular view it was!
The river cut and curved its way through the countryside like a snake slithering along the ground. The lush green hills were full of the beautiful autumnal colours of the trees so the whole scene was vibrant and bursting with colour. It would have been an amazing place to fly the drone but it was just too busy.
From there we then went on a long walk back to the car which took most of the afternoon. Again, as the evening drew in, the forest started to darken and I started to loose the vibrance of the colours in my shots.
That to me only meant one thing. Time to head back to the cottage, pop open a bottle of wine and call it a day.
