A Winter of content

Since I started taking photography more seriously, I've generally found the first few months of the year to be consistently unproductive. Few, if any, of my images tend to make it onto my favourite photos of the year shortlist.

I don't particularly enjoy winter woodlands (woodlands being my most frequent subject) because I miss the vibrant colours of spring and autumn. Without leaves, everything feels a bit twiggy. In my part of the world, recent winters have mostly been wet and grey, which hasn't helped.

However, this year I feel much better about the photos I've captured, and I suspect several may end up in my 'best of' series – for whatever that's worth. This is partly due to a couple of cold snaps, which transformed my 'go-to' location at Fonthill Lake into a winter wonderland. It's also because I kept pushing myself to go out when my instincts were telling me to stay in bed. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from 2025 is one that photographers frequently repeat: the best way to improve your photography is to go out and take photos. Who'd have thought it?

With that in mind, here are a few highlights from my trips so far this year:

January - Hoar Frost at Fonthill Lake

Fonthill Lake has been my go-to for several years now, and it regularly delivers incredible conditions when other places don't. It's often noticeably colder there, which causes vapour to form on the lake and coat the surrounding trees with beautiful frost. In winter, the sun rises in exactly the right spot. In one field alone, I've probably taken at least 50% of my all-time favourite photos. It's easy to access and criminally overlooked by other photographers – not that I'm complaining!

January - Second Snow of the Season at Biddcombe Wood

At the tail end of last year some early snow produced some better snowy woodland images, but this time around it was particularly nice to capture one of my favourite local woods looking different from how I'd previously photographed it. Naturally, I was hoping for mist, but in its absence, the first light of the morning elevated a couple of scenes nicely.

January - Almost a Banger at Kimmeridge

As much as I'd love to improve my seascape photography, the coast is just a bit too far to visit often enough to catch those rare, spectacular sunrises and sunsets. On this morning, it looked like it was going to be incredible, but unfortunately, a cloud bank killed the colour before it really developed. Still, a morning at Kimmeridge is never a waste of time.

January - All-Day Fog (Almost)

A forecast of fog tempted me out to Savernake Forest, but it never quite settled. Instead, I spent the journey home making several stops to chase what little fog I could find. Eventually, I caught it just three minutes from my house!

February - Wheddon Made Me Cross

In search of some late winter colour, I thought a trip to Snowdrop Valley in Exmoor/North Somerset would be a good idea. Unfortunately, after a long trek, the flowers were underwhelming. Thankfully, a brief stop in some nearby woods saved the day.

February - Dartmoor

Despite a forecast of wind and rain, there was also the promise of all-day fog, so I took a trip to my favourite Dartmoor woods hoping for some moody, atmospheric shots. It certainly rained, but there was plenty of lovely thick fog too. Annoyingly, a migraine limited my creativity somewhat, but I still managed to get a couple of shots I was pleased with. The drive home was... interesting.

February - Big Sunrise at Portland Bill

I predicted a good sunrise despite the somewhat pessimistic forecast, and it delivered! One hour of perfect photography followed, and thanks to the earlier sunrise time, I even made it home without upsetting the family too much.

March - Odds and Sods

Some misty sessions, including far too much at Corfe, resulted in a handful of nice images. It was good to keep the creative momentum going, even if the dream conditions didn't quite materialise.

March - Amazing Light on the Way to Work

A scrubby woodland near my workplace is always a handy backup if there's fog about. For a brief moment, as the sun broke through, the scene transformed into a light show.

March - Fonthill Delivers Again

Once again, Fonthill was the only place with any mist, and this time it brought 'the light' as well. Several of these images are among my favourites of the year so far.

Still with me....? My priority now is to try and capture my favourite time of year in my local woodlands - the forecast for the next couple of weeks isn't bringing me much confidence, and I'm not going to be able to go ahead around what I suspect will be peak Bluebell coverage, but what will be will be. I'll look forward to seeing what others are able to capture at the very least!

Until then, ta'ra!