Picturesque vs photogenic views - Lower Wye Valley, Autumn 2015

In the 18th C the Wye Tour was a popular tourist attraction, essentially a boat trip downriver with stopping off points on the journey, to stretch the legs and take in the views. The picturesque status of the Lower Wye Valley scenery was sealed with the publication in 1782 of William Gilpin's "Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; Made in the Summer of the Year 1770". In more recent times the Lower Wye Valley has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and much of the native woodland designated a Special Area of Conservation. So, in theory, the Lower Wye valley should present no shortage of photography opportunities. In practice the Lower Wye Valley presents some challenges in photographing the scenery. The challenges to photography manifest themselves in the absence of the Lower Wye Valley as a destination on the landscape photography workshop circuit and neither do many landscape photographers portfolios or galleries feature images of the Lower Wye Valley. If they do, they tend to be from one of the signposted viewpoints that are regularly cleared of trees and foliage to provide unobstructed views.

Picturesque the Lower Wye Valley is without doubt, however its photogenic qualities are compromised by the very same trees and foliage that add so much to the scenery and sadly obstruct many views. Then there are; access restrictions; intensively cultivated fields; power lines; topography and conservation activities. Whilst the clear felling and restoration of planted ancient woodland sites (PAWS) and the return of coppicing, are positive conservation activities, their initial visual impact is not the best. It really does pay to scout the location shortly before photographing it, as it is surprising how quickly modern forestry operations are executed, the only time of stability is in the bird nesting season when cessation of forestry activities occurs.

From my own perspective, the novelty of making derivative images from the viewpoints soon wore off and venturing away from the viewpoints has been a long learning curve and more than once I've questioned if there's an inverse relationship between picturesque and photogenic scenery.

A primary aesthetic of the views overlooking the Wye valley is the perspective on the woodland. Ancient semi natural woodland with a diverse canopy and patchwork of colour. The colours are there in spring, but shades of green are no match for autumn, where the trees express their individuality through a colour palette that varies from vermilion, amber, russet and yellows.

Two dawn trips and one was rewarded with a magenta sky over a mist filled valley, long neglected hedegrows provided a lead in, to be honest I was hoping for a lot less mist in the valley and a different view.

The weather then deteriorated with days of fog and then the jet stream notable by its absence, returned with a vengeance, streaming low pressure systems over the UK for days on end, effectively ending autumnal interest until next year, when the challenge can again be resumed.