20241018 New Forest Bolderwood Mist 617

[@MikeScheerer]

Loved the video Lawrence, thanks for sharing your first meet-up and adventure with your fellow 617 club members. May it be the first of many, perhaps I will be able to join you myself one day. 👍🏻

[@TheLDunn1]

@@MikeScheerer my pleasure. I’m going to be looking at going further afield on photo trips, so maybe we can work something out and meet up, that would be ace!

[@paulwbakerphotography]

I might have to go there? I had never heard of Bolderwood until I watched this. Stunning conditions for the camera! Thanks for sharing

[@TheLDunn1]

@@paulwbakerphotography part of the reason for me doing these videos is to keep track of the different locations I’ve visited in the New Forest, so I can refer back to them if I need to…..and, to provide something of a guide for others, so they can see the car park name I’ve started in, and then just explore themselves from there, it gives a small taste of what to expect.

[@robintaylor-hunt5875]

Great video! And I loved the final images. My favourite is the deer, closely followed by the following dead trees picture. Great work!

[@TheLDunn1]

@@robintaylor-hunt5875 thanks Robin! It was frustrating that the best light came as I was leaving…..and it did make me late getting home, which my wife was not too happy at, especially as it made us late setting off for Cardiff, and then the M4 was closed due to an accident we think, which then resulted in a length detour. So because I made us late leaving, it made what should have been a 2.5 hour journey, over 4 hours…..

[@andysuzierawlins5462]

You got a good deer shot after all, those creatures have the road sense of a toddler, lol Bolderwood by those 2 dead trees is a favourite astrophotography haunt for me, recently got the comet there, haven't processed pics yet, lol. I tried to drive home that way once, got horribly lost, ended up back in ting Wood, took me an hour to get home, not sure where I went wrong, I usually drive back through Lyndhurst. Some great photos there. I like Thomas Heaton too, can't afford 617, don't have time to commit

[@TheLDunn1]

@@andysuzierawlins5462 yeah, driving pre dawn in foggy conditions was intense, just waiting for a deer to spring out on you from every shadow, no sense at all, you are right. I can see that the dead trees would be good for a nightscape. I got the last comet over Stonehenge at dawn, I arrived at the stones around midnight, with clear skies to south and west but the comet was NW, and that remained stubbornly cloud bound all night. Thought I’d lost my chance as the pre dawn light started to emerge, and then the cloud to the NE started to break up, and I had a few minutes shooting before the comet was all washed out. I was disappointed, but as it happened, when I got around to developing my image, the pre dawn sky actually added to the shot because it set the stones in silhouette against a pink/orange/red morning sky, with the comet above still in deep inky blue. I hope you are happy with your comet image when you develop it, it takes commitment to do these things, it’s nice to have a reward at the end for that. I used to go out to the New Forest and do astro imaging (as opposed to nightscapes) between 2011-2016, but other things in life started restricting my time, so I put astro imaging on hold for a bit, but hope to restart very soon. I questioned paying for 617 before I joined, on the grounds that there are a number of other free photo groups you can join on Facebook, but, I decided to give it a go for a year and see how things went. So far, it has been very positive. Within 12 hours of joining, I had posted about a potential meet, and had a load of replies, and ended up meeting with 3 other local members for a photo walk. At the same time I also posted in a Facebook photography group and got one response saying they would love to meet up but couldn’t due to work. 617 have also had two guest presenters who both did 1.5 hour presentations that were really excellent. It’s early days for me in 617, but so far, I’d say it’s worth it.

[@Chris391971]

Great video. This is what the 617 club is all about.

[@TheLDunn1]

@@Chris391971 thx Chris, I was pretty ‘blown away’ with the 627 Club. I joined around 6pm ish on the 17th Oct, about an hour later I noticed a forecast for fog in my area for the following morning. I posted on 617 about the forecast and if anyone wanted to join me in the New Forest at dawn, and with such short notice, I didn’t expect to get any response at all. However, within a couple of hours I had 3 other members say thing that they were up for a pre dawn meet, and a number of others posting that they either could not make it but would like to, OR, that they were not close enough but my post had caused them to check their location forecasts and they discovered they had fog too and were planning on going out locally to them. Everyone who said they would meet up the following day did turn up, and within 10 mins of the agreed time. Perfect! It honestly exceeded my expectations….and it was on a Friday morning, when many would be at work. I hope/plan to post about further meets in the New Forest in coming weeks, and anticipate doing more (& hopefully improving) videos of our meets.

[@russhawker1718]

Great video Lawrence. I keep looking at the 617 club but haven't decided if I am good enough to justify the £198.

[@TheLDunn1]

@@russhawker1718 hi Russ, and thank you. You would not happen to be the Russ Hawker I used to go to astronomy meets with in the New Forest are you??? Like you, I had the same question mark in my head too, it’s not just about if I’m good enough, it’s also that there are plenty of free photography groups online you can join too. I decided to give it a go for a year. So far I have had a very positive experience. I joined on a Thursday evening and by Friday at dawn was meeting with 3 other members on a photo walk. That’s pretty impressive I think. Secondly, I’ve now watched two of the guest presentations, that lasted around 1.5 hours each, and both have been fantastic. It’s early days for me, but so far, I’d say ‘yes, it is worth it’, but nay more time will tell if it continues to maintain this strong start. If you want to ask any more questions about it, feel free to ask me and I’ll give you my honest opinion.

[@Russellhawker]

@@TheLDunn1 Hey Lawrence, it is the one and same Russ. That seems a lifetime ago now, ah wait that's because it is. 14 years ago! How time flies. That sounds great. I've joined a bunch of free groups on FB and Flickr but 617 looks a lot more structured and offering a fair bit for the money. That puts my mind at ease, I'll join up later. Anything Tom and Simon do is good. I'll keep an eye out for photo walks once i've joined. Oh, forgot to start with hope you are keeping well. I did see on your other video that you are retired now. That is awesome.

[@TheLDunn1]

@ oh ace! it is you!!! Really pleased to have reestablished contact with you. Yeap, I took an early retirement / Separation package at the end of June this year, so still finding my feet so to speak. I don’t feel I’m settling into retirement as easily as a number of my ex colleagues, I miss work, but at the same time, there are aspects which I’m glad I don’t have to put up with anymore too. I can’t say too much on a public forum like this. I’m currently out in Spain (doing photography of course!), but return this Thursday. I hope / plan to post in 617 to do more photo walks in the very near future, and anticipate doing more videos of the meets. I think I joined 617 on the 17th Oct, so still very early days for me, but if you do join, there is a referral program, I’ve not read up about it so I have no idea of the details, but if you could put me down as the person who referred you that would be ace. I’ll try and find the post about referrals to learn more, maybe I have to send something out, I really have no idea on it. You should have joined by the 18th Oct though, there was a discount to join up to then. Do you still have my direct contact details? Email or Messenger? I will see if I have yours.

[@russhawker1718]

@@TheLDunn1 great news indeed. I'll let you know when I have joined. It will be pay day, which is this Friday. So that's cool. I'll be sure to put you down as the person who referred me. I can then checkout all the 617 bits.