Woodlands by Nigel Danson | My Photo Bookshelf
I’ve been photographing the woodland for a couple of years now and throughout this time, Nigel has been such an inspiration to me while honing my own woodland photography craft. So, when Nigel released his Woodlands Book, I bagged myself a copy straight away.
Nigel’s synopsis
I feel that woodland photography offers something more than just the fun of the pursuit of a beautiful image. It is the exact opposite of the adrenaline driven climb up a mountain for first light to get that magnificent shot as I showed in Vistas.
I take a trip through the seasons and share my favourite images of oaks, beeches, silver birch and many more woodland scenes from the UK and further afield.
My thoughts about the book
Following on from Vistas, Woodlands is the second in a trilogy of landscape photography books and features a large collection of Nigel’s stunning woodland photography.
There is a familiar look and feel to Woodlands and that’s because this hardcovered book has the same cloth finish and foil lettering as Vistas and that consistent design runs throughout the inside pages with the same layout and lettering. It’s a sturdy, well-crafted book which feels solid and durable.
The images, as you might expect if you follow Nigel’s work are top-notch. I particularly like the photos that have his trademark painterly look, as I think this approach to editing works really well for woodland scenes and with just a small amount of text here and there, the photos taking centre stage on the page. The images are grouped together in chapters based on the season they were taken and personally, I think that’s the right way to present a book like this as it allows for the most natural flow from cover to cover. That being said, sequencing the images within the chapters may still prove tricky but Nigel’s done a good job here too.
The book finishes off with a little information about the gear Nigel used and I like this approach. Gear is not the be-all and end-all and should not detract from the photo itself, but dedicating a page or two at the end is a good, subtle way to address any questions readers might have about the gear used to capture these photos.
This is a fantastic woodland photography book and I certainly recommend it, especially for those who love to spend time amongst the trees like me.
Book Details
Hardcover
Size: 300mm x 240mm
Pages: 128
Availability at the time of writing: The book is now sold out, but you can sign up to be notified of future print runs on Nigel’s website here https://www.nigeldanson.com/products/woodlands