Gabriel Hemery's Blog: Gabriel Hemery, page 3

Month 3 of Project365

I’ve completed Month 3 of my 365-day challenge to capture and publish an original photograph every day, for 365 days.

After a challenging first two months, this third month (May) continued to be wet, in fact the wettest year on record. Skies were often leaden and light conditions very flat, but I never thought this would be an easy challenge

This month I’ve been completing more fieldwork for one of my upcoming books. You may notice there are a few more shots of wildlife than before. That’s because I’ve been meaning to capture a few for the book, including an elusive whitethroat which always sings from the densest scrub. I was really pleased to be able capture one of our most endangered mammals in the UK, the red squirrel. I was chuffed to finally take a good image of a grass snake. Also a rare leaf-rolling weevil.

I hope you enjoy this new collection.

Check on my webpage where you can see the images in higher resolution: https://gabrielhemery.com/project365/

Month 2 of Project365

Most of the images were captured with a Leica Q3, some taken in large format with a Hassleblad X2D, and most of the wildlife shots with my Panasonic Lumix micro four-thirds equipment.

Visit my webpage for the project. There you’ll find higher resolution images organised into monthly galleries.

Project365 Photozine £9.99

A limited edition collector’s Photozine featuring 365 photographs taken between 1st March 2024 and 28th February 2025. Limited to 365 copies. Printed on quality 150gsm silk paper. 28 pages. Size A4. Personally numbered and signed by Gabriel Hemery, and embossed for authenticity. Available to pre-order today. Delivery March-April 2025.

In stock

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Month 2 of Project365

I’ve completed Month 2 of my 365-day challenge to capture and publish an original photograph every day, for 365 days.

The extraordinarily wet and often challenging conditions that we’ve experienced during March continued to stretch my photographic skills and creativity in April, yet I’ve enjoyed the discipline and motivation which is now becoming part of my daily routine.

This video includes the images for April: days 32-61. As usual, most images were captured close to my home or workplace. During the month I was also lucky to have visited some beautiful woodlands further afield. I’ve been travelling across south-east of England conducting fieldwork for my third book in the Forest Guide series. Visiting new locations definitely makes the creative challenge a little easier, the variety providing more contrasting landscapes, woodland types and biodiversity.

Month 2 of Project365

Most of the images were captured with a Leica Q3, with some taken in large format with a Hassleblad X2D.

Visit my webpage for the project. There you’ll find higher resolution images organised into monthly galleries.

Project365 Photozine £9.99

A limited edition collector’s Photozine featuring 365 photographs taken between 1st March 2024 and 28th February 2025. Limited to 365 copies. Printed on quality 150gsm silk paper. 28 pages. Size A4. Personally numbered and signed by Gabriel Hemery, and embossed for authenticity. Available to pre-order today. Delivery March-April 2025.

In stock

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Month 1 of Project365

I’m pleased to have completed Month 1 of the 365-day challenge to capture and publish an original photograph every day, for 365 days.

I admit that it has sometimes been a real challenge, but that���s exactly what I wanted when I came up with the idea in the first place. I knew there would be days when the conditions would be difficult, the location perhaps uninspiring, or simply just difficult to find the time to take and edit a decent image.

It has been one of the wettest months on record in southern England, and the skies have often been a leaden grey. Conditions have helped me to observe the ordinary with a new perspective, to experiment with monochrome, to explore macro and play with abstract imagery. I hope you enjoy the first 31 images shown here in a short video.

Month 1 of Project365

Venues were mostly various locations near my home in Oxfordshire in England, plus a few visits to woodlands elsewhere and an evening spent in London.

Most of the images were captured with my Leica Q3, and a couple with my Hassleblad X2D.

Visit my new webpage for the project. There you’ll find higher resolution images organised into monthly galleries.

Project365 Photozine £9.99

A limited edition collector’s Photozine featuring 365 photographs taken between 1st March 2024 and 28th February 2025. Limited to 365 copies. Printed on quality 150gsm silk paper. 28 pages. Size A4. Personally numbered and signed by Gabriel Hemery, and embossed for authenticity. Available to pre-order today. Delivery March-April 2025.

In stock

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Project365|Gabriel Hemery

one photograph, every day, for 365 days

I’m excited to have launched Project365. From March 2024 to February 2025 I will be capturing and publishing one photograph, every day, for 365 days.

Project365 by Gabriel Hemery

This is a personal challenge designed to stretch my skills and experience as a photographer.

As a tree and nature photographer, I expect most of my images to be on these familiar genres, but I am sure that I’ll also capture images on alternative themes. I am sure there’ll be times when inspiration may seem far away and creativity remain elusive. Without doubt, there will be days when weather and circumstances conspire to make capturing a shareable image a significant challenge. Yet such hurdles are the whole point of the exercise, alongside the discipline that will be needed simply to keep going. I will not ‘cheat’ by using an image from another day, and I aim to not miss a single day for 365 days, for an entire year.

I hope the personal rewards will outweigh any difficulties, not least in capturing an exciting collection of images which readers will enjoy.

I’ve created a dedicated website to host the images which I will organise into pages, one for each month.

I will be making a film at the end of the project which will feature all 365 images. Also a limited collector’s edition photozine for the project which is available to pre-order now.

Find out more and enjoy my daily photographs by visiting project365.gabrielhemery.com

Who knows what the year will bring ���

Today is DAY 3 in Project365.

Project365 Photozine £9.99

A limited edition collector’s Photozine featuring 365 photographs taken between 1st March 2024 and 28th February 2025. Limited to 365 copies. Printed on quality 150gsm silk paper. 28 pages. Size A4. Personally numbered and signed by Gabriel Hemery, and embossed for authenticity. Available to pre-order today. Delivery March 2025.

In stock

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

A real-life woodland in Dorset, England, evokes imagery of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

I enjoy visiting so many beautiful, curious and wildlife-rich copses, woods and forests in England as I complete fieldwork for the last of the books in The Forest Guide series. I tend to be out in all weathers, rarely having a chance to return to a site under better conditions, but it’s rare that I can’t capture a usable photograph to accompany my writing. I am usually up before dawn to catch the best light of the day, well before golden hour around dawn, and active until sunset hour before retiring early to bed (often in a tent shared with my spinone Alba).

There is a well-accepted maxim that the best camera you own is the one you have with you when you need it. For many people today, this might mean a smartphone. You are more likely to have a smartphone with you than a camera bag complete with SLR and collection of lenses. Smartphones are now more than capable of producing images good enough in quality to publish, though not perhaps for most fine art exhibitions or advertising. An professional photographer on an assignment or fieldwork of course will hopefully be suitably equipped with their chosen camera equipment.

A second fundamental ingredient for photographers is being in the right place at the right time. I am lucky enough to be able to visit many fabulous woodland sites while I work on my writing and photography projects. Put it another way, if you are not in a location with the right equipment (and know how to use it), then magic will not happen. Every photographer seeks to capture an image that moves the observer, capturing their imagination, stimulating their mind, and creating emotions.

On a recent visit to some woodland in Dorset, I arrived well before sunrise, and made may way up a hilly track. A hoar frost lay on all the branches and remnants of bracken and a dense mist swirled around me and my dog as we traipsed between the trees in silence. I hoped I would reach the top of the hill in time to see the sun rise over the valley. I thought there might even be a cloud inversion which would look great. As it was, the cloud didn’t burn off and strange eerie glow pervaded, the gloom only cheered by a muted dawn chorus led by robin and blackbird.

The woodland did not look promising for photography, and the low light was a challenge. But then, near the top of the hill and looming through the mist I came across a spectacular scene. In the middle distance, serried ranks of conifers disappeared into the gloom, but in front of me capturing all my attention was the fractured stem of a huge beech tree. While its giant crown lay dead on the forest floor, the base erupted from the ground like a sharpened lance. The sight instantly evoked imagery from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

“There, in the dark woods on the side of the river where the bushes grow low, stood an ugly thing. Big and black. It did not move, but seemed ready to jump like a giant monster.”

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving.

In the 1999 film Sleepy Hollow, starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, the headless horseman rides into a giant tree.

A real-life woodland in Dorset, England, evokes imagery of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Photo (c) Gabriel Hemery

I was fortunate (you could say organised) in having the equipment I needed to capture this image of a real-life scene evoking The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I carried my full-frame and favourite camera, my Hassleblad X2D with 45mm lens. The resulting image is technically astounding. If you look closely at this low resolution image, you may just make out some white threads visible top left of the tree stump. At full resolution you can see the hoar frost crystals glistening on the spider threads which arch between the fractured wood. One day perhaps, I may be lucky enough to print this at full resolution in an exhibition so that viewers are transported with me back to this moment in time.

Read more about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on Wikipedia or buy on Amazon (affiliate link).

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Tune into the Rhythm of the Seasons

“Tune into the rhythm of the seasons with a delightful arboreal almanac.” So begins a generous book review of The Tree Almanac 2024 by Andrew Painting, an ecologist writing in the February edition of BBC Countryfile Magazine. The following is the full review copy.

The almanac is a form that has largely fallen from grace, to be replaced by the disparate (ahem, unreliable) information sources that litter the digital sphere. This is a shame, as the form has a rich heritage, and speaks to knowledge and culture learned and shared over millennia. Author Gabriel Hemery uses the almanac form to reimagine and reaffirm long-lost links to our nature and culture.

“Trees need champions and Hemery is an enthusiastic advocate.”

Andrew Painting, BBC Countryfile Magazine, February 2024

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The Tree Almanac invites us to reconsider a venerable way of experiencing the natural world, placing us within the annual rhythms of seasons: growth, harvest and death. Nature and culture mingle in these pages, as well they should. Aimed at the enthusiast rather than the expert, we are presented with a compendium of information ranging from the trivial (think pub quiz) to the lyrical, by way of the practical (hedgelaying, recipes, craft ideas). Trees need champions and Hemery is an enthusiastic advocate. An almanac for 2024 would be useless unless it responded to the present, and Hemery is sure to include in its pages the unease of the Anthropocene, the impacts of the climate crisis and the devastation brought by invasive non-native species and tree disease.

Think of this book, then, as a script for living with trees over the course of a year. It is an excellent primer for someone with an innate though neglected love of trees, who feels 2024 is the year they would like to do something to redress that neglect.

The Tree Almanac 2024 Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 3 customer ratings (3 customer reviews) £14.99

A wondrous seasonal journey through Britain and Ireland’s trees. Hardback. Signed copy by the author. ���A seductive mix of science, history and culture��� – Tracy Chevalier

In stock (can be backordered)

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The Chestnut Puddle

A regular muddy challenge inspires a little creativity.

I am lucky to enjoy a walking commute to my office each day. Come rain or shine, morning and night, my regular 3km walk brings multiple rewards twice every day. Striding through the countryside listening to songbirds at dawn and owls at twilight lifts my soul, my Italian spinone loves the walk, and its good for my physical and mental health too.

There is, however, one section of the otherwise tranquil ramble which tests my mettle for about half of the year. As soon as the autumn rains arrive, underground springs come back to life and water spills along the heavy clay soils. Three hundred metres of my route turns into a quagmire, powerful enough to remove wellington boots, even when they’re tightly buckled at the calf. In places, the water comes almost to the top of a pair of full wellington boots. The mud sucks and pulls, the feet slip and slide, and it is easy to loose your balance.

The best solution for anyone brave or foolish enough who is prepared to traverse this stretch is to use a stout stick for additional support. It’s partly what inspired me to include a method for making a thumbstick in The Tree Almanac 2024. I’m not a fan of using the stick for the entire commute. My solution ��� I’ve fashioned a rough thumbstick which I keep stowed at one end or other of the treacherous section, hidden among the trees and shrubs until I return. I cut a straight and thick length from some hazel coppice which had a good fork at one end, which I then widened out enough with a penknife until my thumb rested comfortably.

My experiences with this challenging route have also inspired me in various creative ways, including writing some verses which I compiled as The Chestnut Puddle.

THE CHESTNUT PUDDLEGABRIEL HEMERYRule One ��� Hands should be removed from pockets prior to initiation, and arms put to effective use as active pendula.
If you must, then there are five golden rules to be observed,

Rule Two ��� Stride should be hastened and shortened, aiming to mimic a caterpillar tracked vehicle.
Which must never by negated, however brave and fit,

Rule Three ��� The heel must never strike forwards with misplaced confidence, nor the calf muscle engaged in pushing off from the toes.
At any time, especially by night,

Rule Four��� Release a canine companion from the leash in advance of the traverse, remembering that her four legs are shorter than yours.
In the depths of winter���s embrace, to avoid a filthy demise,

Rule Five ��� Beware low branches hanging thick with the prickly husks.
When traversing a sweet puddle of chestnut, spun with silver shards. The Tree Almanac 2024 £14.99 Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 3 customer ratings Add to basket The post The Chestnut Puddle appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Forests for Traitors and the Faithful

Are you one of the many millions of viewers of the BBC’s hit series The Traitors? You are not alone in wondering where the series was filmed as you admire the stunning scenery of the Scottish Highlands including the beautiful forests of the area. There are multiple forests included in The Forest Guide: Scotland which are fabulous to explore if you are planning to visit the area, and you don’t have to be a traitor to enjoy their reward!

About BBC hit show The Traitors

The hit show The Traitors is filmed in Ardross Castle near Alness, north of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Host Claudia Winkleman delights in urging the contests to swim in the loch, run across moorland and explore local woods to reveal treasure to help grow a prize fund, while the 22-strong group grows ever more suspicious of the traitors lurking among them in plain sight.

Some Forests Nearby

Ardross Castle is privately owned but is available to hire for functions and events, including weddings. Meanwhile there are many stunning forest sites nearby which are featured in The Forest Guide: Scotland and free to explore.

The Forest Guide Online screenshot showing Fryish Forest (red drop icon) near Ardross Castle together with some of the featured surrounding forest sites in Scotland. Detailed information is revealed in an info box by clicking on a site location.Site 162 Fryish Forest, featured in The Forest Guide: Scotland. Photo (c) Gabriel HemeryNo. 162 Fryish Forest

Immediately to the south of the castle which forms the focus for the BBC series, the dramatic Fryish Monument sits atop a prominent hill, surrounded by a 766ha conifer forest owned and managed by the Novar Estate. This is site N0.162 in The Forest Guide Scotland. The forest is designated a Special Protection Area and noted for its precious wildlife, including the Scottish wildcat. From the summit, views across the Cromarty Firth are very rewarding. Keep an eye out for goldcrest and mixed flocks of tits in the canopies of the pine and larch trees.

No.169 Fairy Glen

Ash, small-leaved lime, sycamore and wych elm trees crowd this attractive little glen near the coast on the Black Isle to the south-west of Alness, owned and managed by the RSPB.

No.158 Morangie Forest

To the north-east, this large publicly-owned site managed by Forestry and Land Scotland is much loved by local people, providing for a wide range of interests and abilities, from mountain biking on unmarked forest roads, to trails with specially designed bridges to allow access for wheelchairs and wide buggies. Keep a look out for capercallie and pine marten in the Scots pine trees.

No.168 Little Garve

A little distance to the west, Little Garve is a fabulous site offering a beautiful circular walk. Visitors to this large plantation enjoy spectacular falls and the sinuous bends of the very picturesque Black Water, and two old stone bridges including Wade’s Bridge constructed in 1767.

Site 168 Little Garve and Wade’s Bridge, featured in The Forest Guide: Scotland. Photo (c) Gabriel Hemery

I hope you enjoyed these short text and photo excerpts from The Forest Guide: Scotland.

Readers of The Forest Guide can enjoy access to an interactive map providing highly-accurate access details and more for the 365 forest sites featured right across Scotland. Access is free for anyone who owns a copy of the book(s). Alternatively, access to The Forest Guide Online can be purchased for a small fee. Find out more

I am pleased to offer signed copies of The Forest Guide: Scotland in my Shop, which is also available from all good bookshops.

The Forest Guide Scotland £25.00 Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 1 customer rating Add to basket The post Forests for Traitors and the Faithful appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Great deal for Kindle readers

Many readers of The Tree Almanac 2024 have remarked on what a beautiful little book it is to hold in the hand, to flick through during a spare moment, and that it makes a perfect gift. However, if you enjoy enjoy reading digital or ebooks, then you may like to know that The Tree Almanac 2024 is also available as an ebook. Right now, Amazon is featuring it as a Limited Deal during the month of January. Buy to read and keep on your device for just ��0.99!

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Welcome to 2024

My Tree Almanac for 2024 at last becomes current today, 1st January 2024. Here are a few snippets for January extracted from the book. Before you read on, I wish all my readers a wonderful and fruitful 2024.

“After the excitement and merriment of the Christmas period, January can feel a little daunting at first. Many traditional sayings warned of the peril in believing that spring had arrived. Yet, it is impossible not to feel some cheer when catkins appear on some trees and snowdrops emerge from the leaf litter.”

January, The Tree Almanac 2024

Moon wood felling: 4-11th JanuaryTwelfth night 5th January – wassailing to encourage the sap to rise in our orchard trees (recipe for Old English Wassail with crab apples on p.26). Practical notes: in the garden, dig up any spare tree seedlings and transplant or pot up / in the field and orchard, lay hedges / in the forest, plant young trees and prune existing trees (most species)Wildlife watching: birds (goldcrest, woodpecker), invertebrates (ladybirds, galls), mammals (hazel dormouse), plants (mistletoe), fungi( beafsteak fungus, hoof fungus, King Alfred’s cakes)Moon after yule (first full moon of the year): 25th JanuaryTree of the month: hazelCeltic tree zodiac: Birch (24th Dec-20th Jan) and Rowan (21st Jan-17th Feb)The Tree Almanac 2024

A wondrous seasonal journey through Britain and Ireland’s trees.

Hardback.

Signed copy by the author.

���A seductive mix of science, history and culture��� – Tracy Chevalier

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