Every year Hitchin Lavender open up their field to visitors from all around the country. Hitchin, once known for being one of the major Lavender growing areas in the Country grows five varieties of Lavender; Hidcote, Blue Ice, Rosea, Sawyers and Edelweiss. The fragrant shrub provides a mass of vibrant colour in the landscape and is a dream to photograph for anyone. Although spontaneity and the ability to adapt to your surroundings is crucial in photography, I can often visualise a photograph before I've taken it. It's for this reason that I dragged my better half out of bed to accompany me on this 4:30am sunrise shoot. The thought of a low lying mist through the lavender lit by a golden sun had me excited (much to Hannah's dismay :))
I've mentioned in previous posts that planning is crucial, and numerous checks to the Met Office were carried out to ensure we wouldn't be met by torrential rain (can't leave anything to chance in England). Conditions were looking good with clear skies and 89% humidity forecasted. Mist should begin to form at 90% so I had my fingers crossed for the photograph I wanted to create. The Photographers Ephemeris iPhone app allowed us to pinpoint the exact direction of the sunrise leaving nothing to chance. Now, onto the result....
As you can see, that's alot of mist and not much of a sunrise. Overnight changes in the forecast meant it was now 97% humidity and at 5:19am when the sun should of bathed us in a golden glow we were left with a cold misty scene. Not to be deterred, we carried on photographing the gorgeous view that we were left with. Turns out, the mist produced a stunning landscape shot as the colour of the lavender was reflected in the sky.
Here's a picture of myself in the Lavender Field, picture courtesy of the wonderful Hannah Couzens. We have plans to return shortly and have another go at the sunrise, but for now i'll be catching up on my sleep! If your interested in visiting or reading more about Hitchin Lavender, please feel free to visit their website by clicking this link. We'd both like to say a huge thank you to Hitchin Lavender for their hospitality and giving us the chance to photograph the landscape.