The best place for Autumn family photography near Peterborough

I know a wood where you can get beautiful Autumn family photography in Peterborough right up until April!

The secret is finding a wood with lots of Beech trees because they have beautiful bright orange leaves that photograph well and they lay thick on the ground. They’re also great for throwing at childish photographers!

Sisters throwing Autumn leaves at photographer

There are several other great things about this wood. Firstly, it’s nice and quiet and secluded because there are only a couple of ways into it and neither of them are obvious. It’s mostly just the locals who use the wood.

The wood is also very clear and open which makes for better photographs because it helps create depth without lots of branches and scrappy bits in the background.

The other benefit of having the trees far apart is there’s plenty of light for photography, once the leaves have fallen off the trees.

The name of the wood is Bedford Purlieus wood near Wansford. I discovered it about 10 years ago when Nene Valley Living asked me to photograph some park rangers counting the dormice in their nest boxes one winter.

Most of the locations I’ve found over the years I discovered by jumping online and looking at the various Wildlife Trust and RSPB reserves. I now have a great collection of locations to photograph at all year round.

Today’s blog post introduces the Goose family. They wanted nice natural, fun family photographs that show their personalities and connection.

The great thing about the Autumn and winter is that when the sun is out it’s low and golden all day long. This means you don’t have to get up early or stay out late to get good light. And as you can see from these photographs, golden sunlight adds an extra dimension to the photographs.

Here are a couple more favs from the photoshoot.