Had a great day on Sunday with my son on Blackdown, the highest point in the South Downs National Park. Blackdown is a large promontory of high heathland that projects south into Sussex from near the town of Haslemere. Flint artefacts show there has been settlement on Blackdown since the mesolithic period, around 6000 BC. Alfred Lord Tennyson had a house built on Blackdown in 1869 and died there in 1892. Blackdown was donated to the National Trust in 1944.
A limited range of plants grow on Blackdown because the soil is acidic. It is home to Heathers and the high plateau is populated by Pine trees. The landscape was bleak in the overcast weather when we were here, but on a good day the views will be spectacular and far-reaching and when the Heathers bloom the colour will be magnificent. We will return.
LensScaper 
I’ve been off-line for a while and not had chance to keep up with your blog recently. To be greeted with these two rather fine images is a treat. I particularly like the first. Great composition and the grainy effect of the images adds to the wonderful sense of atmosphere. The distant hills in the second shot look as if they’ve been painted on! Lots to enjoy in both images 🙂
Best wishes
Mr C
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Good to hear from you Mr C, and thanks for your appreciation of those images. Rain was threatening but never materialised, and the distant views were quite misty and very atmospheric. On a good day you can see right down to the South Coast – I look forward to enjoying that view on a summer’s day. Meanwhile these images were just suited to B&W, they were almost monochromatic at the taking stage.
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Stunning, love how you framed your trees for the shots.
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Thanks Paula. The composition was just ‘there’ along the Bridleway. Just a question of framing, and as you may have realised, the second shot is of the right-most tree and the little tree beyond it. A few steps to the right from Shot No 1 and zoom in. I liked the way the taller tree seemed to shelter the smaller one.
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It’s a stark and dramatic landscape, indeed. And yet, that single word — heather — brings a smile, and a thought of what it may look like in the future. It also brings to mind a lovely song that’s always been a favorite. It’s interesting to hold your images and the song in mind at the same time.
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It’s a long time since I’ve listened to Don – I’ve got a Vinyl LP of him somewhere… The landscape here was stark on the day we went here – misty with rain a possibility but never happening. The landscape was really lacking colour, but when the Heather erupts then the place will come alive and I hope I will be there to enjoy it.
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Superb Andy. These certainly work very well indeed in black and white!
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Thanks Adrian. It was a no-brainer to convert to B&W – very little colour on the day. And Nik Efex provided a pre-set that hit the sweet spot with a little adjustment in Photoshop.
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They do look fantastic in black and white, though….. Very nice, Andy.
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Thanks Scott – you know how I love B&W, it always has the capacity to raise the drama in an image.
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You’re welcome, Andy…and yes, I do. This was an excellent choice in which to remove the color….
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You certainly did wonders with the bleak landscape and overcast skies, didn’t you?! Beautiful shots, Andy — both are absolutely frame-worthy.
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Thanks very much Heide
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Perfect subject for black and white. Love how you set the trees up against the dramatic sky and its clouds. Such beautiful and rich tones from black to pure white and everything in between.
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Thank you so much Otto. I started out as a B&W print maker fifty years ago and I have never lost my passion for B&W images – there is something really special about that medium and the ability to manipulate the tonal range to create drama and atmosphere.
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