The New Forest is such an iconic place it is difficult to choose one location over another to photograph, and what better time to photograph the New Forest than in the Autumn. Whilst every season offers photo opportunities Autumn has to be my favourite.
I am fortunate enough to have lived either close to the New Forest or within its boundaries for most of my life and which is why I have selected two very different locations to photograph on this walk, the first being Ober Water, which is close to Brockenhurst, the second Linford Bottom near Ringwood. We will start at Ober Water and when finished there move on to Linford Bottom. Both locations are easily accessible from car parks near by but there will be a reasonable amount of walking to do with a medium incline on the walk at Linford Bottom, but nothing overly strenuous.
There is a small stream at both locations although at Linford Bottom we will be embarking on a circular walk through some old forest comprising mainly Oak trees. The weather at this time of year could range from bright sunny days, to overcast or wet and good footwear is a must, I would recommend wellington boots, especially if you want to photograph from near or in the stream. Waterproof hiking boots is the minimum I would recommend.
The walks will provide the opportunity to photograph a variety of trees in their autumn hues (hopefully), their reflections in a stream, a typical New Forest wooden bridge across a stream, fallen leaves, acorns and other forest fruits, moss/ lichen, ferns, fungi (if weather has been suitable - sometimes the dry summer has extended late into autumn and the fungi has yet to appear) and New Forest ponies. The two main lenses I would recommend would be a medium zoom lens e.g., 24-70mm and a macro lens.