The South Downs are a collection of chalk hills that run along the South Coast of England between Hampshire and Eastbourne. They are home to some of the most incredible views over rural countryside and include some fantastic woodlands.

I live at the foot of these majestic hills near Lewes in East Sussex and often find myself clambering to the top to see what is seasonally changing. I generally use my 70-200 zoom lens to pick out compositions and pockets of light in a scene.

Spring highlights have included the bluebells at Angmering, rapeseed fields near Firle, wild garlic near Chichester, and now the poppies too are beginning to come through. Sussex has also had a lot of rain and wild weather, so I have been chasing rainbows and storms for a change.

At the moment I seem to be drawn to fields of flowers and bold colours and have got up for sunrise on multiple occasions to make the most of the best light and quiet scenes.

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If you follow the blog hopeful of some upcoming workshop news, please keep patient and I’ll try and get something down for August. My work has picked up dramatically over the past few months, so it's been trickier to get these dates in the diary.

Until next time, I hope you too, are enjoying your photography journey.

Best wishes

James Ratchford