From Pillow to Puzzlewood: Why Preparation is King
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Packed and ready. Boots by the door, bag by my side. Every good shoot starts here.
Setting the Scene
Some shoots start the moment you press the shutter. 📸 Others begin long before you even step outside. 🌿
Puzzlewood was one of those.
I’d seen it advertised, and Sabrina didn’t even hesitate: “It’s your type of place.” She was right. Even before I’d stepped foot there, I knew it was 100% my sort of location, the kind that should hand me plenty of photographic opportunities on a moss-covered platter. 🍃
I’d already scrolled through other people’s shots online, read the blog posts, and checked the opening times. The mossy walkways, twisted tree roots, and dappled woodland light made it look like something pulled straight from a storybook, but also the kind of setting that demands you get your timing and conditions right. ⏰
So when the morning finally came, it wasn’t a case of “Shall I go?” It was, “Let’s see if everything I planned yesterday still holds.”
Because with shoots like this, the photo is only the last chapter of the story. 📖
The Wake-Up Gamble
The alarm went off at 6 a.m., and I was straight up. I’m not too bad with early starts, especially when I’m shooting solo. Up with the alarm, gear on my back, out the door without a fuss. But when Sabrina’s coming along, it’s a different story. The best way to get her moving? The smell of fresh coffee wafting into the bedroom. ☕
Today, the forecast was already in my favour. High teens Celsius, perfect for a woodland walk, and better yet, sunny. No flat, cloudy light to wrestle with. One quick glance out the window confirmed it was still on track. 🌞
In my head though, there’s always a checklist running: Did I pack everything? Will we get caught in traffic? Is there somewhere to stop for coffee? The big questions.
These mornings used to feel a lot more chaotic. Back when I’d pack on the morning of, there was a frantic energy. Juggling batteries, cards, and breakfast while watching the clock was never a calm start. I learned the hard way it wasn’t the best recipe. Now, the decision to go isn’t made when the alarm rings. It’s made the day before, or sometimes a week or more in advance.
Either way, this shoot was already in motion. Everything was cleaned, charged, and ready to go. All that was left was to grab the bag and head for Puzzlewood. 🪵
Preparation, Research & Packing
Good mornings are built the night before. 🔋
Once I’d decided Puzzlewood was happening, I went into autopilot. Batteries on charge. Memory cards cleared and formatted. I like starting every shoot with a completely clean slate. No old frames to scroll past, no risk of “Card Full” popping up just as the light turns perfect. Lenses cleaned and checked for smudges. I keep these anti-fog lens wipes (*affiliate link, fuels my coffee habit ☕) in my bag for exactly that job, and they’ve saved more shots than I can count. Clothes laid out at the foot of the bed so there’s no 6 a.m. rummaging.
But prep isn’t just gear. Puzzlewood had been on my list long enough that I’d done my homework. I’d spent time on Location Scout and Google Earth, pinning a few spots that looked promising. I checked the opening times, parking, and even the weather history for the area. And yes, I scrolled through Instagram and blogs to see what other photographers had done there. Not to copy, but to know what was already out there so I could find my own angle. 📍
Packing for Puzzlewood came with a twist: no tripods allowed. I was gutted, especially with the low light I knew I’d face, but I understood they didn’t want people like me blocking the narrow pathways. So I built my kit around shooting handheld. I took the Canon RF 24–105mm L lens I had on test from the previous blog, curious to see how it handled in a shaded woodland. My Nifty Fifty 50mm came along for any portraits of Sabrina, and so I could rope her into taking a few shots of me for an upcoming project. And finally, my 100–400mm, after spotting some potential compositions online that looked like they’d only be reachable from a distance.
Along with that came my trusty walking boots (ready to change into when we arrived), my full cleaning kit (wipes, microfibre cloths, dust blower), my wrist strap, spare batteries, and the usual odds and ends. No snacks from home this time, since we grabbed those there, and with no rain in the forecast I left the waterproof behind.
Everything was ready the night before. All that morning asked of me was to grab the bag, lock the door, and go. 🌿
Journey & Arrival
We left at 7 a.m., right on schedule. The forecast had promised sunny skies and high teens, and for once it was exactly as predicted. Shocking, right? 🌞
Of course, no road trip is complete without a caffeine stop. We swung into our well-visited drive-through at the motorway services, affectionately known as Bignose Corner. Don’t ask me where the name came from, it’s just stuck. We got our coffees, music low in the background, and chatted about the afternoon, discussing which town to visit nearby once we’d wrapped up at Puzzlewood. ☕
I wasn’t mentally running through my research yet. That switch only flicks once I actually arrive. But I was thinking about the Canon RF 24–105mm L lens in my bag. I was nervous about testing it here. The light might have been beautiful, but I knew it would be darker under the canopy than I was used to. And handheld shutter speeds that low? Let’s just say I was about to get a crash course in missed focus, soft images, and the occasional “why won’t you focus at all?” moment.
Parking was busy, but the second we stepped inside it didn’t feel crowded. The place opened up into a scene that could have been pulled straight from a fantasy film. Which, I later learned, is exactly why so many have been shot here. The air was warm, sunlight peeking through the canopy in shards, and the ground underfoot a mix of soft earth and twisting roots. 🌿
The first thing that stopped me in my tracks was a cluster of exposed tree roots wrapping around thick moss-covered rocks. The greens came in every shade imaginable, each one more photogenic than the last. It was both a woodland photographer’s dream and a nightmare. Stunning to look at, but a chaotic puzzle to compose.
Like any forest, it took me a while to get into the groove. But once I stopped fighting with the L lens and switched to my Nifty Fifty or the 100–400mm, I started pulling out some frames I was genuinely happy with. 📸
The Shoot (Wins, Fails, Adjustments)
The first half hour inside Puzzlewood was… slow. Not in pace, since the paths twist and pull you along, but in finding my rhythm. Woodland photography is like learning a new language every time. The chaos of branches, roots, and light patches can take a while to make sense, and at first nothing seemed to fit. 🌳
The Canon RF 24–105mm L lens gave me a harder time than expected. The low light had me pushing the ISO higher than I’d like 📈, and even then I was battling soft images and focus hunts that seemed to take forever. Every so often the lens would just shrug and refuse to lock on at all. I knew handheld was going to be a challenge, but this was a reminder that even great glass is not magic if you are not used to it.
The turning point came when I stopped trying to force it. I switched to the Nifty Fifty for some portraits of Sabrina, and asked her to grab a few shots of me for an upcoming project. Then I put on the 100–400mm to achieve some of the zoomed-in frames I had noticed earlier. Those compositions, often layered with pockets of light breaking through the canopy ☀️, gave me something to work with.
Win: The 100–400mm let me isolate some incredible details. Moss-covered steps winding through the rocks, a sunlit fern glowing like a lantern in the shade, and one exposed root system that looked like it had been plucked from a fantasy set. The compression really helped simplify the chaos. 🌿
Fail: The L lens handheld experiment was, let’s say, a “learning experience.” Most of what I shot with it ended up soft or just not as sharp as I wanted. It wasn’t the lens’s fault; I had simply underestimated the shutter speeds I would need in that kind of light without a tripod. 📷
Adjustment: Once I accepted that, I started leaning on the strengths of each lens. The Nifty Fifty for low-light handheld portraits, the 100–400mm for compression and reach. I also slowed down my shooting, making each frame count instead of machine-gunning through compositions.
By the end, I felt like I had found my footing. The chaos of the forest was still there, but I had learned to work with it instead of trying to control it. 🍃
Of all the images I made that day, this one felt the most complete. The leading line of the path draws your eye through the moss-covered rocks, while the light catches just enough texture to reveal the scene’s depth without losing its mystery. Puzzlewood is chaos for a photographer, but sometimes, with patience, a single frame cuts through the noise.
The Journey Back
By the time we made our way out of Puzzlewood, the sun was higher, the car park was fuller, and my memory cards were heavier. I had that familiar post-shoot mix of satisfaction and curiosity. Eager to see what I had caught, but also wondering how many of those “looked great on the LCD” moments were actually as sharp as I hoped. 📸
The drive out was quieter. Not silent, but that comfortable quiet that comes after a morning well spent. Sabrina and I talked about the town we had decided to visit next, already picturing a late lunch and maybe another coffee. ☕ The music hummed in the background, and every so often I caught myself replaying certain scenes in my head. The ferns lit like lanterns, the roots tangled like something out of a fantasy film.
More than anything, I felt grateful that the day had been set in motion long before the alarm went off. All that prep (the charging, cleaning, research, packing) meant the only decisions left to make in the moment were creative ones. And that is exactly how it should be. 🌿
For the Photographers
Decide today, prepare yesterday. Every bit of gear prep you do the night before means one less thing to think about at 6 a.m. (or earlier). Save your mental energy for the creative work, not for charging batteries while you are brushing your teeth. 🔋
Format your cards before you leave. Starting with a clean slate avoids the dreaded “Card Full” just as the light turns magical. It also keeps you from scrolling past old shots when you should be framing new ones. 💾
Research the location. A quick look at maps, past photos, and blog posts can give you a head start. Just remember to make it your own once you are there. 📍
Have a lens plan, but stay flexible. Know what you will start with, but be ready to switch when conditions or subjects change. Your “backup” lens might just become the star of the day. 📸
Work with the light you have. Puzzlewood was beautiful but dark, and adapting my shutter speeds, ISO, and lens choice made the difference between frustration and keepers. 🌞
Final Thought
If Puzzlewood taught me anything, it is that preparation is the quiet king of any good shoot. 👑 The photos might be the showpieces, but they are built on everything that happens before the shutter clicks: the charging, the cleaning, the research, the careful packing. All of it frees you up to make creative decisions in the moment instead of scrambling to fix logistical ones.
I have had mornings where I packed in a rush and spent the rest of the day wishing I had remembered that one battery, that one filter, or that one cloth. This was not one of those days. Everything was ready. The shoot began long before the alarm, and by the time we set foot among those twisted roots and mossy stones, all that was left was to create.
And it is not just Puzzlewood. Preparation should be key to any shoot. Even the spontaneous or sporadic ones run smoother when your batteries are charged, your cards are clear, and your kit is ready to go. Preparation does not guarantee perfect shots, but it guarantees you are ready for them when they appear. And in a place like Puzzlewood, or anywhere else, that is everything. 🌿
