Summer woodland photography can look easy from the outside. Lush green trees, long days, plenty of light – what could go wrong? Quite a lot, actually. Harsh midday sun, blown highlights, deep shadows and colour casts from all that greenery can turn a beautiful scene into a post-processing headache.
If you’ve ever come back from a summer walk through the woods with nothing you feel proud of, you’re not alone. I’ve been there too. And that’s exactly why learning to work with the light, instead of against it, matters so much. Whether you’re dealing with full sun, dappled light or deep shade under the canopy, there are techniques to help you adapt – and even turn challenging light into something you can use creatively.
If you’re just starting out, my beginner’s guide to woodland photography is a great place to begin. But if you’re ready to tackle the specific quirks of summer light, this guide will walk you through exactly how to approach it, both in the field and in post-production when you get home.
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Best Times of Day for Summer Woodland Photography
Early mornings and late evenings are your best friends when it comes to summer woodland photography. The sun sits low, casting long shadows and wrapping tree trunks in soft, golden light. On one of my favourite local walks, there’s a group of beech trees whose canopy glow almost orange at sunrise toward the end of summer – something you’d completely miss by mid-morning. That kind of light makes everything feel still and timeless, and it’s one of the few times I feel like I can really capture the mood of the forest, not just a picture of it.
Golden hour is perfect for woodland photography in summer. The warm glow filtering through the canopy highlights leaves, textures, and details that midday light tends to flatten or blow out. You don’t have to chase perfect beams of light either, just a subtle shift in tone can give your photos a completely different feel.
Midday light is usually the most challenging. It’s harsh, contrasty, and often uninspiring. But if you find yourself out when the sun is high, look for denser tree cover where the light is softened. Sometimes, I take a slower lens on purpose, forcing myself to shoot in the shade or under the canopy, where the contrast is easier to control.
Blue hour is another underused window in summer woodland photography. Though the light is cooler and softer, it can help create more atmospheric, abstract, or moody images – particularly on clear evenings around the edges of the woods, where the glow from the horizon can create soft, warm directional light. The forest often feels calmer at this time too, like it’s exhaled after a hot day. If I haven’t got anything I’m happy with by sunset, I’ll often keep walking until the light has almost gone. It’s amazing how the feeling of a place can change in the span of an hour.
For a deeper dive into this topic, take a look at my guide to the best time of day for woodland photography. You might also find it helpful to check the light and cloud forecast in advance using a tool like Clear Outside to plan your woodland shoots more effectively.
When the light isn’t working, sometimes I just stop shooting and walk. I’ve learned not to force it. Conditions change faster than you think – clouds roll in or the angle of the sun shifts and, suddenly, everything looks different. Often, the best photos happen when I’m not even trying. It’s not always about fighting the light – it’s more about noticing how it behaves and responding with patience and curiosity.
Using Harsh Light to Your Advantage
Harsh sunlight doesn’t have to ruin your summer woodland photography – it can actually become one of your strongest tools. Backlighting is one of the simplest ways to turn difficult light into something magical. I often look for leaves or ferns lit from behind, especially when the sun is low. The foliage seems to glow from within, and the forest takes on an almost ethereal quality. One morning in the woods at Ashridge, I found a bracken frond backlit so perfectly it looked like it was lit with a softbox.
Strong sun also helps you play with contrast. Don’t shy away from shadow, embrace it. Shadow patterns can make your compositions more graphic and bold. I once framed a path where the trunks cast dramatic diagonal shadows across the ground, adding depth I couldn’t have captured on an overcast day. You just have to be more thoughtful with your composition and work when the light is lower in the sky and more directional.
Tree trunks are incredibly useful too. I often use them to block direct light while shooting into the sun, which is often the most effective way to photograph in harsh conditions. It’s an easy method for managing lens flare or controlling the light spill on your subject. In bright areas, I sometimes position myself behind a tree to shield the lens and focus on what’s just catching the light.
Then there’s lens flare. While many photographers avoid it, it can add real atmosphere in the right situation. When I’m feeling experimental, I’ll angle the camera just off the sun and shoot wide open to catch a bit of flare. Sometimes it ruins the shot but, occasionally, it gives you something unexpected and magical.
When the wider scene feels too contrasty or cluttered, I turn my attention to smaller subjects like the one above. With a simple umbrella and reflector, I can block or bounce light to control highlights and shape shadows. This approach only works for more intimate scenes – macro subjects like wildflowers, grasses, mosses, bracken, or fallen leaves. But it’s often where I have the most fun, and it forces me to slow down and engage with the forest on a smaller scale.
Last of all, if conditions really aren’t playing to my advantage, I switch to my infrared camera. This opens up even the hottest, sunniest days as an opportunity to create beautiful and unique woodland images. I prefer to shoot in black and white to create an ethereal, ghost-like appearance to my images. There’s something surreal about seeing the foliage turn bright white and the sky almost black – an aesthetic that suits the intensity of summer light far better than colour sometimes can. It’s not everyone’s taste, but it’s a creative tool I find especially liberating when traditional approaches fall short.
The key is to stay open-minded. Instead of fighting the conditions, look for how you can use them creatively. That mindset shift alone makes summer woodland photography far more enjoyable and often more rewarding.
Shooting in Shade and Dappled Light
Shooting in shaded woodland areas is one of the best ways to deal with the harsh light of summer. I often head straight for places where the canopy is thick – those pockets of deep shade where the light is more even and easier to control. On hotter days, it’s usually cooler there too, which makes it easier to slow down and pay attention.
One mistake I made early on was photographing subjects caught in patchy light. I’d come home and realise that half the tree trunk was blown out and the other half was lost in shadow. Now, I try to avoid scenes where dappled light falls directly on the main subject, unless I’m intentionally using it for effect. If the subject is unevenly lit, it rarely works well.
Spot metering has become a go-to tool in my kit. It allows me to expose precisely for the most important part of the scene, usually a leaf or trunk that’s catching the light just right. It’s especially helpful when dealing with high-contrast conditions where an average meter reading would get things wrong.
Later, when editing, I pay extra attention to subtle tonal shifts in shaded scenes. The light may be soft, but the images can still feel flat without some careful dodging and burning. With gentle local adjustments, you can bring out depth and shape, highlighting the forest’s quiet complexity. These shaded scenes often end up being my favourites – they feel calmer, more timeless and a lot less forced.
Camera Settings and Gear Choices
One of the easiest ways to improve your summer woodland photography is by using a tripod. It slows you down, which is useful in itself, but it also lets you use slower shutter speeds – especially useful in shaded areas or under dense canopy. I almost always carry one, even if it adds some weight. On a recent trip to Epping Forest, I found myself shooting a dark, mossy clearing with barely any light reaching the forest floor. Without the tripod, I’d have missed that shot entirely.
Lowering your ISO is another simple trick. In bright conditions, it’s tempting to raise the ISO for handheld convenience, but doing so often reduces your dynamic range. With so much contrast between sunlit patches and deep shadows, you want to give your sensor the best chance of retaining detail. Keep the ISO low and adjust other settings instead.
A polarising filter can be a game-changer, especially when photographing in forests during summer. It cuts through glare on leaves, intensifies greens, and helps make colours pop without feeling artificial. I use one on most sunny days, particularly when shooting after rain – the difference can be subtle in-camera, but dramatic in the final edit.
I also find myself reaching for longer focal lengths more often in summer. They let me compress busy scenes, isolate cleaner compositions, and avoid unwanted distractions in the background. In bright light, it’s easy for the chaos of a forest to overwhelm the subject. A telephoto lens can help you cut through that and focus on what really matters.
If you want to know what gear I bring with me into the woods, you might enjoy my woodland photography packing listtoo. It covers my essential gear tips, as well as gear that I pack that is specific to each season to ensure you get the most out of your woodland photography sessions – whatever the conditions.
If you’d like a deeper dive into the technical side of which settings I use for woodland photography, I’ve written a full breakdown of the best camera settings for woodland photography that covers this in more detail.
Composing Woodland Shots in Summer
Strong compositions are essential for successful summer woodland photography, especially when the light is less than forgiving. I always start by looking for bold shapes, leading lines, or repeating patterns that guide the eye. A fallen branch pointing into the scene or a curved path cutting through the trees can turn a chaotic view into something intentional and structured. For a full guide to woodland composition, take a look at my blog post on woodland photography composition basics.
Framing with foreground elements can also bring a sense of depth and story to the image. Sometimes I crouch behind a fern or shoot between two trunks to create layers that pull the viewer into the frame. One of my favourite images came from kneeling low in a patch of undergrowth, using a few blurred leaves at the edge of the frame to give a sense of intimacy – as though you’re peeking into a hidden corner of the forest.
Edge patrol is something I’ve had to train myself to do. In bright summer light, it’s easy to miss small highlights or distractions creeping in from the sides. I now check the edges of every frame before pressing the shutter. It’s a simple habit that’s saved me hours in post-processing. A stray sunlit leaf on the edge can pull the eye away from your main subject.
When the light is too strong or the scene feels uninspiring, I sometimes experiment with intentional camera movement. A slow pan or upward motion can create abstract images filled with texture and mood. It doesn’t always work but, when it does, it captures something you simply can’t see with the naked eye. And honestly, that’s part of the fun for me.
Post-Processing Tips for High-Contrast Scenes
When editing high-contrast woodland photos from summer, one of the first things I check is whether I’ve pushed the highlights or shadows too far. It’s tempting to recover every detail, but I’ve learned the hard way that it can quickly make the image feel flat and lifeless. There’s a balance – you want to preserve detail without removing the sense of depth and contrast that gives a photo its energy.
Local adjustments can make a huge difference. I often use them to dodge and burn selectively, shaping the light across the frame to guide the viewer’s eye. One image I edited last year had great composition but lacked atmosphere straight out of the camera. Just by darkening a few edges and lifting the contrast in the mid-ground, the whole mood changed.
Colour grading is another key step, especially with summer greens. They can easily end up looking too vibrant or too yellow if you’re not careful. I usually cool them slightly or desaturate just a touch to keep them feeling natural. It took a while to find a colour palette that felt like the forest I experienced, not just the one my camera recorded.
If you’d like help improving your woodland photo edits, grab my free guide: Elevate Your Woodland Photography with Simple Editing Techniques.
If the light was particularly harsh or the colours just aren’t working, I sometimes try a black and white conversion. Some of my favourite summer images are monochrome. Stripped of colour, you start to see structure, tone, and light in a new way. It’s a great option when the original scene was all about form and contrast rather than colour.
Conclusion
Summer woodland photography may come with its share of lighting challenges, but it doesn’t have to be frustrating. With a flexible mindset, the right techniques, and a willingness to adapt to the forest’s conditions, you can create powerful, meaningful images even in harsh light. Whether you’re working in full sun, deep shade, or dappled patches under the canopy, there’s always an opportunity to make something worthwhile.
Choose your moments carefully. Make peace with the conditions. And keep experimenting, especially when the light feels uncooperative. That’s often when the most creative breakthroughs happen.
If you’re looking to keep improving your woodland photography, grab my free guide: Taming The Chaos: The Key to Better Woodland Photography Compositions.
