When I first began taking photographs of woodland, the natural destination for me was Thetford Forest, the UK's largest man made lowland forest. I began to visit every two or three weeks, gradually becoming familiar with the paths and tracks, and learning which species of tree could be found in which areas. As I explored more I began to realise that the boundaries of the forest are often notional rather than physical. There were patches of woodland which spilled out, and were much nearer to home, each with their own character and paths less trodden. Gradually this led me to begin looking even closer, and instead of simply driving by those little pockets of trees and scrub on my way to a destination, I started exploring them.

These little coppices, copses and coverts are often much wilder than the managed forests, and especially in the hours around dawn it often feels like you are the first person to set foot in them, and almost inevitably the first person to photograph them.