Photographing Sunrise at Brocton Coppice, Cannock Chase

This adventure started the night before. I’d travelled up to Cannock Chase ahead of a Thumbs Up Photography Facebook group meet, catching up with fellow photographers Dave Peck, Colin Powel, and Stephen Wright (Roaming Photography). It was a bit of a solo leap for me — my first photography trip without my photography buddy Mark — and navigating the M5/M6 on a busy Friday wasn’t exactly the calmest start, after all, Mark does the driving and I buy the breakfast, but this time was different, this time I was driving myself. Still, arriving early meant I had the chance to explore during the evening in preparation for the morning sunrise at Brocton Coppice.

The morning greeted me with clear skies and a stiff breeze — not ideal when you’re trying to record video and you’ve forgotten your wind muffs (lesson learned). Below my vantage point, the valley was full of atmosphere — literally. A blanket of mist hung low, softening the landscape and muting the sunrise into a beautiful, diffused glow. It was the kind of light that wraps itself around the trees and makes even the most ordinary scene feel special.

Technical challenges cropped up as they always seem to: lenses fogging with condensation, audio being battered by the wind, and — frustratingly — discovering too late that my trusty Pentax 28–105mm had developed a focusing fault. Most of the shots it took ended up unusable. I had to switch over to the 60–250mm telephoto, which fortunately delivered the goods. One image stood out in particular: a contre-jour shot looking into the valley as the sun climbed higher. The scene layered itself beautifully in front of me — mist weaving through the trees, creating depth and soft recession. Easily my favourite from the morning.

Filming was a mixed bag. I used the Canon M50, DJI Pocket 3, and the Mini 3 Pro drone. But honestly, I struggled to get what I wanted from the drone footage. Some shots didn’t quite land, and a few pieces to camera weren’t framed as well as I’d like. The wind noise didn’t help either. In hindsight, I should’ve checked each clip more carefully as I went.

Despite the hiccups, this outing meant something. It pushed me out of my comfort zone — not just creatively, but personally. Tackling motorway traffic solo and embracing the unpredictable nature of the morning was a bit of a milestone for me. And even though not everything went to plan, that one image — soft light, mist, layers of trees fading into the distance — made it all worthwhile.