Discovering a mysterious and enchanted woodland, such as Wistman’s Wood in Devon, England, is like entering a wonderful realm where everything is possible. For thousands of years, this old woodland has captivated visitors’ imaginations with its gnarled trees, moss-covered stones, and hazy ambience, spawning stories about druids and magical entities. Because of their cinematic richness and surreal beauty, photographer Neil Burnell’s photos of this woodland have earned parallels to Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings.
Burnell, a graphic designer with a penchant for photography, originally visited Wistman’s Wood as a youngster on a family vacation. He couldn’t get the scene out of his head, and years later, he returned to capture the forest’s cinematic beauty via his lens. Burnell visited the woodland 20 times in 2018 to shoot it in various lighting and weather situations.
Burnell had a difficult time getting the ideal photo. He discovered that the best atmospheric light conditions occurred just before sunrise, during the “blue hour,” and had to come early in the morning in complete darkness to set up his photo. He climbed through the muddy rocks with a flashlight and his camera gear, which he had to carry on his hands and knees through portions of the wood. “It’s quite dangerous—on a foggy day, the boulders can be very slippery.” Even without the camera, it’s difficult to get past. “I had to crawl through parts of the wood,” Burnell says.
Burnell continued despite the obstacles, capturing the images with a Nikon D810 and D850 and an f/2.8 lens to maintain the trees in the foreground in focus while letting the background to fade strangely into the fog. His dedication and hard work paid off when he released the final images on social media, and the response beyond his wildest dreams.
Many viewers thought Burnell had generated the photos digitally, while others said they appeared like they were taken underwater. Wistman’s Wood was compared to Fangorn Forest in The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien enthusiasts, while Star Wars fans agreed with Burnell’s analogy to Dagobah. The images caught the forest’s cinematic beauty so well that many viewers couldn’t tell the difference between it and a real movie. “People are genuinely amazed that it’s a real place,” adds Burnell.
Finally, Wistman’s Wood is a breathtaking example of nature’s grandeur, and Neil Burnell’s images of this magical woodland highlight its dramatic richness and surreal beauty. The history and stories of the forest, along with Burnell’s vision and creativity, create a spectacular experience that is genuinely out of this world.
All images belong to Neil Burnell.
