Recommend Photography Locations & Inspiration In Nottingham's Park

Previously, I wrote a blog piece about some of the photography locations that you can find in Nottingham, showing various city based locations. There was one problem with that blog: it was missing all the fantastic parks that are on offer in and around the city!

Fear not, dear reader, as I am here to save the day and bring you the information are craving so you too can enjoy what Mother Nature has blessed us with in these green spaces. This piece kind of doubles up to be both a showcase of where you can escape the city life to (ironically in the city) and the sorts of pictures that you can capture whilst you are there.

Bonus: with one of these locations, you can even visit a real life movie set! You’ll have to read on though to find out where.

Shall we get into things?

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/500s, f/11, 25mm ISO 200
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/50s, f/4.5, 35mm, ISO 400

Location: Arnot Hill Park (Google Maps)

Should you end up to the north of the city centre, Arnot Hill Park is a decent size park to take a wander around. With plenty of green areas, a nature trail and other paths, and a small lake, not only are the plenty of places to explore but plenty of angles to find with the camera in hand.

Let’s talk the set up. Starting with the left hand picture, as you can imagine the need to, the exposure time was short due to me shooting into the sun. Aperture was made small for this same reason and to get that effect of the sun’s rays coming off of it you can see. ISO dropped down nice and low too.

The right hand picture was very different. ISO and exposure time were higher due to the darkness of the picture whilst compromising so that the ducks weren’t blurred. With this, the aperture was a lot more open to maximise light into the sensor with the compromised exposure time.

Camera settings:

Top left hand picture: Exposure 1/120s, f/1.8, 4.25mm ISO 50 (Automatic on iPhone XS)
Top right hand picture: Exposure 1/310s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)
Bottom left hand picture: Exposure 1/20s, f/6.3, 18mm, ISO 400
Bottom right hand picture: Exposure 1/80s, f/8, 18mm, ISO 400

Location: Woodthorpe Grange Park (Google Maps)

Another park located to the north of the city centre and not too far from the first featured location is Woodthorpe Grange Park. This one is somewhat large and has a lot more to offer not only as a place to escape to, with a football pitch and pitch and put course, but also as a photography location.

Woodland areas, open spaces, a variety of more intimate areas, this is sure to have something for you.

Annoyingly for this one, I’ve realised as I’m writing this post that two of my favourite pictures taken were on my phone so I can’t really talk to you much about settings that I used. Though what I can say is that the iPhone did well!

Now, on to the ones where I had control.

Bottom left had a higher exposure time due to me being under the tree but looking back now, was probably too higher meaning that the aperture had to compromise and get a little smaller. With no moving objects or intense lighting to consider, I don’t think this really matters for this one. ISO was set to a standard 400 for the conditions.

Bottom right is much the same story as the previous picture. the exposure time was lower due to the sky as the backdrop but maybe this could have been lower and allowed the aperture to be wider.

Camera settings:

Left hand picture: Exposure 1/400s, f/6.3, 18mm ISO 400
Right hand picture: Exposure 1/400s, f/8, 48mm, ISO 400

Location: Highfields Park, University of Nottingham Campus (Google Maps)

Moving away from the parks to the north, now to the south, the first one to feature is Highfields Park situated on the University of Nottingham campus. As you can see, I only concentrated on locations around the boating lake with the Trent Building as my main target. However, there are plenty of other locations you can use such as the stepping stones, Squirrel Island and more. Just an excuse for me to head back some time soon.

Aside from what was actually going to go into the frame (kind of a key part of photography!), the main thing that I was focusing on balance was the sky so it didn’t drown out the rest of the picture and I could capture the bits of blue sky poking through the clouds. This is why the ISO is where it was at and the exposure time wasn’t too high, even if the lighting was reduced as the sun was setting.

This leaves just the aperture to be played with. For the left hand photo, the Trent Building was my main target so it was chosen to be smaller to give that depth against the tree in the foreground. The right hand photo was a wider shot, though zoomed in, so f/6.3 was one of the widest it would allow whilst ensuring the sky still didn’t over saturate things.

Camera settings: Exposure 1/500s, f/11, 18mm ISO 200

Location: Bestwood Country Park (Google Maps)

And back to the north of the city centre, this time with Bestwood Country Park. Another larger park with plenty of trails and woodland to explore, including some relics of the past with the winding house. This park actually has a second part with a large lake to enjoy too. Thinking about it as I write this, the fact I only have this one picture from there is a little disappointing and makes me want to plan another trip sometime soon to rectify that.

Shooting into the sun is always going to be a hard one, even if it’s at sunset about to go past the horizon. Because of this, I had a shorter exposure time with a smaller aperture. This smaller aperture also allows for that array effect from the sun which I love in my pictures. ISO is way down low for obvious reasons.

Camera settings:

Top left hand picture: Exposure 1/500s, f/11, 18mm, ISO 250
Top right hand picture: Exposure 1/250s, f/10, 18mm, ISO 400
Bottom left hand picture: Exposure 20s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 2000
Bottom right hand picture: Exposure 20s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 1600

Location: Gedling Country Park (Google Maps)

Sticking in the north of the city, we have another country park in the shape of Gedling Country Park. Now, compared to the other parks that have plenty of woodlands, gardens and attractions to explore, this is a more open park with a few things to explore with art pieces placed there. For me though, it’s the panoramic vistas of the town of Gedling that it is best known for. As you can also see from what I’ve captured there, due to it being away from some of the town lights, you can get some cool astrophotography here!

So, let’s talk how I go these pictures. As seen before for the last park, the top left picture was a shorter exposure time shooting into the sun and the smaller aperture for the rays from the sun. Remembering that I was pretty much in the same spot for the top right, an increase of exposure time was needed as I turned away from that bright light. Aperture made a little wider but not too much for the depth with the fence and ISO increased, again due to facing away.

For the bottom two pictures, the first thing I’ll warn you of is the time these were taken at… 0159 and 0225 respectively! But for the rewards were worth it! They were both 20s exposures with the widest aperture and a relatively high ISO. The lower ISO for the bottom right is due to me facing towards the local town.

Camera settings:

Top left hand picture: Exposure 1/160s, f/5.6, 52mm, ISO 200
Top right hand picture: Exposure 1/100s, f/20, 32mm, ISO 100
Bottom left hand picture: Exposure 1/100s, f/8, 24mm, ISO 100
Bottom right hand picture: Exposure 1/1100s, f/1.8, 4.25mm, ISO 25 (Automatic on iPhone XS)

Location: Wollation Hall, Gardens and Deer Park (Google Maps)

Remember when I said about a real life movie set? Well, this is the place. Wollaton Hall was featured in a world famous film. Don’t know which? Then let me tell you. This hall starred as Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises!

This location is vast and has all the variety you could want and need. You have amazing architecture, open grounds, woodland, a lake, gardens and the odd herd of deer going for a wander. It’s a fantastic location!

So, let’s talk about photographs featured here.

Top left was a bit of a challenge by trying to balance the detail of the frost, the mist and hall against the sky as the sun rose. This explains the wider aperture and longer than ideal exposure time normally for a sunrise. ISO right down for that minimisation of the noise.

The first thing about the top right is that this was taken laying down in the grass but 100% worth it. That small aperture gives that ray effect from the sun and allows a higher exposure time to try and get as much detail from the fore- and middle-ground. The ISO was kept low to allow me to get as much out of the picture without too much noise.

Bottom left was much the same story of that with the hall in it, though this time trying to get the detail of the bench, the frost and mist over the grass, and tree in the foreground.

The bottom right photo was taken on the trusty iPhone so I’m afraid, no influence on those settings.

There we have it, six great parks to not only get out and explore but to take your camera and achieve some great pieces of art for yourself or to share. I need to return to some of them to continue getting great pictures from them, especially with some of the missed opportunities.

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