Fine-art prints
A carefully selected collection of my woodland photographs is available as signed, limited-edition fine-art prints.
Explore fine-art printsAbout Simon
I’m a woodland photographer, writer and educator based on the edge of the North York Moors.
I grew up exploring the forests close to home — building dens as a child, then later disappearing into the landscape on a mountain bike, in a kayak or on a snowboard. Being outdoors was always where I felt most at home.
That relationship with the landscape changed after a back injury in 2012 forced me to step away from the more adrenaline-fuelled life I’d known and reconsider both my personal and professional future.
Two years later, Meg came into my life.
Taking a Labradoodle puppy into the woods encouraged me to dust off my camera and reconnect with the outdoors in a very different way. I’d owned cameras since the 1980s, but photography now gave me a reason to slow down, look more carefully and rediscover places I thought I already knew.
A slower way of seeing
Our walks gradually led us away from the obvious viewpoints and into quieter wooded dales, where Meg had the freedom to explore and I became increasingly fascinated by the complexity of trees.
The smells, sounds, tangled branches, changing light and sense of solitude became as important to me as making photographs.
Spending time amongst trees also became an important way of living with chronic pain. What began as photography increasingly became a deeper relationship with woodland — one that continues to shape both how I work and how I see the world.
My photographs are an attempt to communicate something of that experience: not simply what a woodland looks like, but what it feels like to spend time there.
Photography and woodland
Most of my recognised work has been made close to home in the North York Moors.
Working repeatedly in familiar places has taught me the value of returning, observing and allowing photographs to emerge slowly. I’m far more interested in developing a relationship with a landscape than collecting locations.
For me, the journey from discovering a composition through to making the final print is one of the most rewarding parts of photography. It’s also a constant reminder that the value of photography isn’t measured only by the photograph we come home with.
Workshops
Join me for small-group and residential woodland photography workshops across the UK, or spend some time with me in North Yorkshire for one-to-one and tailored tuition.
Explore workshopsKeep in touch
If you’d like to get in touch, you can email me at simon@baxter.photos or find me on social media.