Christopher Harrison Photography
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Sunrise Beams over Oxfordshire

Brightwell Barrow · Spring

A temperature inversion buries a wooded valley beneath dense fog, leaving the lone clump of trees on the Brightwell Barrow hilltop isolated against a pale winter sky. Bare deciduous canopies pierce the fog layer in the foreground, receding in tonal gradients toward the distant hill. Shot from low drone altitude above the Thames Valley in Oxfordshire at first light, the panoramic frame distils the scene to three horizontal bands: tree, fog, hill. Black and white works so well here, dissolving the scene of stark blues and whites into beautiful monochrome. Whilst the crop here is shown as 2:1 panoramic, this is available as a 3:2, filling more of the paper sizes I have available (A4, A3, A2). Let me know your preference when ordering.

As the sun rose up, it cast strong, stark light which was very high contrast, resulting in my choice to convert this into a Black and White photograph. I think this results in a wonderful scene - the foreground full of woodland and sunbeams of light, the sea of mist filling the midground and then the distant barrow the perfect distant background. For me, this is what photograhy is about!

Camera
DJI Air 2S
Settings
1/3200s · f/2.8 · ISO 100 · 8mm
Captured
1 March 2025
Shape
panoramic
Appears in
Awarded PhotographyThe Chiltern Hills

About the prints

For me, printing is the end of the photographic journey. You've done all the hard work, edited the files and reviewed them. Seeing the photograph come out of the printer is the reward. The depth of colour from a printed photograph beats seeing it on a screen a hundred times over. Bring the story and this experience home with you with a fine art print from my portfolio.

Bluebells at Sunrise Printed on A4
Bluebells at Sunrise printed on A4 Fotospeed paper, editioned, titled & signed.

Each fine art print from my website is printed by me at home on my Canon Pro-1000 professional printer. To ensure the best prints possible, I use Fotospeed paper. This is archival grade paper, ensuring accurate colour representation. I then sign, edition and package the prints and get them posted to you. With this in mind, please allow up to 10 days for dispatch. If there will be any further delay to this, I will let you know via email - such as if I am on a trip away and it will be longer for dispatch.

If you do have specific requirements please let me know via the contact me form, and I will endeavour to solve any queries or requests. For example, if you need the print quickly for a special occasion, just let me know, and I will try my best to make it happen!

Bluebells at sunrise printed a4 with the edition number in the bottom left corner
Showing the detail of a print - you can see all of the details of Bluebells at Sunrise up close.

Not everything I’ve photographed is in the shop. If you’ve seen something on Instagram, in a gallery here, or at an exhibition that isn’t listed, just ask.

Why there's a border

The print will come with a white border around the photo to allow space for editioning and signing. This will also make it easier when you come to frame & mount your photograph, giving some flexibility. I sign the prints in an archival permanent marker, so it'll never fade.

Signing and editions

Every print is signed by hand in the lower border. Where a photograph is issued as a limited edition, each print is numbered, and once the last number has sold I never print that photograph at that size again. I print, sign and pack every order myself.

Read more about how they're made →

More from this collection

A temperature inversion settles over mixed deciduous woodland near Henley-on-Thames, the upper canopies of oak and ash breaking the mist layer in raking early-season light. The aerial vantage compresses depth into alternating bands of green and pale vapour, giving the scene an almost topographic quality. Shot in early May, the fresh foliage retains its acid-green translucency before the summer canopy densifies.
Crowns Above the Cloud The Chilterns From £55
A low temperature inversion pools fog through the valleys around Henley-on-Thames, leaving a copse of mature broadleaf trees stranded above the white. A rapeseed field in full spring bloom anchors the foreground, its tractor lines drawing the eye toward the obscured farmstead and grazing livestock beyond.
A Copse Adrift, Henley The Chilterns From £55
A temperature inversion settles over the Thames Valley near Henley, reducing the lowland to layered planes of pale blue fog. Isolated tree canopies emerge as dark islands, the furthest treeline fading almost entirely into the overcast sky. The graduated recession of tones gives the scene an almost monochromatic, painterly quietness.
Layered Planes, Henley The Chilterns From £55
A temperature inversion settles over the Thames Valley near Henley, stratifying the morning mist into distinct bands between successive rows of oak and mixed woodland. Low sun from the east catches the upper canopy, separating warm gold from the cool blue-grey air pooled in the valley floor. The compression of the drone viewpoint collapses depth into near-abstract horizontal registers.
Bands of Morning Mist The Chilterns From £55
A temperature inversion buries the Thames Valley beneath a flat sea of cloud at dusk, the gibbous moon suspended in a sky grading from powder blue through rose to lavender. Shot from elevation above Abingdon-on-Thames, the compression between cloud ceiling and clear upper atmosphere creates a horizon line of unusual stillness. The near-total absence of hard edges gives the frame a quality closer to watercolour than photography.
Moon Above the Cloud Sea The Chilterns From £55
Low-level mist pools between ridges of mixed deciduous woodland in the Chiltern Hills near Henley-on-Thames, captured from altitude in early morning light. A temperature inversion holds the fog in the valley floors while tree canopies emerge as islands above the white. A small cluster of farm buildings in the lower frame provides quiet scale.
Mist Between Ridges The Chilterns From £55