We walked in to the south east moors from Reddacleave Kiln area and headed north to go around the back of the Avon dam reservoir.  It was cold but sunny and the moors had that wintry feel which I love.  everything seems somewhat muted and we didn’t see another person all the time we were out.

We headed up the Western Wella brook towards Huntingdon Warren.  This smallholding provided food for the local tin mine and the warrens would have provided a good supply of meat in the form of rabbits.  The enclosed ground seen above is the main part of the farm – the remains of the buildings are just out of sight to the right of the tree.  Some remain of the workings can be seen down the valley with the tip of the reservoir in the distance on the right.

We headed up to the top of the hill behind Huntingdon Warren to the wonderfully named “Heap of sinners” which is a fairly large cairn and decided to stop for an early lunch break.  The above image was our view.  It captures the winter bleakness of the moors quite well for me.  As I am enjoying a little more image manipulation these days I’ve taken quite a bit of the colour out of this really only leaving reduced levels of blue and orange/yellow.  To me that has enhanced that wintry feel a little.

Getting to our feet after eating it must have been just about midday…  This was the view in the direction we were heading.  A brief conversation suggested a change of plan was wise but by the time we had put on a layer or two more the rain was with us, it became very cold and we got quite wet in the following half hour.

Hitting the main track running down the ridge in the direction of the car we looked back.  Rainbows are seen quite frequently however this one was nicely placed on the top of Pupers and all too often the weather is not the best for using the camera.  The weather bot north and west of us suggested that heading on back to the car would be wise.

A few minutes later there was a full rainbow the right hand end of which can be seen here.  Despite the wide angled nature of my lens I couldn’t get the whole rainbow in sadly.  This was the last shot of the day as the next batch of weather hit us immediately after this.  We agreed that the hail that came then was a little painful when it hit!  Overall a good winter walk however also a reminder that even the nice looking days can change quite quickly on Dartmoor.

The image above – taken on Paignton beach – is one of my recent favourites.  When I took it I was aware of how the colour of the kite in the distance stood out and it was an obvious candidate for desaturation.  I realised that leaving some of the colour other than just the red of the kite enhanced the mistiness of the images too.

The fact that the tide was very low (although not quite a maximum spring tide) made for quite large expanses of beach which were useful to me from a photographic perspective.  The one above of Goodrington  combining crespuscular rays from the sun with great reflections of the clouds and shy in the sand is one of the better images I’ve taken in this part of the Bay.

It wasn’t only me who was making good use of the sands.  Running across both Paignton and Preston beaches a guy was kitesurfing on the sand.  The wind was fairly strong and he was getting some good runs.  His largely red kite could been seen easily and he stood out whether looking into the sun or away.

Out at sea a number of people were making the most of the wind and the waves.  The wind was slightly easterly which is the only direction which brings waves into the Bay.  Not enough surf for surfing itself but it appeared good for both kitesurfers and windsurfers and quite a few were out.

Finally heading back to the car and walking the rather wet sands the light, reflections and colours were exceptional.  This burst of sunlight over the promontory between Paignton and Preston beaches seemed to catch the feeling quite well.

A final look back got what was for me another good shot that caught something of the day well.  Far fewer people around now and the tide was turning however that just enhanced the feeling of space on the beach in the late afternoon winter light.  I’ve enjoyed making the most of the coast at very low tides in the past and blogged that a time or two before but that has been largely looking at what can be found in rockpools and the like.  This sense of exploration of the space created made for another dimension for me and a pleasant walk.

This track is one we have taken many times over the years and it still gives me pleasure.  It leads to a series of old tin mine workings but the variations on which way to actually go are many and we came off the track at this point and headed for higher ground.

The sun was going down (& it still seems too early for that) but there was enough light at the stage to take a picture looking north east more towards the centre of the moors.  There is gorse out at present as well as heather and I’d like to get out to try and catch some shots of the heather before it is over.

I guess there will be less photography from my evening walks now as even in the fairly early evening the light is getting quite poor for photography and maybe not so good for walking either though it usually does not stop us.  However the effects of the last light on the clouds is lovely.

I usually realise that I should have taken a tripod after I needed it and this was no exception.  In the end I am unlikely to roam far on the moors carrying a tripod I think but this wonderful moon deserved a better shot that I was able to get hand held.  That said I think it catches the mood quite nicely.  It was stunning and with us for at least the last third of our walk back to the car.

It has been a few weeks since I’ve been out on the moors in the evening but last night made up for it.  The south western tip of the moors around Shell Top and Penn Beacon is lovely for an evening walk and holds some fond memories for me.  I always set off thinking it is a relatively short walk and always come back remembering that at least half of it is uphill.  Approaching from the east and heading first to Shell Top meant we passed the hut circle above.  The remains are quite clear and the eastern side of the hill has quite a few bronze age remains on it.

Stopping to take a breath a little further up towards Shell Top gave this wonderful view looking east.  This is looking towards the ridge which runs south and ends at Western Beacon.  The combination of the sunlight on the landscape and the very dark clouds did seem quite special – certainly some areas were not enjoying the late sun which we were.

Reaching Shell Top the view all around opened up although Shell Top itself is not that significant a point as can be seen from the above.

However sitting in the evening sunlight having a drink and looking fairly much south gave a great view.  In the foreground (& sadly) is the china clay works.  I realise industry is necessary however what idiots allowed this development right on the very edge of a National Park?  Further off is the city of Plymouth and Plymouth Sound (and the English Channel).

I guess this is my favourite shot of the night.  Taken looking somewhat west from Shell Top it looks down on the Trowelsworthy Tors and across the misty ridges into Cornwall.  The light over a number of ridges really is an effect I love.  I previously blogged the tors here.  Because it is taken looking into the sunlight these shots can be quite difficult but when they work it looks good to me.

Heading off we started to walk down to Penn Beacon which can be seen here at the end of the line on the hillside.  This is an old reave which runs down the hillside towards it.  The china clay works can be seen to the right rather clearly.

Reaching Penn Beacon we looked back up the hill as the last light was going behind a large cloud bank coming in from Cornwall.  The tip of Shell Top can be seen on the upper part of the ridge on the right hand side.  Over the years I’ve seen some great “Last light” scenes on the moors and this was one of them.  A good walk and hopefully we will get out again soon.

I’ve not been out much with the camera for a while now.  The dry weather I referred to here broke straight after that blog and there has been quite a bit of rain since.  Good for the gardens and farmers but it made for less predictable photography.  However other issues in life have settled a bit too so I wandered out last night as the late sunlight looked good.  I didn’t have time to go far so I headed to one of my more usual spots to see if there was anything interesting to point the camera at.  The advantage with such an approach is that you never quite know what might catch the eye.

From the first image’s colours you might think that the barley was nearly ripe given the yellow colour.  However from the close up you can see that the plants are still fairly green and it is mostly the effect of the sunlight.  I loved the delicacy of the individual plants and the way that they combine to make the overall effect of both golden and moving (there was quite a strong breeze).

Depending on the angle of the shot and the sun, the yellow effect was even more pronounced.  However the green can be clearly seen still.  I guess a trip back in a few weeks time should give much some truly ripe golden shots.

The tranquillity of the farming landscape in this area is lovely and, fortunately for a photographer, there is usually something different to look at throughout the agricultural year.

These images were taken in late March however there have always been other things to blog somehow.  I was walking the beaches at Paignton and Preston and looking at those things far closer to me than I usually do.  In part this was due to reading an article in a photography magazine which suggested photographing items in a garden for a change – I decided doing this project on a beach might be interesting.  I love the intensity of colour in the seaweed above.

Above are a collection of some of the images I caught while walking the beach.  It is so easy to forget to look in our rush to get places these days and we miss out on some remarkable sights.  The colours and both simplicity and complexity of these small inhabitants and sea plants on our beaches are striking.  This is an approach I’ll return to sometime as I found it interesting and rewarding but I’ll leave this blog with another seaweed.

Looking back the way we had just walked Greator Rocks was lit by the late sunlight.  The bluebells here are a little thinner on the ground so the impact is a little less.

This shot looks over towards Haytor.  While they are bluebells, in this shadowy light, they really did look purple (& the colour has not been adjusted in any of these shots).

Last year I caught the bluebells on Holwell Tor lawn on the Haytor side of the valley (blogged here) and they are not quite at their best yet but I think they probably should be soon.  Both this year and last year I was not the only photographer in the area – they really do make a stunning sight for anyone who is in the area.

The walk had been quite a short one so we headed over to Bonehill Rocks to catch the last light of the day.  Over the years I’ve seen some great effects around sunset on the moors and this is one of them.  I did return for an early morning shoot of the bluebells a couple of days later.  I got some good shots but decided to leave this blog to be about the one outing, some of the early shots can be seen on facebook here though.

These are images taken on two different occasions (and with different cameras) however as they both concern rather indirect sunlight and are both recent I thought they might go together.  The one above (taken on my “point and shoot”) was on the morning of the recent election here.  I was heading off to the polling station I was working at and, fortunately, it was early enough for there to be little traffic around so stopping suddenly when I saw this was not a problem.  The early misty light looked lovely.

The rest of these images were all taken on the same evening as I was heading back to Totnes after a meeting in Paignton.  I’ve looked over this valley before and felt it had something to offer a photographer but, as always, catching the light is the issue.  The very threatening clouds combined with the bright sunlight (yes – it is a little overexposed) with the feel of the valley below was interesting – a place I will return to.

The above photo comes from a favourite spot – the copse on the ridge looks good at various times of the day if the light is good but here it is almost a silhouette with the attraction being that burst of sunlight from behind the cloud.

Almost back in Totnes on a road where there really is nowhere to stop I just had to for this one.  Not all meetings have such beneficial results but hopefully this one will lead to another opportunity to exhibit as well as giving me some good images.

I’ve known of crepuscular rays for sometime now however watching a television programme the other evening the phrase “Fingers of God” was used and it seemed appropriate for me and this posting.  The programme was on Cloudspotting and was about the Cloud Appreciation Society as well as clouds generally – their website has some stunning images of clouds on.  I’ve taken a few over a while now but I do like this one.

I’ve sat on Dartmoor a few times at this location watching the sunset and the light over the moors and I have frequently been lucky with shots around the area at this time.  I love the “misty light” effect that the hills have at this time of day.  Walking the moors in the evening can be very rewarding.

The sunset itself was special too.  There should have been a couple of blogs on a recent trip to the Gower in Wales but they will come soon – the light and colour in all the above made me feel they should be here first.  I said when I started this blog 18 months or so ago that “everyone has to have a first blog sometime” – this is number 100.  Thanks for reading.