Five Planet Alignment on Rippon Tor, Dartmoor
Not getting up for a sunrise means you are still left thinking you need to capture something on a weekend but when the weather is overcast it limits your scope. When I have it bad I head under cover and end up doing long exposures LOL.
I originally went to Venford Falls (on Venford Brook) back in end of Feb and there was little foliage apart from dead branches and bracken and browns were the dominant colour. Having seen other shots from the summer I knew I had to go back when the bracken and ferns were out. The weather today wasn’t great but patches of sun still emerged as my wife and headed out to the moor. We parked in Venford car park and headed down Venford Brook. The way down is pretty steep and also now quite slippy due to the wet weather. I led my wife down to the falls and then put my wellies on. Welly boots give you much more choice in compostion in water.
The rain was starting to a bait when we arrived but the drops from the wet trees overhead were wet and cold down the back of my neck. My wife waited at the top but then the midges descended and started buyxenical120.com eating us both alive. I started using, in addition to my circular polariser, a 3 stop ND but after a while the exposures were too long. That was good, less filters the better so put the ND filter away. I fired off some initial shots but my wife had then had enough of the midges and started to walk back to the car. I stayed on and tried a few more POV’s than last time and also used some fill in flash given how dark it is down there when the sun is not out. I was about to give up but then the sun broke and I scrambled to get a decent POV. Luckily my camera was already setup at f/11, ISO 100 and auto-bracketing at 7 1 e.v. (although in hindsight didn’t need more than a couple of exposures) – I managed to get a few sun-kissed captures before the sun disappeared again behind the clouds. I packed up, having had enough of the midges. I clambered out the gully and as I neared the car the heaven opened and the deluge started. Good timing! We then went to the Tavistock arms in Poundsgate to dry off and feed our faces. Great morning.
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