I think popular places look pretty cool when they are deserted. I think they suit moody or black & white photos. This is the amusement arcade at the seafront of Westward Ho! I found myself drawn by the missing lettering in the sign which I feel added to the deserted, empty mood.

I have been busy revising lately, learning to refine my web design skills as well as PHP. Sadly this has meant that I haven’t been out with my camera as much as I would have liked. I am looking forward to getting out soon. I went out last week and ended up drifting around Exmoor but couldn’t find much to shoot. I need to find some inspiring spots to visit before I go back. I also want to visit some of the Dartmoor features to expand my photography library and of course for enjoyment!

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I remember being quite interested in the patterns when I saw these tyres wrapped around ropes at Ilfracombe harbour. I liked the flow of the tyres as they separated the chaos of the ropes against the rigid organisation of the cobbles. I think that this type of photo really suits black and white to take away the distraction of colour while emphasising the textures.

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I took this photo in Westward Ho! on a pretty unsuccessful evening. I liked the composition in this shot due to the boulders and the way that they lead into the image. I think the photo would have been much better if the sun and surrounding area wasn’t blown out, but hey that’s photography I guess, it can’t be perfect every time and rarely is in my case. I chose to post the photo anyway as I love the texture in the boulders and how they contrast with the rest of the rugged shoreline. Even if the photos don’t come out amazing I always enjoy my time on North Devon’s beaches with my camera.

As you can see if you are a regular reader I have changed the address of the blog. The main reason that I did this is because devon-photography.com is a much more relevant domain and it was available (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t until recently). I also find that it rolls off of the tongue easier when trying to tell people my email address.  If you link to me I would be grateful if you could update your links.

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I haven’t posted a photo of Instow for a while so thought I best do so. I guess the owner of this boat is a fan of the romantic novel “Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor”. I think the boat has plenty of character regardless of the name.

The evenings are starting to pull out a bit now. It won’t be long before I can venture out in the pursuit of evening landscape photography after work.  Until then I guess you are stuck with my photos of boats.

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Golden hour is many a landscape photographers favourite time but I often love that moment in time where the sunset light ebbs away along with the warm tones to be replaced with cooler colours accompanied by quiet as the world settles into it’s night time slumber.

This is often a time where I have given up taking photos in the past. I have appreciated the moment with my own eyes but been guilty of not trying to make the most of the remaining light.

This photo was taken on Exmoor not long after I had taken this other Exmoor photo. As you can see there is quite a difference between the two images. In many ways I feel that this one is definitely the more peaceful of the two.

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I haven’t been out with my camera much lately. I’m hoping that as the evenings get lighter it will allow me to get out in the evenings after work.

This is a photo of the rocks at Westward Ho! taken at dusk. I love the way these rocks look in images after the light starts to fade. I think it is a combination of the textures that show in images along with the blend of tones present highlighted by the dusk sky’s colours.

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This is a photo of trees in the mist that I took on Exmoor recently on the same day that I photographed my Exmoor sunset view. It’s really quite amazing what difference just an hour or so can make to the weather. Admittedly there was also quite a change in elevation between the 2 photos.

I wish the mist was a little bit thicker so that it impeded the visibility of the main trees more but I still like the way it turned out. I think it definitely looks better in black and white. This photo was taken in a field to the left of the hill up to Dunkery Beacon. I was going to walk up to the beacon but the mist was so thick that I thought it would be a stupid endeavour.

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This is a photo of a common blue butterfly that I took near Venn Quarry which is one of my favourite macro photography haunts. It’s not a very well known spot but it is great for photographing butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. I have seen my fair share of buzzards there too but never had a long enough lens to capture them effectively.

Eventually I’d like to get a longer macro lens such as the Sigma 150mm  to make it easier to get a shot of some of the more nervous animals. It doesn’t help that I often end up trying to photograph them in the late afternoon though! It just makes it more of a challenge. I enjoy just getting out when I get time regardless of the time of day and seeing what presents itself. I normally end up staying out until the golden hour anyway even if I say I’m only going out for an hour or so…

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I had the day off of work yesterday so decided to head out for a few hours with the camera. I just headed for Exmoor with the aim of seeing where I ended up as sometimes it can make it a little more sporadic and interesting.

The sun broke through once or twice until eventually the mist and fog rolled in. I saw a line of trees while on the way up to Dunkery so stopped to try to capture them, you know the typical row of trees disappearing into the mist shot. I took a few shots and wasn’t overly impressed with the shots but they may make for a blog post in the near future. I haven’t processed them yet but hopefully one will be OK.

My trip up to the cairn was cut short by the mist rolling in and the group of frowning faces looking at me like I was some sort of criminal. They all looked like farmers and I can only assume that they were to do with the hunt that I could hear a short distance away. I suppose it is only natural for them to be weary of some guy wondering around with a camera…

I was making my way back home in my usual see where I pop out of the moors method and was blessed by the sun breaking out of the cloud for a few minutes. I was on my way from Withypool heading towards South Molton but I’m not sure of the exact location. I saw this tree and instantly knew the shot that I wanted to capture. I literally had to run across 50 yards of rough terrain with my camera and tripod and then run back again because I forgot my ND grad! I managed one or 2 shots and then the light was gone again but I was hopeful and happy that I could have got the day’s good photo.

This photo is a bracketed shot (3 exposures) and processed as a HDR while trying to keep the processing as natural and as close to the actual scene as possible. I’m extremely happy with the photo except for the fact I wish I could have got the rolling valley below into the composition better. I’m still happy to have one more landscape photo in the bag though.

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This is another photo of the cairn at the top of Dunkery Hill on Exmoor. I decided to process this one as a black & white photo to try to give it a little more mood and impact. This is a photo that I took on my last jaunt to Exmoor with my friend Greg. He doesn’t venture out much so I think that if I want to photograph more of the area’s landscapes, I am going to have to do it alone.

Being alone isn’t always a bad thing and once I am there I am in my element. Having a photo buddy helps to motivate you to get out in the first place. I think that a photographer’s two worst enemies are motivation and inspiration, I find half the battle is identifying where I want to go.

My recent inspiration has been viewing photography by people like Mike Bartholomew, Alex Nail and Miles Wolstenholme. I want to focus more on my landscape photography and these guys often produce amazing photos taken in areas that are realistically not that far from me.

Looking at other peoples photography can be a real eye opener, especially if they have shot at locations that you have too, because it is great to see different interpretations and perspectives.

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