The Twisted Oaks of Dartmoor

Last weekend, I finally managed a trip to Dartmoor. It had been on my ‘wish-list’ for sometime. Actually for more like seventeen-years; ever since I first read Eddie Ephraum’s book, ‘Creatiive Elements’. There was a picture of a wonderfully twisted Oak tree and a huge, gnarly granite boulder. I knew that one day I had to go and see the magic for myself, so off I went, driving the long 400 or so miles to Devon from my home in Driffield. I arrived at the ‘Two Bridges Hotel’ at around 9:00 pm, just in time for a few beers and a sandwich in front of a large and welcoming open fire.

I awoke early the next morning, rushed breakfast and headed up the valley for a mile to the edge of the Wistman’s Wood. Conditions were almost perfect, with very little wind and an overcast sky. I didn’t want sunshine; and then it started raining. I was dressed for the cold rather than the rain and the freezing water soon found it’s way through the seams of my down jacket, soaking my t-shirt underneath. I sheltered under a granite boulder for ten minutes, before just getting on with job. The rain eventually stopped and I spent an enjoyable few hours slipping and shuffling around the fantastic trees and the moss covered boulders.

Quoting from Wikipedia, Wistman’s Wood is a rare relict example of the ancient high-level woodlands of Dartmoor, and because of this it has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1964. The wood consists mainly of stunted pedunculate oak trees that grow from between moss-covered boulders and are festooned with epiphytic mosses, lichens and ferns. There are also some rowan, holly and willow trees. It also supposed to be haunted but I didn’t see any ‘Hell hounds’ during my short trip.

After a quick warming drink at the hotel, I drove a few short miles to Princetown for views of the infamous Dartmoor prison. Actually, HM Prison Dartmoor is now a Category C prison and houses mainly non-violent offenders and white-collar criminals. Still, it looks a foreboding place with its granite walls and barbed wire. Here’s a couple of photographs I took that afternoon:

The following day dawned sunny and bright but I was disappointed. I knew that the strong contrasty light would cause horrendous problems up at Wistman’s Wood, so I chose the soft option to explore the River Dart. I drove east through Dartmoor, re-tracing the route that I had travelled in the dark on Friday evening. I stopped to take a few photographs at Dartmeet where the granite boulders are warn smooth by the tea coloured waters of the River Dart.

A few miles further, I stopped at a lay-by at the top of a steep wooded hill. The autumn colours were absolutely stunning, so I grabbed my camera and tripod made a quick exposure and hopped over the fence to reach the bank of the river. I spent a couple of hours exploring the slippy river bank and taking the odd picture or two. I found that judicious use of my warm polariser on my 24-70 Nikon zoom, cut through the reflective glare and revealed those lush green tones of the vegetation and the quiet pools of the river. Here’s a couple of example photographs:

It certainly was a worthwhile trip. The weather was perfect and the autumn colours were stunning. One day, I hope to return and stay a while longer. This time, I didn’t even scratch the surface.

It’s Hip to be Square

I’ve always liked the square format ever since I borrowed a friends old Rolleiflex 2.8F TLR back in the early nineties. Since then I have owned several square format cameras including a second-hand Rollei SL66 and a chrome Hasselblad C. I still own the Hasselblad and use it whenever the muse takes me, though I must admit that I fell in love back in 1978, when I first saw one on the cover of Elvis Costello’s ‘This Years Model’ album. Now, in the digital age, nobody makes a square format SLR, though a square digital back can still be had for the price of a small family car.

There’s something I find so precise about the square format; it sort of forces you to study your viewfinder in order to achieve the best possible composition. There is a danger of producing images that are actually too formal if you don’t take care but I find it most useful to use the square format with wide and ultra-wide lenses. So as you may have gathered, I enjoy using the square format and have employed it in many of my latest landscape and seascape images. Though it may not always be apparent, I usually spend more time deciding on the position of the post-capture crop than I do with the rest of the processing of my image. Here’s a few examples from the past couple of week that you may enjoy:-

Of course, there are many occasions when a square format will just not suit. I tried it with this image of the Sir Tatton Sykes’ monument, but eventually settled on this rectangular crop. I encourage you to check out the wonderful rich detail in these images, so please feel free to click on them to see a larger version on my Flickr page.

The more astute of you may also have noticed that these images are all a rather strange colour! Yes, I used Nik software’s Silver Efex Pro to convert the colour files into black & white and then I carefully toned them to match the mood of the moment of capture. I used to do an awful lot of dark-room work in the pre-digital days and I was always very particular about the toning of my images. Most of the time, I did not wish to create a full sepia effect and I hated to see prints that had the colour of a ginger biscuit. I found that if I carefully diluted the bleach, it provided me with much greater control of the toning process and I could achieve quite subtle effects; tones that I have tried to emulate some of the images below with Photoshop.

…and then here are times when I feel that a full-blown sepia effect is warranted. Most of these photographs were taken within an hour of sunset and in the images below, I tried to match the rich warm glow of the arable fields of the Wolds.

Thanks for your continued support and I hope to post another blog entry soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of the summer and your photography.