Autumn has come around quickly this year

It only feels like yesterday that it was the beginning of spring. Seeing the bright yellow oil seed fields on my journey to my weekly lockdown food shop. The time between then to now has gone so fast, a blur to say the least.

Autumn is usually one of my busiest times as a full time photographer, working on commercial and client based projects. This year however my work has been severely impacted with far fewer jobs coming in due to Covid. Turning a negative situation into a positive one, I packed up my camper van and headed for Dartmoor National Park in Devon. I had visited the park two years ago and was floored by its beauty along with the autumnal colours on show.

Vibrant autumnal colours from my trip in 2018

Getting the weather window I’d hoped for and the conditions perfect for photography sadly didn't happen. This autumn seems to be particularly stormy, I wanted those peak colours but was worried if I left it too long the high winds would strip the trees. My timing wasn’t great, storm Aiden made an appearance, heavy rain and high winds greeted me with only a few short rest-bites.

Working in the wind and rain is challenging. Keeping camera gear dry-ish and making sure lenses/filters are clear of rain. Finding a place to put the backpack which isn't a puddle or deep mud and keeping yourself warm and dry all need to be overcome.

River Teign, Fingle Woods

First stop was the stunning steep sided Teign valley. Mature Beech, Silver Birch and Oak trees line the majestic River Teign as it flows through this National Trust location.

It felt as though the leaves needed another week to be at their peak but the previous weeks of strong winds has stripped the trees prematurely. There were less oranges and yellows than my last visit which was disappointing, thankfully though there were still pockets of colour, especially at my favourite spot in the valley.

Into the Oak woods

As Storm Aiden was at full power I opted to dive down into a steep sided north facing woodland for shelter. Nestled in amongst this valley was a twin waterfall, not big but perfectly formed. First visit here for me but I’d heard the walk down was very steep and from all the rain would be extremely slippery. I managed to get down intact only falling once, landing in a mixture of mud and rotten wood, could’ve been worse.

Wanting to get as close to the falls as possible to make the most of them, the problem with that was the spray. I soon ran out of dry lens cloths to wipe the front of the lens clean between each shot. The slight blooming effect in the highlights is from the hazy filter but I quite like it. Hollywood uses all sorts of bloom/black mist filters to get a similar effect and has done for decades.

Blue hour ponies

Sunset is early at this time of year and I got to these woods later than planned after exploring around the twin waterfall area. With only 20 minutes of late blue hour light left these two wild ponies appeared from nowhere. I took one shot and then just watched them. What looked to be a mother and her foal, they quietly grazed before nightfall. I like a plantation woodland, I like the order they create and this one had some huge pine trees. Couldn’t help be feel like I was on a set of game of thrones, it was very atmospheric.

In a nod to motion pictures I cropped this to a Cinemascope 2.35:1 (windscreen) ratio. Such a pleasing ratio!

River Plym

Overnight the rain on the van roof was non stop and very heavy. My plan was to visit Dewerstone Woods in the south of the park, with its twisted old oaks, moss covered boulders and old mine stone work. I knew with all the rain during the night the river Plym that runs through the wood was going to be lively. I pulled up at the carpark, turned the engine off and could hear the river roaring. It reminded me of those alpine rivers that charge through the mountain towns of the high Alps in spring. An unbelievable, unrelenting flow of water. You can’t help but get excited by nature’s power, the sound was deafening. I set up as close to the edge as I dare and happily shot for a few hours as I wandered up the river bank exploring.

Dewerstone Woods, dartmoor National Park, Devon, UK

Brentor Church

The forecast for the next day was yet another low pressure to sweep in and dump a load of rain. Deciding to head home I had time for one more shoot. Brentor church is a location I’d wanted to see for years so it seemed perfect to head west to visit it. I wasn’t treated to any special light, no last burst of sunlight lighting up the side of the church. What I did get was mood and lots of it. I will return to Dartmoor and will be hoping for better conditions, or maybe just less rain.

As I write this we are just a few days away from going into another national lockdown here in the UK. No multi day trips for a while, my timing turned out to be just about right in the end.