The rain has literally put a dampener on a lot of photographer’s plans to take photos. Especially during the Christmas break, and I was no different. I had a day off work yesterday and the Dartmoor weather forecast showed a few potential breaks in the rain, during a small window in the afternoon. I had promised my son that I would take him to Dartmoor before he went back to school so that he could take some photos with his new camera (he is 8 years old); so it was do or die.
100-mile round trip
We braved the 100-mile round trip in the car; but only after triple checking that I could cope with any scenario that could result in taking an 8-year-old hiking up a tor on a winter’s day! We got there about 10 minutes before the rain was meant to turn to showers. Thankfully the weather began to break after a relatively short wait; we passed the time sitting in the car as a large cloud passed over us. We had plenty of crisps and chocolate to help pass the time!
In between showers the view was spectacular from the top of Great Staple Tor; with low clouds blemishing the dynamically lit landscape below us. I took this photo looking southeast towards Kings Tor; The fields were illuminated in the late afternoon moment of sun, and the clouds that were brushing across the moors. I got quite a few photos of the moor in some quite different light conditions. However, I do wish I had taken my tripod up the tor with me though. I left it in the car in case I needed to have a hand free to help my son over the rocks; he was quite hardy, although not a fan of the cold.
Having taken more and more landscape photos with my 70-200 mm lens I am now really hankering to add a 300 mm lens to my kit. I am currently thinking about the 300mm f/4L IS. I think it could come in handy with my seascape work too.
