South West Safari

The jolly jaunt to Dorset and Devon was an interesting trip; the weather was mixed - thick sea fog and strongish winds on day one, wall-to-wall sunshine on day two, a bit of a mixed bag on the first day in Devon and almost a complete washout on Lundy Island! The return run on the Sunday saw glorious weather until I stopped off at the Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge at which point the Heaven's opened. Oh, the joys of being an outdoor photographer.

However, despite everything I managed to bag a few decent pictures and a few are presented below. I hope you enjoy them.

Firstly, a foggy picture, which was processed for my Fotoblur portfolio...

Click the image for the bigger picture

The bed and breakfast I used in Dorset was Chiltern Lodge in Worth Matravers, run by photographer, David and Ann Ensor, and he kindly offered to turn out with me on a dawn shoot. We went to Old Harry Rocks and were greeted with a lovely sunrise...

Click the image for the bigger picture

On the Jurassic Coast proper I walked from Lulworth Cove to Bats Hole and back on a gloriously sunny day...

Click the image for the bigger picture

Click the image for the bigger picture

I can heartily recommend David and Ann's b&b - comfortable beds, good breakfast, lots of ideas from David about photo locations, very obliging and homely. Here's a link to Chiltern Lodge and to David's travel photography web site:

Chiltern Lodge, Worth Matravers

David's photography pages

They get excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, too.

Before moving on to Devon I made a few images in Dorset. Firstly, The lovely St. Andrew's church in Church Knowle and then Corfe Castle:

Click the image for the bigger picture

Click the image for the bigger picture

Moving into Devon I met my friend, Simon, and after a wander around Hay Tor on Dartmoor we travelled north to Westward Ho! where a decent sunset greeted us:

Click the image for the bigger picture

This sunset was published on Fotoblur and earned me a 'Featured Image' award.

Despite the mixed weather I had an excellent break learning much about my Lee Filters and a newly acquired circular polariser, which I have found to be invaluable.

Thanks to David and Ann for their hospitality and to my good friend Simon for the invite, my introduction to Dartmoor and Lundy Island. I WILL be going back!

More Travels

A good friend invited me to join him on a trip to Lundy Island towards the end of May to photograph the puffins gathered there for breeding. This has been a good excuse to go and practice my wildlife photography, which is a very patient photographic discipline. I've visited a hide at Thurstaston Country Park on the Wirral a couple of times in recent days and am quite pleased with some of the images I've taken. The last visit was pretty slow in the bird department because the grey squirrels were hogging bird feeders and generally making a nuisance of themselves. However, a few siskin, bullfinches and sparrows have put in appearances.

Click the image for the bigger picture

Click the image for the bigger picture