Journal

On the afternoon of 15th February at approximately 15:00, we left South Wales and drove to the small village of Yelverton on Dartmoor, Devon. We arrived around 20:30 that night to stay in a bed and breakfast called The Cherrybrook located on The Moors.

The landscape was barren and known as a dark sky area, where on a clear night you could do some amazing astrophotography.  The proprietors of the place we were staying knew where Wistman’s woods was and gave us directions from where we were and provided us with maps.  We were advised the weather could change very quickly so we were to be mindful of that.

Waking up at 06:00, making sure I had appropriate clothing including hats and gloves, together with camera equipment and water if needed we set off at first light.

It was very cold, windy and raining at the start of the journey eventually turning to sleet and light snow flurries.  Whilst walking through the grassy landscape I slipped over a few times which had large deep puddles of water in the area. Trying to follow google maps did not work so we ended up following the map we were given leading us to a pathway. After around half an hour of struggling to find our way and going over countless fields, we found what we were looking for, Wistman’s Woods.

I carried out the photography fully manually (See caption in photographs). 

It was located on the side of a valley quite a way up and to get to the woods you hiked through need to hike through steep landscapes.  Reaching the area it was visible to see it was a collection of mature trees like a mini forest.  The trees were on large rocks and stones possibly from a landslide, they were covered in different mosses and somehow their branches had intertwined.

Using the tripod throughout the shoot along with appropriate settings and flash if needed, I took a variety of images on the outer perimeter of the woods themselves.  It was extremely slippery and dangerous to get into the centre of the woods and I chose to play it safe, honestly wearing my hiking boots was a very good option.  I took a selection of close up shots and further away shots wanting to create an image that got a natural feel for the area. Across from Wistman’s Woods I also captured another image, this was a tree on a riverbank.  I used a longer lens to do this and also a lower shutter speed enabling me to freeze the movement of the river.

Hiking back over the moors took longer than either of us expected. Arriving back exhausted to the accommodation we enjoyed a cooked breakfast, a wonderful cup of tea and a well-deserved rest.

Time spent there