A Favourite Location

There's no doubt in my mind that Venford Falls is one of my favourite locations. Ever since I saw an image of it over on Flickr, I knew I had to shoot it. Well, as soon as I managed to find it that was! I liked it so much I featured it my video My 5 Favourite Landscape Photography Locations in Devon.

History has taught me that Venford Falls is best shot around May time when the foliage is green and lush. So when I started planning my shoots for May, Venford Falls was on my list of must do locations for the month.

Not Enough Water

The great thing about Venford Falls is that it is feed by a stream that is fed by Venford Reservoir. This means that it almost always has a constant flow of water and together with its sheltered location it makes it an ideal location to shoot anytime of the day. However, upon my arrival at Venford Falls one sunny May evening, one thing became immediately apparent. There was a lack of water!

It wasn't a lack in water in the falls themselves but a lack in moisture on the face of the falls. Between to the waterfall flows themselves there is a rock wall which is typically covered in moss and other green plants. Due to the recent dry spell all that green was dry as a bone. If you hadn't visited Venford Falls before you might not have noticed, but it stood out for me. So while everything was green, it didn't have that lush look I was after.

Making a Better Shot

Aside from being one of favourite locations, I've also produced one of my favourite images there (which you can see on my portfolio page). One of my goals with this trip though was to try and make an even better image. This looked unlikely given the lack of moisture in the surrounding ground, but maybe I could work the composition to see I could minimise that area in the frame.

So did I make a better image? If I'm honest, no. It's a very similar image in terms of composition but when I compare the detail that dry area in the image still stands out. The image that is currently in my portfolio is better. It's not perfect though, so I will be heading back to Venford Falls as soon as it has rained!

I also took some test shots of some wider compositions. I didn't connect with them when looking at them on the back of the camera, but now that I've seen them on the computer I'm changing my mind. I've always like the tight shots of the waterfalls as the sky rarely adds anything to the image, but I think they are worth revisiting if I'm honest. I can't wait to get back to Venford Falls!

So have you been to Venford Falls? Did you shoot wide or get in closer? Have you ever improved on one of your favourite shots? Let me know in the comments below.