A Landscape Photography Project to Capture the Changing Seasons
Each season offers the landscape photographer something unique and wonderful. One of the best ways to discover those changes is to photograph the same location every season. Sounds like a great idea for a photography project, doesn't it? I thought it was, so I decided to photograph Holne Bridge on Dartmoor during summer, autumn, winter and spring. However, things didn't turn out how I expected them to.
The Value of Photography Projects
Undertaking a photography project can be a big commitment. In 2019 I began a yearlong photography project to capture a photograph every month from the same location and despite the tight brief, I still found it challenging. But a photography project should be challenging, shouldn’t it? I am also in the middle of my biggest ever photography project and despite 12 months passing by, I don’t feel like I’m making any significant progress.
Despite what I’ve said, a photography project is a wonderful thing, and every photographer should undertake one. They can be incredibly rewarding and stretch your skills as a photographer. The important thing is to make sure the project is achievable. There is no point in undertaking a 365 project when you know from the outset you won’t be able to capture an image every day.
A Failed Photography Project?
On the topic of completing photography projects, I have just completed a project that I’ve been working on for the last year. Well, I say completed, but that’s that not strictly true. Yes, it’s finished, but is it complete? I’ll explain everything in the video below.
What do you think? Is that a photography project failure? Let me know in the comments below.
Lastly, if you’re interested here is a list of gear and services, I used to create the print.
Photograph printed with the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300 - my video review
Paper from Fotospeed
Picture frames from Picture Frames Express
Project Photographs - Holne Bridge on Dartmoor
Here are the final 4 photographs.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Summer - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 20mm, f/11, 0.6 sec at ISO 200, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Autumn - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 19mm, f/11, 1 sec at ISO 800, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Winter - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 22mm, f/11, 0.5 sec at ISO 200, Kase CPL.
Holne Bridge, Dartmoor - Spring - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/16, 1/5 sec at ISO 64, Kase CPL.
Essential Outdoor Photography Gear - Muck Boots Apex Zip Short Boots
There's more to landscape photography gear than just cameras and lenses. The clothing I wear can make the difference between being comfortable and creative, and being cold, wet and miserable. In my latest video, I head to Dartmoor to capture landscape photographs and tell you about an essential item of gear, my Apex boots from Muck Boots.
The Importance of Good Outdoor Clothing
As a landscape photographer, it’s all too easy to focus on making sure you have the best camera gear you can afford. While good camera gear is obviously important, the need for good outdoor clothing should not be ignored. I’ve learnt this the hard way. I’ve been cold, wet, and miserable when out with my camera. For the last few years though, I’ve always budgeted for good outdoor clothing as part of the photography kit bag.
Back in January, I talked about the winter photography gloves I use, but good outdoor clothing isn’t just for winter conditions. The latest addition to my kit bag is a pair of Apex Boots from Muck Boots. These boots are shorter and lighter weight than my Arctic Sport Boots, and for me, are better suited for the warmer months.
Thanks to some very wet weather over the last few weeks, my new Apex Boots were given a good workout. I put them to further use when I went out recently to capture some photographs of Holne Bridge and Venford Falls. As I was making a video as well, I also I thought this was the perfect time to talk about my thoughts on the boots. In the video below you can join me on my photograph trip to Dartmoor and see the boots in action.
I’m always happy to talk about the gear I use, whether it’s cameras or clothing, but I will always try and include some landscape photography as well. I hope you enjoyed watching my adventure to some of Dartmoor’s damper spots and learning about my new boots. Let me know in the comments below if there are any other items of outdoor clothing you might want to see a video about or let me know what your best item of outdoor clothing for photography is.
Holne Bridge Photographs
Here are the photographs you saw in the video in a bit more detail.
Holne Bridge at Spring #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 14mm, f/13, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL.
Holne Bridge at Spring #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/16, 1/5th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL.
Venford Falls Photographs
Venford Falls at Spring #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 15mm, f/9, 0.4 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL.
Venford Falls at Spring #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 30mm, f/8, 1/8th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 CPL.
Bite-Size Blog Post #12 - Dartmoor Mini Adventures
In this bite-size blog post, I share with you some of the photographs I have captured on my recent ramblings around Dartmoor.
Exploring Dartmoor Locations New and Old
When autumn arrives and the number of daylight hours shrinks, I’m forced to focus my photography on local locations like Dartmoor. Well, I say “forced” but let’s face it, photographing Dartmoor isn’t exactly a hardship!
Now that autumn is over I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back on the Dartmoor locations I have photographed recently. I tried to balance my time between locations I know well and those that I know less well.
Of the locations I know, I’ve featured photographs from Rippon Tor and Holne Bridge. I haven’t captured anything spectacular or new from these locations, but they are firm favourites for me so I can’t resist the temptation to photograph them. Especially Holne Bridge. It’s such a nice location during autumn!
There are also some photographs from locations that I haven’t previously explored. Tunhill Rocks look like it could be a location worth exploring again. I think in the right conditions and light it could yield several good compositions. Bench Tor and Honeybag Tor are like Tunhill Rocks in that they will be worth visiting again.
Perhaps one of the most exciting locations I have visited recently is a new one for me and that is the area around Trendlebere Down. My first visit to the area was to walk the dog and it wasn’t my intention to check it out for photography. That visit coincided with the autumnal colours coming through and as I wandered about it soon became apparent that could be an excellent location for a spot of photography. The photographs below feature the stone bridges I found but the view higher up looking down on the woodland has plenty to offer as well.
Through my mini adventures around Dartmoor I’ve visited both old and new locations, but it’s the area around Trendlebere Down that I’m most looking forward to photographing next autumn.
Discovering Beauty in a Winter Woodland
In the blog this week I head back to Holne Bridge to show you why I’m photographing one of my favourite autumn locations in the middle of winter.
Inspired by a Bit of Luck
I recently shared a blog post in which I talked about having a Plan A, B and C and how I ended up photographing one of my favourite autumn locations in winter. The photographs I captured surprised me and they made me realise that I was maybe missing a trick by ignoring Holne Bridge in the winter.
If I was missing a trick then I thought other photographers might be missing out on great photographs from their favourite seasonal locations by not shooting them off-season. As I already wanted to head back to Holne Bridge to capture some more winter landscape photographs I decided that I would create a video of my experience and share it with you in the hope that it will inspire you to do something similar.
Using a Circular Polariser
Over the last few weeks I’ve been chatting to a fellow photographer who is just starting out with his use of filters and I said one of the most important filters for most landscape photographers is the circular polariser. This statement was particularly true for me at Holne Bridge. In fact when it comes to photographing water the circular polariser is an essential bit of kit for me.
In the photographs below you’ll find an example of the same scene, one photograph was taken with the polariser on, and the other with no polariser. I think it clearly shows how much of a difference this filter can make. I’ve included a little demo of the effects of a circular polariser in the video as well. (If you are interested I use the Kase Filters K9 circular polariser).
I really hope you enjoyed this video and that it’s maybe inspired you to visit one of your favourite locations off-season. If it has or you already do something like this then please let me know in the comments below.
The Photographs
As always, here are the photographs that I captured in the video. Just click on them to see them in a larger format.
Holne Bridge at Winter, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 23mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 200, Kase Filters K9 holder and CPL.
The same image as above but without the polariser.
Winter River at Holne Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 400, Kase Filters K9 holder and CPL.
Have a Plan A, B and C
As my plan C location, I didn't think I would end up at Holne Bridge on Dartmoor to capture this image. But after a failed shoot at my plan B location I was pleased that I'd had the foresight to consider a backup to the backup location.
Plan A
I like Fridays. It’s the end of the working week, the weekend is just around the corner and I’ll probably open a bottle of wine in the evening and eat something with a few red lights on the packaging. More than all that its the day where I almost always get out for a dawn shoot. That doesn’t mean the weather will be good though!
The Friday morning of this blog I had planned to meet up with a friend and fellow photographer for a bit of a catch-up. We were going to head down to the coast to shoot some moody seascapes. The weather forecast was for showers and overcast skies, but hopefully perfect for what we had planned.
Unfortunately my friend had to cancel. This of course isn’t a problem. Life and work sometimes change your priorities. Something of which I’m all too aware of myself. I would of course need a plan B.
Plan B
I could of course stick with plan A, but the location was further than I probably really had time to travel to. This mattered less when I was meeting up with someone, but as this shoot would be on my own I decided that I would pick somewhere closer to home.
Combestone Tor in 2014 - my first and last visit.
As part of my plan to take more risks and be more spontaneous in 2020 I decided that I should try somewhere new. Having just read an article by Ross Hoddinnot on some Dartmoor locations I decided that I must try and photograph Combestone Tor. Though this location wasn’t completely new to me, I had only shot it once some 6 years ago, so I still thought it would still be somewhere fresh for me to shoot.
When Friday morning came round I went outside to take the dog for a quick walk before I headed up to Dartmoor. Despite the weather forecast predicting overcast skies I could see some high cloud and a lot of stars. It looked like it could be a great morning after all!
I had to make a decision. Do I go to the coast and make the most of the sunrise, or stick to my original plan of going to Dartmoor where the weather might well be very different. My closest coastal location is Dawlish Warren and it is very much the safe bet but I have photographed this location many times before. This would not achieve my goal of shooting somewhere new. Despite my gut instincts to go to Dawlish Warren I decided to keep to my plan of going to Dartmoor. I felt it was important to spend some time working on new locations.
The weather up on Dartmoor that morning was as predicted. Very windy and cloudy. Not worry, the point of the visit was not to get a great image but explore the location. And explore I did. However, I never really got inspired. I never even got the camera out. It seems like a location with plenty of potential but I just couldn’t find something I wanted to photograph. Maybe it was just the lack of morning light, or the chilling wind, or maybe I just need a few more visits so I can get to know the location better.
Whatever the problem, I wasn’t going to capture any images there so time for plan C!
Plan C
Holne Bridge, Autumn 2019
I hate to head out with the camera and take no photos, so knowing that this might happen if I went up to Combestone I decided I needed a backup plan. The route up to Combestone fortunately takes me past Holne Bridge. This is a location I’ve photographed a few times, but only in autumn. This tree-lined river location is perfect for catching those wonderful autumnal colours.
I’d never really considered shooting it during the winter. With most of the trees probably being bare I didn’t think it would make for an interesting photograph. However, if I had to drive past it on my way home why not stop and take a photo anyway. I wouldn’t even have to walk very far!
So on the way back from Combestone I pulled over, grabbed my gear and popped down to the river. This was my plan C location so I was a little short on time which meant I didn’t have a lot of time to go exploring for new compositions. I decided that if I wanted to get a shot I would go with what I already knew. I did try a few different angles from a couple of new spots, but I eventually decided that I would capture roughly the same composition that I’d done during a previous visit.
Winter at Holne Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 24mm, f/11, 0.5 seconds at ISO 320, Kase Filters K9 Holder and CPL.
OK, I’ll admit, it’s not the most original composition that I’ve made, but given it was a bit of a grab shot as part of a backup plan I’m pretty happy with the result. I’d much rather have this image than have nothing at all from the morning. Besides, it was actually rather nice shooting a location in a totally different season. This is something I learnt from my year-long project on Dartmoor that I recently published. In fact it has inspired me to visit this location again in the very near future and not just wait for autumn. I think there is more to this location than just autumn colours.
A bit of a long story from me in this post but I hope you’ve found it enjoyable and that if you don’t normally head out with a plan A, B and C, then it’s maybe time you did.
Holne Bridge - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
In the blog this week I head to Holne Bridge with Panasonic Lumix S1R to capture the last of the autumnal colours on Dartmoor.
More Time with the S1R
If you a regular reader of my blog you'll know that I've had the Panasonic Lumix S1R on loan for the last few weeks. I've been putting it to good use and I've shot the autumnal colours at Fingle Bridge and produced a video called In The Footsteps of Colin Prior. With those bits of content produced I was ready to (sadly) send the camera back to Panasonic. However, the very kind folks at Panasonic Pro Services said I could keep it for a little longer.
Autumn at Holne Bridge
With the extra loan time I wanted to put the S1R to good use and make another video. As much as I'd loved to have produced another video on the scale of In The Footsteps of Colin Prior I'd have to produce something a little more close to home and within tighter time constraints. As I hadn't made one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos for a while I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. Though the best of the autumn colours were coming to an end I thought I might still be able to capture something interesting at Holne Bridge on Dartmoor.
Holne Bridge is one of my favourite locations to shoot autumnal colours and it was looking great when I visited there a few weeks before this trip (you can see the photos from that blog post here). I was a little unsure how the recent bad weather had impacted the leaves on the trees but fortunately for me local (and very talented) photographer Neil Porter drives through the area on a regular basis. He was kind enough to give me an update and as it was looking positive we both decided to meet up for spot of landscape photography.
A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
It was a great morning of photography and it was great to be joined by Neil. He knows a lot of good spots along the river there and he introduced me to a couple of new ones which I was very grateful for. Anyway, I don't want to spoil the video too much so here it is:
I hope you enjoyed the video and all the content I've made with the Panasonic Lumix S1R. I've really enjoyed using the camera and hope to use one again in the future. I also have to say that the folks at Panasonic Pro Services (who organised the loan) have been fantastic. Really friendly and easy to work with. Should I ever decide to purchase any of the S1 cameras it's good to know that Panasonic have the support services network in place.
I've got some exciting content coming up over the next few weeks including the return of On My Bookshelf, and some special new year videos, so stay tuned!
The Photographs
As always, here are the photographs from the video plus a couple of others that I captured after filming.
Holne Bridge at Autumn, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 28mm, f/11, 1 second at ISO 200, Kase Filters CPL.
An Autumnal River Dart at Holne Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 53mm, f/13, 1 second at ISO 200, Kase Filters CPL.
Downstream from Holne Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 29mm, f/13, 0.8 seconds at ISO 200, Kase Filters CPL.
Upstream to Holne Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon - Panasonic Lumix S1R, Lumix S 24-105mm f/4 at 24mm, f/13, 1.3 seconds at ISO 200, Kase Filters CPL.
Return to Holne Bridge
This week I return to Holne Bridge on Dartmoor to try out a new camera and to give my father-in-law a helping hand with his photography.
Almost Autumn on Dartmoor
Out of all the seasons to photograph I find autumn the most difficult. Despite the autumnal season lasting a few months, the colours are really only at their best for a few weeks. If there are a few windy days this can shorten that period even more. The result of this really short period is that I sometimes miss the best of autumn all together. Last year was one of the few years that I actually made it out when the colours were nearly at their peak. I was lucky enough to capture images from Fingle Bridge and Holne Bridge.
Encouraged by what I captured last year I was really keen to get out again this autumn. Though my primary plan was to head out when the colours were at their best, I thought it would be useful to also head out early on in the season as well. I wanted to do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, I promised to take my father-in-law out for a shoot as he was going on a Dawn2Dusk Photography workshop and wanted to refresh his skills before going. I also wanted to refresh my knowledge of Holne Bridge, which I think is a great location for shooting autumnal landscapes.
The final reason was I wanted to try out the Panasonic Lumix S1R. This camera was on loan to me and I was keen to familiarise myself with it before putting it to use on the project I had planned for it. Fortunately for me I was already used to the handling and interface thanks to my use of the Panasonic Lumix G80 (which is my primary vlogging camera). However, the S1R has a much richer set of features and configuration options compared to my G80 so there was still plenty to familiarise myself with.
Two Mirrorless Cameras
Even though I had the S1R with me, I also decided to take along my Nikon Z7. There wasn’t any special reason for this other than I had a 24-105mm for the S1R and a 14-30 mm for the Nikon Z7 and I wanted to cover a wide range of focal lengths. I’m not planning on reviewing or comparing the two cameras (that’s not really my thing) but if you do want to see how the photos compare I have included a couple of shots from each camera for you to have a look at.
From my perspective the image quality from both cameras was superb and the only differences in the actual output are as a result of post-processing and focal length.
You’ll be able to see what I got up to with the S1R in a few weeks time so stay tuned!
Vibrant Colours
Moving away from gear and back to photography, even though I was a little early for peak autumnal colours the colours I did find were wonderful. There were splashes of yellow from the leaves but there was still a lot of green about which looked wonderfully vibrant.
Holne Bridge #5, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 at 14 mm, f/11, 2 seconds at ISO 400. Kase Filters K9 filter holder and CPL.
Despite the high water levels and the low light levels (we arrived a little to close to sunset), we both had a great time photographing this stunning Dartmoor location. I familiarised myself with the S1R and Holne Bridge, and more importantly, my father-in-law got himself into the swing of taking photographs again. Considering we were there for probably less than an hour we both felt it was a productive session.
Do you have plans for some autumnal photography? What locations do you like to shoot in the autumn? Let me know in the comments below.
Holne Bridge
Inspired by the autumnal colours I had seen at Fingle Bridge the previous week, this week I head to Holne Bridge on Dartmoor to see how the autumn colours are along the River Dart.
Embracing Autumn on Dartmoor
I don't know if it's my imagination but the autumn colours in Devon, especially Dartmoor seem to be much more vibrant this year. The yellows, oranges, and browns are really standing out on the trees. Woodlands are looking particularly spectacular.
After seeing the wonderful colours down at Fingle Bridge the other week, I was determined to get out again and make the most of this special time of year. But where to go? Easy. My custom Google Map to the rescue again! Holne Bridge on the River Dart was another location that had been on my map for a while, and this seemed to be the perfect time to go.
Holne Bridge
Though the weather forecast for that day was for rain showers, there was going to be a break for a few hours in the morning so off I headed to Dartmoor. I parked up just on the other side of Holne Bridge and started walking along the banks of the Dart. As expected the colours were brilliant, but it also appeared that the strong wind from the previous days had removed a lot of leaves from their branches.
Not to be discouraged by this I got the camera set up and took this image of the river Dart from the east side of the bridge.
Autumn on the River Dart, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 25 mm, f/13, 10 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser and ND Grad.
Just as I started getting into my photography it started raining. At first, I thought it was just a light shower, but the rain started to come down heavily. I soon regretted not taking my waterproof jacket! Never mind, I packed the camera away and decided that this would be a good time to do some exploring. My weather app told me the rain was due to stop in 20 mins so I wouldn't have long to wait.
While I was exploring the river bank looking for compositions, I spotted some woodland on the opposite side that I thought might suit an ICM shot. I had started experimenting with ICM when I was in Harris and Lewis and was interested enough with the results to try it again.
Holne ICM, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 24-70 mm f/2.8 VR at 34 mm, f/8, 1.3 seconds at ISO 64, Lee Filters Circular Polariser.
As you can see I need to work on my ICM technique and compositions a bit more. However, it did at least pass the time until the rain shower had passed.
Once the rain had passed it was back to the job of capturing of autumnal images of the river Dart. There was still a fair amount of water flowing down the river making capturing engaging images a little more tricky. Too little water and the river looks dirty and bare, too much water and you just end up with a white blur.
To make sure the river represented an important element in the composition I headed upstream from the bridge until I got a place where the water was cascading around and over some large boulders.
Unfortunately, this was one of the very last images I had time to take that morning and I was soon heading home. Happy with the shots I had captured that morning the only problem I had was whether I should return again, go back to Fingle Bridge or try and find another autumnal location for my next trip out with the camera.
What types of shot do you like to take during autumn? Have you tried ICM? What is your favourite season to photograph? Let me know in the comments.