It’s been quite a busy couple of months with the prospect of little ‘me time’ on the horizon: the next round of my Wildlife Photography Workshops for the RSPB starts again early in the New Year – January I think but just waiting for confirmation of the dates and in addition to this I’ve also been asked to do more product photography in the run-up to Christmas… again for the RSPB Exe Estuary shop at Darts Farm. Natural England have said they’ll be in touch with some image requests and I’m putting up a lot of images for global stock sales before the holidays begin.
I seem to be spending, what seems like. an inordinate length of time in post-production trying to meet deadlines for clients or for myself… although the latter does seem rather self-inflicted!
So we – my wife and I – decided to take some timeout and grab some ‘us time’ at one of our favourite local(ish) places not too far away from home.
Yarner Wood lies just on the edge of Dartmoor close to Bovey Tracy and is one of those places that is never heaving with visitors and is quiet but for the occasional Natural England warden stopping for a friendly chat…or maybe just a couple of locals out for a stroll. This little hidden gem is bursting with flora and fauna throughout the year and is now starting to show off its variety of fungi growth – the best is yet to come. The bird feeders have been re-hung outside the hides but there is still an abundance of natural food for our feathered friends. But they’ll be glad of the additional food when the winter starts to bite. It’s always a joy to just sit quietly with a flask of caffeine and a couple of sandwiches just absorbing the sounds and smells of autumn. The sounds at this time of year always include falling acorns hitting the forest floor…and I know that all manner of animals will benefit from this seasonal abundance. Which reminds me…I must get more stock images of the autumn harvest. But sometimes, just sometimes, the camera stays in the bag and nature just does its thing bringing a joy that nothing else can. Yes, I know it’s hard deciding to leave the ‘looking glass‘ at home but the experience of just sitting, watching, absorbing and making a mental note of what’s happening around you will provide a myriad of ideas for future photographic opportunities when you next return with camera and coffee: So it’s a win-win taking this time-out just to sit and be still.
Try it. Be still. Watch. Listen. Suck-up nature ’til you burst. And when you take the camera with you you’ll be ready for the expected rather than just hoping for the unexpected.
Happy Snappin’ folks.
Meter the Light 