Exmoor Day 3 - A punchbowl sunrise & sunset feast

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I was up at five for a sunrise shoot at the Punchbowl, where I’d been the afternoon before, as it looked like it might be a worthwhile spot for some early morning antics. I got there a little late though, as the sky was already beginning to transform from the lead grey of nights end into the first flush of dawn.

Parking up and grabbing my gear, I took off at speed into the moorland to find a suitable spot for what I hoped might be a rewarding show. If anyone had been passing by they would have witnessed a rather ungainly fellow scampering through the ferns, tripod flailing in the morning breeze, crying out ‘wait for me’ to the blushing sky. Whether it’s shade signalled the start of a colourful sunrise, or it was just embarrassed to be seen with me, I didn’t yet know.

Exmoor Day 2 – Mischievous rain and a sat nav mutiny

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After a very disturbed night, thanks to the seemingly endless rain tap tap tapping on my taut tent topping, I wasn’t up that early, not that there was much to be up for, the rain was still continuing its cascade of damp misery. So after a leisurely breakfast, by which time the clouds had taken on a more cheery countenance and the sun was finally awake, I took a drive over the moors to the coast, and Porlock Common.

Porlock Common is a fetching piece of land that comprises meadows of heather and a patchwork of trim, hedge lined fields upon rolling landscape, all situated right on the coast. It encompasses all of what makes Exmoor such an appealing place, in a way that very few spots in the National Park manage to do. And it was looking very fine in the morning light.

Exmoor Day 2 - Moorland sunrise & some wild ponies

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I was up early again in the hope that sunrise would be more amenable than the previous day. I took the little lane that heads upwards onto the moors, before arriving at at the coast road and then onwards to Porlock. I stopped on the silent moor and hunted around for some heather, which was a bit of a task, as there wasn't much about. I found a small patch that would have serve as my foreground colour and parked up, watching the sky to see if my time was about to be wasted again.

Setting up in the still morning, all I could hear were the eccentric bleatings of distant sheep, as they rummaged around in the undergrowth for some breakfast, but beyond that, it was as if the landscape itself was still sleeping as there was complete stillness.

After waiting a little while a small glimmer appeared on the horizon, there was a great deal of cloud about, but thankfully a nice gap had appeared, which allowed the rising orb to fling a little colour about the surrounding brumey blanket.

Exmoor Day 1 - Battle with the clouds

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I was down in Exmoor for a couple of days, which is always a good thing, as it's such a beautiful spot. I was somewhat limited in what I could get up to though as I had recently broken a toe, so my mobility was somewhat impaired, no walks through the Barle Valley on this visit. If I could drive to it, then I would go to it, otherwise it was out of bounds.

I was up for sunrise first thing that morning, at the slightly impudent hour of 5.30, and I took a drive through Simonsbath and out onto the moorland in the hope that there would be some spectacular colour in the sky. There wasn't.