Dartmoor and Devon photography by Mike Bartholomew

A month of macro

Mike — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:04:07 +0000

Since buying a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro lens a few weeks ago i seem to have found a new interest in the tiny world that surrounds us. It’s certainly the most challenging type of photography i’ve tried. With a depth of field of sometimes just a couple of millimetres, manually focusing is very tough indeed.

This Hoverfly was washing off water droplets just after a rain shower:

This tiny bug was trying to escape out of a pumpkin flower, covered in pollen and having a pretty hard time:

…and a few more from the last month:

Beardown Man

Mike — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 21:05:59 +0000

I went for a little walk up to the Beardown Man at the weekend. I say little walk, it took 4 hours up and back as the ground was pretty sodden once i crossed the Cowsic River.
The Beardown Man is a standing stone or Menhir put in place in the bronze age for reasons unknown.

I really wanted to stay for sunset to get the best light but the thought of making my way back down in the dark didn’t really appeal. I set out to take a Black and White image and managed to come away with this:

As i made my way back the the Cowsic River the setting sun started to produce a little light show.

Overall an enjoyable but tiring walk. It’s definitely a place i’d like to return to again.

Young Goldfinch

Mike — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:35:32 +0000

I just spotted this juvenile Goldfinch being fed by an adult. Unfortunately the adult flew away while i was getting the camera out.
It’s distinctive gold wing is very visible but it’s yet to have the red and white coloured markings on its head and body.

Dartmoor Flickr Meet

Mike — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:05:12 +0000

We had a small meet up on Dartmoor this week for a few local photographers.
It was one of those typical Dartmoor weather evenings where we had everything from fog to sunrays.

Meeting up at Yar Tor it wasn’t looking too promising:

We decided to stick at it and walk up Corndon Down. The light started to improve, producing nice rainbows and scattered light on the landscape:

It was anybodies guess what kind of sunset we would have. It wasn’t that dramatic but better than expected after getting wet a couple of hours earlier:

A quick pint in the local pub before heading home made a nice evening. I look forward to the next one.

Giants chair removed

Mike — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:17:45 +0000

A sad week for Dartmoor lovers. The giants chair that has been in place at Natsworthy, Dartmoor for the last four years has now been taken down and put into storage.

The chair was said to have become a victim of it’s own success, as local residents complained about the popularity causing congestion on the roads. Full BBC article here.

I was fortunate enough to visit the chair earlier in the year and take this photo:

It is said the chair will be re-located to a new site in Devon.

Thanks must go out to the artist and land owner Henry Bruce for allowing visitors onto his land to enjoy the chair for so long. An example to be set to many other Dartmoor landowners.

I look forward to visiting it in it’s new home.

New website

Mike — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:00:54 +0000

Yep, i’ve gone and done it again. A new simpler and cleaner looking website than my previous one.

I felt the old photoblog was becoming drowned in sub standard images through the pressure of feeling I had to post something regularly, so i’ve gone for a gallery driven website which hopefully will be more eye catching to first time visitors. I intend to keep a more casual photoblog running here on the blog page for the more casual “snaps”.