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Wistmans Woods
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Wistmans Woods



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The magical Wistmans Woods in Dartmoor. The stunted oak trees are covered in lichen and moss and sit on a rocky hillside. ...
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The magical Wistmans Woods in Dartmoor. The stunted oak trees are covered in lichen and moss and sit on a rocky hillside.
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cameraX-T2

settings Aperture f/5.6 ISO 200 Shutter 1/125 Focal Length 2190/100 

upload_dateMar, 2017

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1632

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Awards

Peer Choice Award
Contest Finalist in Nature And Patterns Photo Contest
Peer Award
richardeaton_9707 davidjprosser TonyGuzmanG Vorster cgparis arcrem jorgealbertopealozapealoza +228
Top Choice
larryollivier kathaleencarlson_1159 TonyReshef vojce amf250963 cyrillinegoodman JamesHartPhotographyuk +23
Absolute Masterpiece
gayleandersonwildt Grandy_1961 gman176 markjoseph JeffreyDeCristofaro conniehumphreys_3889 ScenebytheRoad +17
Superb Composition
anstef dawnwrightlittlebird Jphoto Tanya333 theresabrewerton kathyzeckser Charlene-Shelby +14
Outstanding Creativity
James-Evans sinisaalmasi jamessullivan_7140 RobertMiii MKPhotographysa Jimmy_Bright Krause +5
Magnificent Capture
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Superior Skill
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Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 8Top 10 rank
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4 Comments |
tropicalkmv
 
tropicalkmv June 10, 2017
Oh wow this is amazing and cool
ScenebytheRoad
 
ScenebytheRoad August 06, 2017
This shot is truly amazing and somehow eerie.
LCons
 
LCons February 27, 2018
Wow! Stunning!
adiestiano
 
adiestiano December 29, 2020
Cool

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Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken at Wistmans Woods in Dartmoor, Devon. The location is situated on the side of a rocky valley near Princetown.

Time

The photo was taken just before sunrise as I didn't want harsh shadows. It is quite a challenge to get to the woods as it is about a 2 mile walk across rocky, water logged terrain. For me timing at this period in the day is very important, especially with a shot like this.

Lighting

To bring out the rich green tones it was important to avoid bright sunshine and so the lighting needed to be quite subdued. Even in late Winter when this photo was taken the woods can appear quite dark so getting the exposure correct is a key factor to a successful image, especially as I wanted to bring out the saturated colours of the moss and lichens. I tried to achieve a dark, spooky like atmosphere.

Equipment

My equipment was a Fuji XT2 body with 10-24 F4 wide angle zoom. I didn't use any filters but where the shutter speed was low I found a small portable tripod invaluable to rest on the rocks. The Fuji 10-24 F4 does have image stabilisation, which can be very effective. Setting up a full size tripod would have been difficult.

Inspiration

I had seen photos of these woods on various photo sharing sites and I was really inspired by the ruggedness and combination of the moss covered rocks and stunted oaks, which is quite rare in Dartmoor. The woods are also suppose to be haunted and the challenge of bringing this out in the final image really appealed to me. Added to that I felt it would make a strong alternative image to add to my landscape portfolio.

Editing

When I took the photo I shot both RAW and jpeg which I find gives me a wider range of post processing options as well as a backup in case of data loss. Using a Fuji XT2 has the benefit of superb out of camera (OOC) jpegs using the rich tones of the classic Fuji films. On this occasion I used Velvia Vivid to fully saturate the mossy greens of the trees and rocks. For my Post Processing I use Lightroom or Alien Skin Exposure X2 where I worked on the RAW file to create the atmosphere I wanted with basic settings and added a slight, soft vignette. The OOC jpegs can be used but where dynamic range is critical I will resort to RAW. The film simulations are a great reference point.

In my camera bag

For this type of location and my landscape work in general I will carry two Fuji bodies, XT2 and X-Pro-2, 10-24 F4, 16-55 F2.8 and 40-150 F2.8 for distant detail. i also have a range of ND, Graduated filters and Polariser using the NISI V5 system. All my gear is packed into the Mindshift Trailscape 18L backpack. This is ideal for a mirrorless system and is fairly light. My Benro carbon Fibre tripod easily fits in the side pocket along with a flask of coffee and ipad or phone with location maps.

Feedback

I think the key to this type of image is to research the location well through online resources and maybe a prior visit. Lighting, weather conditions and time of day needed to be just right so use your weather apps and of course a little bit of luck. Late Winter was the best time to visit with wet damp conditions so the moss and lichen was at its most colourful.

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