Bench ends, stones, water and ancient oaks at Meavy, Dartmoor

I had remembered that there were bench ends at Meavy church a couple of years ago and had meant to go back to capture them on a winters day such as the one we had last Sunday here in Devon. The village of Meavy is dominated by the ancient oak that stands in centre and is reputed to be older than the 12th century church itself.

I went inside the church and with the help of a tripod took most of the bench ends with natural light. The bench ends are Victorian in origin and were carved in 1892 with much skill.

The stained glass in the church is also very lovely and of the Victorian era, I took a couple of close up shots.

Having warmed up a little I was freezing as I got out of the car, I drove the short distance to Meavy brook and set the tripod up to capture the stepping stones and water.

All in all I felt as though i got some nice images and it was good to get out with the camera in the midst of winter.

Finding subjects in a dark January

It was a dark and dank January day when myself and my pupil set out at Shaugh Prior for the teaching session.
Finding subject matter at this time of year can always be difficult but once again the mossy rocks and boulders of such a wild place proved to hold a good few shots.

The heavy gloom and cloud allowed for shutter speeds of up to four or five seconds with no filters.