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Dartmoor Workshop 1

 

In the photographer's paradise of Dartmoor National Park, Devon

Featuring: Great Staple Tor, Wistman’s Wood and Burrator 

 

2018 Dates TBC

 

The location and inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mystery, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", Dartmoor National Park is a thousand square kilometres of rugged, windswept wilderness in the South West of England, consisting of forests, rivers, lakes, wetlands and moorland.

 

Wild ponies and highland cattle roam freely amongst the huge granite tors that litter the landscape - and the artefacts and landmarks of an ancient rural heritage, dating back to Neolithic times, are everywhere - dry stone walls, clapper bridges, standing stones, shepherds’ cob-walled refuges, stone circles…

 

Vast open spaces, scant development, craggy, precipitous rock formations, big skies and unremitting changes of light on this stunning primeval landscape make it an outdoor photography idyll. Stephen Spielberg shot scenes for “Warhorse” on the moor and said it was some of the best natural light for cinematography he had encountered anywhere in the world.

 

We will be staying at a classic country house-style hotel with inglenook fireplaces, cosy farmhouse furniture and luxuriously appointed private en-suite bedrooms. The hotel's location is secluded, but central to our needs and its restaurant's award-winning cuisine is world-class.

 

We will have pre-booked the use of a meeting room with image projection facilities for the display of our work and for critique sessions.

 

Accommodation, tuition, transportation to and from our shooting locations, evening meals, daytime meals and all refreshments (other than personal bar tabs and table wine) from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon tea are inclusive.

 

7 participants

 

 

Typical Programme Timings*

 

Friday

 

16.00 - 18.00

Check-in, meet and greet, afternoon tea

 

18.00 - 19.00

Pre-dinner drinks in the bar

 

19.00 - 20.30

Dinner

 

Early night everybody - tomorrow is…

 

 

Saturday

 

03.00 Prompt

Leave the hotel on foot to go to Wistman’s Wood

NB: The wood is a good thirty minute walk from the hotel, along a well-worn footpath

 

04.00 - 06.00

Pre-dawn and dawn shoot at Wistman’s Wood

Sunrise is at 05.00

 

07.00 - 09.00

Breakfast at the hotel

 

09.30 - 12.30

Review images from morning shoot in AV room. Discuss landscape composition and personal goals

Tea/coffee served at 11.00

 

12.30 - 14.00

Buffet lunch at the hotel

 

14.00 - 17.00

Those in the group who would like to take a bit of a power nap before going out again at sunset should do so after lunch

Those who are happy to carry straight on through into twilight; we will look at technique and composition, with albeit harsher light than we would normally shoot in, with practical experiments near the hotel grounds

Review images from experimental shooting

Devonshire cream tea will be served at 15.30

 

18.00 - 19.00

Dinner at the hotel

 

19.15 - 20.00 

Head out onto the moor again to shoot at Burrator 

NB: Burrator is a twenty-five minute drive from the hotel and a five minute walk from the car park

 

20.00 - 22.00

Sunset shoot of Burrator lake in the golden hour and twilight

Sunset is at 21.15

 

22.00 - 22.30

Return to the hotel

 

 

Sunday

 

03.30 Prompt

Travel to Great Staple Tor for the pre-dawn and the dawn

NB: The Tor is a ten minute drive from the hotel and a fifteen minute walk from the car park

 

04.00 - 06.00

Dawn shoot at Great Staple Tor

Sunrise is at 05.00

 

06.30

Return to the hotel

 

07.00 - 08.30

Breakfast at the hotel

 

09.00 - 12.00

Review images from Saturday evening and Sunday morning shoots

 

12.30 - 14.00

Sunday roast at the hotel

 

15.00

Afternoon tea and departure

 

 

Location

 

Two Bridges

Princetown

Dartmoor

Devon

PL20 6SW

 

 

Cost

 

  • £899 per person

  • £100 non-refundable deposit per person

  • Balance payable eight weeks before workshop/tour date

  • If workshop/tour is within eight weeks of booking, the full amount is due immediately

 

 

What’s included?

 

  • Accommodation

  • All meals and non-alcoholic refreshments

  • Transport between the hotel and shooting locations

  • Daily tuition and critique

  • Course notes

 

 

What’s excluded?

 

  • Participants' personal travel arrangements between home and the hotel venue

  • Bar tabs/table wine

  • Insurance (please make sure you have adequate cover for personal injury/medical emergency and for lost or damaged equipment)

 

 

What do you need to bring?

 

  • a camera, preferably (but not essentially) with manual control over the exposure

  • a fully charged battery with its charger, plus any spare batteries if you have them

  • a sturdy tripod

  • any lenses you may wish to shoot with

  • a remote shutter release if you have one

  • a memory card, with plenty of space on it, plus spares if you have them

  • a wet weather cover for your tripod-mounted camera in case we encounter showers

  • a graduated neutral density filter if you have one - with many modern digital sensors this is no longer essential

  • neutral density filters if you have them

  • a torch (head torches are very useful as they're hands-free) with a red bulb setting so you don't ruin your night vision when making camera adjustments in the dark

  • sensible clothes for the time of year and shoes or sturdy trainers for reasonable, though not strenuous, walking in the countryside

  • a comfortable wind-proof/shower-proof jacket

 

 

You may also bring:

 

  • your PC/Mac notebook or tablet for image processing/review

  • any items you feel may be interesting or inspirational for the group

 

 

 

* sunrise and sunset times are estimations and the programme schedule may vary with the specific date of the tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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