HOT SHOT #1
Dartmoor is an area of England that’s steeped in legend. The national park is supposedly home to pixies, ghosts and the famed Dartmoor Beast. It’s the setting of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, and its history is peppered with tales of witchcraft. But a small oak wood, with its distinctive gnarled trees and mossy rocks, stands out as the moorland’s most eerie place.
Wistman’s Wood is said to be home to a pack of bloodthirsty hellhounds, the spectre of an unfortunate terrier, and the site of many a blood ritual. There’s more to this unique woodland than just spooks and scary tales, though.
It’s thought to be a remnant of the ancient forests that once covered the land, and houses a species of lichen that can only be found in one other place in the whole of Britain.
It was still dark when Neil and Keith met in the Wistman’s Wood car park at 7am. The plan was to photograph the wood in the soft morning light, but with thick cloud overhead and the odd spit of rain in the air, many photographers would have stayed in bed. “It’s better to shoot in miserable conditions than patchy lighting,” explained Neil. “Even drizzly rain can help, so long as you’re using a lens hood.”
As they rambled across 2km of moorland to reach the edges of the wood, Neil explained that they wouldn’t be going inside. “During Covid, footfall through the wood increased exponentially. It was damaging the forest, so visitors are no longer allowed inside the boundaries.”
“That must have really hampered your photography,” said Keith.
“Not really,” replied Neil. “The worst thing you can do with woodland photography is head deep into the trees. You cut off the light, and are often left with a busy, chaotic scene. Foliage on the edges of a woodland or forest is more likely to catch the light, which separates it from the darkness within. So we’ll be photographing Wistman’s from the fringes today