MOUNTAIN POSER
Ryan Simpson is joined unexpectedly for a summit photo shoot in Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland
For me – as for many of us during the pandemic – enthusiasm seemed like a commodity in desperately short supply. Keen to kick the habits of the previous eighteen months into touch, I booked a random weekday off work (any day would do!), draped my OS map across the kitchen table and started to plot my return to the mountains. My aims were modest – hike the circular route over Slieve Binnian, grab a few sunset photos and then retire to the tent for the night with a warm brew. As luck would have it, my solo trip would coincide with probably the best day of weather that year, with high pressure dominating and a barely tangible breeze passing over the summits. I arrived at the serene surroundings of Buzzards Roost, overlooking the Ben Crom reservoir, pitched my tent and started to think about my photography shoot later that evening. This would’ve been a lovely evening already, but this wasn’t to be any ordinary trip to the Mournes. As dusk approached and the mist from the Irish Sea began to fill the valleys below, a wonderfully curious fox began to meander its way up to my camp. Not sure exactly how to behave or react around my new friend, I kept very calm and still. A few minutes passed and, realising the fox was totally comfortable in my presence, I was then free to move around and capture him from various angles. It turned out he was a bit of a poser! For me as a photographer it was the fusion of so many wonderful elements into one scene, and an experience to recount to an innumerable number of people ever since.
‘This wasn’t to be any ordinary trip to the Mournes’