Join award-winning wildlife photographer Nick Garbutt on Exmoor for an extensive photography trip filled with opportunities for red deer, ponies, macro and night skies.
Located on the north coast of Somerset and Devon, Exmoor is a unique landscape shaped by nature and humanity over thousands of years. It is widely recognised as one of southern Britain’s finest ‘wilderness’ areas. The diverse habitats of Exmoor provide a home for an impressive array of wildlife, including majestic red deer, roe deer, rare raptors, a wealth of bird life, elusive otters and some of the UK’s rarest butterflies and bats.
Equally iconic are Exmoor ponies, one of several British native pony rare breeds. The ponies are semi-feral, with herds free to roam over the moor, but they are all owned and managed. There are around twenty different herds on the various commons of Exmoor.
Our photo workshops have been timed in late winter / early spring when Exmoor offers very good potential for landscape photography with dramatic raking light falling across austere scenes. There will also hopefully be opportunities to see red deer and some wonderful birdlife. This is also a time when it is possible to make the most of Exmoor’s dramatic coastal areas which are sure to provide further photographic inspiration. Over the course of each workshop, we also hope to photograph the hardy eponymous ponies and magnificent highland cattle and explore areas of ancient woodland where there will be plenty of options for captivating macro photography and impressionistic waterscapes.
Another important Exmoor feature is the option for terrific night sky viewing and photography. Exmoor is certainly the best place in southern Britain for this (suffering the least light pollution) and hosts an annual Dark Sky Festival at the end of October. From areas close to our hotel (the nearby expanses of Dunkery Beacon), this is another aspect we hope to take advantage of, if conditions allow.
Typical Itinerary
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Day 1:
Arrival & afternoon photographic session in Exmoor National Park
This afternoon we meet at our wonderful hotel in the Exmoor National Park at approximately 14.00 and Nick will be on hand to greet us on our arrival in reception.
After checking in at our accommodation, it is time to venture out into the Exmoor National Park for the first photographic session of our stay. Using 4x4 transportation, we aim to visit one of a number of nearby locations, either coastal or on the moor, that will provide us with plenty of photographic opportunities. This location could potentially be Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor, but the location will depend entirely on prevailing weather conditions.
In the late afternoon, we return to our hotel in time to freshen up for dinner. In the evening, if conditions are conducive, we will have a session of night sky photography.
Accommodation: Dunkery Beacon Country House, 2-nights
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Day 2:
Full day exploring Exmoor for wildlife & photographic opportunities
Today, we will spend the whole day exploring Exmoor and coastal areas, using 4x4 transportation to get around and access otherwise remote locations in search of wildlife and photographic opportunities.
Our priority over the course of the day will be Exmoor ponies and perhaps some red deer, either in woodland or on open moorland. However, we will also hope to photograph areas of secluded ancient woodland, such as Horner Wood.
Some of Exmoor's woodlands are particularly old, dating back many centuries and are dominated by gnarled sessile oak, beech, ash and hazel. Many of the best examples still flourish in remarkable sheltered coastal valleys, like those of the rivers East and West Lyn that join at Watersmeet. The relative inaccessibility of these valleys has helped preserve them in as near a ‘natural state’ as is possible.
Once again this evening, if the weather conditions are favourable, we will have a session of night sky photography.
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Day 3:
Final morning photographic session
Following breakfast, we head out in the 4x4 transportation again to enjoy a final morning exploring Exmoor and revisiting productive photographic locations or potentially trying new ones depending on how the sightings have been over the past couple of days. We return to the hotel to check out before departing after lunch.
