Muddy boots season

It stopped raining just long enough for it to start again, on this morning's hike along the chalk ridge that is Ballard Down, Isle of Purbeck. The regular downpours; the low cloud; the rapidly changing light, are but three things that make me want to get out into the hills with a camera. 

© 2024

Making progress

I've yet to perfect this shot of the obelisk and surrounding countryside on Ballard Down, Isle of Purbeck, but I feel I'm getting close.

© 2023

No relation

I hadn't planned to do a hill walk today (no, really), but it was the spontaneous boarding of a passing bus and the lure of an interesting sky that led me to the top of Ballard Down by early afternoon.

I had already made the decision to shoot in black and white before I arrived, choosing to photograph my subjects in their own right, rather than how they relate with their surroundings in the landscape. That way I could make the most of those skies.

© 2022

The last day of Spring.

The last day of Spring, and quite possibly the last day walking in the surrounding hills... at least until autumn. 

© 2022

The obelisk

The weather is still unseasonably mild, and pinning my hopes on the forecast being correct (it was), I pack a camera and two lenses and head for the hills on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. 

It's a fairly steep climb from Deans Hill bus stop to the obelisk on top of Ballard Down, but that's my starting point for a four mile coastal walk, from thereon downhill all the way to Old Harry Rocks and finally Studland beach.

There is a bit of cloud to give the sky some interest once I'm up there, and I stop to take a number of photographs before it threatens to disappear altogether leaving nothing but blue. The original colour images didn't work as I'd intended, but converting the files to mono made all the difference.

© 2021