South West England V - Cornwall

This day was spent exploring Cornwall, starting with a photo walk with students through Launceston, Cornwall. The first pause was at St Mary Magdalene's Church, which was a nice little building, built between 1511 and 1524. While it lacked the drama of a majestic Gothic cathedral, it was a nice pause in a day otherwise spent photographing outdoors.

The other major structure in Launceston is the ruins of the castle, built 2-4 years after the 1066 Norman invasion. I defaulted to my infrared camera when photographing the castle, as it pulled the stout stone walls out from the surrounding foliage, and shifted the focus of the image from the beautiful blue sky and green trees to the structure itself.

Digital infrared original, 4 image exposure blend, 3 frame stitch

After we left Launcesto, we drove onto Bodmin moor, eventually seeking out a roadhouse for lunch and a short break. While the students relaxed, I ventured out to the nearby river, and made an image looking under the bridge. 

The most notable feature of Bodmin moor (beside the landscape itself), are the ponies - fuzzy little horses that have little fear of car or people, and permit photographers to approach to a surprisingly close camera position. A great place for long lenses with large apertures.

It is hard to roam the Cornwall landscape and not make image of hedge rows; in this case, I put one directly in the foreground, as a frame for the landscape behind. The decision to keep the depth of field shallow, which I was hesitant about at the time, turned out to be a good decision, as it helps keep the background and the foreground from getting too confused.

On our drive homewards at the end of the day, we stopped in several small villages, seeking a place for dinner. We finally found it in a small river-crossing town, where we are a fabulous dinner (double servings of the mushroom soup!). After dinner, we walked around town before the last long stretch of driving, and I came across this beautiful fence - complete with mixed lighting from the early evening.