Exmoor, October 2013

My usual visit to Exmoor in the autumn didn't produce the usual crop of pictures this year, partly due to bad luck and and some bad weather.

I came across a few deer on the high moor...

...but had better luck closer to our cottage in Porlock. I could photograph deer in the opposite orchard from our lounge window, but achieved some better shots by moving to the boundary by the edge of the main road (didn't get permission to enter the orchard).

Exmoor ponies provided a subject on some days...

... plus colourful bracken and some birds: a stonechat on the high moor and blue tits closer to the cottage.

After heavy rain, the streams and rivers were swollen, providing shots of the River Barle near Tarr Steps, Horner Water, and the Lyn rivers near Watersmeet.

Badgers, Dursley, July-September 2013

Some pictures taken in Dursley, all at night, generally with five flash guns, and in a range of weather conditions including pouring rain! The badgers are used to such light and don't bat an eyelid. The Christmas hat was a picture I plan to use for a Christmas card this year; the only "photoshopped" part was the removal of the wires holding up the hat.

The thin one sat down, side-on, looking at the camera, is called Tiny. He (or she) is much smaller than the rest, even the other cubs from this year. He has some difficulty eating, perhaps because of misaligned teeth, and has an injury by his ear (probably attacked by other badgers) but he still moves around with great speed, and he visits every night looking for food.