A Moment of Light - a photo on Flickriver

A Moment of Light

            Lee, it seemed, had been keeping himself busy over the last few months.  Well, depending upon your definition of “busy” he had anyway.  In his case he’d devoted much of his time to box sets and peanut flavour M&Ms.  To think that he was once the scourge of the local five a side football circuit with those razor sharp flailing elbows and darting runs down the left wing.  When we cycled from Roscoff to Chinon, he sailed up steep hillsides in the Loire Valley as if they weren’t there.  In Scotland he marched to the top of the Devil’s Staircase without pausing for breath.  I was pretty fit at the time too, but I could never keep up with him when a slope reared up in front of us.  We nicknamed him “Stannah” in deference to his supreme climbing capabilities, after a well known manufacturer of stairlifts.  Today, all of that seemed a distant memory as he stared bleakly ahead at the lofty summit of Ger Tor.  He looked at us as if he needed to summon up the product after which he’d been named to help him to the top.  We hadn't told him the worst of it yet.  Ger Tor was only the halfway point.  

By the time we arrived at the granite boulders on top of Ger Tor, we were all huffing and puffing to varying degrees.  Far below us lay Tavy Cleave, cutting through the valley in lazy white curves. The sunlight would never reach the river at this time of day.  We'd have to be here a lot earlier to make it sparkle through our lenses.  But we had another view in mind, and for that we needed to push on up to Hare Tor, which now straddled the landscape like a colossus to the north.  Dave had hatched a plan that held much promise, and today was the only day upon which we could mount our drive for the high ground.  Come here on Tuesday or Wednesday and we’d probably be Swiss cheese within minutes.  The military use the area for exercise on dates that are published on their website, and they like to practise with live ammunition.  When you see a sign that tells you not to pick up any interesting looking objects because they might just explode and take your head off, it kind of focuses your attention.  That would be a bad hair day for certain - if you had any hair left, that is.  But on Monday the red flags weren’t flying.  We could wander around to our hearts’ content without being shot at.  

After a brief, chocolate fuelled rest on top of Ger Tor, I was ready to press on.  I left Dave to break the news to Lee that we needed to stand on top of “that one over there” to get our shots this evening, so I didn’t see the wounded expression on his face.  After all, it was Dave’s idea to do this.  I just agreed that it looked like a very good plan as long as we didn’t mind a bit of oxygen deficit and accepted that we’d probably get caught in the odd spell of hard rain while out on open ground along the way.  For a solid half mile we pushed on across boggy terrain, past curious black bullocks that stopped grazing to stare at the three unwise men who were out on the moor on this showery Monday evening.  We’d already been soaked at least twice today and were getting used to it.  But there was no denying the fact that this was a testing hike.  A good two miles each way - or is that a bad two miles? - with a couple of sharp inclines and a flattish squelchy section in between.  He who dares will probably feel a bit worn out later on, but then again, with all of those passing showers that had filled the day from end to end, maybe it would be worth the walk. 

So many times you put in a huge amount of effort with no guarantee of a reward.  How many times have we made that journey, walked up that hill or stood on that clifftop to watch the light get snuffed out at the vital moment?  But on those rare occasions, just often enough to keep us hoping, we get that moment of light we all dream of.  This was one of those happy days when the plan came together and we fired our shutters in triumph.  These are the ones we remember for a long time afterwards and we all knew it as we grinned and watched the fleeting light racing across the wilderness.  Just a few seconds and it was gone.  There was a long walk back to the car, but it was all downhill, and we were smiling.  Even Lee, who seemed to have put the trauma of the endless uphill trudge behind him.  He'd earned his M&Ms today.

Taken in: UK / England / West Devon District / Lydford (show map)

Taken on: September 1, 2025

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Brat Tor

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Sets appears in: • Dartmoor Summer Trip 2025

Groups appears in: • Dartmoor • British National Parks more » • Landscape Beauty ! • Landscapes with Atmosphere • Flickr Social Club • Flickr Social • WONDERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN GENERAL.MARAVILLAS DE LA FOTOGRAFIA EN « less

Camera: Nikon Z 7_2, f/11.0, 1/20 sec, 70mm, ISO 125 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 7_2
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	70mm
ISO:	125
Exposure Bias:	-2 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 14.5.1 (Windows)
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