Shooting friendly Dartmoor ponies on a location reccy

No ponies were harmed in this photo shoot. Who could hurt a cute little thing like this little chap.

On the way to a job, and a little en-route reccy as a commercial photographer. I’m often travelling, looking, along the way, and spotting new places to work with for potential photo shoots. I do this for my press photography (looking for weather photos or potential news stories), for my commercial work, plus my stock work with Image Source.

As a photographer, there’s nothing like this sort of scouting and spotting, it really helps conjure up ideas for new photo shoots. One stunning location, is in the stunning Dartmoor National Park and is pictured above. It was near another location recommended by Andy, at J&A Cameras – who I used to work with almost 10 years ago before I became a professional press photographer.

I am now based in Manchester, but I do travel a lot with work. The South West, Devon, particularly is one place that is particularly close to my heart. I grew up in Devon.

I remember as a lad, I used to take off early in the morning to Dartmoor, to photograph this beautiful place.

One time, a particularly cold winter’s morning, I woke up early. Bloody early, and made my way down to the moor before sunrise. I took my Mamiya 645 Pro TL (a stunning medium format camera, now replaced with fancy modern digital technology).

Arriving early I wandered through the snow and ice on the moors for a while, capturing photographs and admiring the sunrise. The ground was pretty icy, but I was confident I’d remain unscathed. It was about this moment my foot slipped on some icy granite, and I landed on my arse.

I lay there for quite a while, knocked slightly from my dramatic fall to earth (I’m quite tall at 6’9″ (2m 5cm), so it’s more than normal people fall!)

Anyway, I remember a beautiful Dartmoor Pony coming to my assistance. Or rather, coming up to me and nibbling at my hair as I lay there, whinging. The photo set above kind of reminded me of that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photographs from my reccy.

I do this for a living, and have done since I left the trusty camera shop (J&A Cameras), back in around 2005. Wow, 10 years now! And, Andy, if you’re reading, we did get to Wistman’s Wood. It really is a beautiful spot.

If you’d like a commercial photographer, perhaps even one who is pony friendly, please get in touch. My number is 07901 617571 or email is jp@jonathanpow.com