Sunset, Moon, Tree

Above Coombe Bisset Down, BeFree tripod at minimum height, so being 6' 2" it was a whole lot easier for me to lie on the frozen concrete hard ground for the duration of the several exposures instead of kneeling down, getting up etc etc etc. The freezing temperatures were soon to make the use of my resin grad grey filters as they just misted up, permanently. Lens used Tokina DX 16-50mm f2.8 Pro

As I had decided at the last minute at 10.30 pm last night to make use of a clear night, only posting it up at 23.53 in the end. Thanks for all the Hearts etc. 

A few will realise that I have blipped that wondrous willow a couple of times before and being quite a lot darker than it looks in the photo, I march up to it,. the only torch I take one powerful enough to blind an aircraft pilot.

I didn't see the tent at first and of course, it's much closer than the ultrawide 10mm lens suggests. But I have to get in close, to get the moon shining on the river and because there are trees directly behind that would appear at the top of the frame if were any further back.

Now, the tent does look a slightly better class than your average homeless temporary abode but you never know! Was it habited? Looking at the edited photo suggests it was and I was very keen for its lodger to remain inside and not coming out shouting, at me, thinking I was the police etc (this was a public park in Salisbury and I'm sure it's not a registered campsite!

Because of the that late hour I understandably didn't make sunrise, or at least in a state of fed readiness, which one would most definitely need to be.

So, it was local bus out to Homington, lovely views along across the River Ebble (now isn't that a great name for a babbling brook?) then walked up onto the Down (that sounds odd) watched two small planes loop the loop over and again, high up in the crystal clear blue skies and a few deer. I decided that I wasn't going to be bothering with snapping them when they were far away in a field. 

But later on, I had the Tamron SP 70-300mm on and saw this bobbing head as it bounced under the hedge in the field next to me. Expecting it to leave the field ahead of me, it turned 90 degrees and continued to bob and bounce towards me. I had to go manual focus as the lens was hunting impossibly. I had the settings for normal landscapes.

It suddenly stopped when it saw me. See the Extra, which is unedited basic jpeg. It was breathing heavily, its mouth open. You cannot see the mist that its breath created. It was not alarmed, just a little startled. I snapped the snap, testament to the lens' VC (perfectly sharp at 1/80 sec, 300mm, FX eqv 450mm.) Realising that I should try to get it all in, I turned the camera to the vertical, which was signal enough to turn Bambi bounding off even quicker!

So, nice gentle Wiltshire landscapes, with undulating rolling hills compared with the south Wales Valleys. 

I found myself having 85 minutes wait for the last bus. When it arrived, all the lights were off (apart from headlights, of course!). As I boarded, seeing no passengers I casually said "No lights on?" The driver's reply was rather surprising in both its honesty and attitude, that he had hoped no passengers would get on so that he wouldn't have to drive all the way into Salisbury and so that he could go home early. I said "Pardon?", thinking that I had misheard and he just said the exact same, again, no hint of joking at all. Being rather in a state like a frozen turkey before Christmas I was just too taken aback and tired to reply. He did flick the lights switches on though, with a purposeful sense of annoyance. Well, **** him!