Dorset’s Autumn Mists
As the leaves fall and temperatures drop, Tony Gill explores Dorset's landscape delights, through a glass, mistily
Published in November ’12
Colmer's Hill before dawn
As the days continue to shorten, autumn brings its own photographic delights, particularly those chill misty mornings that complement the Dorset landscape so magnificently.
Colmer's Hill again, this time captured at daybreak
An early alarm call can lead on to standing atop a favourite hill, camera in hand, taking in the beauty of it all. Mist is a photographer’s dream; it shapes a scene, softens trees and buildings or covers areas all together. The mundane can become magical and a view often taken for granted is revealed anew as shadows appear in the air as well as on the ground. The once-banal can appear strange, even foreboding, or can evoke thoughts of a bygone era.
Corfe Castle with autumn mists
Colours are muted – some scenes are rendered almost monochrome by mist – and there is a dreamlike quality to images shot at this time of year.
Looking towards Poole Harbour from West Hill, Corfe
Autumnal mists are a reminder that we stand midway between the (occasional) heat of summer and the chills of the forthcoming winter, but from a photographic point of view, a reminder that good landscape photography normally involves getting up when it is still dark, in order to capture the first play of the sun on a scene.
Autumn mists and light, west of Bridport
Bride Valley mists near Littlebredy
• Award–winning landscape photographer Tony Gill specialises in images of the county in autumn and winter. See more at www.tonygillimages.com, www.flickr.com/people/heytony/ or www.dorchestercameraclub.co.uk
Early morning on the River Stour near White Mill
Deer in the mist near Sturminster Newton
The Marshwood Vale from Coney's Castle
