Eric The Viking
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- 19 Jan 2010
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We have a favourite hideaway down on Dartmoor, near Chagford in fact. They had an overnight offer for last night, so we went down.
There was lots and lots of water near Exeter, and the Teign was pretty full. A line of leaves on the lawn indicated it had been a lot higher - probably within six inches of the ground floor of the hotel.
Anyway, this morning, t'other half was visiting a friend, so I had the morning to myself. I decided to walk along the river, down to the gorge below Castle Drogo. It's a favourite place of ours, and I was minded to make some panoramas close to the river so I set up the tripod below a big and very busy weir.
I was almost ready to shoot when a group of schoolchildren appeared on the path on the far bank, and stopped for an early lunch opposite me. I must admit I was a bit grumpy at this development, as I thought they'd spoil my shot. As they started to get out their sandwiches their teacher stood up and pointed into the foam.
Then the penny dropped - salmon!
I left the tripod and concentrated on the water. Sure enough, a fish jumped, close to the bank under the children. They evidently saw it too, and the gloom of trudging through the mud in the rain apparently vanished. I was twenty yards away, but could see the beaming smiles under the cagoule hoods.
We all watched for half an hour or so. I saw six or seven fish jump. The kids got a little bored before I did, but it was still amazing. I switched to a long lens and got one shot, of the last fish I saw - a monster about 2'6" end-to-end, or even bigger. It's not very good, but I missed several fish before that - they're so fast and hard to spot.
They were magical moments. I've read what salmon do. I've worked on natural history TV programmes including them, but I've never before seen them jumping in real life. It was all the more special because the children were watching too. I wish I'd had teachers like that when I was ten years old or so!
Just thought I'd share.
E.
PS: the fish was at least 20 yards away, and falling out of the autofocus area of the camera (I couldn't track it fast enough), hence the sharp background! At least it's proof I actually saw it -- I'm no wildlife photographer!
There was lots and lots of water near Exeter, and the Teign was pretty full. A line of leaves on the lawn indicated it had been a lot higher - probably within six inches of the ground floor of the hotel.
Anyway, this morning, t'other half was visiting a friend, so I had the morning to myself. I decided to walk along the river, down to the gorge below Castle Drogo. It's a favourite place of ours, and I was minded to make some panoramas close to the river so I set up the tripod below a big and very busy weir.
I was almost ready to shoot when a group of schoolchildren appeared on the path on the far bank, and stopped for an early lunch opposite me. I must admit I was a bit grumpy at this development, as I thought they'd spoil my shot. As they started to get out their sandwiches their teacher stood up and pointed into the foam.
Then the penny dropped - salmon!
I left the tripod and concentrated on the water. Sure enough, a fish jumped, close to the bank under the children. They evidently saw it too, and the gloom of trudging through the mud in the rain apparently vanished. I was twenty yards away, but could see the beaming smiles under the cagoule hoods.
We all watched for half an hour or so. I saw six or seven fish jump. The kids got a little bored before I did, but it was still amazing. I switched to a long lens and got one shot, of the last fish I saw - a monster about 2'6" end-to-end, or even bigger. It's not very good, but I missed several fish before that - they're so fast and hard to spot.
They were magical moments. I've read what salmon do. I've worked on natural history TV programmes including them, but I've never before seen them jumping in real life. It was all the more special because the children were watching too. I wish I'd had teachers like that when I was ten years old or so!
Just thought I'd share.
E.
PS: the fish was at least 20 yards away, and falling out of the autofocus area of the camera (I couldn't track it fast enough), hence the sharp background! At least it's proof I actually saw it -- I'm no wildlife photographer!
Reminds me of a time going back up to uni, and over the wall of the train station peered a fox and ?her cub. Shame digi cameras werent around then! 
