Decided on an afternoon visit to the Devils Punch Bowl in the Surrey Hills hoping to catch a sunset.
Watlington Hill, Chilterns
That morning from my hotel in Camberley Surrey decided on a sunrise from Watlington hill in the south Chilterns. But when I arrived it was thick fog and could not see a thing. I did explore some nearby woodland but not get my camera out, just some snaps with my mobile phone for the record. The good thing with a base like Camberley in Surrey although built up, puts you within range of the Surrey Hills, the southern Chiltern Hills, The Wessex downs, even the western edge of the South Downs.
Plan B – Devils Punch Bowl
Returned to Camberley, had a cooked breakfast, rested up in the hotel and decided on plan B. That was to scout out the Devils Punch Bowl on the Surrey Hills and hope to catch a sunset.
Arrival
On arrival at the Devils Punch Bowl carpark, not too many people about as was late afternoon now. But beside the carpark is a picnic area and some of the best views across the Devils Punch Bowl. To begin just took some handheld panos.
It was quite impressive and lots to explore here. half a mile out and lot less people around. Scouted out the immediate area, looking for the best compositions.
Gibbet Hill Viewpoint
The next location to check out was Gibbet Hill. Devils Punch Bowl is steeped in history. Its worth checking out the information boards dotted about as often they can show viewpoints that are not shown on OS Maps etc.
The best compositions from Gibbet Hill were with the telephoto 70-200mm across the Surrey Weald to the Surrey Hills of Holmbury and Leith in the distance. Like Holmbury hill with the viewpoint facing east, Gibbets hill could be very good for a dramatic Surrey sunrise.
Devils Punch Bowl Woodland
From Gibbet Hill took the footpaths down into the basin of the Devils Punch Bowl. At the bottom there is a freshwater running stream and quite dense vibrant and undisturbed woodland. It was very peaceful here, all you could hear was the running water of the stream.
Well worth getting the camera out for, had to use a tripod and wide angle lens 16-35mm. Using a polariser made a lot of difference too, removing any light reflections and saturating the already vibrant colours.
It was very still in the woodland, no wind so not need to worry about a long exposure and motion blur.
Devils Punch Bowl Sunset
Slogged it back up to the carpark. Took some panos mounted on the tripod as the sun set to the west. I thought the best of the light had finished. Back at the car noticed the sky changing colour so ran back down to the rim of the Devils punch bowl to then capture some great light and low clouds.
From that moment onwards, the light kept getting better and more low clouds moving in. I was only hand holding now, wish I had brought my tripod back down from the car.
Sure learnt my lesson now not to leave a location until it really is over. I think a more impactful image would have been a pano as the clouds were much more vibrant to the right but the low clouds to the left over the brim of the hill are the real subject and focal point.
When the colour faded I then headed off, only for the sky to light up again twice as vibrant. Guess I was too keen to get to the pub. Considering the mornings fog and dull conditions, the evening was the complete opposite. I put this down to a transition between weather conditions.