Blandford Forum Camera Club

Mike Hooker from the Wimborne club was our guest on Tuesday 19^th January when he gave a slide-illustrated talk on ‘Exmoor and the red deer’.  Mike has been visiting the moor for some twenty years now and it is his favourite place, as indeed it is mine.  His presentation was well-planned, very wide-ranging and his enthusiasm showed.  We learnt much about the history and geography of this endlessly fascinating area from his commentary and from the photographs which reflected its many moods.  He showed slides of his rambles from the coastal region of the north to the Molland/Dulverton area in the south.  It would be rather easier to mention those few significant parts that he did not include rather than those which he did.  The Robber’s Bridge - Oare Church – Doone Valley area was perhaps especially notable for its absence from his attentions but this is nit-picking and not a criticism.  Furthermore, and despite his protestations to the contrary, there were a goodly number of images showing the magnificent red deer in its native habitat.  Although it is notoriously difficult to capture good images of this animal in the wild, Mike has succeeded in capturing a number of pleasing environmental portraits/studies of these animals.  Although he had managed to photograph frontal views of deer, he apologised for managing, by and large, only to capture the rear-end views of the hunt, but perhaps it was better that way around. 

Malcolm Bowditch