A former Meteorological Office scientist now puts his weather-predicting skills to use a travel photographer.
And the images in his new book, Devon Moods: Landscape Photography Inspired by Devon , is proof that the tactic is an effective one – because they’re stunning.
Gary Holpin, from the Devon town of Honiton, was able to work out the best times and places across his home county to capture perfect sunrises, sunsets, cloud formations, clear skies, mists, rainbows and the Milky Way.
The pictures are accompanied by words from award-winning travel writer Simon Heptinstall, who revealed, for example, that one image was based on weeks of researching the best dates and times to observe the Milky Way over Devon. He explained further: ‘Gary then worked out which spot would be best to photograph it – and even in which direction. The weather had to be clear but with no distracting moonlight. Eventually, after five months waiting, everything fell into place at 2am one night. The result was a stunning image taken over Sidmouth, with the Milky Way forming a sparkling backdrop.’
It’s a heavenly image taken in a county Simon says is unbeatable. He added: ‘Devon is the perfect county for a book of landscape images. It’s not only vast, our third biggest county, but it is unique. It has far more variety than any other county: cities, high wilderness, national parks, World Heritage Sites, surfing beaches, pretty coves, rolling farmland, steep wooded estuaries, rocky headlands, long sandy beaches, forests, and soft grassy seashores. There’s everything from mine workings to a biosphere of sand dunes, from villages of thatched cottages to rocky tors that qualify as mountains. What county can compete with that?’ Scroll down for a sneak peek selection of images from the tome…
Devon Moods is a new book by former Meteorological Office scientist Gary Holpin, who now puts his weather-predicting skills to use a travel photographer. The images are accompanied by words from travel writer Simon Heptinstall. He told MailOnline Travel that this hypnotic image ‘was based on weeks of researching the best dates and times to observe the Milky Way over Devon’. The result was ‘a stunning image taken over Sidmouth, with the Milky Way forming a sparkling backdrop’
An incredible picture by Gary of one of the most eye-catching sights on the English Riviera – Paignton pier
This beautiful picture shows the River Otter, which skirts Honiton and flows ultimately to the Jurassic Coast at Budleigh Salterton
Sun rays burst through the clouds over three-mile-long Woolacombe Beach in this captivating shot
A snowy Dartmoor. The national park is about the same size as Greater London and known for its ‘tors’, striking lumps of ancient granite
A stunning image taken by Gary from North Devon’s Great Hangman, which at 1,044 feet (318m), is England’s highest sea cliff
A spellbinding picture that Gary took along the South Devon coastline near the village of Branscombe
A double rainbow captured by Gary over the moorland of Dartmoor National Park
Sidmouth’s Connaught Gardens covered in snow. The white zig-zag steps were built in the 19th century and are known as Jacob’s Ladder
Above is an evocative picture Gary took of the fishing village of Brixham, home to one of the largest fishing fleets in the UK
A stunning picture of a wintry County Gate, where Devon and West Somerset meet. Simon described Devon as ‘having more variety than any other county’
A fog-shrouded landscape captured in an alluring shot by Gary from Hartridge Hill in Otter Valley, East Devon
Here Gary has captured a haunting graffitied shipwreck at Instow in North Devon
The market town of Honiton is garlanded by a swathe of fog in this enchanting picture
The distinctive Dumpdon Hill, which rises 800ft (250 metres) above the River Otter valley and is home to the remains of an impressive Iron Age hill fort. The beech trees at the top give the hill an eye-catching ‘crown’
Teignmouth’s 19th-century cast-iron Grand Pier captured underneath a bruised sky
Moody skies above the beach at Croyde in North Devon. Simon described his home county as being ‘vast and unique’
A beautiful shot taken at the quaint South Devon market town of Topsham, which lies just south of Exeter
Nun’s Cross Farm in Dartmoor National Park, which was built in 1870 and today is run by a local school as a bunkhouse
This striking image shows the remote Warren House Inn on Dartmoor, which at 1,425ft (434m) above sea level lays claim to being the highest pub in southern England
Simon says: ‘Devon is the perfect county for a book of landscape images. It’s not only vast, our third biggest county, but it is unique.’ Pictured is Belvedere Tower on the Haldon Hills
Photographer Gary Holpin, left, lives in the Devon town of Honiton. Pictured right is travel writer Simon Heptinstall
Devon Moods: Landscape Photography Inspired by Devon, with pictures by Gary Holpin and words by Simon Heptinstall, is out now and available through Amazon, priced £15.99
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