Over two years ago now, during Lockdown, I ran a competition on Facebook offering free Photo Shoots.

I knew from the outset, as a photographer, that working with Cliff was going to be a very satisfying experience 😁

One of the people to reply to my post was Cliff aka The Travelling Talesman 😍

I eventually chose three winners to my little giveaway as the number of ‘Likes’ and ‘Shares’ had become too close to call.

Several things (not least, more lockdowns) got in the way of us actually having a photoshoot and it wasn’t until June this year that we eventually got around to meeting up in Belstone on Dartmoor.

As it is prone to doing, Dartmoor provided us with a plethora of various weather types 😂

On our way to Belstone Tor we were buffeted around relentlessly and Cliff’s hair and beard seemed to take on a life of it’s own 😁

Once ensconced on the tor itself (it’s a steep, tiring walk in the wind and sunshine and especially for our weary old bones) Cliff kept me entertained with stories 😁 whilst I picked his brains about myths and legends I only had a fleeting knowledge of beforehand.

Perhaps this would make the perfect juncture at which to say although I have not seen a Travelling Talesman performance, I have (however) definitely seen him perform, and he is very, very good at what he does 🥰

Although both Cliff and I had a few ideas we wanted to try out, we seemed to both forget these in between putting the world to rights and generally messing about on rocks 😂

This, of course, was the time Dartmoor decided to do it’s not so unusual trick of going from sunshine, to mist, to rain, in a matter of moments!

Cliff did ask if I was happy to continue in the mizzle (silly question) and even after letting him know I was more than happy with the images we’d already achieved, he was keen to do more!

Blatant self promotion time - Cliff was the perfect subject, and I am overjoyed that he was pleased with the results 😍

I charge £100 an hour as a standard rate and for this you get fully edited digital images to do with as you please 😍 More information on my Portraits Page

We had a snack and after a quick costume change were back at it.

It got rather soggy at some points, but we battled on, like the true professionals we are 😂

Making our way down the side of The Irishman’s Wall I had the pleasure of retelling (in a somewhat patchy and not at all historically correct manner) the building of the wall, whilst Cliff recounted the legend of Goram and Ghyston the giants who are renowned to have been the architects of some of the topography of Bristol 😍

Once we had descended to Taw Marsh, we found ourselves in a typical Dartmoor mizzle … and although these weather conditions can sometimes be rather splendid for landscape photography, I found myself on this occasion spending more time wiping water from my lens, than I was taking portrait photographs 😂

I love this image of Cliff going absolutely banana’s on a rock in the rain on Taw Marsh - It really sums up his energy and enthusiasm 😍

Not to make us at all complacent, Dartmoor then decided that the sun should shine and we would have way more pleasant weather for the rest of our wanderings 😂

Did I mention that Cliff is not only a magnificent storyteller, performer and general all round bundle of hairy entertainment, he is also a talented musician!

As we got back to Belstone, the weather had completely cleared up and it gave us the chance for one last costume change in the sunshine 😍