During this heatwave I'm not travelling far. It's simply too hot. I don't enjoy it, and Willow definitely doesn't either. So we're spending our evenings by the river, taking short walks and taking things a little easier (as much as I don't like taking it easy!).
If the light and the mood are right, there might be the opportunity to take a couple of photographs or film a short video. But over the last few days the midges and horseflies have been horrendous, so standing still for too long simply isn't an option!
In summer I try to get out early - always before 6am, and during very hot weather it's usually closer to 5am. The insects may already be awake, but the tourists haven't arrived yet, so the moor is still quiet. I also tend to see far more wildlife before it disappears into the shade for the day.
This morning, for example, we watched a red deer hind grazing happily alongside the wild ponies, and later a roe doe and her kid crossed the track ahead of us. The noisy jays gave us away before I could lift my camera, but it was a magical moment all the same - captured in memory, if not on camera.
Not so long ago I managed to photograph a beautiful fox pausing for a moment to look towards an equally beautiful red deer hind in a nearby field. I had the wrong lens fitted, so the image wasn't good enough to become a print, but it still captured something special: a quiet pause, a silent acknowledgement, before both carried on with their journeys.
It's the moments that matter.
The photograph is simply a way back to the memory.