One is Not Welcome!

If you've watched my free watch video series Discovering Dartmoor, you'll know that in episode five I visited Vixen Tor. Well, I say visited, you can't actually visit Vixen Tor as it is on private land and access is prohibited. It's not even a tor you can go and sneakily access as it's surrounded by a stone wall and barbed wire!

However, that doesn't mean you can't photograph it. It just means you have to be a little further back and capture the tor as part of the wider landscape. That was exactly the approach I took when I filmed there for Discovering Dartmoor and as result of being forced to look beyond the tor, I discovered a wonderful panoramic view. Ever since that afternoon I've been eager to get back.

With me living east of Dartmoor and Vixen Tor being location the Western Edge, getting there always takes a little more effort but given that it's only a short walk from the road, I really should go there more often! However, for whatever reason I only recently returned to Vixen Tor to see if I could improve on the panoramic image that I captured during Discovering Dartmoor.

My hopes were high when I looked over to Vixen Tor one afternoon recently. It was near perfect conditions. The light was warm and soft, the trees were displaying their autumn colours, and the wind was light. Oh, and no sheep to spoil the composition! However, while there were great clouds in the sky, some of them looking very moody, there was an annoying gap between the horizon where the tor sat and dramatic clouds above. It was unfortunately a large gap somewhat making it difficult to create a balanced composition.

**Vixen Tor Panorama, Dartmoor National Park** - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 24-12-mm f/4 S at 54mm, f/8, 1/60 sect at ISO 200, 9 image stitched panoramic.

Not to be put off by a lack of clouds I tried to make the most of the scene by placing the tor and the surrounding landscape much lower in the frame so I could include a little of the moody sky. Has it worked? I'm not 100% convinced, but the more time I spend the more I grow to like the photographs, and they represent the wonderful the view I experienced that afternoon, and it has inspired me to return again very soon!