East vs West

No, I'm not about start writing about the current political situation but rather East Mill Tor vs West Mill Tor. I recently shared a blog post featuring East Mill Tor and I received a comment on social media that said, "Might as well go to West Mill, it's a much more interesting tor". I'm not one to ignore some feedback, so I did just that and went to West Mill Tor.

It's not that I agree with the comment. East Mill Tor is in fact one of my favourite tors, but it did remind me that I haven't photography West Mill Tor in two years, and it was time to return. East Mill Tor and West Mill Tor, despite their closeness, are very different looking locations, but I wouldn't say that one is more interesting than the other.

All that east vs west stuff aside, West Mill Tor is worth photographing. As you can see from the photographs in this post, it was definitely worth shooting that morning.

When I arrived though, it wasn't obvious that it was going to be a good morning. There was a lot of cloud about, and because it was also cold, and windy enough that I felt I needed to hold onto my tripod, I wasn't exactly what you might call "feeling it". But there is one lesson I've learnt from the decade that I've been photographing Dartmoor and that's not to give up too soon. I have left a location too soon before and been very, very disappointed with my apparent lack of dedication to my art!

Waiting for the conditions to change doesn't mean one should just stand around scrolling Instagram. No, it's the perfect opportunity to explore a location. Even if I've found a composition that I'm reasonably happy with, I will use the time to move about my spot to see what else I can see. More often than not, even a small movement to the left or right can produce a very different composition. This should be demonstrated in the set of photographs below. All were taken within one or two paces of each other. It's one of the reasons why I like photographing Dartmoor. The foregrounds can be complicated/busy, but they provide you with a lot of compositional variety.

**West Mill Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park** - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/3 sec at ISO 64.

It can be a bit of a lottery with how the weather conditions will change on Dartmoor at dawn. Frequently they stay poor or get worse. But every now and again they clear up just enough to give you a little bit of light on the landscape. And sometimes all you need is a little bit of light. Some light to catch the tops of the grasses and to add contrast and depth to the tor.

It was a great morning up on West Mill Tor and I captured a series of photographs that I'm very happy with. I still wouldn't say that West Mill Tor is more interesting than East Mill Tor (or vice versa) but I am glad someone reminded me to go photograph it again.