Greator Rocks

For me, Greator Rocks is an odd location. Visually it’s striking and it stands out from the landscape, but I find it difficult to photograph. However, sometimes I need to remind myself to be patient and not write locations off after just one or two visits. So when I was in the area last weekend, I decided to give it another try.

The more I photograph it, the more I believe it has potential, and that the judgement I made on the first few visits was a bit premature. The composition below is one that I want to work on when spring comes around. It’s not just the clear blue sky in this shot that doesn’t appeal to me, but also the ground, which is messy with winter bracken. In spring, and with some morning light, I believe this is a composition that has some potential. Roll on spring!! It can’t come soon enough… I’m more than ready for winter to be over now!

**Greator Rocks, Dartmoor National Park, Devon** - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/30 sec at ISO 800.

Hound Tor

One of the easiest routes to Greator Rocks is to walk via Hound Tor, one of Dartmoor’s most popular tors. So, while walking back from Greator Rocks, it was hard not to stop and get the camera out. The sun was well and truly up by the time I got there, so I was already thinking in black and white before I took the first photograph.

I find it a challenging location, despite its size and grandeur, but it provides lots of scope for training your compositional eye to look for shape, light, shadow and contrast.

Have you photographed Greator Rocks or Hound Tor before? Let me know what you think of these locations in the comments below.