How Early Would You Get Up to Capture a Landscape Photograph?

Why Such an Early Start Just to Capture a Photo

There’s early starts, and then there are EARLY starts. Here in the south west of the UK during late spring and early summer when we approach the longest day, sunrise is as early as 5am and sunset after 9:30pm.  (It’s even earlier and later in Scotland!). With those times I expect most of you are thinking that if you had the choice of sunrise or sunset photography, you would almost certainly pick a sunset shoot.

It appears I am a wired a little differently. I actually like getting up early in the morning. But 03:30? That seems a little too much effort, and in most circumstances you’d be right. It would be much easier to give up on sunrise landscape photography until late summer or early autumn.

However, there are some photographs that can only be captured at certain times of year, and sunrise at Bowerman’s Nose is one such photograph. As it’s such an beautiful location in spring, and you get a very different angle at that time of year, it’s one location I will happily set my alarm for 03:30. But, as I discuss in this video, it’s not just landscape photography that inspires me to get up that early. 

Landscape Photographs of Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor National Park

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Bowerman’s Nose at Sunrise #2, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/8 sec at ISO 800.

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Bowerman’s Nose at Sunrise #3, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 21mm, f/13, 1/8 sec at ISO 800.

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Bowerman’s Nose at Sunrise #4, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/8 sec at ISO 250.

My Favourite Landscape Photograph of 2024 - Bowerman's Nose, Dartmoor

An Iconic Dartmoor Location

Looking at my Free Landscape Photography Locations Map, I can see that I have published photographs of Bowerman’s Nose on this blog 14 times. Even if you don’t include the visits where I haven’t created a video or blog post, it’s fair to say that I’ve spent a lot of time at Bowerman’s Nose.

But why would I keep returning to this location? For me at least, it’s one of Dartmoor’s most iconic locations. Dartmoor National Park is covered in beautiful tors, with each one having its own characteristics and geology. But Bowerman’s Nose is unique, in at least as far as I’m aware, it’s the only tor comprised of a single stack of rock over 6 m tall. It protrudes out of the land and stands out against the rest of the landscape.

Its unique shape isn’t it’s only draw. To the east of Bowerman’s Nose is a hill, but in all other directions the view opens and on a good day you can see for miles. The view to the west of Hamel Down and Easdon Down is particularly beautiful. It’s a location that contains almost everything you want from a Dartmoor scene.

However, after more than 14 visits you would have thought I’d have all the photographs I’d want of Bowerman’s Nose. While I have captured many nice photographs of Bowerman’s Nose, I’d always felt I could get a better composition, and with better light and more drama. Something that captured the essence of this iconic Dartmoor location.

What Makes this Photograph So Special?

Photography is hugely subjective. What I find appealing in a photograph could be the opposite of what you think. So, when I say this is photograph is special, it’s special to me. But hopefully you’ll like it too!

For me, the photograph in this blog post is not only the best photograph I have taken of Bowerman’s Nose, but it’s also my favourite photograph that I captured in 2024, and it’s one of the best photographs of Dartmoor National Park I think I’ve ever captured. Let me explain why.

An Autumnal Sunset at Bowerman's Nose, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 24mm, f/13, 1/20 sec at ISO 800.

I’ll split the photo up into three layers, foreground, midground and background. All three layers add something to the photograph. In the foreground the striking rusty brown autumnal colours of the bracken create a slight V-shape at the bottom of the composition. This helps to frame the lower part of the image, stopping the eye from wandering out of the photograph. There is the tiniest bit of movement in some of the bracken, but it’s not a distraction and movement is very much a part of most the Dartmoor landscape!

Moving through from the foreground to the midground, the rocks and the undulating ground have caught the soft light from the setting sun off to the left. This not only adds warmth to the foreground, but it also adds contrast and depth. These qualities continue with Bowerman’s Nose itself. As dramatic as this tor is, it still looks like a lump of grey granite in flat light. The light hitting the left side brings to tor to life and you can more clearly see its lines, layers and shape.

Moving to the background, with the rolling hills of Dartmoor and a dramatic sky. While there isn’t any dappled light on the hills, this does help the tor that does have light on it, stand out further from the background. But the star of the show for the background is the sky. I’ve been craving for a sky like that in my previous Bowerman’s Nose photos. For me, the sky is perfect balance between colour and cloud. The heavier, darker clouds at the top create a frame for the top of composition and add a bit of drama. But there is also a small gap on the horizon where there is a small patch of blue sky and some of clouds are being lit by the setting sun. I find this balance very pleasing.

Putting all those three layers together delivers what I consider to be a classic Dartmoor landscape photograph. There’s light, colour, drama, texture, nature and an odd shaped bit of granite! No one element dominates the other.

Planning and Preparation

With all that I’ve said you would expect me to tell you that this photograph is one that came about because of planning and preparation. Well, this photograph was unplanned and my expectations that afternoon were low. I knew the sun was setting in a favourable direction, and the weather forecast was OK, but I’d never photographed Bowerman’s Nose in November, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

When I arrived, I started photographing the compositions that I’d shot lots of times before, but they just weren’t exciting me. Neither was the weather. It all felt a bit repetitive and with no exciting light I thought about going home. But I decided that would be a waste of time and that I should use the time to explore and find new compositions.

You might now expect me to tell you that when I found this composition I was immediately taken with it. But I wasn’t. I don’t even remember being that excited about the picture when I took it. It wasn’t until I got home, and I saw the photograph on my screen that it stood out and I thought I really had something. After editing, the photograph came to life and the more I looked at it, the more I loved it. By the time I had made a print of it, I knew I had something very special.

I don’t often write about my photographs like this. This is because I don’t capture images like this all the time. Which makes it even more special when I do. I just hope I don’t have to wait too long to feel this way again. 

Three Days of Snowfall on Dartmoor National Park

Snow, Dartmoor and Landscape Photography 

While snow on Dartmoor isn't that unusual during winter, it is unusual that I get to photograph it.  Sometimes you only get a light dusting of snow which, while pretty to look at, doesn't generally make for an interesting landscape photograph as it makes the foreground a little messy. 

At the other end of the scale are the times when Dartmoor gets a good dumping of snow.  This is when you will see the news websites flooded with pictures of families out with their sledges sliding down the hill at Haytor.  It's this level of snowfall that can make for the most compelling landscape photographs of Dartmoor in the snow.  However, it's this level of snow that causes me the biggest problem. 

I unfortunately don’t live on Dartmoor so accessing Dartmoor in the snow can be challenging.  The best time to photograph the snow on Dartmoor is in the morning when the snowfall is fresh.  Go later in the day and you risk foot prints, animal tracks and believe it or not, lines left by people skiing!  The problem for me going photograph the snow early in the morning when there is fresh snow falls on the roads.   

If the snow fall is low enough it can make the main roads treacherous, and even if it's not, the narrow and twisty roads of Dartmoor will be.  For me the risk of getting stuck or having an accident is not worth it.  Every now and again though the forecast predicts snowfall high enough to cover the highest tors but it's unlikely cause issues on the roads.  These are the exact conditions that were forecast late in November.

Great Links Tor - Dartmoor 

With the first snowfall being forecast for the higher reaches of Dartmoor there was really only one place I wanted to photograph and that was Great Links Tor.  At 586m the summit of Great Links Tor isn't the easiest place to reach.  The 45 minute walk is all up hill and it can be challenging to navigate in the dark.  But I was determined to be there for sunrise and to make the most of the fresh snowfall.   

Over the years I had made several ascents up to Great Links Tor at dawn to try and photograph this magnificent tor at sunrise, but low cloud had often ruined my vision.  The lure of snow and a beautiful sunrise was too much to ignore and so I set off on another ascent. 

While the roads were clear, it was snowing, and relatively heavily.  This made the walking difficult.  It was still dark, so I had my head torch on, but the light was reflecting of the snow fall making forward visibility difficult.  The normal land marks I look for on the ground looked very different when covered in snow.  It was one of those walks where I question if it the risks are worth the effort.  Fortunately, because I knew the ascent so well, I was able to still navigate by eye and I had my digital map as a backup.  

As I approached the summit it was light enough to turn the head torch off and the snow covered landscape of Dartmoor looked beautiful.  As I approached Great Links Tor, I thought that even if I don't capture any photographs this morning, being here on Dartmoor when it looks so beautiful would be reward enough for my efforts. 

Great Links Tor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 at 14mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.

It took a while, but when the sun did finally make an appearance the light was a little too harsh and the cloud cover wasn’t as interesting as earlier.  However, I'm still very pleased with the photograph I captured and more than that I thoroughly enjoyed my morning up on a snowy Dartmoor.  The views were amazing and watching the clouds roll across the snowy landscape made all that effort worthwhile. 

Bowerman's Nose - Dartmoor 

Following my visit to Great Links Tor it continued to snow right into the following day.  With so much snow about I was tempted to head out again.  The weather forecast in the morning was for heavy snow and low cloud so I didn't feel this wouldn't be ideal conditions for photography.  However, if I waited for it to clear up in the afternoon, I could look spectacular. 

There are pros and cons to this strategy.  The main advantage is that even if it had been snowing on the roads in the morning enough cars would have driven to roads to make them either clear or at least passable.  The downside to leaving it until the afternoon is that lots of people will have visited Dartmoor leaving lots of footprints making it very difficult to get a clean composition.  However, with so much snow about I believed it was worth the risk.  Who knows when I would see snow again! 

The best location I could think of was Bowerman's Nose.  The roads around Haytor will have been well travelled by the afternoon, and though it's in a popular location I hoped that Bowerman's Nose would be just far enough out of the way that it would be free of footprints. 

As I drove up to Haytor it was looking busy.  Plenty of people out walking, sledging and even skiing!  Normally I park close to Bowerman's Nose, but I thought I'd be pushing my luck by driving down the road in the snow, so I decided to park at the Houndtor Car Park instead. 

It was a beautiful walk along to Bowerman's Nose and my optimism that I would have a footprint free scene grew as I appeared to be the first person walking this particular route.  When I arrived at Bowerman's Nose, I was a little disappointed that my normal composition was a mess of foot prints but I decided to see this as an opportunity to find new compositions.

I soon discovered that snow was not only forcing me to find new compositions, but it was also presenting compositions that weren't possible without the snow.  Looking about I soon found the snow fall had created a beautiful S bend that that I could position in the foreground of Bowerman's Nose.  All I needed to do was to wait for the light to soften a little bit and I would have my classic photograph of Dartmoor in the snow! 

Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 at 27mm, f/13, 1/25 sec at ISO 64.

Rippon Tor - Dartmoor

Having photographed both Great Links Tor and Bowerman's Nose in the snow I should have been content with what I had captured over those two days.  But with so much snow still about, why not push for a third Dartmoor snowy shoot?  So, I set the alarm for a dawn shoot on Rippon Tor. 

Arriving while it was still dark, I could still see there was snow about, so I optimistically started my walk up the hill to Rippon Tor.  Unlike the last two days where the weather had been relatively calm, this morning the wind was howling making it feel very, very cold! 

The nice thing about the strong wind was that it was whipping up snow from the ground and blowing it along the landscape like a scene from the arctic.  It looks especially dramatic as the sun started to rise. 

As I found with Bowerman's Nose, a snow fall forces you to look for different compositions. Rocks that might normally look a bit boring are transformed into mini mountains of snow.   Add a bit of warm light from the sun and they become majestic. 

I found a composition that would take advantage of those elements but the main problem that morning, apart from my cold hands, was that there was hardly any cloud in the sky.  But even if it wasn't going to be the perfect scene for photography, it was still a beautiful view and one I was happy to photograph. 

Rippon Tor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 at 17mm, f/13, 1/100 sec at ISO 1250.

Returning to the car I felt happy with my three snow filled days on Dartmoor and the three photographs I had captured.  The only problem I now had was getting my car out of the ice rink cark park I had dumped my car in earlier in the morning! 

Bite-Size Blog Post #21 - Bowerman's Nose - Dartmoor National Park

A Spring Morning on Dartmoor

As you’ll have guessed by the heading, this blog is a retrospective post, but it’s still a story worth sharing.

Every season on Dartmoor brings something special but the season of spring can be one of the most vibrant and noisy! Spring is also an opportunity to photograph one of Dartmoor’s most unique tors, Bowerman’s Nose, at sunrise. It’s only around springtime that the light from the rising sun isn’t blocked by a hill to east.

There is a downside though. Sunrise is at 5:30am! I don’t mind an early start, but a 5:30am sunrise is normally a 4am alarm call (at the latest!). However, if you can get past the early start, being up on Dartmoor National Park at that time day can be magical.

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Bowerman’s Nose #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.

Tranquility on Dartmoor

I can only describe that morning up on the eastern edge of Dartmoor as tranquil. As I sat on a small rocky outcrop looking down on the valley below, all I could see was a sea of fog. There was so much of it that I found it difficult to pick out places that I knew! As the sun hadn’t risen yet there was no light on the landscape, so I just decided to sit there and take in the view. (Check out my Instagram post to see a video of what I saw).

As if the visual delights weren’t enough, I was also surrounded by a chorus of bird song. I’m not sure how many birds there were, but given the levels of sound, I thought every bird on Dartmoor was at the same spot I was. The noise was almost overpowering, but it also came with a sense of  tranquillity.

It’s not often I get a sense of inner peace at 5am, but as I sat there on my rocky outcrop watching the fog flow through the valley below, listening to a thousand birds sing, I truly felt like I was in the best place in the world and that I could spend all morning there. As it turned out, thThe photographs I captured that morning of Bowerman’s Nose were just a bonus and not the main event.

If only all mornings on Dartmoor were like that one.

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Bowerman’s Nose #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 26mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 64.

Landscape Photography with Nikon Z8 - A Dartmoor 5 Minute Photo Adventure

Receiving the Nikon Z8

When the Nikon Z8 was announced I spent a frantic hour refreshing my browser waiting for the Nikon Z8 to be listed for pre-order on WexPhotoVideo. As soon as it did, I placed my order. I was confident I would receive a camera from their first batch of deliveries.

Sure enough, the release date of the camera came around and a shiny new Nikon Z8 box was delivered. New camera day is always exciting and receiving a Nikon Z8 was no different. You can see me unbox the camera for the first time here.

As a landscape photographer my first goal was to get out there into the wilderness and start taking landscape photographs with the Nikon Z8. However, as is always my luck with new cameras, the weather conditions were more suited to sunbathing than landscape photography! Unfortunately, the hot and sunny weather would last for days and days.

Out with the Nikon Z8 - Finally!

During the heatwave I did get the chance to photograph Muse in Plymouth, and you can read all about that here. That concert was a bit of a baptism of fire for the Nikon Z8, but what I really wanted to do was take some landscape photographs with it.

Then finally one morning I’d decided I’d had enough of waiting and I set my alarm for 03:30 with the aim of photographing Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor. When I set an alarm for that sort of stime I like to do it when the forecast is for great conditions, but I was so desperate to get out, even the slightest hint that there might be some cloud in sky was enough to get me out of bed.

It had been a while since I last set an alarm call that early so I when the alarm did go off it was a bit of a shock. But a few minutes later I was guzzling some coffee and, in the car, heading to Dartmoor. Was it worth the effort of getting up? Did my eagerness to get out with the Nikon Z8 blind me to what the weather forecast was saying? Well, you can find out in the video below and my first 5 Minute Photo Adventure with the Nikon Z8.

Bowerman’s Nose - Dartmoor Landscape Photographs with the Nikon Z8

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Sunrise at Bowerman’s Nose #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 0.4 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.

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Sunrise at Bowerman’s Nose #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.

Saying Goodbye to My Nikon Z7

One Last Adventure

Over the last four years my Nikon Z7 been a constant companion on my landscape photography adventures and it has helped me capture some of my favourite landscape photographs.

However, it is time to move on and the delivery of my new camera is just around the corner. I don’t get emotionally attached to my cameras, but I decided to celebrate the end of my photography journey with the Z7 by taking it out on one my last landscape photography adventure to Dartmoor.

So, join me on my latest landscape photography adventure and watch me press the shutter button on my Nikon Z7 for the very last time.

Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor

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Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/15 sec at ISO 64.

Belstone, Dartmoor

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Belstone Tor Sunset #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20m, f/11, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.

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Belstone Tor Sunset #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/11, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.

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Belstone Tor Sunset #3 , Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/11, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.

Some of My Favourite Nikon Z7 Landscape Photographs

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Cheap Lens, Expensive Camera - Dartmoor Landscape Photography - Bowerman's Nose

The Pergear 10mm f/8 Pancake Fisheye Lens

Back in 2018, I published a blog post called Shoot, Print, Surprise. If you haven’t seen that blog post (and watched the video), then now is the time to watch it because there’s a SPOILER ALERT coming up.

In that video, I capture some of my all-time favourite images of Dawlish Warren beach. The best bit though was that I did it using a 15-year-old Nikon D80. I did have the advantage that I was using a Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 lens though. One of the key messages in that video was that the camera body is a lot less important than the lens you attach to it.

Here we are in 2021 and I’ve decided to flip the idea on its head. This time it’s a cheap lens on an expensive camera. To be precise it’s my Nikon Z7 with a Pergear 10mm f/8 pancake fisheye lens. I picked up this lens in the height of lockdown as I thought it would be a bit of fun. And fun it is!

In the video below I head to Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor to put this lens to good use. The point of the video is not to tell you that you should all ditch your expensive glass but that you should try different things and have fun with your photography.

Enjoy!

Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor

Here are the photos you saw me capture in that video. While they will never compare in quality to the photographs I can capture using a Nikkor 14-30mm f/4, I think the lens has done a pretty good job of capturing the scene.

Bowerman’s Nose #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Pergear 10mm f/8 pancake lens, 1/30th sec at ISO 64.

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Bowerman’s Nose #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Pergear 10mm f/8 pancake lens, 1/30th sec at ISO 64.

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Bowerman’s Nose #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Pergear 10mm f/8 pancake lens, 1/30th sec at ISO 64.

Back to Bowerman's Nose - Part 2

Sunrise at Bowerman’s Nose

In part one of this two-part blog from Bowerman’s Nose, I talked about returning to one of my favourite locations, planning for a sunrise shoot and sharing with you some of the images I took that evening. In part two I’m going to share with you the story and images from my sunrise shoot at Bowerman’s Nose.

At first, I wasn’t sure if the forecast conditions were going to be worth the 03:30 alarm call. As much as I love sunrises rise there is still something about a 03:30 alarm call that still fills me with dread. I’m much happier to take a risk on a 5 am alarm call, but anything alarm call that starts with 3 am needs to carefully be considered. Without a clear and concise weather forecast, I should have just postponed for another day but the images I had captured in part 1 had inspired me to take a risk. I set my alarm for 03:30 and crossed my fingers.

The alarm went off and by the time I was in my car with a large, strong cup of coffee, I was surprisingly upbeat and excited. Even before I set off, I could see the sky was looking interesting so I was hopeful that my early alarm call might pay off.

Around Sunrise

Even though I had explored the area at sunrise to try and work out where I would want to shoot from at sunrise, there was still an element of working out on the fly. You can plan and visualise all you want but sometimes it’s not until you are there, and you can see what the light is like that you can work out what your compositions are going to be for that particular trip.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunrise #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 16mm, f/13, 5 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser.

I don’t mind having this unknown element in my plans. It adds a little excitement to the adventure! As the sun rose the colours and the light continually changed forcing me to move around the location trying out different compositions.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunrise #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 20mm, f/11, 0.4 secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser.

One of the main changes between shooting the tor at sunrise is that it becomes possible to photograph it from the other side. The side I show in these photographs would typically be in shadow at sunset. I found it interesting to see how different the tor looked at this angle.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunrise Panorama #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 20mm, f/11, 1/6th secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser, 7 image stich panorama.

After Sunrise

After capturing my sunrise images, I packed my back and intended to go home. I had been exploring the hill behind the tor and as I descended back down the hill, I began to wonder what some of my sunset composition would look like with the light coming from a different direction. As I had plenty of time to spare, I decided to hang around a little longer and wait for the sun to get high enough to illuminate the areas of the ground currently in shadow.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunrise #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 17mm, f/8, 1/30th secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser, 4 image focus stack.

It took a little longer than I thought for the light to reach those areas and I was starting to get concerned that the light would then be too harsh. Fortunately, even though it was an hour after sunrise, the light remained soft and golden, illuminating the foreground nicely. Though the compositions are like those that I might take at sunrise, I like the way the light from the rising sun makes them subtlety different.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunrise #4, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 15mm, f/11, 1/80th secs at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser.

After taking those images I felt I’d had a successful morning and I’d captured some nice images. At the very least I felt that the 03:30 alarm call was well justified. Even without the photographs, it was a beautiful morning up on Dartmoor. With light winds and warm (for Dartmoor) temperatures, it was one of those mornings where is just fantastic to watch the start of the day.

As I left Bowerman’s Nose, I started to feel tired and hungry but also delighted that I’d made the effort to get up early. I love the buzz you get when you just know you’ve got some images on your memory card that are going to process well.

One thing is for sure, I will be returning to Bowerman’s Nose for another sunrise shoot. I won’t, however, be looking forward to that very early alarm call!

Back to Bowerman's Nose - Part 1

Bowerman’s Nose - An Old Friend

Amongst all the Dartmoor tors, Bowerman’s Nose must be one of the most unique there is. I’m not claiming to have seen all the tors, but for the tors I have seen none come close to the size and shape of Bowerman’s Nose. Since I discovered it, I have been trying to capture an image of the tor that makes the most of its uniqueness and the surrounding landscape.

I have come close to getting a shot that matches my vision but there always seems to be something that isn’t quite right. That could too much cloud, not enough cloud, lack of light, or even direction of light. Maybe I’ll never be 100% happy with my shots from there. Maybe I don’t care, and I use this as an excuse to keep returning. I like shooting Bowerman’s Nose and over the years I have come to think of this location as an old friend. There is a certain comfort in returning to this unique location.

Planning for Sunrise

I hadn’t considered shooting Bowerman’s Nose at sunrise until I had spoken to friend and fellow Dartmoor photographer Neil Porter. Neil has captured some spectacular photographs of Bowerman’s Nose at sunrise and he recommended that I give it a try myself.

Photographing Bowerman’ Nose at sunrise isn’t an all-year-round option though. The hills behind the tor block the sunrise at certain times of year meaning that some planning with TPE is required. Using my local knowledge, some data from TPE and some handy tips from Neil, I worked out the rough window of opportunity to capture the tor at sunrise.

One thing was clear from the window of opportunity was that I was going to have to get up early in the morning! Even though I don’t live too far away, with a sunrise time of around 5 am, the alarm call was still going to be unsociable. I’m a morning person but a 3:30 am alarm call is still something I don’t go for without good reason.

Shooting Sunset

Weather planning aside I decided that I should head back to Bowerman’s Nose for a sunset shoot first so I can plan for my sunrise shoot. It would be a good opportunity to refamiliarise myself with the details of the location and plan out where I might place myself for sunrise. A bit of planning is rarely a bad thing and as a bonus I might even get some nice sunset pictures.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunset #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 23mm, f/13, 1/8th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser.

It appeared that luck was on my side this time and I did indeed get some bonus pictures. While the shots I captured weren’t necessarily good enough for my portfolio I’m still pleased with them. They are a good representation of what I saw, and they remind me of how pleasant Dartmoor can be when you get nice conditions.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunset #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 22mm, f/13, 1/10th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser.

It was not a wasted trip. Not only did I get some pleasing images, but I also now had a good idea of what and how I was going to shoot Bowerman’s Nose at sunrise.

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Bowerman's Nose Sunset #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 at 18mm, f/13, 1/6th sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters K9 circular polariser, four image stitched panorama.

I hope you enjoyed these sunset images of Bowerman’s Nose and if you want to find out how I got on then check out part 2 of Back to Bowerman’s Nose.

I Lost My Enthusiasm for Photography

Photography Mojo - Lost and Found

This is going to be a short blog post. Well, short in terms of text! Most of what I’ve got to say is all in the video below. I’ve recently found that I’ve lost a little of my passion for photography. It took a little bit of time for me to work out the reasons why but as soon as I did, I knew how I was going to get my photography mojo back. I was sure I wasn’t the only photographer that had or will suffer from this, so I thought I’d make a quick video to share my thoughts. I hope the content of the video will resonate with a few of you.

Bowerman’s Nose

Some of you will recognise the location I made that video. It is, of course, Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor National Park. While I was filming the video, I naturally spent some time capturing landscape photographs. I hope they provide you with a little inspiration.

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Back to Bowerman's Nose

What I’m Looking For

I can’t remember when it was, but ever since I saw my first photograph of Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor, I’ve wanted to capture my own image of this iconic tor. I’ve been there many times since but never managed to get the image I was looking for.

For me light is critically important when shooting Bowerman’s Nose. There are plenty of interesting compositions to be had, but without good light on the tor itself it’s just a flat vertical stack of stone. Flatter light might well work if the scene was covered in snow, but given that every time there’s a decent dumping of snow I can’t actually get up onto Dartmoor, it’s unlikely I’ll ever get that shot.

Snow aside, for me the best option for getting a good photograph at Bowerman’s Nose is when I get nice, soft, warm light from a setting sun. (Saying that though, I have been inspired by a recent photograph of Bowerman’s Nose by Neil Porter to photograph it in the morning, but I’ll save that challenge for another day). Anyway, the light is important for a couple of reasons. Firstly it gives the “nose” some contrast turning it from a flat bit of rock into something that looks 3 dimensional. The light also works well on the ground making the undulations and grasses more prominent in the frame.

Together with light and a reasonable amount of cloud I have pre-visualised the shot that I want to get from Bowerman’s Nose. The trouble is, I’ve never managed to get it. I’ve come close once, but the shot I want eludes me so I continue to return to Bowerman’s Nose in the hope that I get the shot one day.

To Exposure Blend or Not

With the desire to get the shot that I wanted I decided to return to Bowerman’s Nose on Thursday evening. I have to admit though the weather forecast wasn’t exactly optimal. I expected to get nice soft light from the setting sun but the cloud forecast was for clear skies. I’m rarely interested in blue skies but sometimes the haze or the very high cloud can go a nice colour as the sun starts to dip below the horizon. I thought it was worth a punt. Better to be out on Dartmoor than in the house watching TV….well, most of the time that is!

When I arrived on location the sky was even clearer than the forecast had predicted so I knew I was going to have my work cut out. The principle challenge was with the contrast between the dark and light areas on the scene. Even though it was only about 30 minutes before sunset the scene had a lot of contrast. As the “nose” typically breaks above the horizon in most compositions, it is almost impossible to use a neutral density graduated filter. To capture the scene I could either try and do it using one carefully exposed frame or capture two frames and exposure blend them later.

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Bowerman’s Nose #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 16 mm, f/13, 1/8 sec at ISO 64, Kase CPL.

When it comes to post-processing though I’m very much a light touch/5-minute edit type of person, so exposure blending isn’t top of my list of things to do. However, the HDR merge feature in Lightroom does a pretty good job of exposure blending these days without the need to drop into Photoshop to use layer masks. I’ve included images in this blog that use both a single frame and that have been exposure blended. Can you tell me in the comments which are which?

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Bowerman’s Nose #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4 at 20 mm, f/13, 1/15 sec at ISO 250, Kase CPL.

It was a relatively productive evening in the end and I got a couple of images that I’m reasonably happy with. I’ve still not got that killer shot that I want but that always gives me a great excuse to visit Bowerman’s Nose again!

OnePlus 6 Landscape Photography: A Mobile Phone Photography Challenge with Chris Sale

Landscape Photography Challenges

I like to challenge my landscape photography skills.  This could be by doing something new, trying a different bit of kit, or even trying an old bit of kit (see my video Shoot, Print, Surprise).  So when my friend and fellow photographer Chris Sale contacted me and suggested a new challenge for us both I immediately asked him to tell me more!

Our previous photography challenge had been a great success.  Last time Chris challenged me to ditch my wide angle lens and head out with my 70-200 mm.  You can see how I got on here.  For this challenge though, Chris asked me to leave my DSLR at home and head out with a mobile phone!  This perhaps sounded like a step too far, but I was up for the challenge.  Obviously, I sent the challenge back and told Chris he had to do the same.

OnePlus 6

The challenge came at an interesting time as I was actually in the market for a new phone.  My heavily used and loved Google Nexus 6p was on its last legs and it couldn't seem to survive much longer than a couple of hours without needing a charge.

I'm not going to bore you with all the reasons why I bought the OnePlus 6, but it was the phone that suited my needs to best.  Funnily enough though, camera specs weren't top of my list of things I was looking for in a new phone.  I have my Sony RX100M4 as my portable camera so I only ever expected to use the OnePlus 6 to capture the odd photo here and there.

So without knowing too much about the camera capabilities of the OnePlus 6, I head out to Dartmoor National Park to start my challenge.  You can see how I got on in the video below:

As I mentioned earlier in the blog, Chris also undertook the same challenge.  To see how he got on, check out his video:

Mobile Phone Photography

So can you capture good landscape images with a mobile phone?  Sure you can!  You can capture landscape images with just about any camera.  I'm not saying the camera is irrelevant, but without good light and composition it doesn’t matter what camera you have with you, you might still end up with a dull photo.

So would will I be giving up my Nikon D850 anytime soon?  Of course not.  While it is perfectly possible to capture good landscape images with a mobile phone, the controls, versatility and image quality of a larger camera will (likely) always be better.  As you'll have seen in the video, the dynamic range of the OnePlus 6, is not match for my Nikon D850.  But given the price difference, that is hardly surprising is it!

So do you ever take landscape images with your mobile phone?  What mobile phone do you have?  Did you buy it for its capabilities as a camera?  Let me know in the comments below.

The Photograph

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Mr Bowerman please meet OnePlus 6 - Bowerman's Nose, Dartmoor, Devon:  OnePlus 6, ISO 100, 1/125th sec, f/1.7, DNG processed in Lightroom CC Classic.

PS - The product links used in this article are Amazon affiliate links. By buying through the links I may receive a commission for the sale. This has no effect on the price for you.

Bowerman's Nose - 5 Minute Photo Adventure

I have a bit of a long history with Bowerman's Nose on Dartmoor.  I last wrote about this location back in October 2016 in a post entitled Perseverance - Photographing Bowerman's Nose.  In that post, I talked about my desire to capture an image that I felt did this unique location justice.  On paper, it shouldn't be too difficult to shoot but it's a location that needs good light.  I've come close a couple of times and last time I got pretty close to what I was looking for.

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Probably my best image of Bowerman's Nose.

But there's more to this location than just my desire to create an image that meets my vision.  Simply put I like shooting there and I think you would to.  To help inspire you I thought I would create one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventure videos.

You can see the Bowerman's Nose video right here:

Near Epic Conditions

As you'll have seen in the video, I had near epic conditions.  It was looking like I wasn't going to get any good light when all of a sudden the sun dropped below a cloud and bathed the moor in a bright orange light.  It was spectacular.

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If only the light had reached Bowerman's Nose... Nikon D750, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35mm, ISO 800, 1/50 second, f/16, Lee Filters ND 0.9 soft edge grad.

What that image is really missing is light on the side of Bowerman's Nose.  The light being scattered on the trees in the background is lovely and if it had just reached where I was it could have lifted the image from OK to spectacular.  Just take a look at the image at the top of this blog post to see what a difference good light can make to Bowerman's Nose.

I've seen Bowerman's Nose in all sorts of light, and this last visit to shoot my video has actually inspired me even more to visit it again.  I know this location has all sorts of potential and I hope you have seen that to.  As I said in the video, Dartmoor is one of the best places to come as a landscape photographer and if haven't already been hopefully this video will give you that extra nudge.

Have you photographed Bowerman's Nose?  Have you experience near epic conditions?  Let me know in the comments below.

Perseverance - Photographing Bowerman's Nose

A Slight Obsession

I can't exactly remember how I found out about Bowerman's Nose.  It might have been in a magazine, or a book, or even on Flickr.  How I found out about this location is largely irrelevant though.  My desire, or maybe obsession, in capturing an image of Bowerman's Nose that meets my artistic vision is more to the point though.

For those of you who haven't heard of Bowerman's Nose, it's a tall pillar of granite on Dartmoor.  It's very distinctive and is surrounded by rolling hills.  Given the right light and conditions it can make for a beautiful photograph.  The problem for me is that I've never really managed to capture an image that does the location justice.  Some of my early failings were due to poor technique, but latterly it's more to with poor conditions.

Part of the reason I'm probably so obsessed by this particular location is its close proximity to home.  It's less than a 45 min drive and it's reasonably easy to get to (as long as you don't mind opening a gate and getting creative with your parking).  This means that it is often my go to location on Dartmoor when the conditions are looking favourable.

Meeting Mr Bowerman

I probably made my first serious attempt at photographing Bowerman's Nose in early 2015.  It was January so Dartmoor wasn't at its best, and it was a very grey and flat day.  However, I do like to practice my photography so just been able to walk around and look at different compositions was valuable.

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I returned in May of 2015 in the hope of better conditions.  On this trip the ground was looking spring fresh, and I was getting some nice light reflecting of the edge of Bowerman's Nose from the setting sun.  Unfortunately the sky was a bit bland and I wasn't getting the golden light I was looking for.  Close, but not quite there.  However, this trip did show me the real potential of the location.

A week later I was back again and trying a similar composition.  Again, while the image was pleasing, I just felt it lacked something.  While I was there I also tried my first panorama - I think Lightroom has just been given the native capability to stitch panorama's so I thought I'd give it a go.

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Bowerman's Nose - May 2015

Perseverance

By the time 2016 had rolled around I had committed to myself that I was going to get an image worthy of the splendid Bowerman's Nose.  I think it's part of my nature.  Once I decide that I need to do something, I'll work at it until I get it done.  I was determined that in 2016 all my perseverance would pay off.  Obviously with some elements of of my control this would not be easy.

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In May 2016 I captured this image of Bowerman's Nose.  It had interesting sky (helped by the long exposure), but it lacked the light I was looking for.

Then in June 2016 I tried again, and I have to say I thought I was going get the image that night, but again, there was just something missing that evening.  The image I was looking for escaped me again, but I would try, try, try again!

Gotcha!

Then, just the other evening, with only a little time between the end of work and sunset, I did a quick check of forecast and decided that I would attempt Bowerman's Nose again.  When I got there the conditions looked good so I literally bounded up the hill and got my tripod setup.  Would I finally be lucky?

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Bowerman's Nose - October 2016

As you can see, yes I did.  Well, it is at least my best image from that location.  No it's not perfect and there is always room for improvement, but it is my best and favourite image from there.  I finally feel that my perseverance had paid off.

Goodbye Mr Bowerman?

So am I done with Bowerman's Nose?  Now that I have the image I wanted will I ever go back?  Of course I will!  There is always room for improvement.  There are many different compositions to be had, different lighting conditions, even snow!  It's an amazing location, and being so close to home it's always going to be on my radar to go back to.

So do you have a favourite location that you like going to?  Is there a location you keep visiting in the hope that you'll get something special there one day?  Do you preserve or just move on?  Let me know in the comments.