Bite-Size Blog Post #55 - Hound Tor - Dartmoor National Park
In this bite sized blog I head to Hound Tor for some daytime photograph!
Creativity After Sunrise
I love the light you get from a rising or setting sun. It’s warm and soft, and it can make the landscape glow. It can also test your commitment during the summer months when sunrise can be 5am and sunset as late as 9pm (at least on Dartmoor anyway). But if you thought these were the only times of day to take photographs you’d be mistaken.
While there’s no doubt that I prefer to shoot during the golden hours, by not taking photographs during the day, you’re missing out on hours and hours of creativity and fun. Admittedly, it can be a little more challenging as shadows are harsher and there more people about, but for those looking for a challenge the results can be rewarding.
A few weeks ago I had a few hours to kill so I took a wander up to Hound Tor. There was little cloud in the sky, the landscape was very contrasty, and I had to pick my out my compositions carefully. Aside from negotiating a busy location (Hound Tor is very popular with visitors), I had to look for compositions where strong areas of light and shadow would work.
When I found my composition, I knew it was going to be black and white, so I set my Nikon Z8 to Deep Tone Monochrome and got to work. This is the resulting image.
Houndtor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/100 sec at ISO 640.
I didn’t find much else to photograph that morning, but it did remind me of what an interesting location Hound Tor is to photograph. It’s a location that works well when I teach photographers about photographing Dartmoor.
I’m looking forward to going back. Not just at the golden hours, but during the day. As I looked about, I could see how the angle of the light would change during the day, opening up a new compositions. I can’t wait to see what I find.
A Glorious Morning at Great Links Tor - Dartmoor National Park
A photograph of Great Links Tor in the glorious morning light has eluded me for years but no longer thanks to this photograph. But why am I a tiny bit disappointed?
I Got the Shot, But I'm Slightly Disappointed!
Great Links Tor on Dartmoor is a hard location to photograph for a couple reasons. Firstly, it involves a strenuous walk with over 300 meters of ascent. I can make the walk in about 40 minutes, but with a heavy backpack of camera gear on my back, I can really feel it. Especially when it's a dawn shoot and I haven't quite left enough time to get to the summit with time to spare.
The other challenge is the weather. Great Links Tor sits at an altitude of 586 meters which makes predicting the weather a proper challenge. The weather at the start point of the walk can be very different than the weather at the top. I've often made the ascent in clear weather only to find Great Links Tor covered in cloud. You can check the weather forecast as much as you like, but sometimes you have to take a chance and go for it.
And go for it I do. Despite the 1.5 hr round trip in the car, and the 7 km walk, I still feel compelled to take a chance on the hope I will get a compelling photograph that will show how majestic Great Links Tor can be.
The risk has paid off though. Back in April 2023 I walked up to Great Links Tor for a sunset shot and while my patience was tested, it ultimately paid off with one of my favourite Dartmoor photographs. You can watch me capture that photograph in this blog post.
But with a great sunset photograph of Great Links Tor in my portfolio I craved a sunrise photograph to go with it. And so started my slight obsession with getting up early, and walking up to Great Links Tor in the dark. Prior to writing this blog post I had tried to capture a sunrise photograph of Great Links Tor that I am happy with several times. While each visit yielded a good photograph, I knew in different conditions I could capture something special.
Just to make things a little complicated, the photograph I wanted can only be captured during winter when the sunrises from a specific direction. This puts the pressure on!
As winter 2025 came round I was determined to try again and make what I expected to be multiple trips to Great Links Tor. I also thought this might make an interesting video story. How many ascents would I need to make? What would the conditions of each visit be? How frustrated would I get?
Well imagine my surprise when on my first winter 2025 ascent I get exactly the shot I was looking for. Setting off early in the morning, it was far from guaranteed that I would get the shot. The forecast was for clear blue skies which rarely makes for good landscape photographs. Arriving in the car park there were already a couple of vans parked up. This is often a sign that there are wild campers on the moor, and I have made the ascent to Great Links Tor before only to find a tent right in the middle of my favourite composition.
Sure enough, when I arrived there were wild campers there but fortunately well away from my composition. The camper was already awake when I arrived, and I enjoyed a very nice chat to him. But in the corner of my vision, I was keeping an eye on the conditions which were surprisingly looking very interesting. Despite much of the sky being clear there was some cloud above Great Links Tor and as soon as the sun rose above the horizon and lit the scene, I stopped chatting and got shooting!
This is the photograph I captured.
Sunrise at Great Links Tor, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4S at 14mm, f/13, 0.5 sec at ISO 64.
So why am I disappointed? It has nothing to do with the photograph. I'm really happy with it. I'm disappointed as I won't be producing a video documenting my repeated visits to Great Links Tor in search of my photograph! I mustn't complain as I felt really happy as I descended from Great Links Tor. I know I had a good shot in the bag.
So, is that me done with Great Links Tor? Of course not. There is always a different and possibly better photograph to be captured. It's just that I won't spend the winter focusing on when I will next go to Great Links Tor. I'm free to explore and discover some of Dartmoor's other winter locations. So make sure you sign up to my newsletter to find out where I go and what I photograph next.
When Dartmoor Turns Purple - Photographing the Magic of Heather Season
For a few short weeks each year, Dartmoor transforms into a purple landscape as the heather blooms across the tors. This video follows my journey across the moor, through sunrise, sunset, changing weather, and shifting conditions to photograph the heather at its absolute best.
The Changing Seasons of Dartmoor
The UK is a special place for landscape photographers, and I feel fortunate to live here. Every season dramatically changes the feel of the landscape and provides photographers with both opportunities and challenges. Those seasonal changes can also be seen at a local level where areas of the UK celebrate special natural events such as bluebells in Dorset, the autumn colours of the New Forest, or snowdrops in north Yorkshire.
But for me, the local seasonal event that I get most excited about occurs in late summer when the heather blooms across Dartmoor. I’m slightly biased as Dartmoor is my local area, but the purple heather adds a splash of colour to an already dramatic landscape. The other thing I like about the heather season on Dartmoor is that it lasts. Peak bluebells on Dartmoor, or thrift on the Cornish coast might only last a couple of weeks, but the heather will stay strong for 6 to 8 weeks. The longer something is about, the more opportunities there is to photograph it.
With this knowledge, I decided that I would focus my efforts this summer on capturing a series of strong heather themed photographs. Even if the weather was poor for a week, or I was away, I'd still have plenty of opportunities to get up onto Dartmoor and photograph locations I know are good for heather, or perhaps even discover some new ones.
So how did I get on? Well, I didn't get out as much as I wanted (no surprise there!), but I did get out enough times to create a collection of Dartmoor heather photos. It was a decent season, lasting nearly 8 weeks and I'm happy with the results. I do however appreciate that heather season finished a couple of months ago, but I'm finally ready to share it with you, and the photographs I captured. Enjoy!
Do you have a favourite seasonal event to photograph? Let me know in the comments below.
My Dartmoor Heather Collection for 2025
Haytor Heather, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 30mm, f/13, 1/50 sec at ISO 800
Bite-Size Blog Post #53 - First Snow of the Year on Dartmoor
A forecast of snow on Dartmoor was all I needed to read to get me to drop everything else and head out with my camera!
Let There Be Snow on Dartmoor!
For the last couple of months, I’ve had a bit of backlog of work. Not that I’m complaining, but it means I’ve been sacrificing the thing I love about photography, and that’s going out taking photographs! Sometimes when the weather forecast just doesn’t look good enough, I’ve opted to stay in the office editing, rather than taking a chance and heading out to take pictures.
However, when snow is forecast, I will drop everything and get myself out there! So, with light snow forecast on the western edge of Dartmoor I packed my bag, ready for an early morning start. Well, not that early. Sunrise is around 07:45, which as far as I’m concerned, that’s the middle of day (compared to spring!).
As I drove towards Okehampton, I did have a terrible thought. I hadn’t been to Dartmoor for such a long time that I’d got out of the habit of checking live firing times. I pulled over, and sure enough, the Okehampton range was live firing that day. Very annoying! Not to worry, I’d go to the one location that is accessible and might have snow on it, Belstone.
Arriving at the summit of Belstone it did indeed have snow on it, but only a light dusting. Enough to make it feel wintry. Not that I needed snow to feel that way. The freezing wind did a great job of that! The cold aside, it felt so good to be back up on Dartmoor, experiencing the wilderness and taking photographs.
I only captured one photograph which you can see below. The cloud cover was extensive as it was bringing in the snow, but the scene still makes for a good black and white photograph if you exclude most of the sky.
As I said, it was a great morning to be out on Dartmoor, and now that I’ve cleared most of my backlog of work, I’m really excited about spending a lot more time back out with the camera doing what I love.
Bite-Size Blog Post #50 - Vixen Tor - Dartmoor
Despite Vixen Tor being very much out of bounds and on private land, there are still some wonderful viewpoints to photograph.
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!
Vixen Tor, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 24-12-mm f/4 S at 69mm, f/13, 1/13 sect at ISO 64..
Bite-Size Blog Post #49 - Sharpitor - Dartmoor
Despite it's near roadside location, the view from Sharpitor on the western edge of Dartmoor is something I'd not experienced before but when I found myself driving by one day, I just had to pull over and take a look.
Drive By Landscape Photography
Over my 10 plus years of photographing Dartmoor there still remain locations that I haven't photographed. That's hardly a surprise when Dartmoor is over 365 square miles in size! Some of these locations are remote or require additional effort to get to, but there are locations that are close to the road that I just haven’t visited yet.
Nestled on the western edge of Dartmoor, Sharpitor is one such location. It’s on the main road between Yelverton and Princetown, and there is a very convenient car park which only leaves you roughly a 15 minute walk up a gentle slope. So why have I never photographed this easily accessible tor before? Honestly, I don't know. It's not I wasn't aware of it, I guess just never got around to getting there.
That was until a few weeks ago! I was spending the day volunteering with the Dartmoor Preservation Association helping them to clear gorse from an area of land they own called High House Waste. It's not the type of work I'm used but I found it to be highly satisfying!
It was on my way home from my volunteering day that I found myself passing Sharpitor, so I pulled over, grabbed my camera and headed up the hill. Here's what I captured.
Sharpitor #5, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f4 S at 19mm, f/13, 1/20 sec at ISO 64.
I needed to get back home so I wasn't able to wait for the light to soften at sunset but even so, the light on Dartmoor was lovely. Sharpitor itself isn't that interesting but it does offer some compelling foregrounds that help frame the more distant Leather Tor and surrounding hills. Now that I've been, it's definitely a location I'll be returning to!
Can You Go Green and Still Get the Shot? Part 1 - Photographing Dartmoor by Train - Ditching the Car
Most of use a car to get to the locations that we want to photograph, but is it possible to go greener and use public transport? In this video I ditch the car and take the train to #Dartmoor. Will this save the planet or is it just too impractical?
Can I Make my Landscape Photography Greener?
Being outdoors with your camera seems to be an eco-friendly activity, doesn't it? But if you scratch under the surface, you'll find that the environmental impact of landscape photograph is a complex issue. To understand that impact you need to look at various factors including travel, camera gear, power & charging, and environmental footprint.
What I'm not going to do in this video and blog post is address these issues in full and provide solutions. And I'm certainly in no position to lecture anyone on the environmental impact that their photography may have.
But what I would like to do is to see if there are some small changes I can make that might reduce the overall environmental impact of my landscape photography. One of the most obvious factors that I can look to change is how I travel. Virtually all my landscape photography involves travelling by car. Even a trip to Dartmoor can involve a 50-mile round trip.
But what if there was an option for me to get public transport to Dartmoor. Well, back in 2021 the Dartmoor Line which runs between Exeter and Okehampton reopened, and ever since trains started running again, I've been itching to give it a try.
Could this train service become a regular form of transport for me and my landscape photograph? Let's find out in the video below.
Belstone Tor Landscape Photographs
Here are the photographs you saw me capture in the video.
Belstone Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/11, 1/25 sec at ISO 64.
Belstone Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/20 sec at ISO 64.
Belstone Tor #4, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/20 sec at ISO 64.
The Dance of Light and Shadow - How Black and White is Changing My Landscape Photography - Part 1
What’s the point in creating black and white landscape photographs? Is it just a last-ditch attempt to rescue a poor photograph? In this video I tell you why I’m now using black and white and with intent. Join me on #Dartmoor to find out more.
Dartmoor - A Land of Light and Shadow
It's funny, but probably not wholly unexpected, that the more experience you gain with landscape photography the more likely it is that your photography tastes will change over time. And this is what has happened to me. Kind of.
I say kind of because the style of landscape photographs that I like to capture hasn't changed. I still take natural looking photographs with minimal editing, using a wide-angle lens, and with lots of contrast and colour. It's just that now I'm happy to occasionally drop the colour element and work in black and white.
Capturing black and white landscape photographs is nothing new, and there are plenty of great photographers capturing black and white images of Dartmoor, but for me it's a style of landscape photography I'm getting increasingly comfortable with.
In the video below I talk more about my adoption of black and white landscape photography, how the Nikon Z8 is helping me, and I do it all from the land of light and shadow, Dartmoor.
Enjoy and let me know in the comments below your experience of black and white landscape photography.
Yes Tor Photography Gallery
Here are the photographs you saw me capture in the video.
Yes Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 1/13 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/13, 1/13 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/13 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor #4, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 23mm, f/13, 1/13 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor #5, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 30mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.
How Early Would You Get Up to Capture a Landscape Photograph?
Early morning for sunrise or late evening for sunset? Which type of landscape photographer are you? In this video I explain why I’m happy to set my alarm for 03:30 so I can see the sunrise at Bowerman’s Nose on Dartmoor.
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
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.
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.
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.
Photographing Row Tor on Dartmoor for the 1st Time - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
There are Still Places I Haven't Photographed on Dartmoor
Over the three years that I filmed my video series Discovering Dartmoor I greatly expanded my knowledge of Dartmoor and the locations worth photographing. That combined with my 10 years of experience in capturing of landscape photographs of Dartmoor, you might think that I've photographed most of Dartmoor. Nothing could be further from the truth though, and as Dartmoor covers over 365 square miles, there is plenty left for me to photograph.
One such location is Row Tor on the northern edge of Dartmoor. I'm familiar with Row Tor as I've parked close by numerous times on my way to photograph a neighbouring tor. And this is perhaps the reason why I've not photographed it before. With so many great tors nearby such as Belstone Tor, East Mill Tor, Yes Tor, Oke Tor and West Mill Tor, poor old Row Tor didn't hold much interest for me.
But have I been missing out? Just because Row Tor is small, doesn't mean it's not worth photographing. So, let's find out if it is in my latest 5 Minute Photo Adventure.
Row Tor, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 at 24mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 64.
Photographing Dartmoor's Yar Tor - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
Yar Tor - A Dartmoor Gem Just off the Road
One of the things I love most about Dartmoor is the ability to wander away from the roads and venture into heart of the national park. It's in these remote locations you can find some of Dartmoor's finest tors and, in the right conditions, they can make for some truly wonderful landscape photography subjects.
But long walks and big climbs aren't for everyone, so fortunately there are plenty of Dartmoor locations worth photographing that are close to a road. One such location is Yar Tor which is just a 15 minute and relatively flat walk from the B3357. It might not be the biggest or the grandest of Dartmoor's tors, but for those photographers willing to work for their compositions there a few photographic gems to be had.
I wrote about Yar Tor for the first time last year, but I decided to return recently so that I could film one of my 5 Minute Photo Adventures which I am delighted to be able to share with you below!
PS - Yar Tor is definitely a location I will be returning to so that I can photograph it again so don't be surprised to see another video from this location in the future. Don't want to miss it? Subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or my newsletter.
Yar Tor - Landscape Photographs of Dartmoor
Yar Tor at Sunset #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30m f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Yar Tor at Sunset #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30m f/4 S at 22mm, f/13, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Yar Tor at Sunset #3, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30m f/4 S at 15mm, f/13, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
I Shouldn't Have Been Surprised - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure from Rippon Tor on Dartmoor
With little chance of capturing a compelling landscape photograph and filming a video that will likely never get published, I was ready to go home. But never right off Dartmoor. Dramatic conditions can be just a moment away.
That Was Truly Unexpected
The best time to make decision on where to photograph sunrise on Dartmoor is the night before. I like to make my choice, go to sleep, get up the following morning, grab my bag and a coffee then just go for it. Trying to make location decisions at 5am will lead to procrastination or worse, talking myself out of it and going back to bed (which is very rare).
However, sometimes it's worth just a quick scan of the weather forecast when I wake up, and the morning of this adventure, I'm glad I did. My original location on the western edge of Dartmoor had clouded over earlier than expected and so I needed a quick change of plan. The cloud was coming in from the west, so there was a chance that I might get a break in the cloud cover if I headed to the eastern edge of Dartmoor. With no time to consider a list of a possible locations I opted for one where I knew I'd stand the best chance of benefiting from a break in the cloud, and that was Rippon Tor.
As I drove along the M5 I could see it was looking a lot clearer towards the coast and I did consider making a very last minute change and heading to Dawlish Warren beach, but decided against it and thought it was best to stick to Dartmoor.
As I walked up to the summit of Rippon Tor, I thought I had made a mistake. It was very cloudy and the chances of seeing the sun looked very slim. As I was there I though, I might as well get my camera out. While the photographs I was taken were compositionally sound, they lacked the contrast and depth that the morning light would give them. They all looked a bit grey and flat.
Despite the flat light, I decided to start filming a video for YouTube. I honestly thought the video would never see the light of day, but after a 6 month break from making videos, this would at least be good practice and help me get back into the flow. What happened next was a surprise. It shouldn't have been. This is Dartmoor after all.
Unexpected Light on Rippon Tor - Dartmoor
Here’s the photo you saw me capture in the video:
Unexepected Light on Rippon Tor, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 22mm, f/14, 1/3 sec at ISO 64.
West Mill Tor on Dartmoor - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
In this 5 Minute Photo Adventure I head to West Mill Tor where I find one of the most interesting clouds I think I’ve ever seen in the skies above Dartmoor.
Clouds - Sometimes You Only Need One
For me, the inclusion of a tor in one of my Dartmoor landscape photographs is one of the most important elements I can include in my compositions. While the foreground is critically important, it doesn't mean I dismiss what the sky is adding to my photographs. However, more often than not it's clear blue or flat grey skies on Dartmoor. Occasionally, these types of sky can be used effectively in compositions, but I much prefer a sky of broken clouds. This allows light to break through to the ground as well as providing visual interest to the composition.
A forecast of clear blue skies will normally be enough to put me off getting up very early in the morning to capture sunrise, but everyone now and again I'm willing to risk it just so I have the pleasure of getting out with my camera to watch the start of a new day.
This is exactly the attitude that got me to West Mill Tor one morning. It was forecast for blue skies and high winds, but I just wanted to get out and sometimes the conditions can be surprising and lead to interesting photographs.
When I arrived at West Mill Tor it was indeed very windy and the skies clear. Well, the skies were almost clear. There was one cloud in the sky, and it was a belter. It was the type of cloud that I don't think I've ever seen over Dartmoor before, and I therefore had to try and include it in my photographs. It was in an awkward position in the sky which limited my compositions, but I wasn't going to miss photographing it.
Was it worth sacrificing a better composition just to photograph a cloud? Judge for yourself in the 5 Minute Photo Adventure I made that morning. Enjoy!
West Mill Tor - Dartmoor Landscape Photographs
Here are the photographs of West Mill Tor that you saw in the video.
The 400th Blog Post - I'm Back on YouTube - Oke Tor, Dartmoor
That's right, I'm back on YouTube and giving my channel a reboot! In this first video of a packed schedule of upcoming videos, I visit Oke Tor on Dartmoor to capture some landscape photographs. I also talk about where I've been and more importantly, what I've got coming in the channel over the next few months.
I’m Back on YouTube!
The last time I shared a video on YouTube was back in August 2024 when I published the last episode of Discovering Dartmoor. If you are a regular visitor to my website, you know that the lack of videos didn’t mean a lack of photography though. Far from it. The Exposed Blog has been kept well up to date with all my photography adventures. So much so that I’m extremely proud to announce that this is my 400th blog post! When I started the blog back in 2016, I never thought I’d get to 400 posts but one thing I am confident of now is that I will definitely get to 500!
In my first video back, I keep things fairly simple. I head out to Oke Tor on photograph sunset over Dartmoor, and I talk a little bit about where I’ve been and more importantly what I’ve coming up in the channel over the next few months. Enjoy!
Oke Tor, Dartmoor
Here are the landscape photographs you saw me capture in the video,
Oke Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30 f/4 S at 14mm, f/13, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Oke Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30 f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Bite-Size Blog Post #44 - West Mill Tor - Dartmoor National Park
In the blog this week I head to West Mill Tor on #Dartmoor after I was told it was "it's much more interesting" than East Mill Tor. Find out if it is and see what I else I captured that morning.
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.
My Favourite Landscape Photograph of 2024 - Bowerman's Nose, Dartmoor
This week's blog covers my favourite photo from 2024: Bowerman's Nose on Dartmoor. It might be one of my best shots of 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.
Bite-Size Blog Post #43 - Belstone Common - Dartmoor National Park
In this blog post I share with you some of the photographs I captured from the recent snowfall on Dartmoor, and I discuss some of the compositional challenges when there is "too much snow".
A Reminder of the Dangers of Driving in the Snow
I recently wrote in blog about how I photographed Dartmoor in the snow over a period of three days. We are lucky to get one day of snow on Dartmoor before it clears, so I felt fortunate to get out with my camera three times over three days. Aside from a tricky exit from one car park, driving around Dartmoor in the snowy conditions wasn't too bad and it gave me a bit of confidence to try it again should there be another snowfall.
As if luck was on my side, it was early on in January when Dartmoor experienced another dumping of snow. Eager to get out there and add to my library of snowy Dartmoor pictures I ventured out in the car to photograph the area around Row Tor in the Okehampton military zone. The driving conditions on the main roads weren't too bad, but as always, a little extra caution was called for.
All was going well until I started heading up Station Road in Okehampton where there is less traffic and steeper roads. There was clearly ice and snow on the road, but I was feeling bold, and I was eager to capture some photos, so I kept going. Station Road soon turned into Tors Road, and this is where things got tricky. Tors Road is particularly steep in places, and with very little traffic on that road (and certainly no gritting trucks), I found my car sliding on the ice.
I thought I might be able to make it to the boundary of the military camp, but even if I did, coming back down would be horrible. With the likelihood of the car sliding even under gentle braking, I really didn't fancy descending Tors Road and then sliding into something and damaging my car or someone else's property. So, I made a very careful three point turn and slowly descended back into Okehampton. It was a sensible decision.
However, I didn't want to just give up on my desire to capture photographs that morning. With sunrise getting ever closer there was only one place that I thought I could get a car close enough to and that was Belstone.
I had to drive carefully up the country lane to Belstone, but it was passable. I did the sensible thing and parked in the main car park and started the walk up to Belstone Common. It was a beautiful morning and Belstone village looked like a winter picture post card. Up on the moor the walking was hard going as the snow was deep. I was glad I was wearing my Muck Boot Artic Sport wellies!
Too Much Snow for Belstone?
A Snowy Belstone Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/13, 1/15 sec at ISO64
I was surprised to see a few folk up on Belstone at that time of morning, especially with so much snow. My first concern was that they might have already walked through the snow and left foot prints but fortunately for me this wasn’t the case.
Belstone is a place I have photographed numerous times of the years, and I have compositions I know work well. However, as pretty as the snow was, there was more there that I'd ever experienced on Dartmoor and its presence considerably change the look of the location. Compositions featuring my favourite rock formations lost a lot of their definition under a blanket of snow. Don't get me wrong, the snow looked beautiful and some of the patterns that the wind had shaped the snow into looked amazing. But it was hard work finding compositions.
A Snowy Belstone Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/30 sec at ISO64
Another challenge was the mostly clear blue sky. With a very white foreground and a blue sky, I felt the scene lacked interest or drama. It was certainly wonderful to look at, but that doesn't always make for a compelling photograph.
While I am often critical of my photographs because I either should have composed them better or the conditions weren't right, the one thing I always do is enjoy my time while I'm out with the camera and I most certainly enjoyed my morning on Belstone Common. Watching the sunrise over the rolling hills of a snowy Dartmoor was a joyous experience and one that I would happily do again.
A SNowy Irishman’s Wall, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 26mm, f/13, 1/20 sec at ISO64
Bite-Size Blog Post #42 - East Mill Tor - Dartmoor National Park
In my blog this week I head to one of my favourite Dartmoor locations, East Mill Tor.
East Mill Tor - A Gem in Northern Dartmoor
To me East Mill Tor is one of Dartmoor's more unique locations to photograph. It's not that the rock stack at the northern edge of the tor is particularly special or that the surrounding landscape has any distinctive features. The stand out element are the small pools of water that are dotted about. It's not the only location on Dartmoor where a tor is near water, but I can't think of any other Dartmoor location where the water is close enough to the tor so that they can both be effectively placed in a composition.
It's not an easy location to photograph effectively either. Direction of light is critically important and obviously there needs to have been sufficient rainfall to fill the pools with water. (With no other source of water they are just muddy holes in the ground without rain). The most challenging bit is setting up the composition.
There are some elements of the composition I can't control, namely the weather. Cloud cover is critically important. Blue skies can be boring, while too much cloud blocks the light from the rising sun. A little wind is OK, and I find some movement in grasses rather pleasing as it adds a dynamic element to the composition.
The bit of the composition that keeps me coming back though is the placement of the pool and the tor in the frame and what their relationship is. A wide angle lens makes the pool appear more dominate in the frame but then makes the tor look further away. Polarisation of the pool is also a fine balancing act. Too much and the water can look black, and too little polarisation and pool has too much reflected light on it.
The final part of the jigsaw for me is where to place the tor and water. Stepping left and right, or panning the camera left and right will change the position of the tor in relation to the pool. Where this objects are placed can significantly change the balance of the composition. Despite several visits to this location, and ignoring all the other aspects of shooting here, I don't think I've created a composition where the balance feels perfect.
East Mill Tor, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 3 secs at ISO 64.
In the photo for this blog post I have the pool centrally placed and the tor off to the left hand side. Does it work? Yes. Could it be better? Possibly. I'll just have to come back and try again. But that's no bad thing.
Bite-Size Blog Post #41 - Shaugh Prior - Dartmoor National Park
In my blog this week I tell you about a rare visit I made to the woodlands and river near Shaugh Prior on Dartmoor to capture this autumnal photograph.
The Autumnal Woods of South West Dartmoor
Living in Exeter I'm only a short drive away from large parts of Dartmoor National Park. However, there are some parts of Dartmoor that I haven't properly explored and photographed because they feel a bit too far to drive to. In reality, it's probably a physiological thing rather than a reality. Realistically I can get to most parts of Dartmoor in an hour, maybe 75 mins at most.
There is a wooded area near Shaugh Prior on the very south western edge of Dartmoor that I have rarely visited. It has always felt, well, too far away. In reality it's not. It takes about an hour to drive, and you can walk straight into the woods from the car park.
Late last autumn I finally decided to make some time and wander up the River Plym near Shaugh Prior. It wasn't the sole reason I drove to that corner of Dartmoor. I was meeting someone from the OWPG (Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild) for a chat and while I was in the area, and I had time, I would also head out with my camera.
The challenge was where to shoot. It would be the middle of the day and the weather was grey, flat and overcast. When I thought about it though, it was perfect conditions for woodland photography. As a bonus it was the autumn so the woodland colours would hopefully be beautiful.
I gave myself a couple of hours to explore the pathway along the River Plym. And while I did happily spend a couple of hours wandering up and down the river, it was the first place I stopped at that gave me the most pleasing photograph of the afternoon.
River Play, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, ¼ sec at ISO 500, Kase Filters CPL.
It's an area that needs further exploration by me and because in reality it's not that far from Exeter I'm sure to return there again soon.
Three Days of Snowfall on Dartmoor National Park
In this blog post I tell you about the three fantastic days I spent photographing the snow on Dartmoor.
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!