Wild Camping at Steeperton Tor - Dartmoor National Park
In my latest blog post I embark on a wild camping adventure to capture photographs of Steeperton Tor on Dartmoor from dusk to dawn! See more photographs from that adventure and learn why I think wild camping is such an important right.
Supporting the Campaign to Protect the Right to Wild Camp
Before I get into the story and photographs from my recent wild camp on Steeperton Tor, I just want to highlight the issue of wild camping rights on Dartmoor National Park. People have been enjoying wild camping (backpack camping) on Dartmoor for decades, but a recent legal challenge puts all that at risk.
I’m not going to go into the well documented history of this legal case and what it means for those who enjoy wild camping responsibly, other than the loss of the right to wild camp responsibly would have a dramatic impact to the way many of us like to enjoy Dartmoor. It’s a critical issue regardless of if you wild camp or not. It’s an issue that could eventually impact how any of us access and use our countries wild spaces.
I recently saw a request from the Dartmoor Preservation Association for people to share their positive stories of backpack camping and what it means to them. While I am just one voice in a chorus of voices, I thought it was important to add my voice to that chorus, if only to make it a little louder. Here is the 30 second video I made while I was wild camping at Steeperton Tor.
As I said in the video, you can simply show your support by liking and sharing the video. However, if you can, please donate to one of the funds that are providing direct support to Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) to battle this case in the Supreme Court on 8th October 2024. I personally have chosen to donate to the Dartmoor Preservation Association who will use the funds to support the DNPAs legal case. You can find out more about their campaign and how to donate here.
Thank you.
Sunset Camp at Steeperton Tor
I had been looking for the right weather conditions for a photography wild camp on Dartmoor National Park for a few weeks. For me, wild camping gives me the opportunity to photograph some of Dartmoor’s most remote locations both at sunset and sunrise, without having to make a difficult or potentially dangerous walk to or from the car in the dark. To make a wild camp worthwhile for photography I therefore need good conditions at sunset and sunrise the following day.
This isn’t as easy as it might first sound. More often than not, you’ll get a good sunrise but not a good sunset, and vice versa. However, with summer coming to an end and September marking the start of Autumn, I decided to soften my requirements a little. i.e. As long as the sunset or sunrise would be good, I’d take a chance on the other.
Sunset at Steeperton Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/13, 0.5 sec at ISO 64.
For the last camp of summer, I really wanted to go to Fur Tor, Dartmoor’s most remote tor, but for that to work, and to make the effort of getting there really worth it, the conditions would need to be pretty special. As it wasn’t looking that way, I decided to settle for Steeperton Tor. It’s a location I’ve wanted to shoot at both sunrise and sunset, and it was remote enough to make a camp worthwhile.
Sunset at Steeperton Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/13, 0.5 sec at ISO 64.
The route I chose was to walk in from Belstone village along the western bank of the river Taw. It’s a flat and easy going. That is until you reach the base of Steeperton Tor and then it’s an uphill slog (with camera and camping gear) for around 150m of ascent! This wouldn’t have been so bad if I could have found the path up! But I made it eventually. Just a little hot and tired.
Sunset at Steeperton Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 0.8 sec at ISO 64.
After some refreshments I then spent a fair bit of time trying to work out where I would pitch my tent. Not normally a difficult thing for most wild campers, but I was trying to think ahead and not pitch my tent in a way that could compromise my sunset or sunrise compositions. I finally picked a nice flat area beside the military lookout point. The lookout huts ruin the viewpoint anyway, so might as well stick my tent there as well!
The great thing about wild camping on Dartmoor is that I never feel the temptation to leave early if I don’t think I’m going to get good conditions. You might as well hang about and see what happens because you are already at the place where you’ll be spending the night. Just as well, because about 15 mins after I would have normally gone home, I got the light I was hoping for.
Sunset at Steeperton Tor #4, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/11, 3 sec at ISO 64.
Stargazing at Dartmoor National Park
With my sunset photographs captured I decided to retire to my tent. Despite Steeperton Tor being fairly remote, internet access isn’t an issue, and with around 10 hours to sunrise, I decided to settle down to watch a film on Netflix.
The Night Sky at Steeperton #1, Dartmoor National Park - Google Pixel 6 Pro
At around 11pm I decided to pop my head out of the tent to see if there were any clear skies and to my delight there were! Though I have captured photographs of the night sky before, I would never consider myself a night sky photographer, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to give it a go.
The Night Sky at Steeperton #2, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/14, 20 sec at ISO 6400.
My efforts aren’t going to win me any competitions, but that’s not the point. Not only was I having fun capturing photographs of the night sky, but I deny anyone to look at the night sky and see all those stars and not do so without a sense of wonder and awe. It was breath taking!
The Night Sky at Steeperton #3, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/14, 20 sec at ISO 3200.
Sunrise at Steeperton Tor
The wind picked up during the night and was still blowing when my alarm went off. I cautiously opened the tent but was pleasantly surprised to see blue sky. My optimism was short lived though. To the east, where the sun was going to rise, there was a large bank of hazy cloud that would be sure to block any soft light from the rising sun.
I thought if I gave it an hour though, the sun would eventually rise above the cloud and I would get some light on the landscape, but a bank of fast-moving low cloud from the southeast came in and covered the sky. That was the end of any chance of getting some good sunrise photos. There was a little gap in the distance which gave me a little light to work with, so I have a least one picture from the morning.
Sunrise at Steeperton Tor, Dartmoor National Park - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 120mm, f/8, 1/100 sec at ISO 500.
As I wasn’t in a hurry, I slowly packed away hoping that the conditions will change but unfortunately this wasn’t to be the case. Just to give myself some options should the conditions unexpectedly change, I decided to walk back via Oke Tor and Belstone Tor. As it turns out, leaving was the right decision because by the time I got to Oke Tor, Steeperton Tor has disappeared into cloud!
While the conditions for sunrise were disappointing (but not unexpected), I still walked home feeling great. I got some nice photographs at sunset, I’d camped under the Milky Way and most importantly I’d had an adventure. An adventure that I was free to do and didn’t require me to gain any permission or buy any permits. It was true freedom.
Bite-Size Blog Post #20 - Ger Tor - Dartmoor National Park
A trip to Ger Tor on Dartmoor where I expected nothing and got something!
Just Out for a Wander
Most of my decisions to go out with the camera are based on what the weather is doing. Will the time, effort, and cost of going result in the reasonable likelihood of capturing a good landscape photograph? This approach might sound like it lacks any spontaneity, and to a certain extent it does, but with limited resources and availability, I need to be pragmatic about these things sometimes. However, life isn't always about making pragmatic or even the best decisions. Sometimes you just want to throw caution to the wind and go out for a walk.
I had a spare evening a few weeks ago, and while the weather forecast didn't look great for photography, I really wanted to go for a walk and because I feel naked without my camera, I took it with me anyway. After scanning my OS Maps and struggling to find somewhere new to explore, I settled on Ger Tor. This is a location I had briefly walked to before, but that was some time ago and now seemed as good as time as any to give it another visit to see if I was missing anything.
Time To Explore
It's a reasonable walk from the car park to Ger Tor but I wasn't in any hurry or stressing about photography, so I took my time to enjoy the experience. Arriving at Ger Tor I spent about an hour wandering about looking for compositions. I'd get the camera out every now and again and I shot a few handheld photos of this new Dartmoor photography location. It was a really positive experience giving myself the time to explore a location without the pressure of capturing a good photograph.
Ger Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/11, 1/125 secs at ISO 1000.
Relax and the Photographs Will Come
Taking a break, I sat down and took in the view. In one direction the forecasted clouds started to roll in and it looked like I might be in for a soaking. I was just about to pack up when the sun made an appearance behind me, and dappled light appeared on the landscape and the rocks. These moments on Dartmoor can be fleeting so I immediately grabbed my camera and captured some more handheld shots.
Ger Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/11, 1/125 secs at ISO 1000.
The light was indeed fleeting, but I captured some unexpectedly nice photographs of Ger Tor. Certainly, nice enough for me to stick a (virtual) pin on my map for it. But more than that, it was a good reminder not to overly plan my Dartmoor photography and to be a bit more spontaneous. You never know what might happen.
Ger Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/11, 1/125 secs at ISO 1000.
Bite-Size Blog Post #19 - Yar Tor - Dartmoor National Park
Giving up on Venford Falls and discovering Yar Tor on Dartmoor National Park.
First Stop, Venford Falls
For many years, Venford Falls has been one of my favourite Dartmoor locations to photograph. Its iconic twin waterfalls are a unique sight for Dartmoor and in the right conditions they can be extremely photogenic (though compositions are limited).
I took my favourite shot of Venford Falls back in 2016, and despite returning several times and producing very pleasing shots, I’ve never felt I’d improved over that 2016 image. However, I keep going back every year to see I can’t get a slightly better shot. After my most recent visit this year though, I’ve decided to give up.
The main problem for me is that the location has become very messy. It’s always been a bit muddy and a bit slippy, but the amount of natural debris that litters the location now makes it a bit of a mess. So, for me at least, Venford is off the shot list (for now anyway).
Let’s Go…Here!
As I’d already made the journey out into the middle to Dartmoor to photograph Venford Falls I thought it would be a bit of a waste of time and petrol just to drive home. But where to photograph? I got my phone out, opened OS Maps and started to have a scan of the area. Looking around it felt like I’d photographed everywhere that was worth photographing. Then I spotted Yar Tor.
Somewhere in my subconscious I was aware of Yar Tor but I couldn’t picture it (excuse the pun) so I wasn’t sure if it were a location worth photographing. With nothing to lose though, I set of to see what I could see!
Yar Tor
Arriving at Yar Tor I was initially underwhelmed. The views were lovely but there was little in the foreground to make for a compelling photograph. I kept my camera in my bag and do what I normally do when arriving at a Dartmoor location and that is to just wander about and view the scene with my eyes rather than through the viewfinder.
After a short while inspiration hit me, and I captured this photograph.
Yar Tor #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 24mm, f/11, 0.4 secs at ISO 64.
By the time I captured this image it was getting late, so I decided to return the following evening.
Return To Yar Tor
Returning the following evening to Yar Tor on Dartmoor I was able to capture a different compisition. I had spotted it the previous night but thanks to some better light it was worth capturing this time.
Yar Tor #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 0.8 secs at ISO 64.
As the sun got close to setting the orange glow got stronger so I decided to head back the composition I captured the previous night to see if I could get a slightly different image, or at least an image with a different feeling.
Yar Tor #3, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 0.5 secs at ISO 64.
Despite me feeling sometimes that I’ve photographed everywhere on Dartmoor, it’s good to know there are still new gems to be found. I shall be returning to Yar Tor, and maybe I’ll just check in on Venford Falls on the way.
Discovering Dartmoor - All 5 Episodes Now Available
A few years ago, I asked myself the questions, “What do I know about Dartmoor? What makes this place so unique?”.
When I couldn’t answer those questions, I made a commitment to myself to not only see more of Dartmoor, but to learn more about it.
And from that commitment, Discovering Dartmoor was born, a 5 part video series where I explore and photograph 24 of Dartmoor's finest locations and speak to some of Dartmoor's most passionate ambassadors so I could find out for myself what makes Dartmoor so special.
My Discovering Dartmoor Journey is Born
Want to quickly know more? Here is a 60 second introduction to Discovery Dartmoor!
If you are a subscriber to my newsletter or regular viewer of my YouTube channel, I expect you've already heard about my Discovering Dartmoor video series. Hopefully, you've already watched some of the four and half hours of content or even watched all of it! Either way, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Discovering Dartmoor, let me tell you all about it. It was sometime in 2020 that friend of mine said "you can't claim to love a place unless you really know it". I might be paraphrasing a little but that was the general gist of it. He had moved to an area and then completely immersed himself in the culture, language, and landscape. He truly had taken his new home to heart.
Though I'd moved to Devon from Scotland over a decade ago, I couldn't say that I had done something similar with Dartmoor. Dartmoor was a place I really enjoyed photographing and I was getting to know all the best spots for landscape photography. But, when I thought about how much I actually knew about Dartmoor, I had to be honest and admit that I knew very little about Dartmoor.
I decided therefore to learn more about Dartmoor. Not only would this be beneficial to me and my photography, but if I also documented my journey to discover more about Dartmoor, others could be inspired to learn more about Dartmoor or their local area.
At first, I wasn't sure how to start or structure my journey of discovery, so I just decided to go across Dartmoor from A to Z. If I selected a Dartmoor location for each letter of the alphabet, I would surely cover a wide range of Dartmoor locations. With a "robust" plan in place, Discovering Dartmoor was born. Full of passion and excitement I thought it might take me a few weeks of hard work to get all the filming done. Maybe a few months. Six months worst case scenario.
The Culmination of Three Years of Work
I have to admit, I did somewhat underestimate how much work was required to film at 26 locations. First, I had to find 26 locations. Not as easy as you might think. For example, there aren't really any Dartmoor locations beginning with Z! Then, when you find a location, is it interesting? Is there something to learn there? Sometimes you can't be 100% sure so you have go and have a look first to see if the story of the location is worth telling. If not, you find somewhere else, and if it is, your return to film that location.
If you do that for each location, and you mix in the fact that you have other commitments (work and personal), time soon escapes you. As it turned out, it took over two years to film 24 locations.
You would then think that this is enough. Nope. Not me. What about the people who live, work and relax on Dartmoor? They all have stories and information to share. So, I decided to film some interviews as well. This took another year.
Add in all the post production (which I also underestimated) and over three and half years go by before Discovering Dartmoor was ready to release. But ready to release it was, and I sent it out into the world!
Watch Discovering Dartmoor
The production of Discovering Dartmoor was every bit as difficult as you might think making a 5 part documentary series about Dartmoor is. But now that it's out there, I am very proud of it and all that hard work and stress seems a small price to pay.
The feedback I've been getting from the people that have watched it, and from the people I interviewed has also been wonderful. There were some dark moments over those last three and half years, and I wondered if it was all worth the effort, but reading the comments people have left has made all that work feel worthwhile.
If you haven't seen Discovering Dartmoor yet and you want to find out what I produced from all that work, then all five episodes from the series are available to watch below (or directly on YouTube here). Let me know what you think in the comments below and if you want to know more about the Discovering Dartmoor book, prints or how to support the series, then just head to julianbaird.com/discoveringdartmoor.
The Discovering Dartmoor Gallery
Below you will find all 55 landscape photographs from the series. I’ve also produced a small book that features all 55 of the photographs and if you wish to purchase a copy you can do so by clicking here.
All the locations for these photographs are also featured in my Free Landscape Photography Locations Map.
Acknowledgments
The following text is extracted from the Discovering Dartmoor book, but it’s very much worth repeating here.
My journey across Dartmoor has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. It’s been full of ups and downs (some literal, some emotional) but one of the highlights has been the people I’ve met along the way. The people that work, live, and relax on Dartmoor.
A special thanks goes to Tom Usher & Kelly Rich from the Dartmoor Preservation Association, Josephine Collingwood, Max Piper, Mark Owen, and Emma Cunis. I can’t thank you enough for giving up your time and talking to me. Without our conversations Discovering Dartmoor wouldn’t be what it is.
Thank you also to Rob Hayward for letting me read from his dad’s book Dartmoor 365 and to Julian Cartwright for giving me permission to use his photograph of a rushlight.
Finally, thanks to my dear friends Ross and Chris. Thank you for your creative support in helping me stay focused on this lengthy project. Most of all, thanks for your friendship during those difficult personal times that accompanied me on my Discovering Dartmoor journey.
All good journeys need good friends.
The Unpublished Collection 4
While I’m Away…
It’s rare that I get to completely immerse myself in my landscape photography. Even more rare that I’ll be doing this for two weeks! Heaven! Well, at least I hope it will be heaven, and given that I’m photographing the Outer Hebrides I’m sure it will be.
But while I’m away I thought I’d take some time to publish some photographs that have never seen the light of day. It’s not that these are poor photographs, it’s just that I never got around to publishing them anywhere. Sometimes I just go out and take photographs with no intention of writing a blog post or producing an associated video.
However, no photograph should just be left to die a slow death on a hard drive so every now and again I like to gather up those unpublished photographs and bring them into the light. The eight photographs below cover a 12 month period and three different counties. Enjoy!
Photographing and Printing Dartmoor with Fotospeed Gloss and Lustre 310 Papers
I love printing my photographs as much as I love capturing them! Join me in this video as I head out to Dartmoor to capture a new landscape photograph and then head home to print it on the new Fotospeed PF Gloss and Lustre 310 papers!
The Challenge of Photographing Great Links Tor on Dartmoor
Capturing photographs of one of Dartmoor’s greatest tors, Great Links Tor, is challenging. Depending on your route up it can take around 45 minutes of walking (all up hill). And then, because of its elevation, it is often in cloud. But when the conditions are right it can be a spectacular location to photograph such as the time I photographed it at sunset.
Inspired by my sunset picture I was determined to also photograph it at sunrise. This was going to be more difficult than I hoped it would be. The first four attempts where non-starters as the location was completely covered in cloud. On my 5th attempt I had the opposite problem, and it was clear blue skies. Not ideal, but I was determined to make the most of it!
While I was pleased enough with the photograph when the skies were clear, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted or visualised. But that’s the great thing about Dartmoor (or the worst thing), and that is the weather can change very quickly. And that’s exactly what it did do! And that change in conditions gave the perfect opportunity to capture an image that would make for a great photograph to use as the first print for two new papers I had just received from Fotospeed.
In the video below you can see my photography adventure from Great Links Tor on Dartmoor and see what the prints look on those two new Fotospeed papers.
Great Links Tor, Dartmoor - Landscape Photographs
Great Links Tor Sunrise #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm at 14mm, f/11, 0.4 sec at ISO 64.
Great Links Tor Sunrise #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 14-30mm at 15mm, f/13, 1/10 sec at ISO 64.
Great Links Tor Sunrise #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor Z 24-120mm at 89mm, f/8, 1/160 sec at ISO 64, 6:17 crop.
Links to Products and Other Videos
*** Remember to us the discount code Julian15 and get 15% off Fotospeed papers ***
🛒 Fotospeed PF Gloss 310 - https://fotospeed.com/fotospeed-pf-gloss-310.html
🛒 Fotospeed PF Lustre 310 - https://fotospeed.com/fotospeed-pf-lustre-310.html
🛒 Fotospeed Test Packs https://fotospeed.com/paper/test-packs.html?default_brand=Fotospeed
✔️ Download Fotospeed’s Art of Printing eBook - FREE - https://fotospeed.com/ebook/artofprinting
🎞️ My video review of the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300 - https://youtu.be/QF3_JXuu_Ag
🎞️ My editing video with Fotospeed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rrLOnVHcCA
🎞️ My post-processing workflow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHg4agMU-GI&list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo97OcghsCsBlKGLXY2BcMdx
Just Enjoying My Landscape Photography
Sometimes it's OK to just enjoy the experience of taking landscape photographs. Not every photo needs to win awards or have a deeper meaning. Photography can also be about having fun, admiring the view, or taking joy in the simple act of pressing the shutter button.
There Goes Autumn!
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with photographing anything seasonal. This could be the beautiful pink Thrift you find along the Cornish coast during spring, or the glorious colours of a woodland at autumn. I love photographing these unique times of year, but life has this nasty habit of getting in the way and I often end up missing the (photographic) peak of a season.
Autumn is a particularly tricky one. The days are short which make it difficult for me to get out, and when I eventually do find the time it’s normally after a storm and all the autumnal colour has blow off the trees!
Should I Risk It?
Every now and again, the stars align, and I’m presented with an opportunity to shoot some autumnal colour. However, the decision to photograph East Dartmoor Woods wasn’t that straightforward. The weather conditions over East Dartmoor Woods were forecast for clear skies at sunrise. It’s also a 5 km walk, in the dark, in a woodland, to get to the viewpoint that I wanted. While I had visited the viewpoint (in winter) I had never photographed it before.
It was a risky decision to go there, and it was a fair effort to get there. My head was telling me that I would be much better off going somewhere else where the conditions would be better, and I would be shooting something I’m familiar with (i.e. not woodlands!).
My heart on the other hand was telling me this was a fantastic opportunity to photograph this woodland while the autumn colours were still there. OK, the clear skies weren’t ideal, but the sun was rising in the right direction, and it should catch the tops of the trees. If I waited for another day, that other day might not come. The weather might turn, or I just might not find another opportunity to photograph it before the end of autumn.
It’s not often I ignore my head but this time I decided to follow my heart and take a risk! I did question this decision as I followed the path through the woodland with a head torch while trying not to think about the beasts of Dartmoor that lurk in the shadows!
But was all that effort and risk worth it? Well, you can find it out in the 5 Minute Photo Adventure video below!
What do you think? Was it worth the effort? Would you have made the 5km walk in the dark for that view or photographs? Let me know in the comments below.
East Dartmoor Woods - Landscape Photographs
Here are the landscape photographs you saw me capture in the video.
East Dartmoor Woods Autumn Sunrise #1, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 S at 37mm, f/13, 0.4 sec at ISO64, Kase Filters CPL.
East Dartmoor Woods Autumn Sunrise #2, Dartmoor National Park, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 S at 82mm, f/13, 0.5 sec at ISO64, Kase Filters CPL.
Did the Nikon Z8 Kill My Landscape Photography?
I bought a Nikon Z8 then I stopped taking landscape photographs. But why? In this video I head to Dartmoor to capture some dramatic landscape photographs and I'll tell you why you haven't seen me online recently.
I’m Back! But Where Have I Been?
It’s been a few months since I published a video or written something here on the blog. It’s probably the longest gap I’ve had since I started my blog back in 2016. It wasn’t a conscious choice to stop creating content. I just stopped.
There are a number of reasons for this, and I do touch on them in the video, but it has been a bit of a struggle to get back into creating content (something which I love doing). Apart from shooting the odd music festival, I didn’t take any landscape photographs for a couple of months. I just didn’t feel like it. I’d lost my motivation.
After some soul searching, a few failed attempts to create something and support from people close to me, I’m finally back to a place where I feel creative (and importantly, I want to share my photography adventures again).
Dramatic Dartmoor
There’s nothing like a successful trip out with the camera to give your motivation for photography a good boost. The trouble with Dartmoor is that the weather plays a significant part in how your photographs turn out. My favourite kind of conditions are when things are unsettled. I’m looking for a bit of drama!
Every now and again, I get those conditions. Sometimes they are expected, sometimes not. Things get really exciting when you just aren’t sure how things will work out and it changes minute by minute. And that’s exactly the conditions I got on my recent visit to East Mill Tor!
It was the perfect type of morning on Dartmoor to give my photography a significant kick up the arse! You can see why in the video below!
I got a real buzz creating those photographs and making that video. It’s given me all the motivation I need to get going again. While the changes in my life have left me with less time to dedicate to photography, I am committed to regularly producing content for you to enjoy. Make sure you stay tuned!
East Mill Tor, Dartmoor - Landscape Photographs
Here are the landscape photographs you saw me capture in the video. I hope you enjoy them.
East Mill Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, 1.3 sec at ISO 64, f/13, Kase Filters CPL.
East Mill Tor #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, 0.6 sec at ISO 64, f/13, Kase Filters CPL.
East Mill Tor #4, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, 1/13 sec at ISO 64, f/13, Kase Filters CPL.
East Mill Tor #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z8, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, 0.5 sec at ISO 64, f/13, Kase Filters CPL.
Photographing a Snowy Dartmoor with the NEW Vallerret Skadi Gloves
Landscape photography, a new pair of thermal gloves, Dartmoor, snow, and my Nikon Z7. What's not to love. So, join me in my latest video as I photograph a snowy Dartmoor and tell you all about my new @Vallerret Skadi Zipper Mitt LRS Gloves.
The Best Photography Gloves - Improved!
Best is of course a subjective term. Different conditions can require different gloves. Perhaps I’d be better describing my Vallerret Skadi Zipper Mitt PSP gloves as my favourite winter photography glove. Well, that was until Vallerret released the Skadi Zipper Mitt LRS gloves <INSERT AFFLIATE LINK>! A new and improved version of their deep winter mitts.
In the video below I not only photography Dartmoor with a rare dusting of snow, but I also share with you my thoughts on these new gloves from Vallerret.
If you’d like to purchase a pair of the Vallerret Skadi Zipper Mitt LRS gloves you can do so directly from Vallerret right here.
Where Are the Landscape Photographs?
It’s normally at this point in the blog post that I share the photographs I captured in the video, and you may be wondering where they are. There’re not here because I’ve already published them in the blog post Photographing Dartmoor in the Snow earlier this year. The reason for the time gap between video and photographs is that the video featured gloves that Vallerret hadn’t announced yet, so I kept the video back until now.
Be sure to check out the blog post Photographing Dartmoor in the Snow to not only see the photographs from that video, but some of the other snowy photos I captured from Dartmoor back in January.
Landscape Photography with Nikon Z8 - A Dartmoor 5 Minute Photo Adventure
Join me on my latest 5 Minute Photo Adventure video as I take out the Nikon Z8 for its first landscape photography shoot. Would the excitement of using the Nikon Z8 to photograph Bowerman's Nose on Dartmoor outweigh the pain of a 03:30 alarm call?
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
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.
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
I'm changing my landscape photography camera so it's time for one last shoot with the Nikon Z7. Join me in as I visit two of my favourite Dartmoor locations to capture my final Nikon Z7 landscape photographs with the 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
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
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.
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.
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
A GREAT Landscape Photograph Deserves a GREAT Print
I love printing my landscape photographs from Dartmoor almost as much as I love taking them! In this video, I capture images of the iconic Great Links Tor, and then I’ll make prints of them using my new Hahnemuehle fine art papers that I got from Fotospeed.
The Wind - Friend or Foe?
Windy. It’s a word that I am using a lot recently to describe the conditions I’ve been experiencing while out photographing Dartmoor. The wind can make landscape photography challenging with fear that your camera will get blown over or that you’ll end up taking blurry photographs. As for shooting video, leaving my camera on a tripod (even with spikes) on its own while I go off and talk somewhere always makes me nervous!
The wind can also be an asset. Strong winds often mean fast moving cloud, providing me with the hope that any gaps in the cloud, while short lived, will shortly be followed by another gap.
The Journey to Great Links Tor
Looking at the weather forecast before I set out for Great Links Tor, I was hoping that the strong winds that evening would be my friend. There was lots of low cloud forecast, but some gaps were also predicted. I was hoping the wind would make sure those gaps kept coming and provide me with a few breaks in the cloud.
As I started my ascent to Great Links Tor; things didn’t look brilliant. There was a lot of cloud, and it was very low down. So low down that Arms Tor (around 130 lower down) was barely visible. As I ascended further, the cloud level did appear to rise, and I could just about now see Great Links Tor.
Patience is the Key to Landscape Photography on Dartmoor
Arriving at Great Links Tor, the full brunt of the wind hit me! The wind was fierce, which made it cold, and as I now was above the base of the cloud layer, it was also eerily dark. So, I did what every landscape photographer should do and that’s wait. And wait some more. And get cold. T hen frustrated. Then I considered going home.
However, patience is key and in true Dartmoor fashion I could see breaks starting to appear in the cloud, and patches of light formed on the landscape. I filmed a few pieces to camera to pass the time and then it clouded over again. I waited some more and then…. well, you’ll just have to watch my video to find out what happened!
Landscape Photographs of Great Links Tor on Dartmoor
Here are the Dartmoor landscape photographs I captured in the video. Let me know which is your favourite.
Great Links Tor at Sunset #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/11, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Links and Other Videos
I mentioned a lot of videos, playlists, and products in the video, so I’ve decided to list them here as well:
💰💰💰 Special offer from Fotospeed - Hahnemuehle Test Packs are half price until end of April at Fotospeed.com 💰💰💰
🛒 Get your Hahnemühle test pack here - https://fotospeed.com/papers/hahnemuhle.html?paper_test_pack=1
The paper I used to make the prints are
🛒Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta 325 - https://fotospeed.com/papers/hahnemuhle/fine-art-baryta-325.html
🛒Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308 - https://fotospeed.com/papers/fine-art-paper/photo-rag-308.html
🔗 Check out Fotospeed's free ebook, Art of Printing, at https://fotospeed.com/ebook/artofprinting
🎞️ The printer I used in this video is the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300. 🎥 Watch my video review of this printer here - https://youtu.be/QF3_JXuu_Ag
🛒 Purchase the Pro-300 here - https://fotospeed.com/canon-pro-300.html
🛒 Finally, I purchased my matt board from Picture Frames Express - https://www.pictureframesexpress.co.uk/
🎞️ You can see how I use Picture Frames Express designer software here - https://youtu.be/FJYOckTLbyA?t=443 🎥
🎞️ See more of my printing videos in this handy playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo_kuUIioDAagRJ6zsvo1X3P
🎞️ See how I manage and process my photographs in Lightroom in this playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo97OcghsCsBlKGLXY2BcMdx
Capture and Print - Landscape Photography from Dartmoor
Is social media the final destination for your photographs? In this video, you can join me in the experience of capturing a landscape photograph from Dartmoor, and then doing the most important part of the photographic process, making a print!
Photographing Dartmoor - East to West
In my last blog post, Why I Love Dartmoor 2, I shared with you the experience of capturing a landscape photograph of East Mill Tor on Dartmoor. Thanks to some planning and a little fortune (always a requirement), I managed to capture a photograph of East Mill Tor with which I was incredibly happy.
Looking west from East Mill Tor you can see the appropriately named West Mill Tor. It’s not a location I photographed very often so with the excitement of my East Mill Tor visit still inspiring me I made plans to go west!
The Last of Those Early Alarm Calls (For Now)
While the weather forecast wasn’t as promising as my visit to East Mill Tor, it still had enough potential for me to set a 04:30 alarm call. It would be the last of those very early alarm calls as the clocks would be going forward in a few days. This would be only a temporary reprieve from the early alarm calls. Some of my favourite Dartmoor photography locations are best shot at dawn in the summer. It’s not unusual for the alarm to be set at 03:30 for those locations! (I’ll be doing more wild camping this year which will hopefully negate the need for some of those alarm calls).
Photographing Dartmoor Requires Patience
Though my alarm call for West Mill Tor might be early, you can at least park close by. It’s not much more than a 15-minute steady walk up to the summit, however, upon reaching the summit I was greeted with what can only be described as a strong and constant wind. This would make the photography hard and shooting video even harder!
And it’s at this point you pick up the story in the video below…
Links and Other Videos
I mentioned a lot of videos, playlists, and products in the video, so I’ve decided to list them here as well:
🎥 Watch my editing and printing session at Fotospeed here - https://youtu.be/1prQocy-GoI
🎥 The printer I used in this video is the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300. 🎥 Watch my video review of this printer here - https://youtu.be/QF3_JXuu_Ag
💳 Purchase the Pro-300 here - https://fotospeed.com/canon-pro-300.html
Use the discount code Julian15 and get 15% off Fotospeed papers at Fotospeed.com
💳 The paper I used to make the print is @FotospeedUK NST BW 315 And you can purchase the paper here - https://fotospeed.com/nst-bright-white-315.html
💳 Finally, I purchased my matt board from Picture Frames Express - https://www.pictureframesexpress.co.uk/
🎥 You can see how I use Picture Frames Express designer software here - https://youtu.be/FJYOckTLbyA?t=443
🎥 See more of my printing videos in this handy playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo_kuUIioDAagRJ6zsvo1X3P
🎥 See how I manage and process my photographs in Lightroom in this playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo97OcghsCsBlKGLXY2BcMdx
Landscape Photographs of West Mill Tor on Dartmoor
Here are the three photographs I captured in the video. Let me know which is your favourite.
A Wild West Mill Tor Sunrise #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm S f/4 at 14mm, f/13, 1/2 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL
A Wild West Mill Tor Sunrise #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm S f/4 at 14mm, f/13, 1/2 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL
A Wild West Mill Tor Sunrise #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm S f/4 at 16mm, f/13, 1/3 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL
Photographing & Discovering East Mill Tor on Dartmoor
Knowing more about the locations you photograph will give your images more meaning and connection. In this video, I photograph one of my favourite Dartmoor viewpoints and I also take the time to discover what really makes that location so special.
Motivated to Photograph Dartmoor at Its Best
How often do you set your alarm for 04:45 on a Sunday morning? Not very often I bet! But setting very early alarm calls is part of the course for landscape photographers if you want to capture photographs in the best light.
If I’d been sensible, I would have scheduled my dawn shoot of Dartmoor to the following week. The clocks would have slipped into British Summer Time and sunrise would have been a much more socially acceptable 07:30, and as a result I could have woken up an hour later.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the weather forecast would be as favourable the following week. The conditions I like to photograph Dartmoor in are rare, but they are also infrequent enough that when they are forecast, I make sure I do my best to be out with my camera. Even if that does mean a 04:45 alarm call. Watching the sunrise over Dartmoor is all the motivation I need.
Photographing East Mill Tor on Dartmoor
On Dartmoor, there is a distinct difference between the forecasted weather and the actual weather. You can check all the weather forecasts for the following morning, only to turn up at your chosen spot and the weather is doing something completely different. The not knowing exactly what the weather is going to be like is part of the magic of photographing Dartmoor though.
After getting over the shock of my alarm call, I made a cup of coffee and jumped in the car with a sense of optimism. Arriving at the car park just short of East Mill Tor, I looked up at the sky and I could see lots of broken cloud. This could mean the ideal conditions I wanted for my photograph.
It had already rained the previous few days so I knew the pool that would form my foreground had water in it. I also needed the soft, warm light from the rising sun to illuminate the grass surrounding the pool and the tor itself. I didn’t want it to be too clear in the sky though as having some cloud in the sky is just as important as an interesting foreground. It’s a very specific set of conditions I was looking for!
As it got closer to sunrise, I could see a bank of cloud on the horizon which would block the light from the rising sun. I tried not to worry too much as the cloud was moving fast across the sky. It was going to be a game of patience and it would test my nerves!
Sure enough, my nerves were tested! Just as I thought the sun would break through, it would be covered by another bank of cloud. Sometimes the light would break through and cast beautiful light on the surrounding landscape, but never quite where I needed it!
The later it got the more difficult it would be to get the shot I wanted. The higher the sun gets in the sky, the harsher the light is. You can’t beat that early light just as the sun rises above the horizon. The cloud above East Mill Tor was also starting to clear, possibly leaving me with clear blue skies.
At one point, I honestly thought it was going to be another one of those mornings where I come very close to capturing the photograph I had envisaged, but ultimately gone home disappointed (but never disappointed that I’d spent time on Dartmoor).
Just as I was about to give up and go home in a grump, things started to change. Did I get the photograph? Well, you can find out by picking up the story in the video below. The video is much more than just the story of the photograph, it’s all about all the other things that make Dartmoor so special. Enjoy!
Dawn at East Mill Tor on Dartmoor - A Special Landscape Photograph
Here’s the photograph I captured in the video. I’m incredibly happy with the way it has turned out, particularly as at one point I was ready to give up. For me though, that is the magic of Dartmoor. It’s a rugged and raw landscape, but also a beautiful landscape. With all its micro-climates it can be difficult to predict the weather, but when you get those magical conditions, there is no other place I’d rather be photographing.
A Perfect Dawn at East Mill Tor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/20th sec at ISO 125, Kase Filters K9 CPL.
There’s More to Dartmoor Than Beautiful Viewpoints
I do have a specific set of conditions I prefer to capture my landscape photographs of Dartmoor in, but that doesn’t mean they are the only conditions I will venture out into Dartmoor. Far from it! You’ll find me wandering Dartmoor (often with my dog Monty) in all sorts of weather conditions.
Monty - my constant companion on my long adventures around Dartmoor.
Over the last few years, I’ve been trying to learn more about Dartmoor. While my photography is at the heart of what I love about Dartmoor, I’m also aware there is so much more to Dartmoor than just beautiful viewpoints. The more I learn about Dartmoor, the deeper the connection I have to it.
This is why in the video you have just watched, I took the time to explore the area around East Mill Tor. I’ve photographed East Mill Tor many times before, but this was the first time I took the time to find out more about the area and what I discovered was fascinating!
The exploration of Dartmoor, while fulfilling in its own right, has also led me to become a better Dartmoor photographer. I might not feel compelled to photograph all the things I discover on Dartmoor, but through the process of exploration I have found new locations and areas that I might never have been to before.
Now when I’m standing at a viewpoint waiting for the light, I feel I have a much better understanding of the area, and as result I have a better connection to the photographs I capture.
I am by no means an expert on Dartmoor. I have only just scratched the surface. Dartmoor offers a lifetime of discovery, but that’s a good thing!
Why I Love Dartmoor
DARTMOOR is home to some of Britain's great viewpoints for landscape photography, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll discover so much more. In my latest video, I’ll show you one of those viewpoints and some of things that make Dartmoor such a special place.
Dartmoor - More Than a Great Landscape Photography Location
I’ve been photographing Dartmoor for over a decade, and I love the grand vistas of the open moorland. As a landscape photographer, I am truly fortunate to have a National Park with such a varied landscape on my doorstep.
For much of that decade, I was capturing photographs of Dartmoor without knowing or understanding what I was photographing. I would turn up to a location, photograph it, and then head home. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with that approach. When I go on photography trips to other places it’s an approach I often have to adopt.
As time went on though, I felt that I should know more about my local landscape and visit more locations on Dartmoor. If I was going to claim my love for Dartmoor, I needed to know and understand it. I’ll never know everything thing there is to know about Dartmoor, so my learning journey would be a journey that takes a lifetime.
You must start somewhere though. And started I have. To give you an example of how I’ve been expanding my knowledge of Dartmoor I’ve created a short video. In the video below I head to one of my favourite Dartmoor viewpoints, Rippon Tor. As far as Dartmoor tors go, it’s on the small side, but as I found, there is so much to discover. There’s a granite cross, granite mill stones, stone reaves, cairns, and 360-degree views.
I might not want to photograph all those things, but just knowing they are there makes the location more interesting. Suddenly you aren’t just looking at some magnificent views of Dartmoor, but you are standing on a place steeped in history. Even if I don’t photograph everything, looking for these items of Dartmoor history introduces me to compositions that I might not have seen or considered before.
Knowing more about Dartmoor has undoubtably enriched my photography and I hope this short video shows you why.
Rippon Tor - Dartmoor Landscape Photographs
Rippon Tor #1. Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/13, 1/10 sec at ISO 64.
Rippon Tor #2. Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 21mm, f/11, 2.5 sec at ISO 64.
Rippon Tor #3. Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 15mm, f/11, 1 sec at ISO 400.
Rippon Tor #4. Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 22mm, f/11, 2.5 sec at ISO 64.
Photographing Dartmoor in the Snow
Snow can transform Dartmoor into a winter wonderland for landscape photography. In this blog, I share with you not one, but two locations, where I was fortunate enough to photograph them in the snow.
Who Doesn’t Like a Snowy Landscape?
There aren’t many types of weather that get landscape photographers as excited as snow. Snow can transform even the most mundane of landscapes into something pure and beautiful. Depending on where you live, it can also be rare.
Living in the south-west of the UK, I don’t see snowfall that often. It will snow at least once during the winter months, but it tends to be a dusting of snow. This is unlike other places in the UK such as Scotland where snowfall can be significant.
Snow fall on Dartmoor for me is a double-edged sword. It transforms the landscape into a stunning winter wonderland but, accessing the moors can become challenging. Dartmoor has a mixture of busy A roads all the way down to narrow country lanes. Safe access to those roads during snow is not always possible. If I can’t get to Dartmoor, it doesn’t matter how great the snow is, I can’t photograph it.
The Transformation of Belstone Tor
I hadn’t been paying attention to the weather forecast and I certainly hadn’t considered that it might snow. That was until I got a message from a friend who was very excited about the prospect of snow and wondered if I wanted to join him on Dartmoor for a dawn shoot. I quickly checked the weather forecast and with a 95% chance of snow I immediately packed my camera bag for the following day.
There are a number of Dartmoor locations that sit on higher elevations but we chose Belstone because of its ease of access. It’s a short distance from the dual carriage way, there’s a car park in the village, and the elevation gain between the start of your walk to Belstone is sufficient enough that you can walk from no snow to the snow line (and beyond).
Arriving at Belstone village we were both pleased to see the weather forecast had been correct and it had snowed overnight. Excited, we started our ascent to the tor.
Arriving at the tor we found the landscape had received a good dusting of snow. It was far from a perfect white blanket, but definitely enough to give our photographs that wintery look. We still needed to be very careful where we walked though and we didn’t leave footprints in areas we later wanted to photograph.
A Snowy Irishman's Wall, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 37mm, f/13, 1/10 sect at ISO 64, 16:9 crop.
We arrived plenty of time to explore the area before sunrise. We both know this location very well but things can look different in the snow so it was important to do a bit of wandering about. The first composition I picked out was of Irishman’s Wall, just as the sun started to light it up.
A Snowy Belstone Tor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/13, 1/15 sect at ISO 64.
We then moved back to the main set of rock stacks to see what else we could pick out. I tend to shoot towards the sunrise at Belstone, but this morning all the action in the sky was towards the north. Perched high up on a rock I captured my image of Belstone Tor. The image still benefits from the light of the rising sun (to the right) and the incoming snow storms in the sky, but it could do with a little more snow.
Snow coverage is a tricky balance on Dartmoor. Too much and you lose a lot of the interest provided by those fantastic tors, and not enough, and it can look a bit messy. It’s still a good shot, but I would have liked a bit more snow. I’m never happy!
After a great morning in the snow, we headed off for some breakfast. We then planned to continue shooting Dartmoor and to make the most of the snow, but when we got the Great Staple Tor area, there was barely any snow. It also started raining. It looked like that was it for the snow on Dartmoor and we headed our seperate ways, both agreeing we’d had a brilliant morning.
A Surprise on Black Tor
A couple of days later I started to make plans for another dawn shoot. Black Tor (near High Willhays) had long been a location I wanted to photograph. It’s a location I’ve visited a number of times, but I’d never photographed it before. With the sunrising from a good direction, it seemed the perfect time to see what I could capture.
When I started my walk from Meldon Reservoir car park there was no sign of snow. I was expecting any either as I thought it would have melted since my visit to Belstone. So you can imagine my surprise when I reached Black Tor and I was able to capture the image below.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 1/3 sect at ISO 64.
Again, not a huge amount of snow but enough to make things interesting. The main disadvantage of shooting snow a few days after it has fallen is footprints. Even with some of the more remote Dartmoor locations such as Black Tor, you’re not going to be able to avoid foot prints in the snow. I’ve did my best to avoid them, but all I can do is minimise their impact.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 1/30 sect at ISO 64.
Despite that wonderful pre-sunrise sky, it was after the sun rose that the landscape came to life. As the sun broke the horizon and started to swing round, it started to illuminate Corn Ridge to the south and the foreground tor.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 15mm, f/16, 1/50 sect at ISO 64.
I don’t often shoot straight in to the sun, especially when it is clear, but some of the compositions I was picking didn’t leave me much choice, so I had to embrace it. As it turns out, including the rising sun wasn’t a distraction and I felt it worked well. If I’m being picky though, and I like to be picky, I prefer the composition below rather than the one above. The foreground rock formation is more interesting and it catches the light well.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #4, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/16, 1/40 sect at ISO 64.
Even as the morning progressed and the sun got higher in the sky, the light remained soft and I continued to find new compositions.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #5, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 15mm, f/11, 1/50 sect at ISO 64.
Looking at these images I’m convinced that if Corn Ridge in the distance had been covered in snow it wouldn’t have looked as photogenic as it does here. The colour of the ground in this area of Dartmoor during winter is a beautiful golden colour and it would have been a shame not to see it catching the morning light. The snow helps break it up and produce texture.
A Snowy Sunrise at Black Tor #6, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 1/50 sect at ISO 64.
Proper Snow at Darmoors’s Highest Point
After a fantastic, and unexpected morning of great photography at Black Tor I decided not to go home, but to continue my journey. I put the camera away and decided to go for a walk to see how things looked from High Willhays (Dartmoor’s highest point).
On the way up from Black Tor to High Willhays the snow got deeper. (Google Pixel 6 Pro).
It’s only a short walk east from Black to High Willhays but there is an elevation change of nearly 120m. As I ascended there was a noticeable change in snow coverage and depth. It wasn’t difficult walking but if you went looking for it you could find the snow knee deep!
By the time I got to the top of the hill, the snow was knee deep in some places. (Google Pixel 6 Pro).
Around High Willhays there was plenty of snow and it looked beautiful. Rather than get the camera out again I just decided to keep walking and enjoy it. And I wasn’t the only one. I saw runners, walkers, dogs and even someone on a bike. You never know how long the snow will last so people were deciding to make the most of it.
Along the summit ridge there was plenty of snow. (Google Pixel 6 Pro).
My walk continued to Yes Tor and then I descended back to Meldon where you wouldn’t have known that some 300m above there was a blanket of glorious snow.
Looking back it had been a brilliant couple of days. From not even considering there might be snow on Dartmoor to spending so much time making the most of a rare weather event. I’m not sure if it will snow again this winter, but even if it doesn’t, I at least know I made the most of it when it was here.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Have you had snow where you live? Have you managed to get out and take your own snowy landscapes? Let me know in the comments below.
The Best Day for Landscape Photography on Dartmoor?
With a late sunrise, an early sunset, and a sun that stays low in the sky, the winter solstice is one of the best days for landscape photography on Dartmoor. However, as I find out, trying to do too much on the shortest day can lead to problems.
A Dartmoor Photography Adventure on the Winter Solstice
I learnt a few years ago that on or around the winter solstice is one of the best times to photograph Dartmoor. Sunrise isn’t too early, sunset isn’t too late, and the sun remains relatively low along the horizon during the day. This means that for the roughly 8 hours of daylight that you get, it is possible to shoot all day and still have a relatively short day out.
Another advantage of such a short day is that it is possible to reach some of Dartmoor’s more remote locations for sunrise and not have to set an alarm for 3am! This winter solstice I decided to take advantage of this by walking to Wild Tor for sunrise. It takes me an hour to drive to the car park, and then it’s another 1hr 15 min walk to Wild Tor. I was certainly glad that sunrise wasn’t until 08:10.
My plan was to photograph Wild Tor for sunrise, then walk back to the car and take in some other locations, hopefully benefiting from sun remaining low on the horizon. Then after my mornings work, I would get a late breakfast or lunch, and find somewhere else to photograph sunset.
A great plan for sure. However, I decided to try and squeeze in something else between my morning locations and afternoon locations. This led to a few problems. You can find out what and watch me capture the photographs you see below in this video.
I hope you enjoyed the video. Despite the challenges I had with finishing the video on location, there were still many more positives than negatives to take away from my day out with the camera.
Links Mentioned in the Video
Here are some of the links I mentioned in the video.
💳 Fotospeed Platinum Gloss Art Fibre 300 - https://fotospeed.com/platinum-gloss-art-fibre-300.html
💳 Fotospeed Platinum Etching 285 - https://fotospeed.com/platinum-etching-285.html
💳 Print mounts from https://pictureframesexpress.co.uk
💳 Ikea Mosslanda Picture Ledge - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/mosslanda-picture-ledge-white-40291766/
🎥 My video on the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-300 - https://youtu.be/QF3_JXuu_Ag
🎥 All my videos on printing - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJU6FMi6Tvo_kuUIioDAagRJ6zsvo1X3P
Landscape Photographs from Dartmoor
Wild Tor
Wild Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 0.4 sec at ISO 64.
Wild Tor #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/11, 1/5 sec at ISO 64.
Wild Tor #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.
Wild Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 20mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64.
Oke Tor
Oke Tor, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 1/30 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor
Yes Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 21mm, f/11, 1/3 sec at ISO 64.
Yes Tor #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/13, 1/3 sec at ISO 64.
On Location Review of the Kingjoy C83 Carbon Fibre Tripod
All tripods are the same right? Not exactly. While they all have three legs, some are better than others. When it comes to landscape photography you need something that is lightweight, stable and easy to use. In this video I review the Kingjoy SolidRock C83 Carbon Fibre Tripod out to Dartmoor to see if it can fit my needs as an outdoor photographer!
The New King of Tripods?
It’s very easy to assume that all tripods are the same. They all have three legs, and they support your camera. However, if you are a landscape photographer a tripod is an essential item and your tripod needs to be lightweight, stable, and easy to use.
I’ve had the same two tripods for years and it’s only recently that I’ve been looking about for something new. Why two tripods I hear you ask? One for stills photography, and the other for video. And yes, I need to do both at the same time otherwise I couldn’t make my YouTube videos. The reason I’m looking for something new is that as my cameras and lenses change, so do my requirements for tripods.
For my current setup of cameras and lenses I needed something robust, stable, and well built, but not at Gitzo level prices. I had heard some good reports about Kingjoy tripods but it’s not a brand I immediately think of when considering a new tripod. But when they reached out to me and asked if I wanted a loan of their C83 carbon fibre tripod I said yes. I’ve got nothing to lose and I might find myself pleasantly surprised.
With my loan C83 in hand, I head off to Dartmoor for some landscape photography to see if this is a tripod that I would buy.
If you’d like to buy a Kingjoy SolidRock C83 Carbon Fibre Tripod, you do so direct from Kingjoy UK here - https://kingjoyuk.com/products/kingjoy-solidrock-c83-carbon-fibre-tripod?sca_ref=2948686.NWDrPIWIBg
*** Use the code kjbaird5 and you'll get a 5% discount ***
Landscape Photographs of Beardown Tors
Beardown Tors Sunset #5, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 16mm, f/13, 1/25 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.
Beardown Tors Sunset #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 21mm, f/13, 1/8 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.
Beardown Tors Sunset #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 17mm, f/13, 1/6 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.
Beardown Tors Sunset #3, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 30mm, f/13, 0.6 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL, 4:5 crop..
Beardown Tors Sunset #4, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 15mm, f/13, 1.6 sec at ISO 64, Kase Filters CPL.
East Mill Tor - Dartmoor - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
Is there any point in returning to a location if you've already captured a great landscape photograph there? In this video I return to the spot where I took one of my favourite landscape photographs of Dartmoor to try again. But was this new photograph better, worse, or just different?
Better or Different - Just Keep Coming Back
The north has become my favourite area of Dartmoor to photograph. This is especially true now that we are getting closer to winter. The long Dartmoor grasses start to lose their green colour leaving them a pale yellow colour which beautifully reflects the light from the rising or setting sun.
A new favourite location in that area is East Mill Tor and I decided it was time to return to the location from which I captured one of my favourite Dartmoor photographs. That photograph, which I captured back in March 2022, hangs proudly on my office wall.
So why have I returned? Did I capture an image that was better than my previous image? Does it matter? Let’s find out in my latest 5 Minute Photo Adventure.
East Mill Tor - Dartmoor - Landscape Photographs
Autumn Sunrise at East Mill Tor #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 14mm, f/11, 1/13 sec at ISO 400.
Autumn Sunrise at East Mill Tor #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at 19mm, f/11, 1/20 sec at ISO 400.
Landscape Photography from Dartmoor - A 5 Minute Photo Adventure
I'm back!!! After taking some time to work on a photography project, I'm back producing videos for YouTube. To kick things off I head to one of my closest tors where I get some unexpected, but very welcome conditions.
An Exciting Return to YouTube
It’s been three months since I’ve shared any videos or posted anything on my blog, so it is with a natural sense of excitement that I’m sharing a new 5 Minute Photo Adventure with you! In the video, I will tell you a little bit about what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up over the next few months on my blog and channel.
Most importantly though, I share with you the experience of being on location and capturing landscape photographs of Dartmoor. This is something I’m passionate about! So, grab yourself a cup of coffee and join me on my latest 5 Minute Photo Adventure.
Landscape Photographs from Rippon Tor
Rippon Tor Sunrise Panoramic, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 S at 54mm, f/8, 1/30 sec at ISO 64, 6 image panoramic stitch.
Rippon Tor Sunrise #1, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 18mm, f/13, 1/4 sec at ISO 64.
Rippon Tor Sunrise #2, Dartmoor, Devon - Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S at 23mm, f/13, 0.4 sec at ISO 64.