Moorland photography

Black Tor, Dartmoor

Black Tor on Dartmoor lies just South of Princetown on the B3212.  It's not a large Tor, in fact, it's a rather small, non-descript Tor easily missed as its set back off the road just over the brow of a hill.  It's on a rise and stands just a little higher than the surrounding landscape so offers some nice views.

Moorland usually consists of large expanses of similar looking terrain which, without, something to draw the eye results in photographs that are just plain boring :-) Dartmoor is nice in this respect as its peppered with little hills topped with rocky Tors and the occasional forest or large group of trees.

Moors are often associated with being windy places where the weather changes from sunshine and blue skies to cloud, rain, fog, hail and snow all within a couple of hours.  They are thought of as intimidating and often scary places.  So, people strongly connect to photographs communicating one or more of these characteristics.

The photograph above is a more subtle, a softer, interpretation of those characteristics.  In it I've tried to convey vast open space whilst using the tall grasses and boulders to provide the sense of an exposed, desolate hill top.  Sub-consciously the viewer knows it's likely to be a windy and cold location. ;-)

Andy