Dartmoor is a wild and rugged landscape, its iconic tors and dappled valleys with rivers and streams running though them make perfect subjects to photograph.

Aside from Dartmoors tors, there are many other things of interest. It has some of the most stunning prehistoric and bronze age sites with many stone rows, circles and settlements. It also has a rich industrial history with the remnants of tin mining to be found all over the moor which has left a noticeable impression on Dartmoors landscape. There are also many sites of 19th century granite quarrying. The quarries at Haytor, Foggintor and Swell Tor are particularly good subjects.

The moor also has many granite crosses dotted across its landscape. These were mainly old navigational aids to help travellers across the moor but for photographers they are great to take pics of. The cross at Windy Post near Tavistock is particularly popular with photographers . There are also many abandoned farmhouses on the moor which can make for some atmospheric images.

Photography on Dartmoor can be a challenge as the weather doesn’t always play ball and you can often walk miles to a location just for the sun to disappear behind a cloud bank, never to be seen again. But, there is nothing like the feeling when everything comes together and you take that perfect picture.

It’s always exciting to explore new parts of the moor looking for a fresh viewpoint. I think you could spend a lifetime exploring the moor and still discover hidden treasures. Being a Dartmoor photographer requires you to be quite a hardy person. You are often stood with your camera on a tripod in less than tropical conditions. At times it can be very cold, wet and windy, but often stormy conditions can produce the best light and most dramatic pictures. We are often out on the moor when most people are tucked up warm indoors.

On the other hand, there is nothing like the solitude on a warm summer’s evening on the moor sat listening to the skylarks and waiting for the sun to set.

Many thanks to Anna Curnow for writing this page www.asc.photography.com