Final Dartmoor! You'll be pleased to hear this is my final shot at trying to show the drama of Dartmoor's wilderness (at least for the time being). The walkers have just crested a hill...

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

You'll be pleased to hear this is my final shot at trying to show the drama of Dartmoor's wilderness (at least for the time being). The walkers have just crested a hill above Grimspound (the interesting bronze-age circle containing 20 hut circles, and the best-preserved in Europe, but I won't bore you with all that) and our dogs have noticed each other. Way off to the right and just in frame is the now familiar to you Warren House Inn (I will crop it before I print this shot but left it for your reference and in case anyone needed to enlarge it). I think this shows both the scale and character of the moor better than my previous attempt. Please critique and please suggest suitable pp if you have the patience.

(Download)

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

What a breathtaking place. I think it's a great image.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Now the sense of place is really coming together for me, Dave. I like the contrast of the harsh foreground with the soft clouds and hazy distant view. The "little people" help us with scale. I think this shot would work best as part of a series of vignettes of life on the moor.

Would you post how you'd crop, I'm just curious.

Thanks!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Linda From Maine wrote:

Now the sense of place is really coming together for me, Dave. I like the contrast of the harsh foreground with the soft clouds and hazy distant view. The "little people" help us with scale. I think this shot would work best as part of a series of vignettes of life on the moor.

Would you post how you'd crop, I'm just curious.

Thanks!

Didn't want to lose too much Linda but that inn had to go, it was simply too close to the edge. Plus a bit off the bottom. Easily done by changing from 16x10 to 16x9, making it look a little more panoramic.

(Download)

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

magnetoman wrote:

Didn't want to lose too much Linda but that inn had to go, it was simply too close to the edge. Plus a bit off the bottom. Easily done by changing from 16x10 to 16x9, making it look a little more panoramic.

Very nice! The trim from the bottom now accentuates those two curves of bushes/grassy clumps in the foreground, with the path-like area in the middle. A small change for big result.

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

magnetoman wrote:

You'll be pleased to hear this is my final shot at... (show quote)

I don't think that I would change the processing. It looks like it should in this shot. I might crop a bit diagonally from the top left or bottom left to get your main subject out of the center. That would also put emphasis on either the sky or the foreground, rather than keeping us jumping between the two to decide which you are trying to emphasize. It has a very nice sense of place.
Erich

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

ebrunner wrote:

I don't think that I would change the processing. It looks like it should in this shot. I might crop a bit diagonally from the top left or bottom left to get your main subject out of the center. That would also put emphasis on either the sky or the foreground, rather than keeping us jumping between the two to decide which you are trying to emphasize. It has a very nice sense of place.
Erich

Thanks Erich. You probably agree with my later crop shown in reply to Linda - it puts the horizon in the accepted place and tidies things up a bit.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

I love the grandeur of this scene and while the Inn did need to go, IMO this one is a great candidate for breaking any "accepted" rule of composition for landscapes. I assume youre emphasizing the land rather than the sky, therefore the "rule" says the land should take up the bottom 2/3 of the frame which leaves just a muddied sort of sky and removes the interesting bits. My thought would be to lock the crop ratio and pull in the top right corner just enough to remove the Inn and no more then print and hang on the wall. I kinda like the people right in the middle. Of course this is just the opinion of one extremely amateur hack picture taker.

Walt

Billyspad Loc: The Philippines

Tad lost as to what some are looking at but maybe they have scant knowledge of the UK. The image you presented Dave has no menace and does not suggest how dangerous Dartmoor can be to the unwary. Our overseas visitors are probably not aware that people die quite regularly because they are caught out by the weather. Crack regiments such as The Paras and SAS train their men on Dartmoor. If you can survive nights in the open on Dartmoor your one tough hombre.
Your shot could be the rolling hills of Suffolk or Sussex. A neat row of holiday cottages would not look out of place. I went to our good friend Google images and the images that work and show Dartmoor for what it is lean heavily on these rocky outcrops in the foreground looking harsh and forbidding with seemingly miles of nothing beyond them. A true picture of a bleak place.
Hence my crop gleaned from ideas from Google and an attempt to add depth

(Download)

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Billyspad wrote:

Tad lost as to what some are looking at but maybe ... (show quote)

I wasn't after menace Billy, just some of the character of the moor, which I think it portrays quite nicely. I do prefer your crop and must admit to always being reluctant to lose width on landscapes, but it pays here and I see that. Disagree with your comparison with the Downs, but just personal opinion.
I do have shots of the moor at its most dangerous, where a rock face can't be seen at ten paces, but they don't make good pictures! You're right about the regular deaths there, and of course there are still three huge no-go areas when the army are firing. Watch for the red flags? Hells-bells, you don't want to be anywhere near a flag!

amersfoort

People who are looking for menace are way off track. How can you have menace when there is a guy in shorts and T shirts?

I would say this is a positively balmy day on Dartmoor.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I think it shows some good moor character, but doesn't show menace. This is not a day when someone is going to get lost on the hills, well not for the next 20 minutes or so, but those scudding clouds could tell a different story in a short while. There is a bleakness about Dartmoor, present during all seasons, that doesn't have to be menacing. I like the shot for many of the reasons mentioned previously, but wonder if slight repositioning could just have hidden the managed Conifer plantation right in the middle!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

amersfoort wrote:

People who are looking for menace are way off track. How can you have menace when there is a guy in shorts and T shirts?

I would say this is a positively balmy day on Dartmoor.

A bit colder than I imagine balmy amersfoot, but certainly a lovely day. Sounds like you might know it a bit, so you'll be aware of how quickly things can change there. Expect there were some waterproofs in his haversack, plus map and compass!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

John N wrote:

I think it shows some good moor character, but doe... (show quote)

Yes, could have hidden it behind the rock but there's another beyond, and some spreading centre right. The Park Authority is endeavouring to ensure no more are planted and where NT and the Woodlands Trust can get there hands on anything there are schemes to change woods to broadleaved only - have you got thirty years to wait? Thanks for commenting, I'm guessing you are a moor enthusiast?

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

country so rough it has escaped development. Love the endless sky and horizon. Always a shocker to me that so much open space remains.