Golden Light on Belstone Tor

There's something about the granite tors of Dartmoor that makes them particularly rewarding to photograph when the sun is low in the sky.

At Belstone Tor, great stacks of weathered granite rise above the surrounding moorland, their fractured surfaces and irregular shapes bearing the marks of countless years of exposure to the elements.

Here, the golden sunlight catches the rocks from one side, illuminating their rough surfaces and picking out every crack, ledge and crevice. Tufts of grass growing between the stones glow in the warm light, while the shaded faces of the granite remain dark and cool.

Beyond the tor, the landscape opens out towards the rolling countryside of northern Devon. Fields, hedgerows and wooded valleys stretch into the distance, their colours becoming softer and more subdued as they disappear into the haze.

I particularly like the contrast between the rugged granite in the foreground and the gentler landscape beyond. The rocks have a wonderfully solid, almost sculptural quality, while the distant fields and hills give the scene a sense of space.

Belstone Tor is somewhere I never tire of visiting. Familiar as its granite formations may become, the changing light has a habit of revealing something different each time.

On this occasion, it was simply the warmth of the sunlight falling across the old granite that made me stop and reach for the camera.