Upper Moor
A landscape photography blog by Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire based landscape photographer Rob Thorley Photography.
The kids had finally finished their summer holidays, so I thought I’d venture back out as it was hopefully a little quieter in the Peak District.
I’ve seen plenty of images of the “Derbyshire Dark Hedges” on the various social media platforms, and whilst the time of year wouldn’t necessarily make for ideal conditions I thought I’d use the time to do a bit of location scouting with a view to returning in autumn.
The location gets tagged into many “Peak District” social media groups, but it is actually just outside the boundary of the Peak District National Park. I think it may also be just outside of the Derbyshire Dales boundary as well, but I’m not 100% on that one. Either way I was off to get my bearings and photograph the beech trees at Upper Moor.
If you want to see some cracking images of this location then check out the Upper Moor page of Great Lux Photography as they have captured it very well throughout the seasons.
The day didn’t start off the best. I’d done my route planning and it was about an hour to get there. For some reason when I got to Froghall I just drove past the Ipstones turn, and carried on towards Ashbourne. After driving aimlessly for a bit I thought I’d put the SatNav on, but that seemed to send me out into quite a big loop to get back. It certainly didn’t plot the shortest route, so it took my around one and half hours to get there instead of an hour . . . sigh. Anyway, the main thing is I got there.
One of the nice things about photographing Upper Moor is that it’s a park and shoot location. Today I also had the added bonus of having the location to myself.
The light was pretty flat, with the occasional break in the sky, but really the light passing through was fleeting. It was also quite windy, and there was plenty of movement in the trees which was bringing its own challenges given the lack of light.
Irrespective of the conditions I was like the cat who got the cream. I spent the next few hours photographing up and down the path using various focal lengths and appetures and had a very enjoyable morning at this spot.
These are probably two of my favourite images from the morning, and I can’t wait to come back and photograph them again withy some epic light, or weather . . . we can but dream.
After I’d filled my boots with the “Derbyshire Dark Hedges” (Google up “Game of Thrones Dark Hedges” if you don’t understand the comparison. What do you think. Is it a worthy comparison?) I went back to the car to have a brew and grab a butty before I headed off to Ashford-in-the-Water.
It was whilst I was having a brew I noticed the composition below. Whilst I’m sure it’s not a unique view of Upper Moor I don’t recall seeing anyone post this composition on any of the socials, so it sort of felt unique.
Upper Moor. The Derbyshire Dark Hedges.
I was really pleased with how the image came out and I’d go as far as to say it was actually my favourite image from the morning. So, after a rocky start the day was turning into a cracker. Next stop and blog is Ashford-in-the-Water. Spoiler alert . . . I go from hero to zero rather quickly.
You can view more images from my gallery of other Peak District locations.
