Heather season is fully under way. For that reason I have been trying to get out as much as possible and one of my best evenings of late was on Over Owler Tor for sunset.

I had been out the previous evening on Millstone Edge and that was a pretty decent evening despite the poor forecast. However, I was to be very well rewarded for heading out to Over Owler Tor again the next evening. All day it had been sunny and cloudy but the forecast didn’t look brilliantly promising for the evening, however looking out the window I knew it was worth a punt and set off. I’m lucky in the fact I can be on location within 30 minutes.

For those of you not familiar with the area, Over Owler Tor is a small gritstone outcrop above Surprise View car park and hosts a variety of gritstone outcrops including Mother Cap and the lesser known Beehive. Within short walking distance is Surprise View itself and Millstone Edge. You have great views down the Hope Valley and looking the other way over towards Carl Wark and Higger Tor.

Over Owler Tor and the surrounding areas is also perhaps the best area in the Peak District for heather. This little section of moorland gets ravished by the purple flower every single year and is a popular spot for photographer’s. Strange then, on a Saturday, almost at prime time for heather with decent light, I had Over Owler Tor to myself for the most part, with Robert Stevens joining me for the last 20 minutes after being on Millstone Edge himself.

I had actually arrived in plenty of time in case there was only going to be the early light which gave me a little time to scout out opportunities. I popped up for a quick reccy the evening before and after not being up for at least four years I had forgotten how good this spot actually is. I still felt I knew the area well but it was good to get myself reacquainted with the area, I’m not quite sure how four years goes so quickly! The last time I shot sunset up here too, it was a clear sky so I was more than looking forward to some clouds with good light.

My first shot is a classic view from Over Owler Tor with this gritstone formation featuring in many shots. Behind it you can see Hathersage Moor, Carl Wark and then Higger Tor. To the left is Stanage Edge. The heather is looking good here and this was my first break of light. I had set up here first as if there was one shot this evening I wanted it was this, so I snapped away and got a few shots while the light was good.

Over Owler Tor Sunset – Peak District Photography

I moved around and another shot I wanted to re-do is a shot of the Beehive. When I first started photography I went up here on a cold winters morning and oblivious to the area I took a very similar composition to the portrait shot below with stormy light and frost down in the Derwent Valley. It’s a shot I’m still proud of but I now wanted one with a surrounding of the purple heather. Since then, the Beehive has been shot many times and most people call it this. Maybe I gave it its nickname, maybe it’s always been called that because it’s so obvious. Who knows?

Anyway, I really liked clouds at this point, sort of wrapping their shape around the top of the formation: