Dorset Selection

It's rather late, but here is a selection of images from other places that I visited during my week in Dorset. 

Man O' War Beach

 

Durdle Door

Swanage, old and new piers

 

 

 

St Aldhelm’s Chapel

Lulworth Cove

I spent Christmas in a cottage in West Lulworth, Dorset.  This was about a 15 minute walk from Lulworth cove, and I was easily able to visit the cove each day.  Sadly, the grey dull misty weather, that dominated December, continued, with only a couple of decent days. At least it made slow shutter pans easy. Dawn was at a civilised time, but that meant I didn't get the beach to myself. There were a lot of swimmers braving the water each day, mostly women.  I wasn't comfortable photographing them, but a paddle boarder and a local fisherman were fair game.

Seascale

A few weeks ago, I had a week's break in the Lake District.  It was mainly a hillwalking holiday, and the hill days were fairly foggy.  So no interesting photos there.  But on our rest days we did spend a couple of high tides at Seascale.  The beach had a small jetty and enough rocks to keep us interested.  The second tide was higher than the first.  Both times the sky was pretty grey, and all interest was in tide, which was fast and choppy.  I played around with exposure duration, but found that 1 or 2 seconds gave the most pleasing result.

Bude Sea Pool

These images were taken at the start of the month, before all the current restrictions.

I was in Devon for a few days visiting my friend Vic.  Sea pools always make good subjects for long exposure and we knew there was a good example in Bude, so that was the first mission.  We were on site a few hours before high tide and were able to track the tide as it came in and topped the pool.

We had chosen a day of 'challenging' weather, a strong, and frankly bitter, wind with alternating sun and 'sharp' showers.  Despite doing my best to hold down my tripod, the wind proved too much for most the of the >30 second exposures.  I had a lot more success with exposures of around 1 to 2 seconds.  I particularly enjoyed capturing the movement of the water over the broad pool wall.

 

 

The Rising Tide At Ilfracombe

Okay, now this post is just very late, and I offer no excuse.  Over New Year, Vic and I were looking for ideas of what we could shoot on another grey day.  A little research on 500px showed that part of the harbour in Ilfracombe gets covered as the tide comes in.  It offered some interesting shapes for long exposures images.  Again, the tide times worked well for us and we were able to shoot from the first wave touching the top of the wall, until it was completely submerged.

High Tide at Westward Ho! and Hartland Quay

A touch of flu has made these next couple of updates especially late.  My friend Vic has moved back to Devon, from Preston.  I visited him in his new place for a few days over New Year.  Since this was the West Country in winter, it mainly rained while I was there. 

We picked a rather torrid day of high wind and rain to visit two of my favourite places, Westward Ho! and Hartland Quay.  It was nearing high tide when we got to Westward Ho! and we headed straight for the bathing pool in the rocks, hoping to gets some shots as it filled.  Our timing was just about perfect and we were able to get in position and set up before the first wave topped the pool wall.  There then followed a frantic few minutes trying to hang on to our cameras and keep the lenses free of spray, as we tried various slow shutter speeds.

After a quick lunch, we headed to Hartland Quay.  The tide was just beginning to turn.  The wind had whipped the sea to frothy milk.  But at least is wasn't as wet, and we could find some sheltered spots for 10-stop exposures.

Northumbria - Blyth Harbour

Blyth, where I was staying, has an oft photographed harbour.  Since it was less than 10 minutes drive away and sunrise was a little after 8am, I really had no excuse not to roll out of bed for a dawn shoot.  The weather forecast had promised that the previous days cloud would clear to blue skies.  Sadly, this didn't happen until later in the morning.  For dawn there was just a thin sliver of sun visible.  The best of the colour in the sky lasted for just one frame.

Northumbria - Newbiggin and Tynemouth

More catching up with processing of recent(ish) shoots ahead of the new year.  At the start of the month, I took advantage of staying with a friend, who lives just north of Newcastle, to do a couple of shoots on the Northumbrian coast.  I spent a day of rather mixed weather at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.  The offshore breakwater features a massive sculpture, which gives another element to seascapes.  I have shot it before on a bright summers day.  This time I wanted to try some shots in evening light.  As well as the beach, there are some small cliffs that kept me entertained as I waited for the light to drop.

 

Finally, one image from a quick visit to Tynemouth.  The sky was rubbish, but I couldn't resist trying a moody post sunset shot of the harbour walls.