Ilfracombe and Verity

The day after Boxing Day, I met up with Vic and we headed to Ilfracombe.  We chose it for a few reasons.  Firstly, it wasn't flooded, second, there is always something to shoot at a harbour and finally it has the added attraction of Verity, the Damien Hurst statue currently on loan to the town.  Photographing 'other people's art' is always tricky, and frankly Verity wasn't looking at her best, surrounded as she was by some harbour wall repair work.  The sun, that had been absent all week, also made a harsh appearance.  I tried some close-ups, some medium shots and a few distance pictures.  I even tried contra-jour.  Nothing really worked for me.

Eventually, I got bored at went in search of detail photos.

Windsurfers at Westward Ho!

I am recently returned from Christmas in a very wet Devon.  Between the weather and seeing my family, I didn't get much opportunity for photography.  However, I did manage my almost traditional Boxing Day visit to Westward Ho!  A morning of continuous rain meant that I didn't get there until lunch time.  The tide was almost fully in, the sky leaden and the wind was blowing hard.  I really wasn't expecting to do much more than get a little fresh air.  Luckily the conditions seemed to suit a few hardy windsurfers, and since I still had the loan of 100-400mm Canon L lens (thanks again Ann), I was about to pass an hour or so shooting the action.

Santa Run

Over the last few weeks EACH, the East Anglia Children's Hospices, have organised a series of Santa Runs to raise funds.  I was able to see two of these. 

Firstly in Great Yarmouth, during the recent CCC Norfolk trip.   Sadly, the start line had the sun directly behind it.  So I wasn't able to get any decent shots of the mass start.  But the home stretch benefited from the low sun being in the right place, as well as the glorious backdrop of the sea front.

Last Sunday, it was Cambridge's turn.  This was a bigger event starting an ending at the Grafton shopping centre.  The light wasn't as interesting, nor was the backdrop.  But the concentration of Santa suited characters made for some interesting people shots.

Great Yarmouth

Some imaged from the second day of my recent trip to Norfolk with the CCC.  Several of our group spent much of the day in Great Yarmouth on the sea front, trying to capture a seaside town out of season.  Every so often the sun would break through the clouds to give some beautiful light.  That kind of light is the reason I love to visit the coast in winter.

Seals at Horsey Mere

A few of us from the club spent last weekend Norfolk.  wee started our couple of days with trip to Horsey to see the seals.  Unlike Donna Nook, at Horsey there is no opportunity to get down on the beach amongst the bigger seals.  Instead you are restricted to the path through the dunes.  But many of the seals, especially the older pups, can be quite confiding, coming up onto the path.  The light was very contrasty which made for a tricky morning's photography.

Fungi Foray

Last weekend I joined other CCC members for a trip to Santon Downham and Brandon Country Park to take pictures of fungi and autumn colour.  After a rather damp start the day slowly picked up with the sun briefly coming out in the afternoon.  Despite the late sun, I didn't do too well on Autumn colour shots, but we were able to find a good selection of fungi.

Star Trails On The Beach

One last image from Cornwall.  The cottages we were renting were just a 100 metres or so from the beach and  maybe 1km from Sennen itself.  With no other town in sight, the beach was free of light pollution, making it a perfect location to try a star trail image. 

The beach was a little short on foreground interest, but we managed to find a few low lying rocks.  We then sighted up on the north star to get a full circle.  The final image is a composite of 67 separate 30-second exposures at f3.5 and ISO800, all blended using the software available here.  For the last 10 seconds of the last shot I painted the rocks with a hand held LED torch.

For a first attempt at this technique I am pleased with the final result.  In the high resolution original it is possible to make out the different colours of different stars.  I am  really looking forward to my next chance to try this again, hopefully in a location with a stronger foreground.

Some More From Cornwall

Just because I like this sort of thing here are some detail shots from my recent trip to Cornwall.