Westcountry wanderings

The sea and the sky

nigel — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:41:20 +0000

A short evening wander around the centre of Torbay and I found from a photographic perspective that looking down at the sea and up at the sky was the most rewarding.

At Goodrington the last light of the sun on the waves looked good. The area has some colourful buoys marking safe channels which added to the colour. I was a little surprised at the amount of swell as the Bay is sheltered from all but easterly winds and the wind was rather more northerly at the time. However the water is so often very calm that this made a change.

The above is a result of one of the buoys coming loose. The dog was having great fun playing with the rather large ball in the waves.

At the other end of the walk at Preston the sky looking back to the south was lovely. The light and colour was really beautiful. There were a few people surfing here but the light levels were really too low for any meaningful shots by this time.

Looking inland towards the sunset gave me another striking picture. I guess it would have been better had the town not obscured some of it – Dartmoor would have given me a better view of it. However it did look good.

In practice the area looks fairly quiet, however Paignton seafront was extremely busy with the weekly motorbike meeting. The whole of the seafront had motorbikes all along it of varying types and ages and there were a lot of people there. I’m no “biker” but the BMAD organisation has raised a lot for charity since it started in 2002 and they provide a good attraction.

Summer afternoon on the beach!

nigel — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:31:38 +0000

The weather had not been that good for a few days so despite it looking a little grey and rather thundery I decided I had to get out.

It looked a little brighter when I got to Goodrington beach. It was quite warm and rather windy – the beach had few folk on.

Given some blue skies, daytime and August the one above is unusual. It was taken wide angle and I’ve not cloned anyone out!

While the weather was not really good for the beach there were plenty of folk making the most of the water. It is regatta week and there were races going on out in the Bay and a number of people heading back into Paignton harbour. The little blue sky that there had been had gone by then and I decided to head to the pier before turning back and heading home.

Although there was some evidence of lightness in the sky and there were a few folk around on Paignton beach (though not many as can be seen) there was also some rain in the air and I headed home.

Some evening light on the eastern edge of the moor

nigel — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:05:46 +0000

Each year the fact that the sun sets earlier while it is still summer takes me by surprise – I should have learnt by now. Sunset is now around 20:30 with dusk about 21:00 so walking in the evening will require torches soon (& I’ll stop taking the camera). With the light the way it was above I have to make the most of it.

Looking more north towards Holne moor from the same spot as the first image, the trees were caught in the evening light and looked almost artificial. We agreed that they almost looked as though they were the sort found in model railways.

The left hand one of the above is looking back on the moor gate at Lud Gate. We walked up there from Cross Furzes before heading up Pupers. The one on the right is taken near the top of Pupers and looks almost directly south. The light on the gorse bush caught my eye.

Stopping for a drink before heading back the last light of the sun was just catching the wall of the dam on the Avon reservoir. Out of the sun it had become fairly chilly and we headed back to the car agreeing we had been lucky to have been out on such an evening.

A tale of two lenses

nigel — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:37:46 +0000

I’ve been thinking about changing my camera for a while now and not for another Sony for a few reasons. Given this I’d not looked at getting any other lenses as I’d not be using them on a new camera. However conversations with a couple of friends made me rethink my plans a little. As one friend pointed out “a good lens will still be worth quite a bit in a few years time, a camera body less so”. Given that I realised the issue was as much about considering which lenses I really wanted, I decided to try out a couple of other lenses on the Sony and put off the camera change for a while.

The two new lenses I’ve now got are at opposite ends of the photography spectrum so I’m into a rather large learning curve again. Macro photography has always interested me so buying one of those was fairly obvious. Given the short term nature of the purchase maybe I decided not to go for a top end lens but I am impressed with the Sigma 50mm f2.8 DG lens.

The ones above were taken on the day I got the lens so are far from perfect but I was impressed with the possibilities. I quickly realised that I’ll be using the tripod more but I found bumble bees less than co-operative!

The other lens which I’ve had for a week or so now is at the other end of the spectrum. Anyone looking at my images will see that wide open spaces and landscapes are at the heart of my photography so an ultra wide angle lens has been something I’ve thought about since I got the dslr. I’ve used the word “ultra” as the ordinary lens I use is technically “wide angle” at 18mm at the end of its range. The new one goes significantly further – it is Tamron 10-24 f3.5-4.5 lens. As with my existing Tamron it is rather prone to chromatic aberration but I’ve got used to dealing with that.

At the “ultra” end of these lenses a rather different approach of composition is required. It is not simply about getting everything in the shot in general.

Both these (taken on the same evening) are at ultra wide angle. The sandcastle is taken at 10mm and shows the “distortion” that occurs with such photography. However it catches some sense of space (I hope!). The light a little later in the field was striking as was the barn in the distance. I was lucky with sky here and the gate – wide open – along the hedge provides a good edge to the image.

I’m certainly pleased with both lenses and hopefully there will be more examples of both types of photography in the future.

Fishing for photos…

nigel — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:59:53 +0000

For a variety of reasons I’ve not been out much recently and certainly not as much as I would have liked. The evening looked promising so I headed for Brixham hoping for some good sunlight. As is so often the case it didn’t quite work out like that but I still found some scenes that appealed.

Brixham is a working sea port and there is quite a bit of development going on on the fish quay. These pots stacked on the wall with the sky behind looked interesting.

I remember when the outer harbour at Brixham was relatively empty but now it is a marina. The boats and their masts with the sunlight behind and dramatic clouds created a contrast.

Given it was a good evening and the tide was fairly high the number of people fishing is not at all surprising. In the upper picture the colours of the “vests” being worn by the fishermen in the boat (father & son?) added extra colour to the scene. At the end of the breakwater the sole fisherman (on that side) created a good visual scene with the light going behind him.

Walking back to the car the sky looked great. The effect is almost monotone but it has an appeal. While not strictly “sunset” it is liquid gold.

A stroll to Dawlish Warren

nigel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:24:28 +0000

The start of the Summer holidays and the tourist season proper. I was wandering towards the end of Dawlish Warren to catch the low tide at the point. To get there I had to pass the main beach which had quite a few people on it enjoying the sun and the holidays.

However a very short distance away in the warren proper it was very quiet with some lovely wild flowers among the sand dunes. It is a nature reserve jointly managed by Teignbridge council and Devon Wildlife Trust. It is a good area for a variety of birds, wild life and flora.

The image above is taken on the very edge of the River Exe with the tide almost fully out. There is a substantial sandbank across the mouth of the estuary however we could see no way to get to it even with the tide at that level. I guess it would only be possible at spring tides. There were people on the bank but they must have arrived by boat or waded. There were also people fishing the area around the sandbanks.

Walking back along the beach again toward Dawlish Warren on the way back to the car which was at Dawlish we came across this wonderful sandcastle!

More Dartmoor industries

nigel — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:36:55 +0000

An evening walk on the south western region of the moors this time. Not quite the good weather that the previous two walks had been but we covered some interesting ground wandering up the valley of the River Plym from just above Cadover bridge.

From Little Trowlesworthy Tor looking roughly north west you are looking towards Legis Tor and, in the case of this image, towards part of Legis Tor Warren. There are a number of warrens on Dartmoor. These warrens were used by early tin miners to provide a source of fresh meat within easy reach. The mounds (known as “pillow mounds” from their shape) were man made to provide artificial warrens for rabbits which were then used as food. While the pillow mounds are easy enough to see they stand out better in low light and a number can be seen on the facing hillside here (Legis Tor is the tor on the left). The pile of rocks in the foreground are the spoils of the granite stone quarry on Trowlesworthy Tor.

The above image shows the base of a structure that probably had a crane on it in Trowlesworthy granite quarry. The granite in the area is somewhat unusual in that it has a pink tinge to it.

This is the remains of what would have been a flag post base and is a large worked cylinder of pink granite with Little Trowlesworthy Tor in the background.

Another view of the worked granite cylinder. Hen Tor can be seen in the distance. Hen Tor is a little unusual as far as Dartmoor tors go because it is on the side of the hill rather than on the crest of the ridge which is far more common.

Changing from ancient industries to a very modern and active one, this shows the china clay works on Lee Moor. This works is steadily growing and the pit is now very deep and has continually encroached on the moors over many years (it has been in use for over 175 years). I confess I find it hard to understand how such industrialisation and pollution can be permitted in a National Park.

We wandered back down to Cadover bridge catching the setting sun in the River Plym.

Some Dartmoor stone

nigel — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:20:16 +0000

When I take a series of photos I try and decide whether there is anything that might be interesting for a blog posting. The next step is to try and find a theme for that posting (I’d like to think most of them succeed!). “Granite” and “Dartmoor” are so closely linked I found it hard to believe that I had not used granite as a tag before. The moors are granite mostly and Dartmoor is a fine example of granite moorland.

This is looking towards Vixen Tor in the mid ground and Great Mis Tor in the distance with a few outcropss of granite in the foreground. It is hardly surprising that so much granite was actually used over many centuries – it was a free resource just lying around waiting to be used. People tend to look at Dartmoor and see it as “natural”. It is anything but that if you look carefully and closely.

The picture above indicates the first part of the process for splitting and shaping granite. It is known as “feather and tare” on Dartmoor. Holes are drilled in the granite and then wedges hammered in to split the rock. Granite was a great resource for building material. It is used for gateposts and buildings, bridges from very early clapper bridges to the stone for a London Bridge. It has been used on tracks and roads and for crosses and way marks. It has been used as a railway line.

Industrial use of the moors spans centuries from early inhabitation for simple agricultural purposes to modern day china clay works and quarries. Above are two example of worked stone. On the left is a stone worked for use with tin mining, on the right a stone has been made to control the flow of water in the leat. It has a hole in the stone which allows the flow of water to be stopped and diverted (know as a bullseye stone).

This is a view of the same leat looking roughly north towards Staple tor.

The granite itself varies in granularity and colour across the moor. There are area which have very pink granite and here the low light at the end of the day gives a glimpse of that tone. I will certainly return to the subject of granite and its uses in further blogs.

Speed and peace on the southern arm of the Bay

nigel — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:33:36 +0000

Another evening out walking the local area. The weather was not good and there were odd showers. However walking around Berry Head was pleasant. The old fort there is being cleaned up up/renovated and the sea bird colony just to the south of it had a lot of birds in in. There were auks and fulmars easily spotted with any binoculars.

Some canoeists were out at sea but another vessel was moving far faster.

Walking back down to Brixham the sun was going down and giving some good light and effects. The sea water pool at Brixham had also had a makeover and was looking like a genuine attraction now.

Nearly back at the car the light over the breakwater was particularly appealing.

On the south west coastline in Cornwall

nigel — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:18:24 +0000

The farthest tip of Cornwall is a special place for me. I’ve been going there since I was very young. In particular the coast from Penzance around to St Ives has a wide variety of scenery, small harbours, cliffs, beaches, lighthouses, remains of mining and other antiquities and even some moorland. I’ve stayed in various places with family and friends over the years and I’ve not got tired of it yet.

I’ve not been to Porthcurno for a few years now but my partner had not been so we spent some time there. The Minack theatre is a remarkable sight – an open air stage set high on the cliffs – and well worth a visit.

While I have been there a number of times I’ve never seen the beach there looking as stunning as it did on that day.

One looking back over the bay towards the Minack.

Another great location – for photographers and tourists – is Mounts Bay and it is impossible not to take pictures of St Michael’s Mount. However you look at it the scene and the setting is one of the better in the UK. It is also a very historic site which probably has some ancient links with Mont St Michel in northern France.

The light on the island (a National Trust property) in the evening can be quite beautiful. I certainly plan to get back to that area again as soon as I can.