The image above – taken on Paignton beach – is one of my recent favourites.  When I took it I was aware of how the colour of the kite in the distance stood out and it was an obvious candidate for desaturation.  I realised that leaving some of the colour other than just the red of the kite enhanced the mistiness of the images too.

The fact that the tide was very low (although not quite a maximum spring tide) made for quite large expanses of beach which were useful to me from a photographic perspective.  The one above of Goodrington  combining crespuscular rays from the sun with great reflections of the clouds and shy in the sand is one of the better images I’ve taken in this part of the Bay.

It wasn’t only me who was making good use of the sands.  Running across both Paignton and Preston beaches a guy was kitesurfing on the sand.  The wind was fairly strong and he was getting some good runs.  His largely red kite could been seen easily and he stood out whether looking into the sun or away.

Out at sea a number of people were making the most of the wind and the waves.  The wind was slightly easterly which is the only direction which brings waves into the Bay.  Not enough surf for surfing itself but it appeared good for both kitesurfers and windsurfers and quite a few were out.

Finally heading back to the car and walking the rather wet sands the light, reflections and colours were exceptional.  This burst of sunlight over the promontory between Paignton and Preston beaches seemed to catch the feeling quite well.

A final look back got what was for me another good shot that caught something of the day well.  Far fewer people around now and the tide was turning however that just enhanced the feeling of space on the beach in the late afternoon winter light.  I’ve enjoyed making the most of the coast at very low tides in the past and blogged that a time or two before but that has been largely looking at what can be found in rockpools and the like.  This sense of exploration of the space created made for another dimension for me and a pleasant walk.

A week or so back we took advantage of what looked like a good weather forecast to head over the border into Cornwall for three nights. Because we wanted to make the most of the time we decided not to drive far and so headed towards Looe which is only a short distance west from Plymouth. While I stayed in that area a while ago I hadn’t walked much of the coastline between Looe and Plymouth as I’ve tended to go further into Cornwall usually. The above image is taken at Downderry and looks east to Rame Head.

A little to the west of Downderry is Seaton. You can walk to this small village along the beach unless the tide is particularly high. The coast path continues west going up quite a steep hill and the above image is the view back over Seaton beach.

We walked the stretch between Downderry and Looe over two days as we had to head a little inland to our accommodation on foot in the evenings. As can be seen the day we walked into Looe was not as pleasant as the previous two days had been. The view above is looking from West Looe back towards East Looe.

I’d not seen this seal sculpture before but apparently a seal was seen regular in the area of Looe for some years and the lovely bronze sculpture was put there when the seal died. Looe is still a fairly active fishing port with a working dock on the east side of the River Looe.

Not everything along the coast path is a scenic as maybe most of the images I offer on here. This particular building is at Millendreath just to the east of Looe. It looks like it was a holiday complex maybe dating from the 1960s or 1970s but it is now deteriorating and closed down. Much of Millendreath looks rather similar now sadly.

On a more positive note there was a thriving beach cafe at Seaton and we went back there towards the end of the day when the light generally looked lovely. The island in the distance on the right hand image is Looe Island and is just off the coast at West Looe (Hannafore Point).

Wandering back towards of accommodation gave is some lovely views and I particularly liked the stand of trees shown on the left. The image on the right is dawn one morning – cold but beautiful.  Cornwall is a favourite county – hopefully I’ll get down there for longer next year.

 
Start Point itself is quite an iconic setting for this part of the South West Coast Path and nearby Slapton Sands with its fresh water pool and pebble bank is also quite well known.  The whole area was used in the Second World War as a training ground for the D Day landings.  Walking towards Start Point recently the day was mostly rather grey.  However, as in the shot above, when grey becomes silver it is a little more interesting.

From time to time the cloud base would come down and then it would rise again.  The above image looks towards Start Point from just above Beesands village.

Passing the old village of Hallsands, much of which was swept into the sea in the first half of last century, we cut off to the south west just before we got to Start Point.  We headed back towards Start going around Peartree Point to approach Start from the south.  The above show the contrast in weather either side of the Start Point that day.  To the south it is a fairly clear and quite pleasant day.  To the north there was quite thick mist.

As we walked back along the coast the mist became thicker and we could hear the sound of the fog horn from the lighthouse.  Stopping for a break at Beesands I caught an image of the lighthouse at Start Point lit due to the bad weather.  I have seen that before but not managed to get a shot of it.

Although that day was not the best weather wise (though the walk was great) we did see some good weather and there was some great light on the sea at times as can be seen above.

Now back from a break after the recent exhibition, this is the first blog from the trip and is based on images from along the Dorset (Jurassic) coast.  At the start of the break the weather was ok but not particularly sunny.  However the weather did make for some stunning sunsets.  The above was taken close to Bridport on the coast just west of West Bay.

The days were also interesting for photography initially too with mixed weather giving some interesting subjects.  The setting for both of the above images is close to Eype & West Bay.  The left hand one looks west towards the setting sun and the cloud while the right hand image taken early one day looks towards Portland Bill, not quite visible in the distance, through the early morning haze.

I always enjoy walking the coast for the changing scenery and the light however sometimes you catch something different.  These days paragliders are not that rare but when they drift by they still tend to take you by surprise.  I have paraglided myself in the past and loved it but I’m not sure how happy I’d be to be out over the sea.

Among other places on the Dorset coast we visited Swanage and spent some time walking in that area too.  This was taken on the seafront at Swanage – the colour and lines appealed I guess.  It is a pleasant town and well placed for exploring the south eastern end of the South West Coast Path.

We walked from Swanage out to Old Harry’s Rocks which are close to the start of the South West Coast Path (or finish depending on your choice of direction!).  I’ve passed the rocks from the seaward side a number of times but have never walked that particular part of the coast before.  They were a great sight and the area of white cliffs around there were very impressive.  Because they are relatively easy to get to it does seem that there are likely to be quite a few people around the area but a short distance to the west we saw very few people.

Coastal areas are prone to rather different climatic conditions and this was the scene that faced us after walking in to Swanage for a meal one night.  The atmosphere with the coastal fog rolling in was quite eerie.  I took quite a few walking back and was quite pleased with the effect.

Finally – another sunset from early on on the coastal section of the break – we saw quite a few good ones but I restricted myself to offering just two here!  Another blog will follow soon about the next part of the trip.

These images were taken in late March however there have always been other things to blog somehow.  I was walking the beaches at Paignton and Preston and looking at those things far closer to me than I usually do.  In part this was due to reading an article in a photography magazine which suggested photographing items in a garden for a change – I decided doing this project on a beach might be interesting.  I love the intensity of colour in the seaweed above.

Above are a collection of some of the images I caught while walking the beach.  It is so easy to forget to look in our rush to get places these days and we miss out on some remarkable sights.  The colours and both simplicity and complexity of these small inhabitants and sea plants on our beaches are striking.  This is an approach I’ll return to sometime as I found it interesting and rewarding but I’ll leave this blog with another seaweed.

This is the “other” posting from a recent break on the Gower peninsula in Wales, the first being here.  This blog covers some wandering in the Rhossili area (which is at the very western tip of the Gower).  I first walked the Gower coast with a friend some ten years ago and loved the area from the start.  This is the third return visit and I still think the view above of Rhossili Bay is one of my favourite views in the UK.  Other than in the height of the summer season it is rarely very busy and there is plenty of space there for everyone.

From Rhossili Down, an area of moorland running along the bay, you get a good view of one of the main features of the area – Worm’s Head.  For around two hours either side of low tide it is possible to walk out along the Worm however the walking is not easy going due to the rock formations there.  It seems likely that the origin of the name is from the Danish wurm or dragon.  As a later picture will show there are times when the dragon appears to be breathing smoke and the sinuous nature of the feature is both interesting and unusual.

Walking the beach, which is a little over 4 kilometres long, we found we were not alone…  Given that a farmer and his sheep dog were attempting to round these up I don’t think they were on holiday.

However a number of paragliders were enjoying the thermals rising on Rhossili Down.  Most were not performing stunts like the one above though – this picture has not been altered – the chute was actually below the pilot as he was spinning around and seemed to be having a great time.

Wandering back along the beach towards Rhossili there was quite a lot of spume coming on to the beach as there was a fair sea running on that day.  It made for an interesting misty image looking towards Worms Head as can be seen here.

I took far too many images in the area so the above gallery is an assortment of images that I couldn’t find a reason to leave out – it really is a beautiful area.

Late on one evening while we were there I headed back to Rhossili from our guest house at Port Eynon to catch the late light over Worm’s Head.  There is the illusion of smoke on the side of the dragon here caused by waves breaking against the side of the rock.

The weather was not great while we were there and I will have to go back again but this view with the sun going behind the clouds as it set still looked lovely.  The B&B at Port Eynon was very good indeed, very nice rooms and a good breakfast, it may be worth a look at their website if you are heading to the area.

This one is rather late coming as I’ve been back a while now but it relates to an area I love and I picked up one or two quite good images despite the weather not being ideal.  The Gower is in Wales and is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  The area is not large but has a good variety of scenery/habitat within it and is definitely beautiful.  We parked the car at Southgate and initially walked east along the cliffs.  There was no rain at the time but the day was not that good.

We then walked down to the beach, just under the three cliffs, which is called Pobbles beach.  The image above was taken from there looking south west to Oxwich Point.  As can be seen there was quite a haze but with the promise of some light in the distance maybe.

The light didn’t arrive indeed it looked rather more threatening as time went by.  However this shot (also on Pobbles Beach) does catch something of the beauty of the area with lovely beaches and coastline.

Walking back up the cliff the three cliffs themselves stand out quite well.  I’d certainly like to go back and catch them in better light.  Oxwich is in the distance.

The day stayed fairly dull (although the previous day had been far worse – wandering Swansea city in the rain is not my idea of fun).  However the end of the day saw a slight clearance and so we started chasing the evening light.  The above pair are taken on the western end of the peninsula in the Llangennith area and the other blog on the Gower will be about that area.

Finally, heading back, I stopped the car rather suddenly for this shot.  The colours and outline looked very interesting to me.

Heading back on the coast again we went to Budleigh Salterton in East Devon on a sunny day recently to walk some of the coast path.  The day looked to be settled and fine and when we arrived few people were around.  While the above looks west we set off heading east.

Having crossed the river Otter a little way inland, the path follows the river back to its mouth before heading east.  I rather liked the view above which looks over the Otter and west along the coast.

The path follows the fields which go right to the cliff until you get to Ladram Bay.  The photo above is taken just to the west of Ladram Bay and shows the view along towards Sidmouth.  The sandstone cliffs and sea stacks made a lovely setting.

The sandstone stacks are very interesting and make Ladram Bay a worthwhile destination (despite rather a large caravan park).  I’ll certainly aim to get back there early one day maybe when the sandstone would look even better in the light then.

The beach at Ladram is a little surprising as it is a shingle beach despite the surrounding cliff being sandstone.  This shingle is common along Lyme Bay and is what makes up Chesil Beach much further to the east.  It is a lovely sheltered cove.

We turned inland at this point as we had other things we needed to do that day and passed through the village of Otterton and picked up the river Otter again here.  We followed it back to Budleigh Salterton passing this lovely weeping willow along its banks.  It made for a pleasant walk combining coast and countryside and we will certainly head back to walk more of that area when we can.