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.

This track is one we have taken many times over the years and it still gives me pleasure.  It leads to a series of old tin mine workings but the variations on which way to actually go are many and we came off the track at this point and headed for higher ground.

The sun was going down (& it still seems too early for that) but there was enough light at the stage to take a picture looking north east more towards the centre of the moors.  There is gorse out at present as well as heather and I’d like to get out to try and catch some shots of the heather before it is over.

I guess there will be less photography from my evening walks now as even in the fairly early evening the light is getting quite poor for photography and maybe not so good for walking either though it usually does not stop us.  However the effects of the last light on the clouds is lovely.

I usually realise that I should have taken a tripod after I needed it and this was no exception.  In the end I am unlikely to roam far on the moors carrying a tripod I think but this wonderful moon deserved a better shot that I was able to get hand held.  That said I think it catches the mood quite nicely.  It was stunning and with us for at least the last third of our walk back to the car.

It has been a few weeks since I’ve been out on the moors in the evening but last night made up for it.  The south western tip of the moors around Shell Top and Penn Beacon is lovely for an evening walk and holds some fond memories for me.  I always set off thinking it is a relatively short walk and always come back remembering that at least half of it is uphill.  Approaching from the east and heading first to Shell Top meant we passed the hut circle above.  The remains are quite clear and the eastern side of the hill has quite a few bronze age remains on it.

Stopping to take a breath a little further up towards Shell Top gave this wonderful view looking east.  This is looking towards the ridge which runs south and ends at Western Beacon.  The combination of the sunlight on the landscape and the very dark clouds did seem quite special – certainly some areas were not enjoying the late sun which we were.

Reaching Shell Top the view all around opened up although Shell Top itself is not that significant a point as can be seen from the above.

However sitting in the evening sunlight having a drink and looking fairly much south gave a great view.  In the foreground (& sadly) is the china clay works.  I realise industry is necessary however what idiots allowed this development right on the very edge of a National Park?  Further off is the city of Plymouth and Plymouth Sound (and the English Channel).

I guess this is my favourite shot of the night.  Taken looking somewhat west from Shell Top it looks down on the Trowelsworthy Tors and across the misty ridges into Cornwall.  The light over a number of ridges really is an effect I love.  I previously blogged the tors here.  Because it is taken looking into the sunlight these shots can be quite difficult but when they work it looks good to me.

Heading off we started to walk down to Penn Beacon which can be seen here at the end of the line on the hillside.  This is an old reave which runs down the hillside towards it.  The china clay works can be seen to the right rather clearly.

Reaching Penn Beacon we looked back up the hill as the last light was going behind a large cloud bank coming in from Cornwall.  The tip of Shell Top can be seen on the upper part of the ridge on the right hand side.  Over the years I’ve seen some great “Last light” scenes on the moors and this was one of them.  A good walk and hopefully we will get out again soon.

Wandering out for an evening walk we headed over towards the Avon reservoir on southern Dartmoor.  The UK generally has been fairly dry this year with the southern parts particularly so.  Walking the area back in March the reservoir was overflowing as can be seen in this blog.  As can be seen above, the water level is now much lower (these images were taken on the evening of the 1st June 2011).  We estimated that the level might be around 3 metres lower than normal.

The image above shows one of the ancient hut circles which are normally submerged.  Around the promontory at the western side of the reservoir there are a number of  remains including the outer walls of pounds as well as hut circles.  The outer walls of the pound enclosing this circle is partly on dry land and partly underwater although others further up the hill are clear of the reservoir.

Looking down the length of the reservoir you get a sense of the water level in the great evening light.  I will come back to this and other reservoirs on the moors if the summer remains dry as there are more remains in this and other Dartmoor reservoirs that are seen during rare dry summers.  Having said that in the time, it has taken me to write this blog we have had some significant rain (the water butts I use in the garden are now mostly full)!

Walking back towards where we had left the car, the light was going steadily but really did make the moors and the reservoir look good.  There is a real magic about walking the moors in the evenings and I hope I’ll continue doing so for some years to come.

Looking back the way we had just walked Greator Rocks was lit by the late sunlight.  The bluebells here are a little thinner on the ground so the impact is a little less.

This shot looks over towards Haytor.  While they are bluebells, in this shadowy light, they really did look purple (& the colour has not been adjusted in any of these shots).

Last year I caught the bluebells on Holwell Tor lawn on the Haytor side of the valley (blogged here) and they are not quite at their best yet but I think they probably should be soon.  Both this year and last year I was not the only photographer in the area – they really do make a stunning sight for anyone who is in the area.

The walk had been quite a short one so we headed over to Bonehill Rocks to catch the last light of the day.  Over the years I’ve seen some great effects around sunset on the moors and this is one of them.  I did return for an early morning shoot of the bluebells a couple of days later.  I got some good shots but decided to leave this blog to be about the one outing, some of the early shots can be seen on facebook here though.

These are images taken on two different occasions (and with different cameras) however as they both concern rather indirect sunlight and are both recent I thought they might go together.  The one above (taken on my “point and shoot”) was on the morning of the recent election here.  I was heading off to the polling station I was working at and, fortunately, it was early enough for there to be little traffic around so stopping suddenly when I saw this was not a problem.  The early misty light looked lovely.

The rest of these images were all taken on the same evening as I was heading back to Totnes after a meeting in Paignton.  I’ve looked over this valley before and felt it had something to offer a photographer but, as always, catching the light is the issue.  The very threatening clouds combined with the bright sunlight (yes – it is a little overexposed) with the feel of the valley below was interesting – a place I will return to.

The above photo comes from a favourite spot – the copse on the ridge looks good at various times of the day if the light is good but here it is almost a silhouette with the attraction being that burst of sunlight from behind the cloud.

Almost back in Totnes on a road where there really is nowhere to stop I just had to for this one.  Not all meetings have such beneficial results but hopefully this one will lead to another opportunity to exhibit as well as giving me some good images.

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.

I’ve known of crepuscular rays for sometime now however watching a television programme the other evening the phrase “Fingers of God” was used and it seemed appropriate for me and this posting.  The programme was on Cloudspotting and was about the Cloud Appreciation Society as well as clouds generally – their website has some stunning images of clouds on.  I’ve taken a few over a while now but I do like this one.

I’ve sat on Dartmoor a few times at this location watching the sunset and the light over the moors and I have frequently been lucky with shots around the area at this time.  I love the “misty light” effect that the hills have at this time of day.  Walking the moors in the evening can be very rewarding.

The sunset itself was special too.  There should have been a couple of blogs on a recent trip to the Gower in Wales but they will come soon – the light and colour in all the above made me feel they should be here first.  I said when I started this blog 18 months or so ago that “everyone has to have a first blog sometime” – this is number 100.  Thanks for reading.