Westcountry wanderings » Torbay

Spring tides and surf in Torbay

nigel — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:00:03 +0000

The period of spring tides made me head into the Bay looking for the very low tide. I’ve found in the past that you can access/photograph rock pools that cannot be seen for much of the month and that was the plan. There was only one day of the peak tides when the weather was forecast to be ok too.

As is so often the case I didn’t end up taking photographs of what I’d planned! I walked quite a section of Torbay in the Paignton area before the tide was fully out. I was not the only one who was “waiting” for something – even the seagull on the rock was.

I got back to Preston beach just before the tide turned and found that a paddle surfer was making the most of what was available in the way of surf.

His viewpoint – quite a bit higher than those using boards conventionally – allowed him a better view of where the best surf around the beach actually was. He seemed to get some worthwhile runs in.

One of those irresistible shots; this youngster was just staring out at the sea so intently. Was it a case of “when I grow up…”? His transport across the sand appealed too!

While the waves were not big some of the other surfers were also getting some good runs in too.

Some had to work quite hard to catch the waves but for a while there was quite a bit of activity.

Just after the low tide the sea became far flatter and, for some at least, it was time to head back. For me too – I had had a good walk along the beaches and even if I didn’t get any rock pool shots it had been well worthwhile. Large seas are quite unusual in Torbay as the arms of the Bay shelter it from all but easterly winds but when they do get in it can offer some good water sport.

A morning of contrasts

nigel — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:15:48 +0000

I looked out quite early and realised it was not a day for being in the valley of the river Dart. In spring and autumn mist will often remain in the valley for quite some time. However there was the promise of some sun to come.

I’ve taken shots from here quite a few times but the combination of light, mist and colour in the fields and trees was great.

Again the combination of quite bright sun on the autumn colours and the mist filling the valley of the Dart was very striking. The copse standing out on the top was a bonus.

I’ve also taken shots here quite often but never caught the light quite like this. There is a herd of cows just visible in the mist with the Dart valley in the middle distance still filled with mist.

Heading into the Bay there was no sign of mist at all and the sea was very calm. The light and autumnal feel was still good though. I walked from here (Broadsands) around to Elberry cove and then back.

I realised when I arrived at Broadsands that there might be a picture here but, at the time, didn’t look at it from this angle. Heading back to the car I almost didn’t bother to look again. I took quite a few shots but this was one of the best. The reflections are lovely and the beach huts add that touch of colour.

At the time of writing this there still isn’t any snow around South Devon or Dartmoor although it looks like there might be some. As soon as there is snow and a bit of light I will be out with the camera and then post some here – almost every hit on the blog for the last couple of days has been for “snow”!

A different take on dawn

nigel — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:00:34 +0000

Looking for some “good dawn” images I headed into the Bay for 6:30 am with dawn being at 7:15 am. By the time I looked into the Bay I could see that I was not going to get a “clear” sunrise of any sort; the lights in the distance are Brixham. So the question was whether I went back home or stuck around to see what would happen. I stuck around!

As with my last posting looking for just good weather images is a habit I must get out of I think. The effect of the light behind the clouds was worthwhile.

The blue of the sea, sky and clouds was very vivid really I have actually reduced the colour slighly on some of these images as it was “unbelievably” vivid.

While there was no sun in the Bay it was clear that the sun was coming through in places and the effect of “first light” on the clouds was very good.

I headed back inland but just before I left I took this one as the glassy look of the sea caught my eye.

Light on water

nigel — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 16:47:37 +0000

Having caught up with the backlog of the holiday snaps I started working on the relatively small number I’ve taken since I’ve been back and wondering about my next post. These are not all taken on the same day but I realised that on a number of days I’d taken photos that were effectively on a theme – light on water. The above looks from Paignton towards Berry Head.

I guess it is partly the time of year with a lower angle of the sun and less good weather however I do love the coast and the play of light on the water. The one above is taken from Preston and shows a windsurfer spotlighted on a stormy autumn day.

Shooting into the light has its problems. All too often a shot will be out of sensor range. A camera sensor can only get the exposure (roughly) right over a fixed range of light. Outside this range there will either be black with no actual content or white similarly. This may or may not be considered “wrong” by some people however I do like to catch what I see and so I have no real issue with this if most of the image has valid content and portrays what I want it to. The above – shot from Goodrington looking towards Berry Head – is a good example. It is not a “perfect” image with some parts of the image over or under exposed. The limitations of the camera also mean that the quality is not as perfect as I would wish but it conveys the scene I saw in the way that seems correct to me (& I like it!).

These shots were taken over a number of days and while mostly they are taken in Torbay the one above was taken on Slapton sands looking towards the lighthouse at Start Point. The light on the water really had a sparkle to it.

I find I do tend to look for “good weather” images but the one above is a reminder to me of how wrong that approach can be. Taken from Preston Sands with Berry Head just visible the rain that is coming in can be seen (& it rained shortly after I took the picture). The contrast between the better weather and the rain is quite striking.

And finally – I’d watched this person flying their kite for a while. I was looking for a good shot of them and got one or two with the kite in the air and in sunlight. However this one seemed to catch the mood of the weather (which kept changing) at the time. This was taken from Preston Sands.

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.

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.

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 beach

nigel — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:04:48 +0000

The title of a Neville Shute novel that I loved about a post apocalyptic world – while the scenario is different now maybe there are some echos – but I digress

I found this while wandering the beach the other evening. It was obviously carefully sculpted by someone who had done this sort of thing before. They had gone but it was left.