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 [...]]]>

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.

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 [...]]]>

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.

It looked a little brighter when I got to Goodrington beach.  It was quite warm and rather windy – the beach had [...]]]> 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.

First stop was the small cove of Chapel Porth.  It is [...]]]> I’m just back from a break in Cornwall.  We stayed in the far west close to Penzance.  Heading down there it was a good day weather wise so we stopped off on route to make the most of the sunshine.

First stop was the small cove of Chapel Porth.  It is a National Trust owned spot with a fairly small car park and I’d not been there before.

It is a while since I was last in Cornwall and certainly with this amount of sunshine!  It really is a beautiful part of the world.  The north coast has some wonderful beaches but also some great cliffs.  The remains of tin mining can be seen in most parts of Cornwall.  At the one here you can hear the noise of the sea coming up the old shaft.  Many mines were worked below sea level.

Surfing is something Cornwall is well known for and some surfers were making the most of the breakers.

Moving on down the coast we stopped at another National Trust car park at Godrevy (good beach cafe there!).  On a sunny Saturday the car park was fairly full but the beach is big and there was plenty of space.  Godrevy lighthouse is a well known site in the area.  I’ll post some more soon but I have quite a few images to review.

One of the iconic sites of Torbay is Thatcher Rock.  As seen above from Meadfoot beach (& [...]]]> I’d not been out around the Bay for a while and so I decided to take a look around the northern arm of the Bay wandering from Torquay around to Hope’s Nose and beyond.

One of the iconic sites of Torbay is Thatcher Rock.  As seen above from Meadfoot beach (& from quite a bit of the Bay) the “thatcher” can be clearly seen going up the “roof” with a bundle of thatch on his back.

Moving on a little towards Hope’s Nose a different view of Thatcher Rock can be seen.  This is looking back into the Bay and from this angle the thatcher cannot be seen.  Brixham is to the left of Thatcher Rock and Paignton to the right.

Almost at Hope’s Nose some guys on jetskis went by.  This shows the Ore Stone (the other main island in the Bay) behind them.

At Hope’s Nose there were quite a few people fishing.  This scene caught my eye with the fishermen on the edge and the Ore Stone in the background.  The smaller rock in between had quite a colony of gulls on and is known as the Lead Stone or Flat Rock.

Finally wandering around the Babbacombe area of Torquay I came across a scene that made headlines locally when a large section of the cliff face collapsed in February.  This is Oddicombe Beach and was reported as a 5000 ton rockfall.

Given the fact that Summer time will start soon making dawn earlier I thought I’d try and catch one before having to get out of bed very early. The forecast was for clear skies (right this time) but I’d missed the forecasted temperatures.

It was pretty close to [...]]]>

Given the fact that Summer time will start soon making dawn earlier I thought I’d try and catch one before having to get out of bed very early. The forecast was for clear skies (right this time) but I’d missed the forecasted temperatures.

It was pretty close to zero with a strong easterly wind blowing into the bay (it is sheltered from all other directions). the tripod was not quite heavy enough to keep the sharpness on some shots. Equally the gloves & rather numb hands made the camera work less than easy.

I did get one or two shots and then went home to thaw out.

Having seen the seas that were running I decided to go back later to get some further shots of the surf.  Easterlies are not that common in the area and, as said above, the bay is sheltered from other directions.  If there is a reasonable swell when they do blow then the surf can get quite interesting.

I’ve certainly seen it far higher than this but this is the first such surf I’ve been able to catch recently.

The beaches in the bay are good for surfing but only when there is a good sea running.  I saw no surfers but  was not the only one taking advantage of the conditions.

Another of those days when I set out in hope of a walk.  This time I had not driven far before I realised I was unlikely to get much of a walk in and I planned to be back for the afternoon to watch the rugby so my time was a bit limited.

The original idea had been to look around the old tin mine workings near the Warren House Inn including those around Birch Tor.  The weather when I got there did not look good nor likely to change much.  The above image looks west and the weather was coming from this direction.

I did walk up to one of the old shafts on Water Hill (appropriate) and the above was my view from there.  You can even see the spots of rain that were on my lens at the time.

At times the visibility and the light were far better as can be seen here but these moments were rare.  Kes Tor rock is on the right with Cosdon Beacon in the distance in the centre.  The water on the ground shows just how wet the moors are at present.  I guess it will be a few days before this has drained never mind dried out.

The advantage was that there were some times of drama in the view from the light, clouds and skies.

I did get this view of the Headland Warren and Challacombe down area.  There was a brief moment of sunshine which allowed me to get the three images that make up this one.  The trees in the centre foreground are where the warren house is.  To the right the deep grooves of the old (open) tin workings can be seen.  On Challacombe the remains of an old strip field system can been seen however this is best seen when the light is low in the early morning or at dusk.

For some people the weather was a positive advantage though.  Plenty of people were out canoeing on the River Dart – here at New Bridge.

Following up on the beachcombing from a few days ago we wandered the seafront in Preston and Paignton yesterday in some good winter light.  The tide was a little high for any further rock pool work but there were things happening as we walked along the beach.

The jetski [...]]]>

Following up on the beachcombing from a few days ago we wandered the seafront in Preston and Paignton yesterday in some good winter light.  The tide was a little high for any further rock pool work but there were things happening as we walked along the beach.

The jetski activity was definitely eye catching.  A number of riders were running jetskis around the bay and jumping waves.

They also came back down again too.

Given that there was not much surf the low number of surfers was not surprising.  However those that were out seemed to be doing well.