I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t visited Saltwick Bay for 2 years but I took up the opportunity to take up a workshop place with Joe Cornish a couple of weeks ago.
Conditions were perfect and even tho I have explored much of the bay over many years I still found places and photographic opportunities that I previously missed. My friend, John Illingworth always jokes that I am programmed to turn right at the bottom of the cliff and he was right. (Please don’t tell him that I said that).
I have just returned from a week’s holiday in Jersey . It is the one week of the year when I stay in a hotel and don’t have to lift a finger other than to do exactly what I want knowing that my next meal is being prepared by someone else.
As soon as the lamb season ends in mid May my attention turns to the flower meadows that spring up all over the dales. The meadows at Muker are the most well known but there are so many other fields around the dales that are full of colour.
After experiencing problems with an apartment it has taken me 15 months to return to Whitby for a week by the sea. Conditions for photography weren’t great as the tides weren’t how I would really have liked but at least I was back on the coast.
I very much enjoyed my week in Amble as I was able to take full advantage of the tides. High tide fell in the afternoons which mostly coincided with sunset. There were a few evenings when there was no light but there were also some that were magical and I felt so privileged to be able to watch the day draw to a close.
I recently signed up for a last minute place on a workshop in the Lake District with Alexander Hare and Lizzie Shepherd. The workshop was based in Borrowdale which I know very well, but that wasn’t an issue as November isn’t a time when I usually visit so I knew conditions would be different.
I don’t think this year’s autumn show has been as spectacular as last year but nonetheless I have enjoyed some lovely scenes as I have wandered around the Yorkshire Dales.
I recently attended an RPS Landscape Group workshop on Creative Woodland Photography. It was run by Mark Banks and was based in a woodland only a few minutes drive from my holiday home in the Yorkshire Dales.
Finally, I have been allowed to get on a plane and enjoy a holiday! I love Jersey and have definitely missed not being able to visit during the pandemic.
I decided that I would take my tripod and camera to enable me to catch anything of interest on the coastline. Jersey has the third highest tidal range in the world and apparently doubles in size at low tide. I can believe this as there were miles of granite exposed once the water had retreated.
This year I have been able to be in Wensleydale to enjoy the full lambing and spring growth. I mentioned in a recent post that my life in the Yorkshire Dales doesn’t just follow the traditional winter, spring, summer, winter seasons but they are enhanced by the creatures and plants that appear in their natural pattern.
When I was in Kent with Alex Hare and Lizzie Shepherd we stopped to photograph the pier at Deal. However, I was far more interested in the waves that were rolling onto shore and I spent a wonderful hour trying to capture their character.
When I’m in the Yorkshire Dales it only takes me 25 minutes to drive over Cross Top and into Muker. Of all the dales I think that Swaledale is my favourite as it is more intimate than the other dales and it is full of character and glorious vistas.
I recently ventured south for a workshop with Alex Hare and Lizzie Shepherd with the aim of exploring new locations and enjoying the company of other photographers.
At the start of December I finally returned to Northumberland for a week of coastal and seascape photography. After my trip to Whitby was summarily cancelled I was definitely ready for some wading about the shoreline with my camera and pink wellies.
I’m ashamed to say that until now I have very rarely visited the Yorkshire Dales at the back end of the year and have stayed close to York for my autumnal photo opportunities.However, having a base in the Yorkshire Dales has enabled me to explore new areas of woodland
Whilst on the Isle of Harris I made a few visits to Scarista beach with it’s magnificent waves which pile relentlessly onto the beach.
To the north of the main bay is a picnic area which is also delightful. The waves rolled onto the sand and around the black, wet rocks before being sucked back into the sea and leaving lines on the sand.
I’ve recently returned from a lovely week wandering along the shorelines of the beaches on the Isle of Harris. I was hoping to capture both some waves and investigate how the sea interacts with the sand and rocks.
Having spent most of the summer to date in the Yorkshire Dales I had an urge to visit the sea and to try some different ideas on the shoreline with my camera.
I am spending a lot of time in the Yorkshire Dales and I am amazed at the quantity of buttercups in the fields in both Swaledale and Wensleydale. They form a carpet of yellow which gets caught in the breeze and then the contours of the ground are emphasised and the scene is like a yellow sea.
Rachael Talibart often features a photograph of an open shell with the sea flowing out of it and I absolutely love it. She has created a gallery of similar photographs on her website and looking through the images it is clear that the scope for beautiful intimate cameos is endless.
