 |
|
|
|
Dunraven Bay (Outdoor Photography December 2007) |
|
Situated along the gorgeous Glamorgan Heritage Coast, overlooking the Bristol
Channel, Dunraven Bay contains a wealth of photographic opportunities all year
round. However, in winter it’s perfectly positioned to enjoy the low sun from
mid-morning to sunset, which means almost a whole day of photography, and a
lie-in to boot. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
On this, my first visit to the area, I timed my arrival to coincide with the receding tide. Not only does this result in more time on the beach, it also gives me a good chance of getting onto the clean sands before anyone else can leave their footprints in my pictures. On this occasion, the tide was revealing so many treasures that I felt like a child in a sweet shop. As fast as I found one composition a better one would emerge from the sea. I don’t like to rush, but the temptation to hurry up and move onto the next shot was overwhelming. I spent the next couple of hours running from shot to shot. At one point I lost my rucksack and had to retrace my steps before I found it lurking behind a rock. I was torn between all the elements that made this beach so attractive, namely the sunlight on the yellow cliffs against the blue sky, the rocks scattered along the beach, the reflections in the tidal pools and patterns in the pristine sand. What I was really looking for was a composition that incorporated all of these features without clutter. At one point I thought I had my shot in the bag, but while I was rummaging for a filter an excited Labrador came bounding over to say hello. Having got the pat on the head he was after, he happily trotted off right through my shot leaving his paw prints in the sand. I don’t know what it is, but I seem to attract dogs. Still, at least this one didn’t try and pee on my rucksack - yes that’s happened before! Perhaps it was fate, but shortly after abandoning this shot I came across the main image (above). To be completely honest, this one just fell into my lap. I approached the scene from the angle you see here and walked around it for a while, but I couldn’t find a better composition. So I set up the camera and tripod, slotted in a graduated neutral density filter to prevent over-exposure of the sky, focused, and checked the frame for dogs! Actually, in truth I did spend a little time adjusting the height of the camera to ensure the top of the cliff was reflected in the water. The symmetry created by the reflection just didn’t seem right without it. I went on to shoot the sunset and dusk light, but to me, this image encompasses the beauty of Dunraven Bay on that day. Shifting sandsA week later I returned to discover these rocks were no longer visible, having been covered by the shifting sand. I re-visited the area several more times throughout winter and each time the beach was different in some way – rocks came and went as the winter storms unleashed their power on the sand. Each time the light and weather was different too, ranging from calm blue sky to raging storms, complete with thunder, lightning and huge hailstones - no dogs on the beach that day! I’m planning on visiting the area again this winter, so if
you’re at Dunraven and you see a hapless photographer chasing off dogs, do say
hello. |
||
|
|
||